It’s pretty standard that most members of The Ultimate Fighter don’t love seeing themselves on the show. While some fighters don’t mind seeing their own fights, seeing their every waking hour on film can be unsettling. That’s the primary reason why Xavier Franklin wasn’t interested in TUF 34. Despite the casting announcement going out for his weight class, Franklin was focused on other opportunities.
“It was kind of weird, I’m not gonna lie because I wasn’t supposed to be on the show originally. I didn’t want to be on the show – a lot of people don’t know that,” Franklin said. “Me and my manager were talking and I was having a hard time getting fights. Then LFA came around and was like we have a title shot for you, you could fight this guy for the belt. And my manager is like okay well do I want to do this? I do want to do that? I was like yeah, let’s do LFA.”
The LFA title fight was a done deal. He signed to fight Micaias Ureña at LFA 230 and then something came up. Being that it didn’t seem like it would happen, he decided to go for it.
“We signed [the LFA title fight] and everything is set to go there. My manager was like well, they’re asking if you want to do the TUF interview,” he recalled. “I mean every slot is pretty much full, but they just want to see if you want to. I would say [do it] just so you have more options.”
However, shortly after meeting with the Ultimate Fighter casting team, he got an answer back.
“I did the interview, and then literally like that day or the next day they’re like, we want him like you’re like you’re in,” Franklin said. “My manager is like, ‘so are you going to do the TUF or are you going to fight for the belt?”
The rest, they say, is history. Franklin decided to go into the house against his hatred for reality TV and, to his surprise, he has been the guy with the most airtime by a mile.
“I know a lot of people think I’m like a super big camera guy – I just was not into the reality TV thing. I was like, bro, I’m not about to be on here like Love Island. I’m not trying to do that,” he said. “Even the cast members are like ‘yeah, I’m not gonna lie you might be the star of the show.”
You can catch all of his talking heads and his upcoming fight with the aforementioned Micaias Ureña on the remaining episodes of TUF 34. Episodes drop each Tuesday on Paramount+.
