The Ultimate Fighter returned for its 18th season on Wednesday night, ushering in a new era. For the first time: two female coaches, a co-ed cast, and a move to Fox Sports 1.
The two-hour season premiere saw the 32-member cast fight for spots in the house, the coaches select teams, and the first fight announcement. Next week, the training and in-house portion of the show will begin. Until then, this is the good, the bad and the ugly of the first episode of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rousey vs. Team Tate.
The Good
- Women on TUF. Period. It is nice to see them break through the glass ceiling.
- Quality female talent. Shayna Baszler, Jessamyn Duke, and plenty of others help fill the cast with some of the best fighters we have ever seen on the show. It is great to see these women get their chance to shine.
- Since the move to Fox, The Ultimate Fighter has gotten much better at storytelling. Part of that was on display in the premiere episode. They chronicled many family meetings before the fights. We got to see what and who they are fighting for. It helps the audience connect with the fighters.
- Highlighting he differences between Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate is a good thing. We will get to see two different coaching styles, and see their personalities clash. It makes for good television, and it also helps us see how fighters react to top level training on a daily basis.
- Roxanne Modafferi picked up a win, and I include it on the good list as a singular moment because it is great to see one of the best people in the sport get a win of this magnitude. She has been around a long time, and now she joins the Ultimate Fighter cast.
- “It’s easy to be hungry at the feast, but I was around when all they were serving was crumbs. That’s hunger.” – Shayna Baszler
- Rousey landed two of the best fighters on the entire show in Shayna Baszler and Jessamyn Duke. That is exciting, as they can learn a lot from the Olympian. They would have done well under Tate’s tutelage, but Rousey has proven her worth on previous TUF seasons. This could elevate the two fighters to another level. Duke could emerge as a top 10 level talent, and Baszler could look like a potential title contender.
The Bad
-
Dana
White gave a pep talk before the fights as per usual, but this time it came off the wrong way. He directed his talk only at the men, stating that they wouldn’t want to be shown up by the women. I am positive it wasn’t his intent, but it came off in a kind of misogynistic way, as if it should be emasculating to have elite-level women outperform them. -
Once
again, TUF gives away too much before the commercial break. They often give away small spoilers that hurt the effectiveness of the upcoming fight. They need to stop. - Louis Fisette mentioned that he doesn’t train hard all the time. A mark of a future champion.
-
Longtime
veterans Tara LaRosa and Tonya Evinger both dropped their fights in the premiere episode. It is mostly disappointing because they would have been the two most interesting figures in the house. And after talking trash to Tate on Twitter, it would have been amazing to see them picked to be on her team. - Tim Gorman mentioned he didn’t know who Tate was, or that he cared who she was. Seeing as how she is a former champion, and one of the highest-ranked fighters in the UFC, that isn’t a good look. Time will tell, but the vibe Gorman put off was that he was less-than-thrilled to be coached by a woman. Again, just a vibe.
The Ugly
- “You’re here to coach? Coach what?” Those were the words from Rousey when Tate showed up on the seen. Instead of remaining calm, Rousey took off in pursuit of Dana White to get an answer. Rousey thought she had been booted from the show, but regardless she shouldn’t have reacted in such a manner. A small thing, but it wasn’t a great first impression.
- David Grant had two illegal blows in his preliminary fight. Downward elbows, to the spine no less, and a knee to the head of a grounded opponent. Those were not good.
- Peggy Morgan‘s ground and pound was vicious. It was ugly in a beautiful way. She can generate some power.
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Kim
Winslow surely wasn’t auditioning for Bruce Buffer’s role. After the fights, she would raise the hands of the winner, but instead of just saying their names and methods of victory she announced it in the most awkward way. Please Kim, don’t do that again.
Next week we’ll get the first official fight: Julianna Pena (Team Tate) vs. Shayna Baszler (Team Rousey). Both were the first picks for their respective teams.
