Every Wednesday evening, fight fans throughout the country get their fill of reality television by watching Spike TV and the UFC’s The Ultimate Fighter series. Aspiring professional fighters do their best, both in front of the cameras and in the cage to make names for themselves while competing for a UFC contract. Many of the sport’s bigger names were made through this show. Yet I have to ask: How relevant is TUF at its current stage?
Looking at the roster of fighters who have come from the reality series, you will see a list of former champions and contenders. MMA stars such as Rashad Evans, Diego Sanchez, and Josh Koscheck all spent time on the show. However, you would be hard pressed to find that level of star coming from these most recent seasons of the show. Look at the most recent winners, and try to pick one that will be a future champion, or even a contender. Excluding Roy Nelson and Ryan Bader, I do not believe you can find one individual who will stand out in his division. I would go as far as to say that Season 5 was the last to produce viable candidates.
To offset the lack of developing talent that is available for the show, the UFC has gone to further lengths to create more drama around the participating coaches. Each season seems to involve more and more hype over the “animosity” between the opposing coaches. Why else do you believe there was such a push to pit Chael Sonnen and Michael Bisping against one another for TUF 14? Television executives know that these two would put on a show for the fans, no matter what teams they had to work with.
I believe that the show should go back to the challenge format that made the first few seasons interesting. Instead of the numerous segments with fighters and coaches discussing matters of the house, I believe that the physical action would make the show more interesting.
Another suggestion to improve the show would be to rededicate the season finale to the entire season. Have one show card feature all the fighters from the house fighting each other. Pit teammate against teammate, or have those individuals who didn’t get a chance to fight each other square off. Accompanied by the finals of the tournament and one main event feature, this card could help create a name for one of the participating fighters.
The Ultimate Fighter played an important role in the development of the UFC, and mixed martial arts as a whole. As the breeding ground for a number of the sport’s best fighters, TUF has reached “must watch” status in the past. However, in order for the show to stay relevant, changes need to be made.
Reading people's responses to "anti-TUF" articles, I am convinced that TUF is still relevant, though maybe not to serious MMA fans. TUF reaches and entertains the lowest common denominator of UFC fan.