Monday, December 22, 2008

UFC 92 Title Bout Proves Reality Works

At UFC 86 back in July, Forrest Griffin took the first step in solidifying the worth of The Ultimate Fighter reality series as a fight factory for the UFC. He beat Quinton "Rampage" Jackson in a five-round war, and in the process, took his UFC light heavyweight belt, making Griffin the first Ultimate Fighter alum to win a UFC championship.

On Saturday night at UFC 92 in Las Vegas, another Ultimate Fighter milestone will be reached when Ultimate Fighter Season 1 winner Forrest Griffin and Ultimate Fighter Season 2 winner Rashad Evans fight for the title. The bout marks the first time two veterans of the reality series have battled for a belt.

"I think it's a great compliment to Forrest and myself," Evans noted of the distinction of the fight and The Ultimate Fighter ties. "Since I came off the show, I've been trying to keep up with Forrest because he set the tone coming off the show. He did excellent. But I have to show everyone that I can do my thing as well and it just wasn't a reality show."

Evans went on to comment about how he believes that The Ultimate Fighter is producing top tier talent, the superstars of the future for the UFC. "We're in a position right now, to really show that the show works to get the best talent out there and these fighters are going to be the fighters of the future. We're going to be the Chuck Liddells and the Randy Coutures because we have a following because the fans were watching us from the ground up."

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I guess Matt Serra wasn't a champion or on TUF....

Anonymous said...

Matt Serra Was in the UFC before he was on TUF. I wouldn't say that counts as finding talent, more of a second chance.