10 UFC Events That Changed The Game

If you wanted an answer as to how UFC started to become as popular as it is today, look no further than the company's decision to produce a little reality TV series by the name of The Ultimate Fighter in 2005.

Airing off the back of WWE's Monday Night Raw on Spike TV, the show managed to retain 57% of the fans watching the wrestling show upon its debut episode - which was double what Spike TV had experienced before then.

So, it was clear that people were interested, and the first season involving Chuck Liddell taking on Randy Couture as the team's coaches ended in what many regarded to be the most influential bout in UFC history - between Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar in the TUF finale.

Despite that being the first ever MMA event available live and for free on TV, it was the first PPV event following the show that really highlighted its impact on the combat sport.

TUF coaches, Liddell and Couture, main evented the record-breaking UFC 52 and it was clear that there had been quite an influx of fans who had taken up an interest in the promotion. With a staggering $2,575,450 in ticket sales being generated (a record at the time) this really hammered home just how successful TUF had been in bringing more eyes to the product.

UFC never looked back after this event, which saw Matt Hughes and Georges St-Pierre also both claiming important victories. If you wanted to pinpoint the exact moment that UFC found itself planted into the sporting mainstream, this was undoubtedly it.