UFC President Dana White and partner Lorenzo Fertitta have been running the Ultimate Fighting Championship since UFC 30. During this period the "Superbowl of Mixed Martial Arts" has grown from strength to strength, and is about to be catapulted into the living rooms of more viewers internationally with the production of a 13-episode series, The Ultimate Fighter.

Dana says, "We basically hooked up with Craig Piligian, who is the producer of the first three Survivor shows, plus American Chopper, American Casino…He's a very successful TV producer. We like his work and we liked his vision on this show for the UFC. So we teamed up with him and did the old Spike TV. We're going to air 13 episodes. Basically what we've done is, we've gone out and got the best fighters in the country: guys who should already be in the UFC. But there wasn't any…you know, it's very hard to get on the UFC considering we only have six shows per year on Pay-Per-View. And on those shows we have eight fights that showcase 16 fighters. And we have 10 to 12 superstars who we have to fit into the regular cycle.

UFC 34 Randy Couture & Dana White

"So these guys on The Ultimate Fighter series should be in the UFC already, but they haven't had the opportunity. They will all live in a house together, and they will train under two different captains: Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture will be the two-team captains. Randy and Chuck will pick these fighters dodge-ball style like you did in school. You know: 'I'll take you, you and you.' By the end there will be eighteen guys and sixteen will be picked: two guys will be eliminated right off the first episode. "What's going to happen is these fighters will have different challenges they'll have to do, and guys will become eliminated. I can't really get too deep into the show, but the end result will be that there are two light heavyweights and two middleweights on the twelfth episode. Then on the thirteenth episode, we'll do a Live, two-hour fight: the first-ever free fight on free TV. Those guys will fight and the winners will get a UFC contract."

Dana says there will be fighting throughout the twelve episodes, leading up to the thirteenth and final episode, where viewers will get to see the other contestants compete. All episodes of The Ultimate Fighter will be aired on Spike TV, commencing January 15, 2005, and already many other countries have signed to pick up the show.[/p

After the 13 episodes have aired, team captains Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell will have their own battle for the UFC World Light Heavyweight Title, probably around April, at UFC 52. And although there was a lot of hype at UFC 49: Unfinished Business regarding a Couture/ Wanderlei Silva unification bout, White believes it was just that: hype. "I doubt it will happen. PRIDE talks a lot, but they don't back any of it up. I believe Wanderlei Silva will fight anybody in the world. He wants to fight, yeah. PRIDE talks a lot, but they don't back any of it up."

UFC 38 Matt Hughes & Dana White

January 2005 will mark four years since White and Fertitta purchased the UFC, and they are delighted with the surge in the company's popularity during that period. For UFC 49, over 13,000 tickets were sold to a sell-out crowd at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

"The first show we did in Atlantic City sold 3,500 tickets. We've been on sale in Atlantic City for a couple of weeks (UFC 50: The War of '04), and we've already sold more than 3,500 tickets. The sport is growing rapidly. And now with this free-TV deal we're hoping it will grow even more."[p/]

Dana, the big question from all the UFC fans in Australia: "When will the Ultimate Fighting Championships be back on in OZ?"

"We're working on that now. We're trying hard to get it back on. We weren't on for a while there in the UK either after a live event there, and we just got it back on. You can tell the fans in Australia that I won't stop until we do get it on TV in Australia. So one way or another, it's coming. It's just a matter of when."

In answer to the debate of "The Cage versus the Ring", Dana agrees the cage is more realistic, given that in the street, there is rarely a time when combatants don't end up against some type of wall, whether it be a shop front, a fence or the corner of a bar. He also lists two other reasons for preferring the cage.

"The cage is much better. It is there for the safety of the fighters. When these guys do wrestling takedowns, slams and everything else, they run the risk of falling out. I've seen guys fall out of rings many times and get hurt. Plus action wise too. When they go up against a cage, they can keep fighting. When they go in the ring, somebody's got to drag them by their feet back into the centre of the ring. And that's just goofy."

Tito, Dana, Holly, Chuck, Bruce Buffer & John Hackleman.

And what else does UFC have coming up besides this reality show The Ultimate Fighter?

"We have a lot of things coming up. We've just released the first album we've ever done and it's called Ultimate Beatdowns Vol.1. We've just released UFC 47 on DVD. The Ultimate Knockouts 1 & 2 has been the hottest selling DVD in this country in the sports category."

Dana, aren't you holding out on us? Isn't there something else coming up that you're not mentioning?

"Another TV show? Yeah, we do have another TV show. We're working on it right now, but I can't…we don't have the contract done yet. It drives me crazy to announce stuff when we don't have the deal done, 'cause you never know what can happen."

At UFC 46: Supernatural, UK's MMA star Lee Murray made a dramatic Octagon debut when he choked out Jorge Rivera. Murray was then scheduled to fight Curtis Stout at UFC 48: Pay Back, but was replaced by Trevor Prangley due to Murray's visa problems. Dana says Lee will be back.

"We'd love to see Lee Murray back. He's fighting here real soon. I'm not sure which UFC that will be because he's having a hard time getting out of his country."

Another fighter to have made a big impact on MMA fans is Belarus-born heavyweight Andrei Arlovski, who defeated fellow countryman Vladmir Matyushenko at UFC 44: Undisputed, and "Cabbage" at UFC 47: It's On!. Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir was expected to go to war with Arlovski at UFC 50, but that bout has been postponed until December, due to Mir's scheduled wedding in September.

"Definitely Andrei Arlovski is owed. He deserves a fight. It's just a matter of putting it together now. I think we'll probably do that in Japan in December for UFC 51. And that will be Frank Mir against Andrei Arlovski for the title."

Already signed for UFC 50 (22 October, 2004) are Tito Ortiz v Guy Mezger, and Matt Hughes v Georges St. Pierre for the welterweight title. And Dana White has news of a further, upcoming Ortiz bout:

"Tito Ortiz will be fighting Vitor Belfort. Win, lose or draw against Guy Mezger, Tito's going to fight Vitor ' unless he gets injured."

As the popularity of UFC continues to grow internationally, so does the standard of MMA, with the world's greatest gladiators having to strive harder and harder to compete in this modern-day Coliseum of N-H-B competition.

For all of the UFC 50 fight card and more info on upcoming UFC events, stay tuned to NEWS at Knucklepit.com and be sure to visit The Official Site Of The Ultimate Fighting Championship!.