Blood On The Mat 06.25.09: The Ultimate Apathy

Posted by  on 06.25.2009

411’s own Adam Tool debuts his new weekly column with a harsh and humorous look at the rate of success for “Ultimate Fighter” champions, as he tries to figure out why winning the show doesn’t really seem to matter anymore.

Here we are. The very first edition of 411mania's newest weekly MMA column. For those that don't know me, my name is Adam Tool. For the last 15 months I wrote a weekly news report called The Fightin' Stance News (catchy, eh?). I've also contributed to the zone in the form of Roundtables, Fact or Fiction, fighter profiles, video reviews, news bulletins, and I also put together our Fighter of the Month feature. My main focus each week though was the Fightin‘ Stance News, and now the time has come that I can no longer devote the time and effort needed for the heavy lifting a news report requires.

While my free time may be tightening up, my desire to write about the sport I love remains ever-present. As such the decision was made to move things up a day, providing a much needed dose of Csonka-free opinions on Thursdays. I'll still be popping up all over the zone (take that for what you will), but now I have a spot each week to voice my opinions on whatever the hell I like.

I also have a snazzy new banner.



We're almost a week removed from the cap to another season of "The Ultimate Fighter." After three months of watching 16 strangers live together, train with one another, and fight to advance in the tournaments, it all came down to the live finale in Las Vegas. It was the biggest moment in the lives of four young fighters, and the culmination of an entire season of brutal competition.

So why doesn't anybody seem to care?


These things still mean something, right?

Almost everyone in the world of online MMA journalism has focused extensively on the war in the main event between Diego Sanchez and Clay Guida, the 15 minute slugfest between Chris Lytle and Kevin Burns, or the re-emergence of Joe Stevenson following his hard-fought win over Nate Diaz. All three fights were great (hence the reason they were all awarded Fight of the Night), but isn't the whole point of The Ultimate Fighter Finale to crown The Ultimate Fighter?

Has the UFC's reality juggernaut become irrelevant in the company's ever-growing landscape? Does winning the tournament even mean anything anymore? How many questions in a row is too many?

To answer two of these questions, I'll be taking a quick look at the various season's champions. For the purpose of this discussion, we'll be ignoring season four a.k.a. "The Comeback." The point of this article is to look at the show's success/failure as a "farm league," while season four's entire purpose was trotting out old stars for one last shot at the big time. Matt Serra shocked the world and revitalized his career. Travis Lutter…not so much.


I was told that there would be cupcakes at this press conference

In terms of rating each champion, I'll be using a fair and partial system that I'll be explaining in just a bit. The rating will reflect that fighter's success in the UFC since winning their season's championship. Got it?

Let's do this thing.

Season 1: Forrest Griffin & Diego Sanchez

The original season of the show features the finest cast of all time, with more success stories than any version that followed. We sometimes forget that fighters like Kenny Florian, Josh Koscheck, Chris Leben, Mike Swick, and Nate Quarry were part of that inaugural cast, as they've become fully ingrained within the various weight classes of the UFC.

In terms of post "TUF" success, there is nobody that has achieved more than Forrest Griffin. Immensely popular right from the get-go, Griffin's style of fighting has won over fans since his epic battle with Stephan Bonnar at that first Ultimate Fighter Finale. He was the first "TUF" champion to return to the show as a coach, and that season led to Griffin's win over "Rampage" Jackson for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. For better or worse, Forrest has become the face of the UFC


Literally.

While he lost the title in his first defense, Griffin remains one of the company's most popular fighters. He'll have a job with the UFC for as long as he likes, and if he gets by Anderson Silva in August he may just find himself on the fast track to another title shot. There is no greater success to come out of the "TUF" system, hence the reason each fighter will be ranked on the Forrest Scale©. Obviously, the man himself gets full marks.



The very first man to hoist the glass trophy was Diego Sanchez. He was the favorite during the show so his win surprised no one. Once he officially joined the UFC he lived up to the potential he showcased during that first season, as he beat veteran welterweights like Nick Diaz, Karo Parisyan, and Joe Riggs. He then suffered back-to-back losses against Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch, and his momentum was stalled even more when injuries forced an eight month layoff. Now he's in the lightweight ranks and after the Guida win he's apparently the division's next #1 contender (that's what he's telling everybody, but Uncle Dana has yet to speak on the matter).


Diego…sweaty.

Other than the two losses he's been successful against everyone he's faced, and now he appears to be set for his very first title shot. We can't go the full monty but he's certainly getting there.



Season 2: Rashad Evans & Joe Stevenson

If Forrest Griffin is the model for "Ultimate Fighter" success, Rashad Evans is the one that comes closest to following it. Both fighters have several wins over mid-tier fighters. They both beat Stephan Bonnar. Neither one could beat Tito Ortiz. Each man has a significant win that got them a title shot (Rua for Griffin, Chuck for Rashad), and of course, they've both been UFC Light Heavyweight Champion.

