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UFC®, SPIKE TV® Look For Real Contender In The Ultimate Fighter™
16 Athletes Compete To Win Ultimate Fighting Championship® Contracts Willa Ford To Host New Reality Series, Premiering Monday, Jan. 17, 2005
across North America to determine who has what it takes to earn a UFC contract in The Ultimate Fighter™ ,
a new and exciting
reality-based television series. p.m. (check local listings) following WWE Monday Night Raw and runs for 15 exciting episodes, including a
LIVE event. Craig Piligian
(co-executive producer of Survivor I, II and III) serves as
co-executive producer. Saturdays (7 p.m. EST/PST) and on Sundays (5 p.m. EST/PST). Competitors in The Ultimate Fighter are not voted off the island, fired by a CEO, or eliminated in a rosy ceremony. Instead, the ones sent home are those who lose in the Octagon® or are sent packing by their coach.
“Sixty-year-old Sylvester Stallone may be looking for a contender, but the UFC is looking for a champion,” boasts Dana White, UFC President. “The Ultimate Fighter goes behind the scenes to see what it takes when 16 hard-core guys from around the country live, train, and fight together – all with one ultimate goal.”
Viewers will be able to follow the 16 fighters as they train, workout and live together. At the end of each week, one fighter from each of the two teams must fight in the Octagon® until only two remain in each of the two weight divisions. In the end, The Ultimate Fighter will be decided by a competition match -- a head-to- head fight inside the Octagon – LIVE on Spike TV.
The competitors are all accomplished athletes, disciplined in the sport of mixed martial arts which combines boxing, wrestling, judo, karate, kickboxing and Jiu-Jitsu. For seven weeks during taping, the competitors were under the strict supervision of two of the most successful and well-known UFC fighters and trainers: UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture and UFC Light Heavyweight #1 Contender Chuck Liddell.
In each episode, the competitors also will compete in team “Challenges” designed to push the fighters to the edge of their physical and mental capabilities. The challenges revolve around old-school training techniques, physical stamina and mental strategy. The team that wins the challenge controls which combatants must fight and face elimination.
The Ultimate Fighter was taped in Las Vegas at the UFC Training Center™ under the supervision of Piligian, the show’s creator and co-executive producer. Piligian, from Pilgrim Films and Television, also is known for his work on American Chopper, American Hot Rod and American Casino.
Robert Riesenberg (executive producer of NBC's The Restaurant) of Full Circle Entertainment also serves as co-executive producer. Riesenberg is president and CEO of Full Circle Entertainment, a New York Company. Full Circle Entertainment is an independent production company specializing in developing and producing programming that services the marketing needs of advertisers. Full Circle Entertainment is a wholly owned unit Omnicom Media Group, which is part of the Omnicom Group.
The UFC’s next pay-per-view telecast will be UFC 51: Super Saturday LIVE at 10 p.m. EST, Feb. 5, 2005
from the Mandalay Bay Resort &
Casino in Las Vegas, Nv. Locate the UFC on the Internet at www.ufc.tv. Networks, a division of Viacom International Inc., owns and operates the following television programming services -- MTV: MUSIC TELEVISION, MTV2, mtvU, VHI, NICKELODEON, NICK at NITE, COMEDY CENTRAL, TV LAND, SPIKE TV, CMT, NOGGIN, MTV INTERNATIONAL and THE DIGITAL SUITE FROM MTV NETWORKS, a package of 12 digital services, all of which are trademarks of MTV Networks. MTV Networks also has licensing agreements, joint ventures, and syndication deals whereby all of its programming services can be seen worldwide.
- News release from the UFC website with some editing from us (color, highlights, etc...)
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