A View From the Cheap Seats 07.07.10: Saving The Ultimate Fighter

Posted by Scott Kuczkowski on 07.07.2010

Is The Ultimate Fighter TV show growing stale? Would it just be better if the UFC/Spike pulled the plug on it and concentrated on something else or is there hope for the beleaguered reality show? 411's Scott Kuczkowski examines...


The Ultimate Fighting Championship will be launching their 12th season of their hit reality show, The Ultimate Fighter this fall, and I for one couldn't be any less excited. The two coaches on the show, Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre and Josh Koscheck will guide opposing teams in an attempt to get over a dozen unsigned fighters the opportunity to win a "6 figure contract" with the UFC. Oh, and the coaches will fight for the Welterweight Belt afterwards too. Maybe. Actually, this doesn't always happen as advertised (more on this later).

This has been the standard for each season, and if the ratings and the opinions of the internet community are to be believed, the show has grown as stale as year old bread.

One of the show's main problems is its predictability. Each season, despite the teams and coaches, usually includes a bevy of constants:

1. There will be one fighter who becomes the consummate "prick" of the show and believes he is far and above the rest of the talent. This will be the guy who viewers want to see get his ass kicked. This person's ego and antics are sometimes fueled by alcohol, but they are normally fueled by ignorance. Despite his high opinion of himself, this person usually doesn't win the show. A litany of excuses for why they didn't win usually follows.



2. One fighter will be the star prospect of the online community before the show even starts. Unfortunately, the online community typically gets this wrong and the contestant does not win.



3. Injuries plague the contestants to the point that fighters who were previously eliminated are gifted a "do over" of sorts. This second chance rarely works out for the underdog and is normally inconsequential to the show as a whole.

4. The viewers are teased with previews of the next week's show that insinuate something monumental is going to happen, but normally it only involves Dana White showing up to yell at one or all of the contestants.


Fuckers…

5. The cardio of the contestants is embarrassing, to the point that some of the fights are barely watchable. How this happens is still a mystery to me, but here we are 5 years after the first season and some guys still can't go a hard 5 minutes in the cage.

6. Oh, and there's fights too. Lots of them. Sometimes they are good, but too often they are borderline terrible. The action in the cage is sometimes typical of an amateur level bout; sometimes even below that. Sometimes the viewers are treated to really good fights, but the consistency of these bouts is the issue.

7. A winner is declared, though the overall quality of winners has quickly declined in the years. The first two season's contestants rose to become champions, but some have barely gone .500 in their tenure.


Their next meeting could be with their walking papers

8. The entire show builds to a final fight between the opposing coaches, but this hasn't happened as often as it was supposed to. Injuries, arrests, and acting opportunities have spoiled several proposed matchups and we the viewers are left without a final payoff for our viewing dedication.

These 8 constants of the show are present in nearly every season of The Ultimate Fighter (to some extent) and after 5 years the entire premise has gotten old. The UFC and Spike need to realize that viewership is going to continue to flag if the show's format isn't changed to make it exciting and unique again. Sure, some die hard viewers will tune in anyways to watch free MMA, but the casual viewer isn't going to tune in to see the same shtick, just with different players. The Ultimate Fighters needs an infusion of new blood or it's just going to continue to spiral down in ratings until there isn't any choice but to cancel it.

Some ideas for improving/changing the show have already been floated around the web:



National teams much like the Team USA vs. Team UK Season. This would certainly add an international flare to things, but how many countries can actually field a team of 16 fighters across only 1 or 2 weight classes capable of being competitive on the show? How would the situation be addressed for teams that don't speak English? Subtitles? After Team Japan and Team Brazil, who would be left? How long could this idea conceivable work? The problems would probably outweigh the benefits of such an endeavor.

A women's season. The problem with this is that neither the WEC nor the UFC promote women's MMA, so there isn't much reason to have a season like this. Secondly, unless the coaches were Gina Carano and Christiane "Cyborg" Santos, there wouldn't even be much reason to tune in. Never mind the fact that one of those women is signed to Strikeforce and the other doesn't know if she'll ever fight again. And actually filling each of the 16 slots with women fighters capable of making the fights watchable is another issue. The truth is that the pool of credible fighters in women's MMA is still extremely shallow.



WEC edition that specialized in 145 and 135 weight classes. This would be a fresh idea in regards to having newer weight classes, and the action might be faster paced, but the whole format of the show would remain the same (stale).

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While these ideas are good, I think I have come up with some ideas to change things up a little, give the show a little bit of longevity, add some international flare (if desired), and remove some of the show's elements that have made it almost unwatchable.

It's Time for Some Changes or Time to Pull the Plug!!!

1. Get rid of the "star" coaches. The UFC has used The Ultimate Fighter as a vehicle for promoting upcoming main events and title fights, but the fact is it detracts from the show. I don't want to see a couple of grown men acting like they are in high school while they talk trash to each other in front of their stunned team. The contestants on the show deserve better than that and the coaches rarely give it to them. Plus, the payoff of such a buildup doesn't always occur. Rampage and Rashad was postponed until Rampage was done being a movie star; Chuck and Tito didn't happen due to Tito's health issues; and Serra and Hughes was delayed for over a year because of injuries. Plus, filming the show ties up the champion and challenger for the entire time the show is taped. I say stop having coaches that are already fighters in the UFC.



