Nate Diaz and the 10 Most Colorful Characters in Ultimate Fighter History
November 26, 2013Nate Diaz and the 10 Most Colorful Characters in Ultimate Fighter History
There have been a lot of crazy people and wild characters on the set of The Ultimate Fighter.
Shocked?
Probably not. Considering it's a reality-television show designed to locate and publicize the best young cage fighters in the world, that likely doesn't come as much of a surprise.
More than that, the UFC and the show's producers have actually encouraged antisocial and reckless behavior. After all, the bigger the hijinks and the louder the trash talk, the more camera time you get.
And, in the reality-television business, camera time is the name of the game.
Of course, the craziest of them all is a little too raw to care about those kinds of games. Nate Diaz's anger, aggression and "only in California" cool were all too real. Perhaps that's why fans seemed to love him so much?
Diaz, who takes on fellow TUF veteran Gray Maynard in the main event of The Ultimate Fighter 18 finale this Saturday on Fox Sports 1, had his ultimate reality television moment opposite Karo Parisyan in the show's fifth season.
Diaz tried to keep his head. But there is only so much tough talk and play slapping a man can take. Especially when that man's last name is Diaz.
"Do you know who I am?" Parisyan asked as the situation escalated, his self-regard both perplexing and comical.
Diaz, in fact, knew exactly who Parisyan was. Karo had fought his brother Nick three years earlier. Diaz just didn't care, putting his mean mug on and pacing back and forth.
"I'm going to pop him if he gets near me," Diaz said to no one in particular. "How about that? I'm not trying to have no conversation with that dude. I don't even like him, bro."
Cooler heads prevailed. It was the one time in human history that cooler heads prevailing was the worst thing possible. Instead of a giant brawl, Parisyan eventually just got bored and left.
Luckily, since it was his show, Diaz got the last word.
"Learn how to act," Diaz said. "You don't come up grabbing people. Everybody knows that...F@ck that guy."
It was the greatest moment in the show's history, courtesy of its most colorful character. But Diaz is not alone. Here are 10 other standouts who helped make The Ultimate Fighter both beloved and reviled.
Have some to add to the list? Let me know in the comments.
Michael Bisping
Season
The Ultimate Fighter 3
Finish
Won the season three light heavyweight tournament.
Highlight
Bisping, smarting from coach Tito Ortiz's perceived favoritism towards fellow wrestler Matt Hamill, lets his frustration get the better of him during training and in a subsequent drunken tirade.
Kendall Grove/Solomon Hutcherson
Season
The Ultimate Fighter 3
Finish
Hutcherson lost in the elimination round to Rory Singer.
Grove won the Season 3 middleweight tournament.
Highlight
The two middleweights blurred the line between Team Ortiz and Team Shamrock by creating their own entity—Team Dagger. The two, particularly the very funny Hutcherson, helped liven up the house during one of the show's most contentious seasons.
Jesse Taylor
Season
The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rampage vs. Team Forrest
Finish
Taylor was eliminated from the show after beating Tim Credeur in the semifinals when he went on a drunken Las Vegas tirade after the show finished taping.
Highlight
Did you read the above? "I just kept drinking and drinking," is how Taylor explained it, never a good way to begin a description of a night gone wrong, one that included kicking out the window of a limo. Dana White was not amused."
This is my town, bro," he told a crestfallen Taylor before kicking him off the show. "I know f*cking everything that goes on."