The man behind the show that changed this
sport 🫡Welcome Craig Piligian to the UFC Hall of Fame! @UltimateFighter
pic.twitter.com/s2zhRYwpql— UFC (@ufc)
January 19, 2025
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One of the key figures in the birth of “The Ultimate Fighter” will
be headed to the
UFC Hall of Fame this summer.
During the UFC 311
broadcast, it was announced that producer Craig Piligian will be
inducted into the Contributor Wing for his role in helping bring
“TUF” to life. The long-running reality show was born when Piligian
met with UFC president Dana White and former UFC CEO to “discuss an
unscripted television series aimed at showcasing and promoting the
organization’s brand and 16 athletes living together in a house
while competing for a six-figure contract with UFC,” according to a
release.
“TUF 1” debuted on Jan. 17, 2005 on Spike TV and was produced by
Piligian’s Pilgrim Media Group. The show served as something of a
launching point for the UFC, especially thanks to a memorable “TUF”
finale brawl between Forrest
Griffin and Stephan
Bonnar that exposed the sport to a new legion of fans. The show
remains a staple of UFC content, with 32 seasons completed and a
33rd set to debut this May.
“Craig Piligian is one of the most influential and
respected executives in the history of television,” White said in a
release. “Craig was instrumental in shaping ‘The Ultimate
Fighter’ into one of the most important unscripted
television shows in sports and helping make UFC a global
phenomenon. It will be an honor to induct him into the UFC Hall of
Fame this summer.”
In addition to “TUF,” Piligian was one of the original executive
producers of the CBS series “Survivor,” which earned him a
Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Non-Fiction Program in 2001. Over
the course of his career, Piligian has served as a producer on more
than 140 projects and has worked with a variety of networks such as
CBS, ABC, Spike, Lifetime, OWN, CMT, National Geographic Channel,
Discovery, per a release.