2. While I'm getting rid of things, I also want to scrap the idea of having only 2 teams. Having only 2 teams means that if you don't have a particular feeling about any particular team or fighter, then you have to watch to see what fighter acts like a bigger ass in the pre-fight interviews and then root for his opponent. This is nonsensical. Plus, the guys on each team are actually in competition against each other. Expecting a fighter to selflessly train a teammate who is their direct competition for the 6 figure contract is a tough thing to ask for. Get rid of it.

3. The solution to #2? Have more teams. How many more? 8 of them. Does that sound like a lot? Well, let me explain. Each team will have coaches/trainers and 5 non-UFC fighters on it, with each fighter representing one of the typical UFC weight class (lightweight, welterweight, middleweight, light heavyweight, and heavyweight). With 5 fighters per team and 8 different teams, that would give us 40 fighters. 8 fighters in each weight class provides enough people to have quarterfinal bouts, semi final bouts, and finals. One of the things this naturally changes is that each season wouldn't be dedicated to just one or two weight classes; there would be the potential for new fighters to join each weight class at the conclusion of every season.

4. Where would the teams come from? That's the best part; they could come from the various teams and training camps that already exist around the world. AKA, ATT, Team Quest, Xtreme Couture, Wolfslair, Jackson's Submission, H.I.T. Squad, Black House, Sityodtong, Chute Boxe, etc…The list could go on and on. Plus, foreign gyms could also field teams to represent Brazil, Japan, Russia, or wherever. This would provide the ability for the show to more easily enter foreign markets. Each team would just have to provide a fighter for each weight class and the trainers/coaches to keep them going. The advantage is that the fighters would hail from that gym and would (should) be in shape for the show. Plus, they also would be working everyday with their normal trainers and coaches. This would alleviate the conflict of getting used to a whole new coach and staff. Plus, the teams would also be on the hook to provide replacement fighters if there is an injury. The UFC could contact each team before the show starts to make sure they can supply a fighter for each weight class and decide who the 8 teams are before the show starts.



5. The format of the show will change too. There won't be any coin tosses or fighting to get into the house. Each episode will highlight the teams competing in different events (like Seasons 1 and 2) and the winning team would be able to choose the fighters who will compete that week. Each week would feature fights from specific weight classes. So, if Team Quest wins an event, they would know beforehand they are winning the chance to choose who fights in the lightweight bout. Plus, while the winning team gets to choose who fights, they don't have to necessarily pick a fighter from their own team. For example, if Team Xtreme Couture wins whatever event is done that week, they can choose who fights in the welterweight bout. If they feel their welterweight fighter doesn't match well against any of the other fighters, they could pick the welterweight from Team AKA to fight the welterweight from Team ATT. Of course, doing this would mean the welterweight fighter from Team Xtreme Couture could be matched up against a tougher opponent in another episode, but he might also get healthy (and get rested) for when he does have to fight. Rules would be in place to prevent someone from fighting more than the rest of the fighters, but if weight classes are rotated each week, it should give the fighters ample time to rest and somewhat heal up between fights.

6. And look at it this way; each TUF episode has about 42-47 minutes of actually air time (without commercials). That would mean that approximately 15 minutes could feature the team competition of the week, 7 minutes could be given to profile each fighter/team, and then 15 minutes would be left for the fight. This would give the viewers a chance to learn something about the contestants and their training. The teams would be highlighted and give viewers something to connect with instead of having to watch the drunken buffoonery that goes on at the house. Changing the format also opens up the possibility to have two fights each episode if that is what the UFC wanted to do.

7. Speaking of the house; that would change too. The fighters wouldn't be thrown into a house with a bunch of booze and no rules. Each team would live separately with their trainers and coaches in dormitory areas that would include bedrooms and bathrooms. The living areas for each team would all connect to one central kitchen and entertainment area, but each team could still retreat back to their own living space if they wanted to avoid another team's drama. This would allow the coaches to observe their fighters and keep them mentally on track. It would also cut down on the stupid antics that might have created entertaining reality TV but ultimately made the sport and fighters look ridiculous.



Does this sound a little like the old IFL system? It kind of is, but this would create a show where newer fighters would get more exposure than on the current TUF model. The gyms/teams would also get a lot of publicity, which could also contribute to the overall growth of MMA in general. Opening the show up to 8 different teams allows them to groom fighters for future seasons and even recruit fighters to fight for them on subsequent seasons. A team that can't support bringing fighters in could sit out for a few seasons and allow other teams the chance to be on the show.

Instead of awarding the winners a "6 figure" contract (because awarding five 6 figure contacts each season could get expensive), the UFC could offer the winners a 3 fight contract, with the option to resign the fighter after those 3 fights. How the UFC wants to spin/sell this is up to them, they just have to make it sound like something a young fighter would want a chance to win. This would mean that each season would potentially contribute one additional competitor to each UFC weight class or at the very least give the UFC fodder for Ultimate Fight Night preliminary bouts.

And that's my idea for saving The Ultimate Fighter. This changes the format, changes the number of fighters involved, adds some different elements, and should help keep the show "fresh".

Don't buy into my ideas? Hit me up with some of your own below. Maybe you have a winner.

That's all for this week.