"The Ultimate Fighter" Is Validated

by Luke Thomas on Sep 10, 2008 10:06 AM EDT in MMA News

I said as much yesterday. Adam Morgan goes further:

What we’re seeing is that these fighters may be very raw on the show but with a little bit of development after the show and some experience under their belt, they’re going to be great fighters. Griffin, Evans, and Florian are all great examples of this, specifically Evans. On the show he was considered the underdog fighter yet continued to impress each and every time he fought and now he’s undefeated in MMA with a win over one of the best fighters to ever enter the Octagon in Chuck Liddell. And not just any win. A devastating knockout win.

What we’re beginning to see now is that some of the guys from season five of the show are beginning to evolve into big names at lightweight. Guys like Nate Diaz, Joe Lauzon, and Gray Maynard are beginning to show the world that they’re not just guys from a reality show but that they’re true to life good fighters. I believe we’ll see that to a much lesser extent with season six as Mac Danzig was the only fighter who blew the rest of the competition out of the water but the verdict is still out on season seven. Amir Sadollah was the ultimate underdog going into the season but he has proven himself to be very worthy of his spot in the UFC. C.B. Dollaway could very well evolve into an elite fighter at some point down the road. Matt Brown, while not the best fighter on the show, proved himself to be vastly improved during his fight with Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 88.

In short, the show works. While we may bag on it from time to time, the show has been validated by guys like Griffin, Evans, Florian, and Koscheck. While the fighters on the show might look rudimentary in skill at the time of the show, the scouting that goes on is obviously working. It may not happen right away once they enter the UFC but that should be expected.

Sometimes I think we expect too much out of the winners of the show too soon. Is Amir Sadollah going to challenge Anderson Silva at middleweight or GSP at welterweight right now? No. Could he do so in the future? Anything’s possible. Just ask Forrest Griffin.

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Beyond the wildest of any dreams.

That show has been an absolutely ridiculous success. In all fairness, if the only thing TUF produced was the Griffin/Bonnar fight, it would have earned its place in the MMA history. But it has literally become something of a minor league system for the UFC. They’ve gotten a dozen or so top-flight fighters out of that show since its inception, a handful of which are truly worthy of title shots. Think about that for a moment.

Absolutely unbelievable job they’ve done with that show. Looking back, isn’t it hard to imagine life as an MMA fan without it?

There is no such thing as innocence, only degrees of guilt.

by misterjonez on Sep 10, 2008 10:12 AM EDT reply actions

Completely Agree!

I myself am a huge fan of the show and you hit the nail on the head. They have really gotten some decent talent out of the show. I am excited to see who comes out of Season 8, especially with all this talk of some incredibly talented kid that caught the eye of Dana White!

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by funnytiger on Sep 10, 2008 12:46 PM EDT up reply actions

Wiman?

What about Matt Wiman? 4-0 in the UFC since his appearance on TUF5, with 3 of those victories being stoppages.

by Scott Haber on Sep 10, 2008 11:46 AM EDT reply actions

Wiman...

is getting overlooked by a lot of people.

Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.

by Brent Brookhouse on Sep 10, 2008 11:52 AM EDT up reply actions

Couldn’t agree more. I think Frankie Edgar would be a fantastic opponent for Wiman’s next fight.

by Scott Haber on Sep 10, 2008 2:28 PM EDT up reply actions

All this does is get me jazzed for the next season.

by pr0cs on Sep 10, 2008 11:51 AM EDT reply actions

Word !

Thanks for mentioning Nate Diaz. I love watching him fight. He looks calm and poised in the octagon at all times and I am really looking forward to his upcoming fight. As for misterjonez comment about TUF being the minor league, I have begun to think of the WEC as the UFC’s minor league and TUF being more like American Idol / Real World (sort of kidding). I am pumped up for the next season for sure.

by Warhand on Sep 10, 2008 11:55 AM EDT reply actions

I am curious to see what the ratings will be like for the new season. TUF has definitely been validated these past few months, particularly with the Rashad win that sort of threw it over the top. I’m wondering if all that buzz now can translate to better ratings for the new season. I still think the show needs to be retooled in certain respects, but all this has got me sort of excited all over again for the show.

I only wish the coaches were different. I don’t particularly find either Mir or Nog very interesting – although Mir has sort of been winning me over from MMA Live.

by pud333 on Sep 10, 2008 11:59 AM EDT reply actions

Griffin

Griffin deserves a lot more respect than Evan does. The writer talks it up about beating Chuck but forgets that Griffin has beat Shogun who was ranked ahead of Chuck. Griffin then beat Rampage who was also ranked ahead of Chuck. Coming into the Evans fight, Chuck had lost to Rampage and Jardine and had a war win Wand. Chuck is on the downside of his career. Shogun and Rampage are not.

by MrNiceGuyMMA on Sep 10, 2008 12:01 PM EDT reply actions

Luke and Adam are guilty of counting the hits and not the misses here …

For every Forrest Griffin, there are four Lodune Sincaids, Jason Thackers, Josh Raffertys and Chris Sanfords. For every Rashad Evans there are Anthony Torreses, Tom Murphys and Sammy Morgans.

