The Ultimate Fighter

One reality TV fight saved the UFC from bankruptcy

After ~6 years of losses, the UFC convinced Spike TV to air The Ultimate Fighter. The Forrest Griffin fight made viewers see the competitors as athletes rather than thugs, ratings spiked, and that single fight turned the company around.

“And by like year 6, they convinced Spike TV, which I don't even know that's a thing anymore, to air The Last Fighter or The Ultimate Fighter. Yep. And there was— it was Forrest Griffin and I forget the other guy's name, um, and they had this big fight. And I remember as a kid watching that. Yeah, I remember that fight as a kid. These guys were going at it. They looked like it was the first time that like we thought, wow, they're like athletes.”