Next season of TUF might be the last
Dana White: “We’re coming up on the latest season of The Ultimate Fighter. We don’t know. It might be the last one. 13 years, The Ultimate Fighter has gone. It’s incredible.”
The UFC began with remarkable success on pay per television, and then was driven off PPV, leaving the UFC nonviable. It was bought by ZUFFA and lost many, many millions more. Owner Lorenzo Fertitta sought to sell, but then doubled down, funding a new reality series out of pocket, called The Ultimate Fighter. The finals were the most important fight in league history, with Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar putting on so extraordinary a fight that sport had a future.
In the end, the UFC sold for $3.88 billion, plus some performance incentives to push it over $4 billion. It was the largest sale of a sports property in history. During an interview with MMAjunkie over the weekend, White was asked about the future of the show, given that the UFC is leaving a seven-year television deal with FOX, and moving to ESPN and ESPN+.
We don’t know yet, said White, as transcribed by Jed Meshew for MMA Fighting. We’re coming up on the latest season of The Ultimate Fighter. We don’t know. It might be the last one. 13 years, The Ultimate Fighter has gone. It’s incredible.
2018 will see 42 UFC events.
That’s exactly right, 42 shows, said White. I have the ability to make some original content for those guys too, and it’s going to be awesome. ESPN wouldn’t cover us; now we’re on ESPN. Anybody who doesn’t think this is a win, just shut up. Stop covering the sport if you think this isn’t a win.
Further, UFC Fight Pass is staying.
Fight Pass is gonna be the destination where the entire library sits and you can go in and watch whatever fight you want too or whatever other content we have on there, said White. So that’ll be the same. And this ESPN deal is U.S. [only]. So, Fight Pass is the rest of the world.
Tryouts were recently held for The Ultimate Fighter 28. The season will consist of heavyweight men and featherweight women. Filming with begin in July, and will premier on FOX Sports 1 later in the year. And that could be it.