10 Ultimate Fighter Winners who went on to become TUF Coaches
10. Julianna Peña
Although now Julianna Peña is the Bantamweight Champion of the world, the way she got her start in the UFC was by winning The Ultimate Fighter Season 18: Team Rousey vs Team Tate, which was the first season to feature female fighters competing for a UFC contract. Miesha Tate would win the coin toss and be the first coach to choose a fighter, where she selected her teammate and friend, Julianna. Julianna would dominate her way through the tournament finishing her first two opponents by submission to secure her spot in the final against six-time Boxing World Champion, Jessica Rakoczy. Julianna would use her pressure wrestling to secure a takedown and finish her opponent using ground and pound with one second remaining in the first round. After going 6-2 in the UFC (her 2 losses coming from future champions) she got her opportunity to face the consensus greatest female fighter of all time, Amanda Nunes, where she would stay true to her word and bring the fight to Amanda, finishing her by submission in the second round. After the biggest upset of the year, a rematch was inevitable and what better way to promote a title fight than coaching on The Ultimate Fighter.
Julianna Peña and Amanda Nunes are the current coaches of The Ultimate Fighter Season 30: Team Peña vs Team Nunes, airing every Tuesday on EPSN+.
9. Efrain Escudero
One of the lesser known TUF winners, Escudero was the winner of The Ultimate Fighter Season 8: Team Nogueira vs Team Mir. He finished all his opening bouts by submission to lock himself in the finals, where he fought his teammate, Phillipe Nover. Escudero won a unanimous decision and officially signed with the promotion. Unfortunately, he would go 3-2 in his first stint in the UFC and be cut from the promotion. He made his way back into the UFC and agreed to appear as a coach alongside Kelvin Gastelum for The Ultimate Fighter Latin America 2, as he was a relatively large name among Latino fans. Enrique Barzola would win this season for Team Escudero.
8. Ross Pearson
Pearson was the winner of The Ultimate Fighter Season 9: United Kingdom vs. United States, which was the first time the show placed United States fighters against United Kingdom fighters, Pearson won his opening bouts in dominant fashion by submission, TKO and unanimous decision placing him in the final against fellow Brit, Andre Winner. All three judges awarded Pearson the unanimous decision for him to officially sign with the promotion. Pearson became a household name among English fans and the UFC decided to do a similar season, putting Australian fighters against UK fighters, with Ross Pearson and George Sotiropoulos as coaches. This season would be named “The Ultimate Fighter: Smashes” as a play on the 130-year-old cricket rivalry between England and Australia called “The Ashes”.
7. Roy Nelson
Nelson is the winner of the widely regarded best season of the show; The Ultimate Fighter Season 10: Heavyweights. This is the season that would see Kimbo Slice under the UFC banner for the first time. In the opening round of the tournament, Nelson was matched up with Slice and finished him by TKO. Nelson would continue his way through the tournament brackets by defeating Justin Wren by majority decision and James McSweeney by TKO to find himself in the final against teammate Brendan Schaub. Nelson finished Schaub by knockout in the finals to earn a UFC contract. He went on to become one of the most well-known knockout artists during his UFC career, with finishes against Stefan Struve, Matt Mitrione, Cheick Kongo, Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, Bigfoot Silva and Mirko Crocop. The UFC asked him to appear as a coach against Shane Carwin for The Ultimate Fighter Season 16: Team Carwin vs Team Nelson. Sadly, after filming, Carwin would suffer a knee injury and was unable to compete against Nelson in the final, Matt Mitrione stepped up and lost by TKO in the first round.
6. Robert Whittaker
Whittaker was the winner of The Ultimate Fighter: Smashes, and as mentioned before, this season was the first real opportunity for an Australian born fighter to break through on The Ultimate Fighter. Whittaker would finish his first two opponents by TKO in the 1st round to face off against Brad Scott in the finals. Whittaker dominated Scott in the finale, getting the nod from all three judges and securing himself a UFC contract. After a few wins and losses at Welterweight, Whittaker decided to move up to Middleweight to benefit his body and focus solely on training and not cutting weight. This move would be the best choice of Whittaker’s young career as he would go on to make an historic run through the Middleweights and become Undisputed Champion. Kelvin Gastelum, who was in a similar boat, had moved up to Middleweight and gone on a tear through the division, scoring himself a title shot against Whittaker. The two men having won The Ultimate Fighter at Welterweight and moving up to Middleweight to go on their insane KO streaks respectively perfectly set up a season for the two as coaches on The Ultimate Fighter Season 28: Heavy Hitters.