Evans loses half a Forrest though because he's still wildly unpopular. Maybe it's residual hatred from his string of boring decision wins, or perhaps it's got something to do with his showboating style of fighting (Matt Hughes does NOT approve). Still, four and a half Forrests is pretty good, and it's not like this is the worst thing that's happened to him this year.


Famous last words: You hit like a bi…



Joe Stevenson's UFC career has been full of ups & downs. He lost his first fight after winning the show (so far he's the only "TUF" champ to do so), and it quickly became apparent that he would need to drop to lightweight in order to stay competitive. Following a four fight win streak, Joe was in the right place at the right time to get a title shot against BJ Penn. That…didn't go so well.


Squirt: It's not just a crappy soda anymore

While he was able to bounce back with a win over Gleison Tibau, Joe "Daddy" then dropped two straight against Kenny Florian and the aforementioned Sanchez. Saturday we saw him get back in the win column over another guy we'll be talking about shortly. Since his UFC career has been fairly average, he gets an average score of three Forrests.



Season 3: Michael Bisping & Kendall Grove

If I was rating each fighter on their level of douchebaggery, I'd be using Bisping's head instead of Forrest's. He spent a good deal of camera time during season three complaining about Matt Hamill (because Bisping hates it when deaf people receive special attention). At UFC 75 he got a controversial decision win over Hamill that caused his own countrymen to boo him. When he beat Chris Leben at UFC 89, he announced that his gameplan was to do just enough to win the decision. As a coach on this last season of "TUF," he picked a fight with one of the U.S. competitors by squirting water in DeMarques Johnson's face.


Is Rampage gonna have to choke a Brit?

In terms of his UFC career, Bisping has been good but not great. He's got the victories over Hamill and Leben but after that the next biggest name on his win record is Elvis Sinosic. He fell short against Rashad Evans and will likely fall short against Dan Henderson next month. If Bisping can pull off the win against Hendo, he'll find himself on the fast track to contendership. Then he can look forward to getting knocked out for the first time in his career, courtesy of Anderson Silva.



This is the point where the fighter ratings start to trend downwards, starting with this guy.


C'mon, I'm not that bad. Right guys?...Guys?

Kendall Grove was the first "Ultimate Fighter" to have his balls dangerously close to the blender. By that I mean he was the first "TUF" winner in danger of being cut from his contract. After being viciously knocked out twice in row, Grove was able to save his job with a decision win over the late Evan Tanner. Following his win over Jason Day earlier this year, Grove is now preparing for arguably the toughest opponent he's faced so far, as he'll meet BJJ ace Ricardo Almeida at UFC 101. Grove will need to win in order to prove that he can hang with the upper level fighters at middleweight, but to be honest I really don't like his chances. He could prove me wrong, but for now Kendall gets two Forrests.



Season 5: Nate Diaz

Anyone that wins "The Ultimate Fighter" is going to have a fair amount of pressure put on them, but Nate Diaz probably got more than anyone else considering that he came up in the shadow of his older brother Nick. While comparisons between the brothers can be made, it's important to note that they are not the same fighter.


Wait, what were we talking about?

Nate worked hard to forge his own path in the UFC, and he seemed to be on his way to the higher levels of competition. He won four straight fights after the Finale, but ran into a problem he couldn't solve in the form of Clay Guida. This past Saturday Diaz again fell short against Joe Stevenson, in a fight neither man could afford to lose. It's becoming clear that Diaz will need some more time to make improvements before he can really hang with the elite guys at lightweight, especially now that Guida and Stevenson have given other fighters the blueprint for beating him. We'll wait to see what happens next but for now he's won more fights than he's lost and that's good enough for two Forrests.



Season 6: Mac Danzig

At this point, I think it's fair to say that season six featured the weakest crop of talent in the show's history (although the most recent season has already made a viable claim for that distinction). Danzig won the show by beating several unimpressive fighters, and he was the clear cut favorite heading into the season anyways. Since winning the tournament Danzig has gone 1-2 in the UFC, losing a tough decision to Clay Guida and falling victim to a triangle choke by Josh Neer.

His next fight will be on the preliminary card of UFC 100, where he'll face the extremely tough Jim Miller. I'll say right now that I don't like Danzig's chances in that one and I believe he will end up being the first "Ultimate Fighter" to be cut from his contract.


The butterflies tell me you're wrong



Season 7: Amir Sadollah

In terms of crazy circumstances surrounding "Ultimate Fighter" champions, Amir's pretty much broken the wacky meter. He beat the heavily favored CB Dollaway, twice, with the same move. He won the season's tournament without a single professional fight on his record. Since winning season seven, he has yet to step foot in the octagon since, thanks to a wide range of injuries. He'll (hopefully) make his first post "TUF" appearance (and his welterweight debut) at UFC 101, but it's unclear at this point how far he can go in the UFC. It's almost unheard of for a fighter with such little experience to be competing in the octagon, but that's what winning "The Ultimate Fighter" can do.


