Reality Check: How “Ultimate” Is The Ultimate Fighter?

The Ultimate Fighter ( TUF ) is an exciting show that appeals to millions of viewers from all walks of life. It is credited for being the impetus to the UFC's explosion of popularity. Season 12 looks very promising with a deep talent pool and some intriguing names. But just how good are the guys in the house vying for Dana White’s five-figure contract? There have been seventeen winners so far of Spike's reality show “The Ultimate Fighter”. But what does it mean to have won this ultimate competition? (For the record, my understanding is that the tantalizing five-figure contract is $100,000 over three years which equates to 33,000/annum plus bonuses—less than an ultimate compensation to me—despite the rumours of these lucrative "secret" bonuses.)

Champeen of da' wurld

The show has produced three winners who have later won UFC titles—Matt "The Terror" Serra, Forrest Griffin and Rashad Evans. The prize for Season Four “The Comeback” was an immediate title shot. Serra shockingly upset champion Georges Saint Pierre by forcing him to tap due to strikes in one of the greatest upsets in the sport’s history. Serra subsequently lost the rematch and never defended the title.

After coaching against one another, Forrest Griffin won a tightly contested and controversial decision win over Quinton Jackson to become champ. The sheepishly charismatic Griffin lost his title in his first defense against Season Two winner Rashad Evans. Rashad, sticking with the trend, lost the belt in his first title defense against Lyoto Machida. The “Dragon” dominated Evans and won via vicious knock out, leaving the bloodied T.U.F. winner unconscious in the fetal position.

Title Contenders

Like too many shows and movies, the original has so far proven to be hard to top. Season one has shown the most success in obtaining title fights and demonstrating longevity. In addition to their champion Forrest Griffin, Diego Sanchez also fought for the title, losing decisively to B.J. Penn. Kenny Florian, the runner up to Sanchez, has fought for the belt twice and fought in a title eliminator bout for a third opportunity. He has lost in all of his championship endeavors. Nate Quarry, after discrediting Rich Franklin's KO power, was stretched out cold in the first round of his middleweight title shot against the Season two coach. Season 12's coach, and Season one semi-finalist Josh Koscheck is scheduled to fight for the title this December, thus making seven title bouts for the original lads in the house.

Season two's winner Evans held the belt, as mentioned, and the other Season two winner, Joe Stevenson, quickly succumbed to B.J. Penn whilst battling for the belt. Season Four's winner Travis Lutter lost his bout with champ Anderson Silva after starting very well, and was on the precipice of winning via triangle. ( Although, officially it was a non title bout as Lutter was overweight. )

Patrick Cote, who lost to Lutter in the finale, also earned a title shot, but lost due to a weird knee injury during the fight. Cote had nothing in the fight and was seen boasting during the fight that he had lasted past two rounds before he quit. Manny Gamburyan, the Season five runner up, lost a title shot in the W.E.C. last month. Undefeated Gray Maynard has a win over current champion Frankie Edgar and is scheduled to fight the now champion on January 1, 2011. That will make a total of 11 UFC title chances for the reality stars.

If the past decade of pop culture has taught us anything, it’s that TV and reality do not easily co-exist. This is especially relevant to a sport striving to gain credibility worldwide. There are pundits who feel that TUF fighters are given instant recognition in MMA that is not necessarily earned. Additionally, it has been claimed that they are often given “soft” fights to give them better chances to stay in the organization. Promoting a headlining fight with a TUF alumnus is easier because they are already connected with the show's fan base. This may provide bigger paychecks to TUF fighters and more spotlight than their counterparts. This could be why some of them have received their title shots. (For me, Joe Stevenson, Nate Quarry, Forrest Griffin, and Patrick Cote were surprising choices as number one contenders.)

Keep Your Eye On

Ryan Bader, the 205 pound winner from Season eight, is undefeated in the deepest division and could potentially be two or three fights away from a title showing. His toughest obstacle to date—and possibly ever—will be against Jon Jones on February 5th at UFC 126. George Sotiropoulos is undefeated in the UFC having won eight in a row. Chris Lytle is also performing well, and he could have an eliminator fight in his future. However, in this organization, any fighter is two dramatic wins from a title shot and two disappointing losses from losing their official parking space. Travis Lutter was out of the UFC one fight after losing to Silva, as was Thales Leites, Jeff Monson never returned to the UFC after losing his title bid vs. Tim Silvia etc.

In-house Fighting

Ryan Bader, coached by Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, recently earned a decision win over his T.U.F. coach's twin. Tito Ortiz vs. Matt Hammil—which Matt won a UD—showed, for the first time, coach versus direct student. At U.F.C. 83, whilst fighting Nate Quarry, Khalib Starnes, for reasons speculated to be a form of protest, spent the fight running from his fellow alumnus. Rashad Evans knocked out inaugural coach Chuck Liddel, Forrest fighting Coach Ortiz twice, ( 1-1) Rashad fought Ortiz to a draw. There have been many season champion vs champion and season member vs season member fights. Five former house members have returned as coaches (Forrest, Rashad, Bisbing, Matt Serra and Koscheck).

