The Ultimate Fighter: American Top Team vs. Blackzilians (also known as The Ultimate Fighter 21) was the twenty-first installment of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)-produced reality television series The Ultimate Fighter. This season was the first to feature a gym vs. gym theme.
The series was officially announced by the UFC on February 28, 2015. For the first time ever, the UFC reality series featured a format pitting two of the sport's top gyms – American Top Team and the Blackzilians – against one another. The season was filmed in South Florida, where the two camps sit just miles apart, and the competitors were welterweights from each facility. An amount of $500,000 was earned throughout the season based on wins and losses for the winning gym.
Dan Lambert heads the ATT team, and rival Glenn Robinson heads the Blackzilians club. The series prominently features the rivalry between the two camps, which developed in 2011 after a band of ATT fighters defected and started their own camp with Robinson, who is the gym's owner but not their head coach. The two gyms are located just 20 minutes apart. The teams were made up of eight up-and-coming welterweights from each gym. The 16 men shared a house in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area but instead of training amongst each other, the athletes still worked with their coaches at their respective gyms. The actual fights took place at American Top Team in Coconut Creek and the Blackzilians' Jaco Hybrid Training Center in Boca Raton. The winning fighter earned home gym control for his team for the next bout. Opponents were not revealed until weigh-ins for the first time.
Cast
Teams
American Top Team
Dan Lambert, Gym Owner
Ricardo Liborio
Marcus "Conan" Silveira
Mike Brown
Din Thomas
Brian Harris
Steve Bruno
Robbie Lawler
Blackzilians
Glenn Robinson, Gym Owner
Jorge Santiago
Greg Jones
Rashad Evans
Tyrone Spong
André Benkei
Corey Peacock
Douglas Kalman
Jason Gochez
Michael Johnson
Fighters
American Top Team
Marcelo Alfaya, Steve Carl, Nathan Coy, Michael Graves, Hayder Hassan, Sabah Homasi, Uros Jurisic, Steve Montgomery. *Montgomery was removed from the competition on episode 4 due to medical reasons. He was replaced by Cristiano Souza on episode 7.
Blackzilians
Valdir Araújo, Carrington Banks, Luiz Firmino, Jason Jackson, Vicente Luque, Andrews Nakahara, Felipe Portela, Kamaru Usman. *Nakahara was forced out of the competition on episode 7 due to a medical suspension. He was replaced by Alexandre Pimentel.