5 current UFC contenders whose TUF runs have been completely forgotten
Ever since its first season back in 2005, The Ultimate Fighter has acted as one of the UFC’s best production lines when it comes to new fighters. TUF veterans like Rashad Evans and Kamaru Usman went on to claim gold in the octagon.
While everyone remembers the likes of Kamaru Usman and Julianna Pena during their TUF runs, there are a number of current UFC contenders whose time on the reality show has been almost entirely forgotten.
This tends to be for a number of different reasons. While some washed out of the show early, others took part in the lesser-remembered international versions of the show. Regardless, they’ve become far more renowned for what they’ve done since their reality show days.
Here are five current UFC contenders whose TUF runs have been completely forgotten.
#5. Claudio Puelles – UFC lightweight (TUF: Latin America 3)
Perhaps no season of The Ultimate Fighter flew under the radar quite as much as the third season of TUF: Latin America. While the first edition of this version of the reality show was widely popular with UFC fans and led to a big finale in Mexico City, the third simply didn’t make any kind of dent at all.
The “finale” was built around a fight between Tony Ferguson and Rafael dos Anjos more than the reality show. As well as none of the losing castmates being signed by the promotion, the final, which saw Martin Bravo knock out Claudio Puelles in the second round, was quickly forgotten.
Nearly six years later, though, Puelles has developed into a genuine prospect in the lightweight division. The Peruvian fighter is currently riding a five-fight win streak, with three of those victories coming via kneebar. In fact, he hasn’t lost since that fight with Bravo.
Of course, it’s safe to say that nobody remembers his TUF run at all, probably because nobody really saw the show in the first place. As it goes, Puelles was highly impressive during his time on the show, beating three opponents, two via finishes, to make the finals.
Given that he was just 20 years old at the time, it was clear that he had some potential, but given that he took two years away from the octagon between his loss to Bravo and his current winning run, it’s probably understandable that nobody remembers his stint on TUF.