Säsong 17 av The ultimate fighter blev en av de mest poplära som visats på flera år. Deltagaren Jimmy Quinlan ställde upp på en frågestund på Reddit, där brottaren lovade svara ärligt på precis vilken fråga som helst om vad som hände under showens gång. Det var ett löfte som nyfikna fans utnyttjade till fullo.
Säsongen saknade inte kontroversiella karaktärer. Bubba McDaniel och Josh Samman blev snabbt tittarnas främsta hatobjekt på grund av sina personligheter. Även den misstänkt sadistiske Colin Hart och socialt obekväme Uriah Hall var namn som stod ut. Quinlan fick många frågor om vilka fighters som blev rättvist porträtterade, och vilka som gav en orättvis bild av sig själva i tv-sändningen:
”Bubba at first struck me as a redneck quick tempered jerk (in some repeats this is true) but after a couple days or so getting to know him he was a real professional took MMA very seriously.”
”I don’t want to really bash anyone here, but as respectfully as possible, Uriah is kinda naive in his thinking. He would joke around with you but as soon as you gave it back he would snap. Uriah was a person I had to be very careful busting his balls because he would snap and get really upset.”
”(Colin Hart) was VERY awkward and told horribly offensive jokes … something about killing babies mixed with grandmother incest woman’s rights joke. Don’t remember it exactly. I think I blocked most of it out.”
”Easiest was Tor (Troeng) or Zak (Cummings)… great guys very even tempered and cooked for everyone. Zak was like the father of our team in the house. Hardest was Josh at first cause I hated his condescending arrogance, but then as I got to know him he was actually really smart and good to talk to. Uriah became the hardest to live with because he took everything so personal all the time. Tor Troeng was a really great guy… very logical very smart. He was very similar to me in personality but because of the language barrier I think they didn’t use much of his interviews.”
Quinlan fick även frågor om hur isolerade fighters är i huset, och hur mycket kontakt de har med omvärlden under tiden som inspelningarna pågår:
”We were not allowed to leave the house. We could go into a gated back yard but the only time we could go out the front door is if we were getting in a van driven by the producers. No contact whatsoever with the outside world. I had to demand to know who the president of the USA was to the producers, because the election took place while we were filming.”
Quinlan gav också en beskrivning av hur inspelningen funkar i The ultimate fighter, och försäkrade att ingenting som pågår i serien sker på uppmaning från producenterna:
”There was constant surveillance on us but they only use the ”manned” cameras for TV. So if me and Uriah were gossiping in the bedroom about how much of a D-Bag Josh is, they would see us and listen to us and send a camera in to capture it. At which point we didn’t want to look like gossiping little bitches and we would shut up. The producers never once asked me to do a single thing. You don’t interact with them in any way, past when you do your confessional interviews in the back. They ask leading questions but they NEVER ask you to do or say anything.”
Säsong 17 hade betydligt mindre drama och kaos än tidigare säsonger. Historiskt har fylla, slagsmål och utsparkade fighters har varit inslag att räkna med. Det har spekulerats om att produktionen tog bort alkohol ur huset för att dra ner på kontroverserna, eller helt enkelt valde att klippa bort bråk och gräl. Men enligt Quinlan berodde den civiliserade stämningen på initiativ från coacherna och deltagarna som inte påverkades ens när de drack alkohol:
”Our coaches really pushed the professional angle and not to be idiots. Speaking with the producers personally they said they casted real fighters and didn’t care as much about personality. They wanted to film a documentary type feel . There was honestly almost no drama. Believe it or not there was booze EVERYWHERE and a few people were drunk almost every day after they were eliminated. The difference is we had professional athletes in the house who were unwinding and drinking responsibly after training, and not childish idiots making a mockery of the sport. Clint was drunk about 100% of the time after he was eliminated but he never drank openly.”
Quinlan fick även frågan vilka fighters som varit de bästa rent tekniskt under träningen. Något överraskande ansåg han bland annat att Troengs stående talanger var större än vad som syntes under seriens gång:
”I was definitely the best at wrestling technically and BJJ was a tossup between Kevin and I. Then as far as technical striking hard to know for sure but I think Tor was probably the best technically. As far as total MMA game Kelvin put it together better than anyone.”
Eftersom Quinlan lovat att svara uppriktigt på vilken fråga som helst, kom det förstås en del nyfikna frågor gällande hur fighters tog hand om sina intima behov. Quinlan levererade på sitt löfte och svarade efter förmåga:
”I can honestly say I never attempted this is the house… It was very awkward even to take a shit because of being video and audio recorded. I was constipated the whole first week. I can’t even imagine what it would have taken to get in the right frame of mind to make jerking off enjoyable. I hope my mother doesn’t read this… I occasionally wore sandals in the shower cause that seemed to be the hotspot for some of the other guys. ”
De båda coacherna på showen, Chael Sonnen och Jon Jones, förvånade många tittare i hur de agerade i serien. Sonnen verkade vara en naturlig ledare, osjälvisk och engagerad. Samtidigt som Jones verkade vara mindre sympatisk och dessutom inte alltid fanns där för sina fighters. Quinlan, som deltog i Sonnens lag, bekräftade bilden i diplomatiska ordalag:
”Jones just missed a lot of opportunities to be there for extra stuff like open mats. And he missed a couple weigh ins… for all I know he was busy doing stuff for the UFC. I really have no idea and don’t want to judge Jon for anything he did. I can just say I was thrilled to be on Chaels team. Chaels magic was barely even seen on TV. They cut his speeches short and only gave you a glimpse into the magic that was Chael P. Sonnen.. The guy was incredible at telling motivational stories.”
Quinlan berättade även vad som hände efter att Jones förlorade ett vad mot Sonnen, och som straff skulle tvingas bära motståndarlagets tröja på ett träningspass:
”Jones didn’t teach any classes in the jersey. We were all disappointed by Jones lack of keeping his word.”