5. Kelvin Gastelum
Gastelum was the winner of The Ultimate Fighter Season 17: Team Jones vs Team Sonnen. Kelvin finished his first three opponents and was set to face Uriah Hall in the finals. Hall had scored a viral KO earlier in the season and it seemed as though huge things were coming his way, but Kelvin ended up edging a split decision in the live finale to steal the show and claim his UFC contract. Now, we start to list the only few fighters who have coached two or more times on The Ultimate Fighter, Kelvin being one of them, once on The Ultimate Fighter Latin America 2 alongside Efrain Escudero and once more on The Ultimate Fighter 28: Heavy Hitters with Robert Whittaker as an opposing coach. Kelvin was scheduled to face Whittaker for the Middleweight championship after the season aired, however, Whittaker pulled out of the event a few hours beforehand after he was forced to undergo emergency dual surgery due to an abdominal hernia of the intestine and a twisted and collapsed bowel. The two would eventually meet in the Octagon in 2021, where Whittaker scored a one-sided unanimous decision win.
4. Rashad Evans
Rashad Evans was the winner of The Ultimate Fighter Season 2: Team Hughes vs Team Franklin and after the hype the first season attracted, this season had many new people watching. These new fans would witness Rashad defeat Keith Jardine by unanimous decision and score a spot in the finals, as this season was the last of its kind to feature actual professional fights within the tournament bracket, later changing to two round exhibition bouts. Rashad would defeat Brad Imes by split decision and make his way into the UFC. Rashad would move down to Light Heavyweight and quickly climb up the rankings to face fellow Ultimate Fighter winner Forrest Griffin for the UFC Championship where Rashad won by TKO to become the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. Since then, Rashad has appeared twice as a coach, once on The Ultimate Fighter Season 10: Heavyweights with Quinton Jackson as opposing coach and on The Ultimate Fighter Season 21: American Top Team vs Blackzilians which was the first season of its kind where the two top gyms at the time went head-to-head in The Ultimate Fighter.
3. Matt Serra
Matt Serra was a winner on The Ultimate Fighter Season 4: The Comeback, which was a change to the usual formula where instead of fighters competing for a UFC contract, it was contracted fighters competing for a UFC title shot. Matt Serra would go on to win his first two fights by submission and unanimous decision and faced Chris Lytle in the finals. After a hard-fought split decision, Serra would get his hand raised and earned the right to challenge Georges St-Pierre for the Welterweight title, where he finished GSP in the 1st round to become the Welterweight Champion of the world. He became a coach only 2 seasons later on The Ultimate Fighter Season 6: Team Hughes vs Team Serra.
2. Michael Bisping
Michael Bisping was the winner of The Ultimate Fighter Season 3: Team Ortiz vs Team Shamrock, and the first non-North American to win a Ultimate Fighter competition. The fans loved the energy and drama that Michael brought to the show, so much so that the promotion decided to create a season based on the USA and UK rivalry and have Michael on board as a coach against bitter rival Dan Henderson on The Ultimate Fighter Season 9: Team United States vs Team United Kingdom. After the huge success of Bisping as a coach and personality on the show, he would be offered a second appearance as a coach on The Ultimate Fighter Season 14: Team Bisping vs Team Miller, originally scheduled to have Chael Sonnen as the opposing coach, Jason Miller offered to step in if Sonnen was unable, very shortly after Dana White confirmed the coaches would be Bisping and Miller.
1. Forrest Griffin
Forrest Griffin was the official winner of the inaugural season; he was given the nod by all three judges even though he had just been toe-to-toe in a very close fight against Stephen Bonnar. Dana White awarded both men contracts as they put on one of the greatest fights of all time. Forrest became a coach on The Ultimate Fighter Season 7: Team Rampage vs Team Forrest which was seen with great success. He then made his second coaching appearance on The Ultimate Fighter Latin America 3 against opposing coach, Chuck Liddell. Forrest has been a guest coach countless times due to his incredible knowledge on fighting and training and with his current role as Vice President of Athlete Development for the UFC.