The show has run its course, as the last two seasons have proven. Danzig was the only fighter of promise to come off of Season Six, and he was already an established vet. C.B. Dollaway is the only guy to come off Season Seven with any kind of future in the UFC, and yes, I am discounting winner Amir Sadollah. When he starts going up against conditioned, seasoned UFC vets that “pound-on-me-for-two-rounds-then-I’ll-sub-you” gameplan is not going to breed longevity.

If the show is designed now to showcase just one new fighter, we can just do a one-hour “New Faces of the UFC” feature and be done with it.

The talent pool is no longer rich enough to continue to put on the show. Smaller events are a fine breeding ground for emerging fighters.

Cancel The Ultimate Fighter.

by The Ghost of Spike Owen on Sep 10, 2008 12:26 PM EDT reply actions

Who are those guys ?

"Stop smiling you are about to be punched in the face !"

by Warhand on Sep 10, 2008 1:12 PM EDT up reply actions

Yes the focus is on the hits rather than the misses, but remember the design of the show—to find future fighters for the UFC. This isn’t a quick process but takes a little while (e.g. think how long it can take professional athletes in other sports to completely wash out of said sport—it varies depending upon a number of factors), so to rebut your statement: how many of those misses are still in the UFC?

As for Sadollah, I think the jury is still out on him and it’s not completely fair to definitively say one way or another how he’ll perform. However that being said, he has done remarkably well considering that this is still a very early point in his MMA career (i.e. he came on the show with zero professional fights under his belt). This is what makes him a promising prospect; that’s the key word here, prospect. This doesn’t guarantee success by any means, however it suggests that he is more likely succeed than his peers (e.g. people with similar amounts of experience) given the appropriate amount of time to refine his raw talents.

While the MMA landscape has certainly changed since the initial season (e.g. more large organizations = more financial opportunities), remember that arguably one of the most talented casts (perhaps the most talented) was only 3 seasons ago. So yes, the past 2 seasons have not been stellar, but it’s still unclear whether this is a true downward trend or simply an aberration.

by Estrada on Sep 10, 2008 1:25 PM EDT up reply actions

@ The Ghost of Spike Owen

You make little sense.

The talent pool doesn’t just dry up all of a sudden. If anything there are a many more fighters out now than there were when the show just started. So many guys would kill to be on the show after seeing what can be accomplished.

Season 7 was perhaps not the greatest when it came to talent but Amir and CB will have a future in the UFC. You can’t discount Amir so quick. He achieved what he did without much experience. Now hes training with Forrest. We’ll know soon if he has what it takes. He certainly has the heart.

Forrest
Bonnar
Swick
Koscheck
Leben
Florian
Sanchez
Stevenson
Jardine
Rashad
Petruzelli
Bisping
Grove
Hamill
Serra
Lutter
Cote
Lytle
Lauzon
Diaz
Wiman
Sotiropoulos
Danzig
Amir
CB

Thats a LOT of quality to have come off one show. Do you also realize how the show is instrumental in attracting fans to the UFC? Without the show the UFC would have a tough time getting the casual viewers to follow the sport.

My girlfriend for example loves the show and watches the UFC events with me because of the show. Guys like us could follow it and discuss the sport on forums for hours… the casuals need something more.

by flyingknees on Sep 10, 2008 1:17 PM EDT reply actions

/clap

Good reply, well said.

by mythbuster on Sep 10, 2008 2:24 PM EDT up reply actions

In my humble opinion …

the introduction of ONE new fighter with a future in the UFC does not a six-week-run of a reality TV show warrant. And that has been the result the past two seasons.

The effort and expense of the show have not proven themselves well invested in the format in its most-recent past two iterations.

The UFC would be better served investing their marketing power in other venues.

by The Ghost of Spike Owen on Sep 10, 2008 2:06 PM EDT reply actions

Introduction of one new fighter and the introduction of MMA to a casual fan flipping channels. I think it’s a little premature to say anything about the crop of fighter produced from the last show, shit we haven’t even seen Amir’s first fight yet. Between him and CB Dolloway thats atleast two nice prospects coming from the show and the season before produced Mac Danzig and Ben Saunders who I feel are fantastic prospects plus guys like War Machine and Jared Rollins who at the very least are good fighters to throw to wolves like Yosiyuki Yoshida to showcase their talents to the states. I really do not see how the UFC could invest this money any better.

by Buddha Brown on Sep 10, 2008 2:32 PM EDT up reply actions

Wonder if Kid Nate will return to watching TUF, or maybe he will choose that BET Iron ring crap instead of TUF again this year….

by Buddha Brown on Sep 10, 2008 2:27 PM EDT reply actions

Lighten Up Spike...

While I have to agree that there are puerile elements to the content of the reality show, and that much of the adolescent macho posturing gets really old really quickly, there have certainly been enough quality fighters who have gotten a first look on TUF to validate the show. If TUF helps raise the public profile of MMA, and attracts casual fans as well as entertaining the hardcore, then there are greater chances to further promote the sport, attract a larger audience, and support bigger and more profitable events. Growing modern MMA allows all of us to enjoy this sport that we enoy, and that alone validates the show. Not to mention that we now have a UFC light heavy weight champion who came off of TUF, as well as a potential successor in Rashad Evans, another alumni.

by mu_shin on Sep 11, 2008 2:52 AM EDT reply actions