"We have a lot of fighters. We have a lot of guys under contract, and it's basically a math game. We have X amount of fighters, three fights a year. That's why earlier on when TUF first launched, we were just building. We were building the sport, building the brand, building everything. Now we're at a point where we're doing fights all over the world. This season is so (expletive) good, and I was so happy with all the guys, I told them, ‘Every one of you guys are going to fight. You're going to get one more chance in the UFC. Every guy here gets another chance in the UFC.' [UFC matchmaker] Joe Silva wants to (expletive) kill me."
-- Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White announced in a media scrum (watch it here) at Thursday's (Jan. 31, 2013) UFC 156 "Ultimate Media Day" that all 14 competitors who made it into the house on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 17 were offered UFC contracts. TUF 17, which airs Tuesday nights at 9 p.m. ET on FX and is coached by UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and No. 1 contender Chael Sonnen, is only two episodes into the season; however, White is already raving about the outstanding crop of middleweight prospects to come from the show and is saying each man will get at least one official fight under the UFC banner. In recent seasons, the organization has drastically cut back on the number of fighters they sign off of TUF. White explained that in the early seasons the UFC had tons of roster spots to fill, but now that well over 400 men and women are under contract, it's more of a selective process. It matters not for this season, though, as, much to the dismay of UFC matchmaker Joe Silva, the likes of Uriah Hall, Clint Hester, Zak Cummings, Tor Troeng and all the rest will get a chance to showcase their talents on the world's biggest stage.
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