The ultimate fighter was a major force during the UFC’s explosion in popularity in the early 2000s – he lit up fighters like Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz, and Ken Shamrock who trained a variety of MMA hopefuls in a seasonal competition in which all participants were housed in one place.
Over the course of 28 seasons, all of which can currently be seen on ESPN +, fighters like Forrest Griffin, Nate Diaz, Tony Ferguson and Kelvin Gastelum emerged, and the tension between the coaches, which built into a big one, found its own fight from week to week while fans could see everything behind the scenes.
The Ultimate Fighter returns for the 29th time (and for the first time since 2018) with UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski and upcoming title challenger Brian Ortega. The show, which kicks off June 1 (after an Ultimate Fighter Launch Party on May 25) and runs for 12 weeks with a new episode airing every Tuesday on ESPN +, will feature eight bantamweight and eight middleweight fighters.
The trainers
Alexander Volkanovski
22-1 (9-0 in UFC)
Windang, New South Wales, Australia
32 years old
Alexander Volkanovski and Brian Ortega train a dynamic cast of 16 ascending athletes who have put everything else in their lives aside to pursue their UFC dreams. Season premieres Tuesday June 1st. Check out ESPN +
Volkanovski made his UFC debut in 2016 and won his first four fights near home (three in Australia, one in New Zealand). After victories against Chad Mendes and Jose Aldo, Volkanovski got a shot at Max Holloway’s UFC Featherweight Championship in Las Vegas in December 2019 and won the title by unanimous decision at UFC 245. In his first title defense against Holloway at UFC 251, Volkanovski won in July 2020 on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi a much closer decision about Holloway.
His second scheduled title defense against Ortega was originally scheduled for UFC 260 on March 27, 2021, but Volkanovski was forced to abandon the fight following a COVID diagnosis for which he was hospitalized. The delay set the stage for Volkanovski and Ortega to fight after the climax of this Ultimate Fighter season.
Brian Ortega had a win over Chan Sung Jung in October 2020. Josh Hedges / Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Brian Ortega
15-1, 1 NC (7-1, 1 NC in the UFC)
Torrance, California
30 years old
Ortega made his UFC debut in 2014 but still has the same number of fights in promotion as Volkanovski. Injuries and delays have hampered Ortega’s dynamic on several occasions, with layoffs of 11 months (between July 2014 and June 2015) and 13 months (between June 2016 and July 2017) slowing Ortega. Despite the stop-and-start character of his career, Ortega won four wins in a row against Clay Guida (KO), Renato Moicano (guillotine choke submission), Cub Swanson (guillotine choke submission) and Frankie Edgar (KO) Title challenge against Max Holloway, a year and a week before Volkanovski’s shot.
Ortega suffered the first defeat of his pro-MMA career at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto when the doctor abandoned the fight at the end of the fourth round because of damage to Ortega’s face. Ortega was scheduled to face Chan Sung Jung in December 2019, but had to retire from the fight a few weeks before the scheduled date due to a knee injury. After Ortega’s longest career layoff to date to 22 months, Ortega finally returned to the Octagon and defeated Jung by unanimous decision on Fight Island in October 2020.
The fighters
Bantamweight
Al Powers / ESPN Images
Danny Argueta | 27 | 5-0
Nickname: The determined
Place of birth: Chicago
Fights from: Albuquerque, NM
Gym): Jackson Wink Academy and Gracie Barra
Trainer / Trainer: Greg Jackson, Mike Winklejohn and Cub Swanson
Combat history: Illinois High School State Medalist in Wrestling, NCAA Div. II Wrestler (University of Wisconsin – Parkside) and team captain.
Al Powers / ESPN Images
Brady Hiestand | 21 | 4-1
Nickname: Bam Bam
Place of birth: Spokane, Washington
Fights from: Spokane, Washington
Gym: Sik-Jitsu
Trainer / Coach: Rick Little
Combat history: Brown belt BJJ, black belt karate
Al Powers / ESPN Images
Dustin Lampros | 26 | 5-0
Nickname: Scrappy
Place of birth: Freeburg, Il
Fights from: Freeburg, Il
Gym: Sanford MMA
Trainer / Coach: Henri Hooft
Al Powers / ESPN Images
Vince Murdock | 30 | 11-6
Place of birth: Oakland County, Michigan
Fights from: Sacramento, ca.
