5 times that The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) finale was changed at the last minute
The current season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF), starring coaches Alexander Volkanovski and Brian Ortega, has been received relatively well by UFC fans. However, this week has seen an unfortunate announcement regarding the finale.
Tresean Gore has been ruled out of the TUF finals with a knee injury, but this is not the first TUF finale to be changed on late notice.
With over 30 past seasons of TUF (including international seasons), numerous prior TUF finales have been altered at the last second, and not just due to injuries, too.
So with that in mind, here are five times that the TUF finale was changed at the last minute.
#5. TUF 7: Jesse Taylor removed from competition by Dana White
Easily the most controversial change to a TUF finale came during 2008’s TUF 7. Arguably the toughest version of TUF in the history of the series, fighters on this season had to compete four times – including an entry fight – in order to make it to the final.
In the end, Jesse Taylor and Amir Sadollah, both fighting under coach Forrest Griffin, made it to the final round, and were set to face off at the finale show.
However, in what was described as the craziest twist in TUF history, the final episode of the season revealed a major change to the final bout.
Taylor, who’d already shown some worrying drinking habits during his time on the reality show, was caught on CCTV going on what was described as a “drunken rampage” in Las Vegas, apparently vandalizing a limousine and harassing women.
The UFC were understandably horrified by his conduct, and subsequently decided to remove ‘JT Money’ from the final bout altogether. Beaten semi-finalists CB Dollaway and Tim Credeur then faced off for the right to face Sadollah, with Dollaway winning the decision.
In the end, Sadollah defeated Dollaway in the finale with an armbar. Taylor did make his UFC debut a month later, but in a bit of poetic justice, fell to a submission loss at the hands of none other than Dollaway.
‘JT Money’ had to wait nearly a decade for another chance with the UFC – when incredibly, he triumphed in the finals of TUF 25.