Last week the Ultimate Fighting Championship announced the 32 fighters that will compete on the 16th season of “The Ultimate Fighter.” While they will be fighting against each other for an opportunity to earn spots on the UFC’s welterweight roster, their teams will be led by two heavyweights within the organization. Shane Carwin and Roy Nelson are the coaches for this season, and they are due to face off in December at the season finale. Yet when these two athletes were announced as the coaches for this season, the response from the public was underwhelming to say the least. Looking at the UFC’s roster, there are a number of fighters who would be well-suited to deliver the kind of enthusiastic response from fans that Zuffa and FX would like, while at the same time providing much more hype to future matchups in subsequent seasons:
Winner of Benson Henderson vs. Nate Diaz against winner of Donald Cerrone vs. Anthony Pettis:
The lightweight division is in need of a superstar. Though widely considered the most exciting collection of fighters to watch on a fight by fight basis, none of the fighters have been able to become the kind of face for the organization that the weight class has needed since the departure of BJ Penn. With that in mind, focusing a TUF season around any pairing of these four individuals would be a no-brainer with potentially fantastic benefits.
If Henderson is able to defeat Diaz at UFC on Fox 5, placing him on the show with either Cerrone or Pettis comes with immediate storylines, as he has faced both of these fighters in the past. Cerrone and Henderson fought twice, in 2009 and 2010. These two athletes put on amazing fights on both occasions, and Henderson is the only individual to ever submit Cerrone. We’ve seen the talent for trash talk that Donald can bring to a bout, so a full season would give him ample time to potentially rile himself up, or rile up his opponent.
When you talk about Henderson-Pettis to MMA fans, all you have to say is “Showtime Kick.” Potentially the best highlight in mixed martial arts history, that maneuver propelled Pettis into a position of contendership that he has to date still been unable to capitalize upon. If he is able to get past Cerrone, however, his claim of number one contendership would be stronger than ever.
Nate Diaz would work well as a coaching choice alongside either Cerrone or Pettis as well. He is a former TUF champion, and knows how to bring the kind of trash talk and fiery sound bites that the show’s producers love. And although he defeated Cerrone handily when they fought at UFC 141 last year, the jawing back and forth that would ensue during a season built around a potential rematch would more than create enough hype for a second matchup between the two. In addition, the possibility of the UFC getting both Diaz brothers together in front of reality shows cameras is an opportunity they would not pass up.
Jon Jones against Chael Sonnen
Who wouldn’t watch a whole season based around this feud? If Jones and Sonnen are able to win their upcoming bouts, it is almost a certainty that they will face each other down the line. Sonnen’s gift of gab has placed him both in the crosshairs of the champion and the good graces of UFC President Dana While. Since Jones has already defeated some of the biggest names the light heavyweight division has to offer, this would give the organization an opportunity to build up new contenders like Alexander Gustaffsson.
Sonnen’s bouts against Anderson Silva were two of the biggest that the organization has been able to present to fight fans. However, one factor that held back the promotion of those fights was the fact that Silva’s English was not as strong as the UFC might have desired. Jones wouldn’t have that problem, and after the debacle of the UFC 151 cancellation, fans either love or despise him. This would be the type of coaching matchup that would grab the attention of fans, and hold it throughout the entirety of the season.
Winner of Junior dos Santos vs. Cain Velasquez against Alistair Overeem
The heavyweight division is always the darling of combat sports fans. We saw this play out with the booking of UFC 146, when the organization put forth a well-received event whose main card featured the biggest men in the sport. Yet one individual that was expected to be on the card was unable to compete due to issues with licensing. Alistair Overeem was taken off the card and removed from his position as the number one contender to Junior dos Santos’s UFC heavyweight title, but the UFC continues to consider him a top contender, and upon his return, building a TUF season around him to start the new year would be a great way to jump start this feud.
Dos Santos and Overeem have both verbally attacked each other in the media. The back and forth that we have already seen is enough to demonstrate that these two individuals do not like each other, and that reasoning would create the kind of animosity that many a TUF season has been built upon.
Velasquez was once the face that the UFC wanted to build the heavyweight division and the organization around. However, when he was defeated at UFC on Fox 1, all of that changed. While his stock hasn’t completely eroded, the UFC would still have to build him back up from “square one” if he were to defeat Dos Santos at UFC 155, and using the TUF platform could be a potential solution to that problem.
“The Ultimate Fighter” has struggled to keep the attention of mainstream and hardcore fight fans alike. Its ratings continue to drop, and the UFC needs to present big name fighters as coaches to hopefully reinvigorate the fans’ reception for the show. These suggestions would be a strong start in the right direction.
