Top Five Success Stories from The Ultimate Fighter Reality Series

The Ultimate Fighter has been a great vehicle for the UFC to get exposure for its product and build new stars. The Spike TV reality show, which concludes its sixth season on Dec. 8, has launched several MMA fighters' careers. Here are the top five:

1. Matt "The Terror" Serra
Serra has enjoyed a meteoric rise to stardom since winning the welterweight tournament at TUF 4 over Chris Lytle. He then captured the UFC welterweight title from Georges St.-Pierre and even served as a coach during TUF 6.

Serra recently was sidelined with an injury before he could battle fellow coach Hughes at the TUF 6 finale. Instead, Serra will watch Hughes face St. Pierre for the interim welterweight title at the Dec. 29 pay-per-view. Serra will fight the winner when he returns.

2. Rashad Evans
Evans won the heavyweight tournament in TUF 2, winning a split decision over Brad Imes. Since then, Evans has found success in the light heavyweight division. He fought to a draw with UFC superstar Tito Ortiz and knocked off Bisping in a battle of undefeated TUF alumni in the main event of UFC 78: Validation on Nov. 17, 2007.

3. Forrest Griffin
In the first season of TUF, Griffin won the light heavyweight tournament in an outstanding bout against Stephen Bonnar. Griffin won by split decision, but both men received UFC contracts after the memorable fight.

While Griffin has lost high-profile fights to Tito Ortiz and Keith Jardine, he recently bounced back with wins over Hector Ramirez and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.

4. Michael "The Count" Bisping
Bisping won the light heavyweight tournament of TUF 3 with a second-round TKO win over Josh Haynes. He remained undefeated until his narrow loss to Rashad Evans at Validation.

5. Kenny Florian
Florian actually lost in the lightweight finals of TUF 1 to Diego Sanchez, but he has persevered to build a promising UFC career. He fought on the finale shows of the next two TUF seasons, defeating Kit Cope and Sam Stout.

Those wins earned Florian a shot at UFC light heavyweight champion Sean Sherk. Although Florian lost, he has put himself right back in the title hunt with three more wins. Florian's most recent victory came by submission over Din Thomas at Ultimate Fight Night 11.

This year's winner was Mac Danzig, who dominated Tommy Spear in the finals. We will see if Danzig, who is no novice in the cage, can join St. Pierre, Serra and Hughes as the top welterweights in the UFC.