survivors the quest underground rubber mat

Sixteen fighters would live in a house together for several weeks and compete for a UFC contract. With one last $10 million push, the Fertittas and UFC president Dana White came up with an idea along with 'Survivor' co-executive producer Craig Piligian: a reality TV show. By 2004, the Fertittas had put more than $40 million into the UFC. So they kept investing, but money kept sinking. Nevada casino owners Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta purchased the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 2001 for $2 million. The quest to find a home for 'The Ultimate Fighter' wasn't easy, but it might have been the single most important moment in the history of the UFC, then a 9-year-old company that was still trying to find its place in the sports universe. They couldn't wait to get the hell out of that meeting and go to a Dodgers game.' 'They were supposed to be a network for men. 'Our last hope was a new network called Spike,' said UFC president Dana White. TV executives were saying this is flat-out boring.' They didn't want to see guys bleeding on the mat. We couldn't get anybody to bite because everybody was very concerned that the product was too violent, not something they could put on TV.

'Met with anybody that would take a meeting. 'We literally met with every network, every sports network - from the big broadcasters, NBC, ABC, CBS, the obvious, ESPN - multiple times,' said Lorenzo Fertitta, the CEO of the UFC in 2004. The inside story of how 'The Ultimate Fighter' saved the UFC 15 years ago You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browser

Survivors the quest underground rubber mat