Was Griffin Bonnar 1 really that important?

Dana borrowing money, no. Fertitta bros were in the hole.

The big thing that Griffin v. Bonnar did was build momentum into Couture v. Liddell and to TUF 2.
I've got a DVD in which Dana explains it pretty starkly.
IIRC he had bowed from the Fertitas to keep it afloat and they could only do a million more or something.
If the numbers for the fight weren't good, it was over.
They watched the returns and knew they'd made it.
 
No, it was an exciting fight for everyone who watched it, reguardless of their knowledge of MMA.

Go ahead, find someone who called it boring.

Definitely was not boring but also not a showcase of skill. From what I remember they just went out there and bashed each others brains in.
 
I've got a DVD in which Dana explains it pretty starkly.
IIRC he had bowed from the Fertitas to keep it afloat and they could only do a million more or something.
If the numbers for the fight weren't good, it was over.
They watched the returns and knew they'd made it.

TUF had a huge following with young men where I lived in Canada before the finale. I find that hard to believe.

I remember the Leben-Koscheck fight in particular getting very good ratings. And the entire season really. So Spike definitely would've wanted to renew.
 
I think it mattered because forest won the title right after that. It made it seem like tuf had some legitimate talent and could weed out future champs. Had forest just been destroyed by rampage, like he was with Anderson, then it wouldn't be so memorable.
 
It was on the first televised UFC event ever. I was a teenager jumping around my room watching that fight. One of the most excited times Ive ever been for a fight. It really was magical
 
Yes it was, if you are admiting you were not a fan at the time then you shouldnt even question it... admit you werent there so you simply dont know and you shouldnt question things you dont know about.
 
Definitely was not boring but also not a showcase of skill. From what I remember they just went out there and bashed each others brains in.

It was a showcase of heart.

Don't view that fight from the perspective of modern MMA standards. If the 90s was the sport in its infancy, then 2004-07 was its middle school years.

Shogun/Hendo1 wasn't a tactical and strategic showcase, but its widely considered to be one of the greatest fights of all time.
 
The FOX Sports 1 UFC era had a few bouts way more entertaining than sloppy gassed out Griffin vs Bonnar, but I didn't hear about people calling each other to watch FS1 UFC.
 
It was a showcase of heart.

Don't view that fight from the perspective of modern MMA standards. If the 90s was the sport in its infancy, then 2004-07 was its middle school years.

Shogun/Hendo1 wasn't a tactical and strategic showcase, but its widely considered to be one of the greatest fights of all time.

yea its was exciting too. There was a huge comeback and both guys were exhausted. The difference for me is those 2 guys had proven previously that they are great fighters and martial artists.

At the time of the 1st TUF i was training hardcore for a few years and it just didnt sit right that a fight with such poor technical skill is what brought it into the limelight.
 
Newbs at that time loved it, but most regulars found it annoying because of all the uneducated, casual fans that whole season brought. That fight was icing on the cake because everyone started pretending they were UFC fighters.

In retrospect it helped bring in a "golden age" of MMA, there was a time when most bars even non sports ones would get packed for ppvs.
 
You know how Dana always talks about the numbers going through the roof from people calling their friends telling them to toon in?

It's true. I remember watching it live and calling 2 different friends ordering them to turn it on ASAP.

it was huge
 
yea its was exciting too. There was a huge comeback and both guys were exhausted. The difference for me is those 2 guys had proven previously that they are great fighters and martial artists.

At the time of the 1st TUF i was training hardcore for a few years and it just didnt sit right that a fight with such poor technical skill is what brought it into the limelight.

In that era of MMA, training wasn't sophisticated enough to adapt endurance preparation from other sports.

And both Bonnar and Griffin started the fight in 5th gear, going for the KO in the 1st round, and were completely exhausted by the end of it. Each were taking as much damage as the other were putting out, and there's no question that damage sucks away endurance.

But although each of their gas tanks were empty, at the latest, half way through through the 2nd, neither were backing down. One pushed the other further and further, they were fighting like the loser gets a death sentence.

And when when the fight ended, the winner was announced, and Bonner collapsed... it wasn't acting, but he sure as hell wasn't that he fainted... it was that, after that hellacious fight, he LOST.

And thankfully, Dana and the Bros offered him a contract. The perfect storybook ending for one of the best fights ever.

Yeah, it wasn't pretty, and the best fights never are.
 
TUF had a huge following with young men where I lived in Canada before the finale. I find that hard to believe.

I remember the Leben-Koscheck fight in particular getting very good ratings. And the entire season really. So Spike definitely would've wanted to renew.
Believe it. I very much doubt Dana himself would describe it that way if it weren't true.
Not that he wouldn't lie, but he wouldn't tell an embarrassing truth. It had a following but it was floating on loans.
 
They paid a million for it. Not like it was a well oiled self sustainable machine to begin with

yes they did pay next to nothing for it but they were still losing money and if tuf 1 wasn't a hit they would had to sell or fold up shop.
 
The FOX Sports 1 UFC era had a few bouts way more entertaining than sloppy gassed out Griffin vs Bonnar, but I didn't hear about people calling each other to watch FS1 UFC.

who knows I the fox era happenes if not for the hit that tuf 1 was.
 
It was a showcase of heart.

Don't view that fight from the perspective of modern MMA standards. If the 90s was the sport in its infancy, then 2004-07 was its middle school years.

Shogun/Hendo1 wasn't a tactical and strategic showcase, but its widely considered to be one of the greatest fights of all time.

if not for the hit that tuf 1 was there might not of been a ufc 139 event./
 
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