A Review of BET's "Iron Ring"

by Luke Thomas on Mar 17, 2008 12:49 PM EDT in News Comment 2 comments

Pramit Mohapatra thinks it's different than SpikeTV's "The Ultimate Fighter", but that may be the value-added characteristic it needs:

That's where BET's new MMA reality show Iron Rings (Tues the 18th on BET 11:00pm) may be able to pick up the slack. BET sent Fight Ticker rough cuts of the first two episodes of the show and from what I've seen, the show has potential.

Let's be clear at the outset -- Iron Rings is absolutely nothing like TUF. Whether its the format of the competition, the way Iron Rings is filmed or the fact that each show is only 30 minutes long, no one will confuse BET's approach with that of Spike TV. And, that may be a good thing.

Iron Rings feels more accessible. Tryouts are held in gyms that are a far cry from the palatial digs of UFC headquarters. The tryouts themselves seem the farthest thing from scripted -- in fact, there is a certain level of confusion and disorder captured on film that one would naturally expect from a real-life tryout.

And there's the way the show is shot. It's grittier, more dynamic, and more familiar to viewers who are used to short clips that keep things moving.

Am I actually getting curious now?

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Re: A Review of BET's "Iron Ring"

I'm going to give it a shot because...well...I'll give anything MMA related at least a shot. Hell, I even gave Rio Heroes a shot.

But I don't expect much and what I've heard from other people that have seen some rough cuts has been nowhere near as positive as Pramit's take. I've heard the term "amateurish" thrown around a lot actually.

by Brent Brookhouse on Mar 17, 2008 1:04 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs