5 TUF washouts who did surprisingly well in the UFC

For years now, The Ultimate Fighter reality series has acted as a prime breeding ground for future UFC talent. The show has produced numerous champions over its various seasons.

While everyone is aware of champions produced by TUF like Michael Bisping and Kamaru Usman, the reality show has also seen fighters fail to make a mark there, only to succeed once arriving in the UFC proper.

Some of these fighters simply improved upon arriving in the octagon, usually because of being able to train full-time. Others, meanwhile, clearly weren’t suited to the reality show environment. Either way, it’s been fascinating to see them succeed.

Here are five TUF washouts who did surprisingly well in the UFC.

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#5. Bryce Mitchell – UFC featherweight contender

Bryce Mitchell has developed into a featherweight title contender, something nobody really saw coming

This past weekend saw featherweight prospect Bryce Mitchell pick up the biggest win of his young career as he outpointed veteran Edson Barboza. The win will likely move him up into the top 10 of the division and he seems close to entering title contention in the near future.

All of this is hugely surprising when you consider that ‘Thug Nasty’ barely made a dent during his stint on TUF 27 back in 2018.

Mitchell entered the season, which saw a cast of undefeated fighters doing battle, with a record of 9-0. However, after edging out current bantamweight contender Kyler Phillips in his first bout, he was submitted by eventual winner Brad Katona in his second.

Given that Katona washed out of the promotion in late 2019 following two straight losses, it was probably fair to predict that Mitchell would be unlikely to find any real success in the octagon either.

However, the Arkansas native has instead managed to surprise everyone. After pulling off the UFC’s second-ever twister submission in late 2019, he’s continued to beat stronger competition, leading up to his big win last weekend.

Whether Mitchell can make it into actual title contention is still up in the air, but the fact that he’s gotten this far is definitely impressive and shows that nobody should write a fighter off just because they failed to make an impact on TUF

#4. Drew Dober – UFC lightweight

Drew Dober has done remarkably well in the octagon after improving massively following his TUF stint

Arguably the craziest TUF season of them all was 2012’s TUF 15, which aired live. That meant that the fighters were trapped in the ‘Ultimate Fighter House’ for the best part of 12 weeks solid.

However, while finalists Al Iaquinta and Michael Chiesa have gone onto plenty of success with the UFC, the next-best fighter from the season was one who didn’t even make it into the house in the first place.

Current lightweight contender Drew Dober, a striker who has become renowned for being one of the most exciting fighters to watch, was eliminated in the pre-house fights by Daron Cruickshank, who outpointed him to win a unanimous decision.

So when the promotion brought Dober in over a year later after he reeled off five straight wins on the regional circuit, nobody really expected him to make any kind of impact.

Sure enough, when he lost his first two bouts with the promotion, it looked like his stay there would be a short one. However, Dober kept plugging away and kept improving. Eventually, he put together a strong run of five wins with just one loss between 2016 and 2019, establishing himself as a fighter to watch in the process.

While he’s never quite reached title contention since, the fact that he’s a regular on UFC main cards now shows that he’s definitely got some value to the promotion. That's something that would never have been expected when he washed out of TUF.

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#3. Paulo Costa – UFC middleweight contender

Despite failing to make a mark on TUF, Paulo Costa has become one of the most feared fighters on the planet

When Paulo Costa debuted in the UFC in early 2017 and destroyed Garreth McLellan to pick up his first octagon win, he was treated like any other unbeaten prospect would be – as a talented, but largely unproven fighter.

However, while the promotion didn’t ever really mention it, hardcore fans quickly realized that they’d seen ‘The Eraser’ somewhere before.

That ‘somewhere’ was the third season of TUF: Brazil, which aired in 2014, some three years prior to Costa’s official octagon debut. Coached by bitter rivals Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva, the season was largely viewed as one of the reality show’s better efforts, particularly in the modern era.

So why had Costa’s run there gone almost entirely unnoticed? Well, probably because it wasn’t very good.

‘The Eraser’, then seen as more of a grappler than the bullying striker he would become, defeated the unknown Jose Roberto to make it to the TUF house, but then lost in his next bout to Marcio Alexandre Jr.

Costa was such a low-key character during his time on the reality show that the most notable thing about him was his apparent vanity, which was played up by his castmates far more than his fighting skills were.

When the season was over, then, it was hardly a surprise that the UFC didn’t bring him in as they did with some of his castmates. Instead, he had to wait until he’d won another five fights to make it there.

Since then, though, Costa has been by far the most successful product of his season, climbing to the top of the 185-pound division and even receiving a title shot against champion Israel Adesanya in 2020.

#2. Thiago Santos – UFC light heavyweight contender

Thiago Santos has found success in the octagon after moving up in weight substantially

Former UFC light heavyweight title challenger Thiago Santos, who is set to headline this weekend’s Fight Night event against Magomed Ankalaev, was another product of TUF: Brazil, in this case the reality show’s second season in 2013.

However, to say that ‘Marreta’, who was able to knock out the likes of Jan Blachowicz and Jimi Manuwa, is a little different to the fighter who took part on the reality show would be a massive understatement.

Santos’ time on TUF saw him defeat Gil Freitas and Pedro Irie, but losses to William Macario and eventual winner Leonardo Santos meant that his hopes of becoming a TUF champion were swiftly over.

When ‘Marreta’ then lost to Cezar Ferreira in his full octagon debut, it looked like his stint with the promotion would be short. Instead, he’s picked up numerous big wins and even challenged Jon Jones for UFC gold in 2019.

In this case, there’s an obvious explanation for Santos’ TUF failings. He competed on the reality show as a welterweight, meaning he was likely cutting a huge amount of weight to even reach the 170-pound limit.

Quite how the now-hulking 205lber ever made that weight is anyone’s guess, but it’s clear that after washing out of TUF, his decision to move up in weight has been the right one.

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#1. Brandon Moreno – former UFC flyweight champion

TUF 24 washout Brandon Moreno stunned everyone by claiming flyweight gold in 2021

Despite TUF now running for well over 30 seasons all told, the reality show has still not actually produced that many UFC champions. Of those that have been able to claim gold in the octagon, the majority won their season of TUF, meaning they were usually marked for greatness from the start.

One major exception to that rule is former flyweight kingpin Brandon Moreno, who was recently edged out by the man he defeated for the title, Deiveson Figueiredo, in a fight largely considered an instant classic.

To say that nobody really expected Moreno to get that far would be a huge understatement. The native of Mexico competed in the 24th season of TUF, which saw 16 flyweight champions from various promotions matched up in order to find a challenger for then-UFC champ Demetrious Johnson.

Moreno, who held the World Fighting Federation title, was matched in the first round with a difficult opponent in the form of Alexandre Pantoja and ended up losing via rear-naked choke in the second round.

‘The Assassin Baby’ did then debut in the octagon with three straight wins, but two losses in 2017, including another to Pantoja, saw him wash out of the promotion entirely.

When he returned in 2019, then, nobody expected him to climb to the top of the division. However, after beating Kai Kara-France, Jussier Formiga and Brandon Royval, he was granted his shot at the title and took it with both hands.

In this case, it feels like Moreno’s failings on TUF all stemmed from a bad stylistic match against Pantoja. Had he faced someone else, he may well have gone all the way and won the season. He could even have claimed gold five years before he actually did.