Ranking every season of The Ultimate Fighter from best to worst
By Chad Porto
28. Season 6 – Team Hughes vs. Team Serra
This might be the most embarrassing season in retrospect. Considering the criteria we established, what did this season have to offer? Sure, Matt Hughes was a beloved icon at the time, but now he’s seen for what he is. Plus, the biggest name on the list of fighters, John Koppenhaven, is the most well-known for the worst reasons possible. Plus, Matt Serra may be a good coach, but he was no star.
27. Season 26 – A New World Champion
Unlike the first try at this concept, season 20, season 26 actually didn’t do much good for anyone. The concept saw the women attempting to create a brand new women’s flyweight division that was won by Nicco Montaño, who never defended her title. Most of the women from this crop of the show either stopped fighting soon after, have .500 or losing records mid-way through 2021, or have been largely inconsistent. Lauren Murphy may be the best fighter from the batch, and the only “name” that came out of the show is Roxanne Modafferi, and as much as fans love her, she’s near the end of her career.
26. Season 25 – Redemption (aka the one where TJ Dillashaw gets choked)
This season had the high-end drama with the coaches, but the rest of the show was a waste. They yanked Joe Stevenson out of retirement for this drek. The entire premise of the season was to bring back previous contestants to compete again. While there were some sort-of-memorable names, and of course Tim Elliot bringing back “Let me bang, bro!”, this season was a waste of time. The winner was Jesse Taylor, who first competed on the show back in the seventh season, but he ended up getting suspended for an anti-estrogen agent and never fought in the UFC again after the 25th season’s finale. In fact, of the show’s 15 fighters, only two, Dhiego Lima and James Krause are still active.