This is how you smile when you can do nothing for a year and still have a job

While he has yet to experience any success (or failure) since winning his contract, Sadollah's run through the tournament has to considered more impressive when you look at the post show performances of Dollaway and Matt Brown (who lost to Amir in the quarterfinals). With that in mind, I feel it's fair enough to give Amir one Forrest.



Season 8: Efrain Escudero & Ryan Bader

As we get to the most recent seasons, it obviously becomes more difficult to rank the fighter's success since they've had very little octagon experience at this point. Efrain Escudero has yet to make his post "TUF" debut, after an injury forced him out of his bout with Jeremy Stephens at Fight Night 18. Instead Escudero will face Cole Miller at UFC 103, and it's hard to deny that the lanky Miller will provide a stern test for the season eight lightweight champion.


Here we see Escudero applying for a volunteer membership in the Diaz family

While we wait for Escudero to either live up to the hype or cave under the pressure, I think he deserves at least half a Forrest for beating the heavily favored Phillipe Nover in the tournament final.



Both of the season eight winners have a wealth of potential, but I have a feeling that Bader will eventually be the more successful one. The Arizona State wrestling standout has the kind of pedigree that's already been proven successful in the octagon, and he showed his superior grappling skills in his first post-show fight against Carmelo Marrero. Unfortunately, injuries suffered in that fight will keep Bader on the shelf for the rest of the year, but I think it's safe to say that we'll all be keeping an eye on him once he comes back.


While you're waiting for my return, can I tell you about this week's sale at Express For Men?



That brings us to our most recent winners, Ross Pearson and James Wilks. It's too early to really speculate on how they'll do in the UFC, but let's do it anyways.

Pearson looked less than impressive in his win over Andre Winner on Saturday. He also didn't turn too many heads by gutting out a win over Jason Dent in the semi-finals. If Pearson was unable to put away those two guys, does he really have much of a chance in the shark tank that is the UFC's lightweight division? I wouldn't give him much of a chance against the elite fighters, and I'm not sure he would fare too well against mid-level guys like Matt Wiman, Jeremy Stephens, or Gleison Tibau.

Similarly, Wilks never seemed to be anything special during his time in the house. He proved that he can beat Frank Lester, but few gave him a chance in the finals against DeMarques Johnson. Wilks surprised everyone with his dominant win over Johnson, but he faces a problem similar to Pearson's in that he'll be entering one of the toughest divisions in the sport. According to our most recent 411mania rankings, 12 of the top 15 welterweight fighters are in the UFC. Does Wilks have a chance to make any sort of dent in that weight class? It's doubtful.

It seems a bit cruel to throw the two newest champions under the bus so quickly, but the reality is that when "The Ultimate Fighter" started, the UFC was still struggling and that showed in the quality of their roster. Now the company is experiencing record growth and revenue, and as a result they've managed to stack each division with a ton of talent. This has to be the main reason why more recent show winners have struggled in their UFC careers.

Despite the fact that they don't need the show to discover new fighters anymore, "The Ultimate Fighter" soldiers on regardless. If the process is to become relevant once again, what needs to be done?

First, focus on the heavier weight classes. Of the thirteen men that have won a season's tournament, six of them currently compete at lightweight (despite the fact that the weight class has only been featured three times). The lightweight and welterweight divisions are thick enough with talent as it is. The heavyweights will be featured later this year, and it wouldn't hurt to have another season of light heavyweights afterwards.

Second, bring in better fighters. This seems like an obvious point, but what I mean is that the show's producers need to worry less about the people that fit in with the reality show side of things and more about the skill level of their cast-members. If there aren't any wacky antics in the house then just show two fights in an episode, we won't complain.

Third, focus on single tournaments in a season AND bring back the elimination round. With the show entering it's tenth season, the title of "Ultimate Fighter" gets less and less special each year. Having a single winner for each season would increase the importance of that win, as would the return of the elimination round. Season seven had 32 middleweights to start the show, and they were able to whittle that down to the 16 best guys to make it into the house. Meanwhile the upcoming season will go back to having 16 fighters hand picked for the show, and as a result we're getting stuck with Wes (fucking) Sims.

The show has already been renewed through a fourteenth season, so don't count on "The Ultimate Fighter" going away anytime soon. While producers will always look for ways to increase the show's ratings, Dana White and company should start putting more focus on discovering new and talented fighters that actually have the potential to make an impact in the UFC.

Otherwise, what the hell is the point?

Feedback is welcome at the e-mail address below, or feel free to use the comment box provided. If you can't wait until next week for more of my opinions and observations, you can always follow me on Twitter.