Chuck Liddell talks expansion and growth of TUF

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"I always thought it would get this big, but I thought it would take a little more time. The big thing we always talked about was getting free fights on TV so people could see what a great sport it is. A lot of people heard about it, but it was all pay-per-view, and you're not going to spend $40 to watch something you heard about for the first time. [The Ultimate Fighter] was a great way to sneak fights on TV.

"I really argued against [Tito Ortiz] being a coach because I didn't want to give him any press or give people a reason to talk about him. I thought after that last fight that he had, he looked so bad that he was done. Nobody wants to see him fight anymore and everyone is tired of hearing his excuses about why he loses a fight. I guess I understand because people know there is a rivalry and we don't like each other and they really think that would sell. It always had to do with the press and the things he's done outside the ring that really bothered me. I still consider this fight as a tune up fight for me, but he did enough stuff in the first week... I'm ready to hurt him now. He did the dumbest thing he could do... piss me off and motivate me to train for six months. I'm going to hurt him."  - Chuck Liddell

The UFC has gone from being a $2 million industry to one that is worth north of $1 million. Crowds sometimes maxed out at 1,500; now they're roughly 15,000. And, as Chuck Liddell pointed out in an interview with Time Magazine, The Ultimate Fighter played a big role, not only in having people simply watch the sport, but also to get them acclimated to it, thus catapulting its popularity and growth.

Every fan, by now, knows about the feud between Liddell and Tito Ortiz. At the end of The Ultimate Fighter 11, the two will battle it out for a third time (Liddell 2-0 Ortiz). However, even though Liddell wanted to coach, he did not want to coach alongside Ortiz. On the other hand, Ortiz, too, wanted another coach on the show. Following his loss to Forrest Griffin, he pleased with UFC President Dana White for a "TUF 11: Ortiz vs. Griffin" season so that he could have a winning record over Griffin.

Liddell and Ortiz have both served as coaches during previous seasons of TUF; Liddell coached the inaugural season, while Ortiz headed up the third.

However, there has been talk that Ortiz did not finish out the show, prompting Rich Franklin to step in for Ortiz. This news is just a rumor, but the rumor persists. Should it be true, Franklin will Liddell after the seasons concludes. The two fighters are set to meet at UFC 115, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on June 12.