The Ultimate Fighter has a new home, a new format and a new focus. It also has a new place to watch it for Canadian viewers.
For the first time ever, the UFC’s long-running reality show designed to determine the next great mixed martial arts prospects, goes live. And viewers will be able to watch it on FX Canada starting Friday, March 9 with a 2.5-hour debut at 9 p.m. ET.
Season 15 of The Ultimate Fighter, which moved to FX this year as part of the UFC’s historic deal with American TV network FOX, will air on the Canadian cable channel every Friday.
Following the premiere, The Ultimate Fighter 15 moves to Fridays at 10 p.m. ET on FX Canada for 12 consecutive weeks, culminating with the live championship fight on Friday, June 1.
The new season of the popular reality show will feature fighters from the lightweight division vying for a six-figure UFC contract and the chance to be crowned “The Ultimate Fighter.”
More than 500 prospective competitors from around the world auditioned to participate and were narrowed down through tryouts, cuts and background checks. The premiere will feature a series of live fights that will narrow a cast of 32 fighters down to 16.
Then, the 16 finalists will be broken up into two teams of eight, with each team living in a Las Vegas home for the duration of the season.
Each team will train under the supervision of one of two coaches, UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz and No. 1 contender Urijah Faber, who will each choose one competitor to take part in a live fight at the end of each episode for the right to advance in the competition.
In the past, the contestants and coaches lived in the TUF house for just six weeks and the entire show was taped — including the fights that were shown at the end of every episode. Episodes were broadcast over the course of a dozen or so weeks, and only the finale was shown live at an event that took place after the end of the season’s run.
Faber, a former WEC featherweight champion, loves the new format.
“I’m excited,” Faber told sportsnet.ca Tuesday. “It’s the first time they’re going to have this event live … (it’s) twice as long and (there are) a bunch of stud fighters involved. It’s going to be an awesome experience.”
Cruz, who lost a WEC title bout to Faber in 2007 but got the better of him last July when they rematched for his UFC belt, feels honoured that the two of them were picked to coach the inaugural live TUF series.
"(I feel like) there’s a reason I was chosen for it," Cruz said. “You don’t choose some random person for your first time on something. You want to make sure things go smoothly, things go right, and I think that’s part of the reason I was chosen for this position.”
It is also another case of the UFC putting the focus on lighter weight classes, after bringing over the featherweights and bantamweights from the WEC just over a year ago and debuting a new flyweight division over the weekend.
Cruz said he was happy for the chance to represent the bantamweights.
“It’s time for the 135-pound division to set the bar for everyone else. It’s a big opportunity and I plan on making the most of it.”
It’s no secret that Faber and Cruz have a rivalry dating back to when they first met in 2007, and you can count on that being a theme throughout the show, which has history of shenanigans between coaches and contestants.
Faber said Tuesday he hasn’t thought of any pranks yet, but he’s pretty sure there will be some form of competition inside the competition.
"We just have conflicting personalities,” Faber said. “It’s going to be a long time in the house together.”
Let the games begin. It all gets started on Friday at 9 p.m. ET on FX Canada.
