Piligian has proven he’s not afraid to tackle some touchy and controversial brands. He initially approached two Las Vegas-based casino owners, Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta, about creating a reality series about the rough-and-tumble world of legal casinos. But it was another business that the Fertitta brothers had — the Ultimate Fighting Championship mixed-martial-arts franchise — that caught Piligian’s keen development eye, according to UFC president and co-founder Dana White.

Despite negative publicity surrounding the UFC and mixed martial arts at the time — Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) once referred to the sport as human cockfighting — Piligian decided to get into the ring with the Fertitta brothers and create a series pitting several up-and-coming UFC fighters living under one roof against each other in a week-to-week elimination tournament.

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