Gym: Team Alpha Male
Trainer / Trainer: Joey Rodriguez, Mike Mallot, Danny Castillo, Chris Holdsworth and Urijah Faber
Al Powers / ESPN Images
Mitch Raposo | 22 | 5-0
Place of birth: Fall River, Mass.
Fights from: Fall River, Mass
Gym: Regiment training center
Trainer / Trainer: Brian Raposo, Tommy Teixeira
Combat history: Undefeated Pro & Amateur MMA Record, Cage Titans Champion (Amateur)
Photo by Al Powers / ESPN Images
Josh Rettinghouse | 31 | 16-5
Place of birth: Spokane, WA
Fights from: Spokane, WA
Gym: Warrior camp MMA
Trainer / Coach: Pablo Alfonso
Combat history: BJJ Brown Belt
Al Powers / ESPN Images
Liudvik Sholinian | 30 | 9-1
Nickname: Palmeyros
Place of birth: Alaverdi, Armenia
Fights from: Kiev, Ukraine
Gym: Aurum (Kiev), KDMMA (Los Angeles)
Trainer / Trainer: Alexandr Pudochkin, Karen Parabedyan
Combat history: Ukrainian national wrestling champion, Ukrainian national MMA champion (amateur)
Al Powers / ESPN Images
Ricky Turcios | 27 | 10-2
Nickname: Ricky Hadouken
Place of birth: Houston, Texas
Fights from: Houston, Texas
Gym: Gracie Barra The Woodlands (Texas) and Team Alpha Male
Trainer / Trainer: Alex Morono, Urijah Faber, Danny Castillo, Matt Wald, Joey Rodriguez and Chris Holdsworth
Combat history: Black belt in Taekwondo, brown belt in BJJ
medium weight
Al Powers / ESPN Images
Aaron Phillips | 29 | 5-1
Place of birth: Kotzebue, Alaska
Fights from: Kotzebue, Alaska
Combat history: Alaska Wrestling State Champion
Al Powers / ESPN Images
Andre Petroski | 29 | 5-1
Place of birth: Chester, Pennsylvania
Fights from: Philadelphia
Gym: Renzo Gracie Philly
Trainer / Trainer: Daniel Gracie, John Marquez
Combat history: Purple belt BJJ
Al Powers / ESPN Images
Bryan Battle | 26 | 4-1
Nickname: Pooh Bear
Place of birth: Springfield, MD
Fights from: Charlotte, NC
Gym: Hayastan MMA
Trainer / Trainer: Tom Ziegler, Kevin Forant
Al Powers / ESPN Images
Ryder Newman | 25 | 3-1
Nickname: rhino
Place of birth: The Vegas, Nevada
Fights from: Las Vegas
Gym: Xtreme couture
Trainer / Coach: Eric Nicksick
Combat history: TUFF-N-UFF Welterweight World Champion (amateur)
Al Powers / ESPN Images
Tresean Gore 26 | 3-0
Nickname: Mr. Vicious
Place of birth: Myrtle Beach, SC
Fights from: Decatur, Georgia
Gym: American top team
Trainer / Coach: Dhiego Five
Combat history: High quality purple belt in BJJ
Al Powers / ESPN Images
Miles Hunsinger | 30 | 7-0
Nickname: Gun slinger
Place of birth: Nampa, Idaho
Fights from: Las Vegas
Gym: Xtreme couture
Trainer / Coach: Amir Sadollah
Combat history: Runner-up Idaho Wrestling (Amateur)
Al Powers / ESPN Images
Facebook Facebook Logo Log in to Facebook to connect with Kemran Lachinov 30 | 10-3
Nickname: Killa Kam
Place of birth: Uzbekistan
Fights from: West Springfield, MA
Gym: Team link
Trainer / Trainer: Marco Alvan, Jason Franklin and Daniel Fagan
Combat history: Purple belt in BJJ; 5-1 record in Bellator including winning streak in five fights
Al Powers / ESPN Images
Gilbert Urbina | 25 | 6-1
Nickname: The RGV Badboy
Place of birth: Ripon, WI
Fights from: Rio Grande Valley, TX
Gym): Team Urbina MMA, Jackson Wink
Trainer / Trainer: Greg Jackson, Mike Winklejohn
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