The TUF Get Going: The Five Best Coaches In Ultimate Fighter History

Sometimes the fighter in a camp stands out because of his talent, athleticism, ability to throw strikes from any angle, ability to take opponents down, or because he's just a tough SOB.

Lest we all forget, though, it's more than the fighter's willingness that go into the training and preparation necessary to make him the great fighter he is.

It's also the coaches that put their time in to help make the fighter who he is.

Such has been the case throughout all eleven of the previous seasons of Spike TV's The Ultimate Fighter, which usually has featured at least 16 hungry fighters looking to make themselves known as the UFC's next rising star fighter.

As far as the coaches, some have been great coaches and some coaches have just flat-out sucked.

I now present to you five of the men that are regarded as some of the show's best coaches.

How widely in regard they are as far as being the best... well that's up to you.

And Now a Word About The Champ...

Georges "Rush" St-Pierre, The UFC Welterweight Champion

Call him GSP, call him Rush, call him "the official pound-for-pound king of MMA", call him whatever you want.

He may not have seemed like it in his past couple of outings against Thiago Alves and Dan Hardy, but he's been known to push the tempo in his fights and finish them off early, hence the nickname "Rush".

One thing GSP is not is an addition to the actual top five that you're about to see.

Granted, he is mentioned on the official Ultimate Fighter website, but GSP was an adviser to the veterans featured on The Comeback as opposed to being an actual coach.

Besides, the site has his official coaching record at 20-2, the same as his official pro fight record... but he didn't coach Team No Love or Team Mojo, did he?

In any event, he will join greats like Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz, Randy Couture, Quinton Jackson, Jens Pulver, BJ Penn, and fellow Greg Jackson teammate Rashad Evans among others as having the honor of being a coach on what'll be the 12th season of TUF along with his opponent Josh Koscheck, who was a member of the original Middleweight cast with Kenny Florian, Chris Leben, Mike Swick, Bobby Southworth, and of course, Forrest Griffin and Stephen Bonnar.

Far be it from yours truly to not give the champ his mention where it's due, but he didn't coach opposite anyone for TUF 4,so he can't really make the list.

5. Matt Hughes (12-11 TUF, Seasons 2 & 6)

Team Hughes met Team "Terror" Serra onn the show's sixth season.

He had a share of issues with Rashad Evans on the show, but on the plus side, he did have Joe Stevenson on his team, and we all know how Stevenson ended up by the time the finale rolled on by.

As if that wasn't enough, he coached Tommy Speer and eventual winner Mac Danzig to the Ultimate Fighter 6 Finale, where Danzig prevailed.

While he has had the misfortune of seeing his teams suffer eleven losses in the cage, he did nab himself at least one fighter that made it to the finals, and in two instances, the man came out victorious.

Much like Hughes' pro career, the man has proven to be tough as a coach, but he's also let Rich Franklin and UFC 98 foe Matt Serra learn what happens when you count one of his boys out of the running for an Ultimate Finale

4. Minotauro Nogueira (7-5 TUF, Season 8)

Season 8 saw a different, much younger "Team Nogueira" face a team captained by Frank Mir.

Minotauro is one of the only coaches in recent seasons to have almost all of his fighters make the finals, and what a way to have them make the finals.

Efrain Escudero submitting Junie Browning, the first of three that would lead to him making the finals where he'd face eventual finalist Phillipe Nover.

The man who faces Minotauro's little brother in Indianapolis in less than two weeks, Ryand Bader, also saw himself make the finals where he'd meet Vinny Magalhaes of Team Mir.

What made Minotauro such a good coach?

He knew how to blend in the intensity and toughness of training with the feeling that his guys were really not in training at all.

And he never stepped over the line as far as being too tough or being too light hearted.

So not only was he such an easy-going coach on the show, he was also a very popular coach among the viewers at home because he wasn't really a full blown hard-ass.

3. Tito Ortiz (15-6 TUF, Seasons 3 & 11)

Tito Ortiz's recent outing in Season Eleven was only the second time he'd coached a form of "Team Punishent" on a season of TUF.

For a guy that everyone considers to be arrogant in the sport, Tito has one hell of a heart, both as a fighter and as a coach.

Though some guys did quit on him in the two seasons he coached, he never quit believing in any of his guys.

Whether it was Kris McCray, Kyacey Uscola, Matt Hamill, Michael Bisping, or Kendall Grove, he refused to quit on any member of his team because he knew that anyone who branded that bright red "Team Punishment" shirt was going to sacrifice everything just to prove that Tito didn't make a mistake in choosing them as the man that could have become the next Ultimate Fighter.

And hey, McCray lost and so did Jamie Yager, but if either man comes back into the UFC anytime soon, don't be surprised.

They may not be a part of the team, but they can still bring the punishment.

2. Randy Couture (1-7 TUF, Season 1)

Randy Couture was one of the series' original coaches.

Randy Couture had to get a mention on this list sometime.

Of course, if you're ranking based on records, I might understand why you'd think this is a little high of a ranking -- even if it's Randy Couture.

As a coach, though, the man wasn't bad at what he did, even if his record says different.

After all, he did help Stephan Bonnar get to the finals, and he didn't ever break a door or cuss out a fighter even if it meant them giving it their best in every fight.

Much like any coach, Randy had a style all his own, and it led him to be half the reason for the original TUF Light Heavyweight Final.

1. Chuck Liddell

The UFC Hall of Famer is the only coach to have coached three TUF winners (on the show) towards a UFC Contract.

Couture may have the nickname, but as far as Ultimate Fighter coaches go, The Iceman is "The Natural" at picking talent for TUF.

As a matter of fact, Diego Sanchez and Kenny Florian, the two men who fought in the first Middleweight final in TUF history, were both a part of Team Liddell before Florian was traded to Team Couture.

As was Josh Koscheck, now that we're talking about it... and of course Forrest Griffin.

Liddell also coached a legitimate member of The Pit to the six-figure contract last season when he picked -- and guided -- Court "The Crusher" McGee as part of Team Liddell.

Many know the controversy surrounding the way McGee was originally eliminated from the tournament, but The Crusher found himself redemption in the form of the show's new "wild card" rule.

While many say Liddell is done as a fighter, it'd be truthful to say that Liddell was one of the more masterful strategists on Season Eleven, picking some of the season's underdogs rather than the guys with the slickest strikes and so forth as Ortiz did.

Time will only tell whether or not Liddell will have another run as a TUF coach

Team Rush Or Team Koscheck: Who Will YOU Choose?

Team St-Pierre or Team Koscheck: Who will take it all?

Georges St-Pierre will be making his second appearance on a season of TUF, as will Josh Koscheck when the two coach their respective teams on the twelfth season of The Ultimate Fighter on September 15th.

The Season Premiere will immediately follow UFC Fight Night 22 live on Spike when it airs on what promises to be an exciting night of fights as well as a promising showcase of what could be the future at 155 pounds.

The only question now is for you, the fans of TUF and the UFC:

Team St-Pierre or Team Koscheck... Who's side are YOU on?