Insider details birth of The Ultimate Fighter
A UG member argued that UFC President Dana White’s role in creating the make-or-break reality television series The Ultimate FIghter was…
A UG member argued that UFC President Dana White’s role in creating the make-or-break reality television series The Ultimate FIghter was minimal.
Funaki Masakatsu #1
I don’t know about that. Dana is a terrific promoter, but he HATED the idea of doing a reality show (TUF) and it was the Fertitta’s who went through with it and funded the show (without knowing if it’d even air). Since the UFC credits TUF as the single largest reason why the UFC isn’t dead and bankrupt, I’d say the Fertitta’s cash was absolutely the biggest reason for the UFC being where it is at today.
“No,” UFC insider CindyO explained.
CindyO
Nope. Ask Lorenzo. None of them wanted to do a reality show but it was all a network would do. They (Frank, LJ and DW) wanted a Friday Night Fights type of show. Everyone at every network said no.
Then Craig Piligian, who had done the Fertitta’s reality show American Casino for three seasons came up with American Promoter where cameras would follow DW around and then find a way to work in some fights (push was to promote the sport and get it in peoples homes somehow). DW didn’t want to do that, contrary to the babbling later down the road by his detractors, so he knew they had to come up with something else. They worked on it some more and DW and his crew spent the night until the wee hours of the morning trying to come up with another type of reality show and TUF was born. Everyone else signed off on it and the rest is history.
A couple of years ago there was talk again about doing AP. They filmed him and got an entire season in the can before DW put the brakes on it- I still think he should release it because I think it would be like watching his vlogs but with better everything (professional). Love me some DW vlogs:)
The brothers cash is definitely a big factor, for obvious reasons, but they couldn’t have done it w/o him, nor would they want to. Just ask Lorenzo:)
Cindy
Recently release footage reveals the location of the footage for American Promoter, season 1.
