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The Ultimate Fighter 3

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The Ultimate Fighter 3 was the third season of The Ultimate Fighter. It premiered on April 6, 2006, immediately after the conclusion of UFC Ultimate Fight Night 4. The season featured sixteen fighters with still-feuding former champion Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock as coaches. The finale aired on June 24, 2006 and tied the UFC's all-time record with a 2.0 overall rating.

There were several rule changes from the previous Ultimate Fighter seasons. There were to be no team challenges. All fighters would have to win a preliminary match before advancing to the semi-finals—which in practice started the single-elimination tournament at the beginning of the series instead of near the end. The first preliminary match was set by the team who won a coin toss. All subsequent first-round match-ups were set by the team that won the previous match. Each fight was set for two rounds instead of the normal three. If there was a draw after two rounds, the match would go to a final, five-minute tiebreaker round. In such a case, the judges' final decision on the match would be based solely on the third round (unless the fight was stopped by the referee before the end of the round). Coaches were allowed to bring two other assistant coaches to assist with training, whereas in previous seasons, assistant trainers hired by the UFC worked for both camps.

This series of The Ultimate Fighter was also the first in which fighters who reside outside of North America had participated (Michael Bisping and Ross Pointon who both live in England).

As a part of their agreement to work as coaches for The Ultimate Fighter 3, Shamrock and Ortiz had a rematch of their UFC 40 fight at UFC 61, which Ortiz won.

Recently, A 5-disc DVD set of the entire season, full finale, and auditions was released in store entitled The Ultimate Fighter 3 : The Ultimate Grudge.

Contents

Cast

Coaches and Trainers

Fighters

Results

Episode 1: Fresh Meat

  • Ken Shamrock and Tito Ortiz are introduced as the coaches.
  • Team Shamrock wins the coin-toss to gain control of the first match-up.
  • Kalib Starnes of Team Shamrock defeats Mike Stine in 2:10 of Round 1 by TKO (referee stoppage).

Episode 2: The Basketball

Episode 3: Team Dagger

Episode 4: Introduction: Hitting it Hard

Episode 5: The Truce Is Over

Episode 6: The Letter

  • There is no fight in the episode, although Team Ortiz selects Josh Haynes to fight Tait Fletcher.
  • Noah Inhofer decides to quit the show and return to Yankton, South Dakota after receiving a letter informing him that his girlfriend back home believes he has cheated on her.
  • A previously eliminated fighter returns to take Inhofer's place, but it is not disclosed during the episode who this fighter is.

Episode 7: Mohawk

  • Jesse Forbes returns to Team Shamrock and takes Noah Inhofer's spot in the semi-finals.
  • Josh Haynes of Team Ortiz defeats Tait Fletcher by split decision after 2 rounds.
  • Officially, Team Ortiz retains control of the match-ups. However, as only two middleweights who have not yet fought remain, the next match will be Danny Abbadi (Team Ortiz) vs. Ed Herman (Team Shamrock).

Episode 8: The Fuse Is Lit

  • Ed Herman of Team Shamrock defeats Danny Abbadi in 4:14 of Round 1 by Armbar Submission.
  • Officially, Team Shamrock gains control of the match-ups. However, as only two light heavyweights who have not yet fought remain, the final first-round match will be Matt Hamill (Team Ortiz) vs. Mike Nickels (Team Shamrock).

Episode 9 :The Golden Boy

  • Matt Hamill of Team Ortiz defeats Mike Nickels by unanimous decision after 2 rounds.
  • Matt Hamill is sent to the hospital after his victory.
  • Semi-final matches begin next episode.
  • The way match-ups are determined appears to be changing, although it is not revealed exactly how.

Episode 10: Full House

  • Most of the first-round losers are brought back to live in the house and help train the semi-finalists.
  • Dana White proposes coaches Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock play eight ball billiards (best 2 out of 3 games) for a $10,000 prize. Shamrock wins 2 games to 0.
  • Despite winning the last match, Matt Hamill is declared out of the competition due to injury. Due to a broken nose sustained in the same fight, Mike Nickels is not an option to replace Hamill.
  • To the surprise of Dana White and both coaches, both Tait Fletcher and Kristian Rothaermel turn down offers to replace Hamill in the semi-finals.
  • Ross Pointon agrees to replace Hamill and fight in the higher 205-pound light heavyweight class despite originally entering the competition as a middleweight.
  • The semi-final match-ups are decided by Dana White and the two coaches. Fighters on the same team are now eligible to face one another.
  • The middleweight semi-final match-ups are Kendall Grove vs. Kalib Starnes and Ed Herman vs. Rory Singer.
  • The light heavyweight semi-final match-ups are Jesse Forbes vs. Josh Haynes and Michael Bisping vs. Ross Pointon.
  • All semi-final matches will be three 5-minute rounds.
  • Kendall Grove defeats Kalib Starnes in 0:30 of Round 3 by Verbal Submission (rib injury). Grove advances to the Middleweight Finals.
  • The next semi-final match will be Ed Herman vs. Rory Singer.

Episode 11: The Jungle

  • Kalib Starnes returns from the hospital and reveals his ribs were dislocated during the previous fight.
  • Rory Singer finds his property defaced and blames Ed Herman and Jesse Forbes. Singer defaces their boxing gloves and lockers and rubs Herman's gloves against his naked buttocks. In retaliation, Herman hides Singer's boxing gloves and leg guards around the gym and urinates on his headgear. Singer finds his gear missing and goes outside to confront Herman. They get into an argument and Herman and Forbes reveal that it was Kendall Grove who had been defacing Singer's gear.
  • Matt Hamill returns and is surprised to find out that he is out of the competition due to medical suspension.
  • Ed Herman defeats Rory Singer in 2:31 of Round 2 by Rear Naked Choke. Herman advances to the Middleweight Finals.

Episode 12: Bangin

  • Josh Haynes defeats Jesse Forbes in 0:18 of Round 2 by Guillotine Choke. Haynes advances to the Light Heavyweight Finals.
  • The fighters (excluding Bisping and Pointon) party wildly before the last semi-final fight and the UFC house is trashed.
  • Michael Bisping defeats Ross Pointon in 2:13 of Round 1 by Striking Submission. Bisping advances to the Light Heavyweight Finals.

The Ultimate Finale 3

Preliminary card

Main card

  • Light Heavyweight Bout: Keith Jardine vs. Wilson Gouveia
    Jardine wins by unanimous decision.
  • Middleweight Final: Kendall Grove vs. Ed Herman
    Grove wins by a close but unanimous decision with all three judges scoring the fight 29-28. Grove wins the TUF championship in the Middleweight division. Dana White grants both fighters the six-figure contract.
  • Light Heavyweight Final: Michael Bisping vs. Josh Haynes
    Bisping wins by TKO (strikes) at 4:14 of the second round. Bisping wins the championship in the Light Heavyweight division and the six-figure contract.
  • Lightweight Bout: Kenny Florian vs. Sam Stout
    Florian wins by submission (rear naked choke) at 1:46 in the first round.
  • Randy Couture was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.
  • Jens Pulver, the only Lightweight champion in UFC history, was introduced back into the UFC.
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