Worst Casting

Roy Nelson 13-4 who had already proven himself in the IFL and was reigning champion (albeit in a defunct organization) was brought onto the show. The experienced Nelson fought Schaub (4 -0), James Mcsweeney (3-4), and Kimbo (3-1). Other members of the show included Mitrione who had no pro fights. Marcus Jones (4-1), Wes Shivers (3-0).

If the purpose of the show is to find up and coming fighters, a proven vet like Nelson being on the show just did not seem to make much sense. Similarly, Mac Danzig (16-4-1) had previously fought in Pride and won the competition easily. Joe Lauzon, coached by Penn, entered the show coming off a KO win over the other coach: Jens Pulver. If Jens was good enough to coach the show and get a title shot after the show, then why would Joe not be signed directly to the UFC? 23-6 against 3-2 sound equitable? That was Season two's finale: Stevenson against Cummo (Cummo had the 3-2 record and lost the fight, but won fans and further promoted the growth of the sport).

On  a personal note, I felt that the Dread Pirate Roberts would have been an excellent cast member for The Comeback season after the impressive rear naked choke he placed on the giant Fezzik. Roberts seemed to have rode off in the sunset after that and never had an opportunity to showcase his skills in the modern MMA scene.

Life Lessons

What one can learn from watching this popular reality show.

1) Bobby Southworth taught all future TUF guys that you need to at least humour Dana during his heart to hearts, you’re on his show. Bobby lost his fight on the finale and was never invited back to the UFC. His attempts to rejoin TUF on Season 11 were rejected.

2)Lesson: Don't bite the hand before it feeds you.

3)Jesse Taylor gave us the gift of humility. While most of us have debated the grey area of kicking out limo windows and belligerently believing our profession allows us to do whatever we want, Jesse settled the issue. It turns out it is not okay. Jesse lost out on his chance to fight for the TUF title. He was later given a fight and lost. He has never been invited back.

4)Lesson: Success does not award impunity.

5)When Rich Franklin suggested dropping to one's knee to avoid head kicks, this confused many fighters on The Comeback season. As Randy said, the ref would probably just stand you up. Not to mention that one is still susceptible to punches and kicks to the rest of the body from that position. Furthermore, one has less power punching from their knees and range and mobility are hindered. There is no point in further analyzing the faults in this theory.

6)Lesson: Don't follow others blindly. Investigate and learn for yourself.

7)Jeremy Jackson was kicked off The Comeback for violating an obvious rule. He snuck out of the house to meet a girl he had met while training. He acted by believing fate was against him and he was cursed with bad luck. He is now in prison awaiting trial on felony sexual assault charges

8)Lesson: Make good choices and accept responsibility for your actions.

9)5) On this season of TUF, we began with 28 competitors. Therefore, at least 27 people will lose- maybe more with the wildcard (last season both finalists had losses ).

10)Lesson: Everybody loses, but it doesn't make you a loser. Focus on being your best—not beating others.

Potential Coaching Duels

I like Jon Jones verses Wanderlei Silva. Jones is a relative novice, but has unbelievable flash and panache. "Bones" is considered the future of the sport and providing him with this type of exposure would help the UFC tremendously. He would also bring top coaches from Greg Jackson's camp, and as Quinton said: “I'm not a coach. These guys are the coaches."

True, the coaches of the coaches should be doing the instruction. Silva is a legend and has never been in a boring fight. He is also very charismatic and has his own gym nearby the TUF center, so he could bring over lots of people to help his team. Jones is scheduled to fight Bader, but that fight makes more sense down the road as both are the elite of the prospects and are still being groomed.

Mir verses Lesnar three. Although Brock has little MMA. experience, he has a wrestling pedigree that is virtually unrivaled in the sport. He would also bring coaches Greg Nelson and Erik Paulson who are incredibly respected and are the in the crème de la crème division of coaches. This would greatly enhance the pre-fight build up and bring interest to this trilogy. I think people would want to see Brock on the show too to see how much of Brock is the "character" we see and if there is another side to him. Mir is very knowledgeable on the sport and has improved to become a very well rounded fighter. He already coached and did a great job.

George Sotiropoulos versus Clay Guida. George is performing very well and and would bring to the show his coach: Eddie Bravo. This would make for some excellent martial arts instruction and interesting banter. Currently scheduled to fight in Australia at UFC 127 against Siver, this might have to wait. Reality television was made for Clay Guida. He is very popular and has great heart. He would have plenty of air time to thank every person that he ever met. The winner could earn a title shot. Although Siver is already his scheduled opponent, I prefer this match up and scenario.

Summary

TUF is the impetus for MMA's meteoric rise. It literally changed the face of sport and launched a brand new market. Personally, I feel indebted to Dana and the show's creators for introducing me to MMA on a mainstream level. So far, of the seventeen TUF winners, none have defended a title. Personally, I believe that one reason that the show is compelling is because it is “real.“ The cast members do enter a caged octagon and do battle with a trained martial artist. They have achieved something, winning a legitimate athletic competition, far more significant than winning arbitrary challenges and races. The fact that the show springboards them into mainstream MMA before our eyes reinforces for us the authenticity of the show. There is also an appeal to allow one to cheer for a fighter, or against (think Junie Browning ) for their character. This allows people to identify with fighters as people and to connect their support of fighters with their value system. However, be your own judge as to how ultimate these fighters are!