The 2025 UFC Corridor of Fame class has its first inductee.
The promotion introduced Saturday throughout its UFC 311 broadcast that veteran tv producer Craig Piligian can be inducted into the Contributor Wing of the UFC Corridor of Fame throughout Worldwide Struggle Week later this yr, with a date nonetheless to be decided. Piligian is greatest identified to battle followers as the chief producer of the long-running actuality TV program The Final Fighter.
Watch video of the announcement under.
Piligian, 67, was one of many driving forces behind the creation of TUF, a present that’s extensively credited with boosting the UFC’s recognition in the course of the promotion’s increase interval within the 2000s. Premiering in 2005, the fact present competitors featured 16 fighters residing collectively in a home in Las Vegas and competing for a six-figure UFC contract.
The unique forged included a litany of future legends and fan favorites, together with season winners Forrest Griffin and Diego Sanchez, in addition to Stephan Bonnar, Kenny Florian, Josh Koscheck, Chris Leben, Nate Quarry, and Mike Swick. Griffin and Bonnar’s three-round battle on the TUF 1 Finale has been embedded in UFC mythos as arguably crucial battle in its historical past because it served to attract in an unprecedented stage of informal curiosity on free tv.
“Craig Piligian is among the most influential and revered executives within the historical past of tv,” UFC CEO Dana White mentioned in a press launch. “Craig was instrumental in shaping The Final Fighter into one of the vital unscripted tv exhibits in sports activities and serving to make UFC a world phenomenon. Will probably be an honor to induct him into the UFC Corridor of Fame this summer season.”
Piligian is also referred to as the creator of actuality TV exhibits American Chopper and Soiled Jobs, and owns an Emmy for his work as a co-producer on Survivor.
When he enters the UFC Corridor of Fame Contributor Wing this summer season, Piligian he’ll be part of a number of different notable behind-the-scenes figures, together with former Nevada State Athletic Fee director Marc Ratner (2021), UFC co-creater Artwork Davie (2018), and notorious matchmaker Joe Silva (2017).
