‘The Ultimate Fighter’ Season 29 to Premiere on ESPN+ in March

Do you want to be a fighter!?

TUF returns March 2021 - exclusively on #ESPNPlus pic.twitter.com/zSvCHrP27a

— UFC (@ufc) November 1, 2020

“The Ultimate Fighter” will make its return in 2021.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced during the UFC Fight Night 181 broadcast Saturday that Season 29 of the reality show will premiere on ESPN+ in March. “TUF 29” will feature bantamweights and middleweights, with tryouts for the show beginning in November.

Coaches for “TUF 29” will be announced at a later date. Initially, the promotion floated a possibility of Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor as opposing coaches, but Nurmagomedov rejected that idea and then announced his retirement after UFC 254.

According to a release, the previous 28 seasons of “TUF” will be available for fans to watch on ESPN+.

The most recent iteration of the series, “TUF 28,” premiered in August 2018 and featured Robert Whittaker and Kelvin Gastelum as opposing coaches. The show included men’s heavyweights and women’s featherweights, with Juan Espino and Macy Chiasson emerging victorious at the “TUF 28” finale.

The intial season of “TUF” launched the UFC into another level of mainstream acceptance, thanks in large part to an entertaining battle between Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar at the finale on April 9, 2005.

Over the years, the show has featured a number of prominent fighters, including Kamaru Usman, Tony Ferguson, T.J. Dillashaw, Rose Namajunas, Michael Bisping, Nate Diaz, Michael Chiesa, Al Iaquinta, Kelvin Gastelum, Rashad Evans, Uriah Hall, Diego Sanchez and John Dodson, to name a few.