Dana White, Spike TV offer different versions of ‘The Ultimate Fighter 1'

The story of the UFC’s turnaround on Spike TV with “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series is, by now, a well-known piece of MMA history.

The key players in the show’s birth disagree on how it came into the world, much as they do about their relative contributions to its success. But there’s no disputing the beginning was a rocky one.

Well into filming the show, which was bankrolled entirely by UFC owners Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta, the cast threatened to strike when they heard contestants on the boxing reality show “The Contender” were getting paid to fight. UFC President Dana White heard about the potential mutiny and rushed to the gym, where he gave his famous “Do you want to be a fighter?” speech.

Filming continued, the show drew strong ratings for Spike TV, and the season-ending live finale provided the catalyst for the sport’s explosive growth.

White said that wasn’t the only battle he fought during that inaugural season. Speaking to reporters following a press conference for the UFC’s 20th anniversary event, UFC 167, he claimed a corporate upheaval at Spike TV threatened to derail the show before it ever aired.

“Yeah, Spike said they would air it, but Spike TV was a mess,” he said. “A mess.”

A Spike TV rep disputed White’s characterization of the situation, stating via email that the channel was a top-five network in key demographics with “the No. #1 show in all of cable – ‘WWE Raw.’”

“Spike was hardly a mess,” Spike Senior Vice President of Communications David Schwarz wrote to MMAjunkie.

White, however, said that a management change put the show in jeopardy. He said halfway through filming “TUF 1,” the cable channel’s founder and president, Albie Hecht, was fired. Hecht had been an instrumental part of bringing the UFC to Spike TV, and without him, the UFC was unsure whether the promotion’s time-buy deal would hold. Worse yet, he said he wasn’t able to get an answer from the remaining staff.

“They literally went radio silent on us,” White said. “We’re sitting out there filming, and the president leaves, who agreed to this deal with us. Who knows if the new president coming on board will agree to it. Who’s the new guy going to be? What’s he going to think about MMA? Maybe he’s going to go in a completely different direction; maybe he doesn’t want the spring programming.”

Schwartz countered that “TUF 1? already was on the air by the time Hecht left, and added there was never a question that the show would air. He said he and other Spike TV execs were present on set, as well.

As White tells it, however, he made several trips to Spike’s headquarters to get an answer about the show’s fate. As he did, the middleweight and light-heavyweight contestants fought inside the octagon, and sometimes outside it, as well.

“I can’t tell you how crazy that first season was,” he said. “I was literally living at that gym. That television office became my office. I lived at that gym the eight weeks that we filmed there, and I was literally flying back and forth between Las Vegas and New York, because it was hard to even get them on the phone. When he got fired, people were basically hiding in their cubicles, hoping they weren’t next.”

Schwartz called White’s characterization “a fabrication” and said the UFC president was introduced to Hecht’s successor, Doug Herzog, upon the changeover.

In spite of its hiccups, “TUF 1? was a ratings hit. Bolstered by the smashing success of a fight between Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar, Spike TV inked the UFC to a new deal to produce more seasons of the show with the financial backing of the cable channel. Kevin Kay, who worked closely with Hecht and the UFC in shaping the reality show, took over as Spike TV president in 2007.

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