Ultimate Fighter Season 2 Tryouts: NYC

*originally published in May '05 on fullcontactfighter.com*

(May 19^th, New York City) They flew in from San Jose, California. They drove in from as far south as Atlanta, Georgia, and from as far north as Canada. They came from far and wide, these welterweight and heavyweight hopefuls, each one doing their best to shine as they grappled and boxed. Each one vying for that coveted spot on the second season of the Spike TV hit “The Ultimate Fighter”. Tryouts for the smash reality show took place at 5am today at the Renzo Gracie Academy in Manhattan, and on hand for the open casting call were UFC president Dana White and UFC veteran Matt Serra.

“We’re looking for guys that are well-rounded mixed martial artists,” said White, clipboard in hand. “We’re looking for guys that are funny, that have great TV personalities.” He added: “We’re looking for two guys – one at 170 and one at heavyweight. But we’re not just looking for guys for ‘Ultimate Fighter’. We’re also looking for guys for the UFC.”

As White and Serra put the potential fighters through their paces, first by having them grapple each other, then by having them hit pads, a camera crew from local TV station WB11 filmed segments for their morning show (complete with antics from newsman Larry Hoff). But the real stars of the event were the fighters. So who stepped onto the mat to strut their stuff?

The experience and skill levels varied as much as their backgrounds. Aiming for the welterweight slot were the likes of Mixed Fighting Championship star Eddie Alvarez, local MMA pioneer Eddy Rolon, Serra-rep Joe Scarola, Reality Fighting/Mass Destruction vet Jerry Speigel and underground fighter Erik Uresk, to name a few. Among the heavyweights were Chris Wellisch (an American Kickboxing Academy student from California), kickboxer and sambo fighter Bernard Rutherford (from Georgia), Chris Herring (from North Carolina) and local warrior Kaream Ellington. As for the lucky two fighters who caught Dana White’s eye, who said all the right things in their interview and who made it to the next round of the screening process to join the cast of the next ‘Ultimate Fighter’, well… only time will tell.