The man behind the show that changed this
sport đ«ĄWelcome Craig Piligian to the UFC Hall of Fame! @UltimateFighter
pic.twitter.com/s2zhRYwpqlâ UFC (@ufc)
January 19, 2025
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One of the key figures in the birth of âThe Ultimate Fighterâ 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
âTUFâ to life. The long-running reality show was born when Piligian
met with UFC president Dana White and former UFC CEO to âdiscuss an
unscripted television series aimed at showcasing and promoting the
organizationâs brand and 16 athletes living together in a house
while competing for a six-figure contract with UFC,â according to a
release.
âTUF 1â debuted on Jan. 17, 2005 on Spike TV and was produced by
Piligianâs Pilgrim Media Group. The show served as something of a
launching point for the UFC, especially thanks to a memorable âTUFâ
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.
âCraig Piligian is one of the most influential and
respected executives in the history of television,â White said in a
release. âCraig was instrumental in shaping âThe Ultimate
Fighterâ 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.â
In addition to âTUF,â Piligian was one of the original executive
producers of the CBS series âSurvivor,â 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.