It's All About How 'TUF' The Coaches Are

Alright, only 3 more weeks to go! Whoot!

This week I'm touching base on the coaches, but I'm already excited  about next weeks entry which will be about the cry babies and d*cks who've graced TUF over the 7 seasons. So please stay tuned!

As usual, please feel free to share your thoughts!

One of the biggest draws for The Ultimate Fighter has been the coaches who lead each team. Season 8 will have interim Heavyweight Champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Team Nogueira) versus his next opponent Frank Mir (Team Mir). There has already been some talk about how Mir will have his hands full with the Big Nog in their title bout at UFC 92 in December of this year, but will it have the same drama that past successful coach rivalries have had on TUF?

Let's look at some of the great coach rivalries from past years:

Season 3: Team Ortiz v. Team Shamrock
Let's be honest. The real reason we all tuned into this season was to see if there was going to be a pre-finale brawl between Ken Shamrock, a veteran of MMA, and Tito Ortiz, a young loud mouth who showed little to no respect for Shamrock.

Tension soared on the show every time the 2 of them were forced to be in the same room with each other. One episode showcased a near collision between Tito and Shamrock, both men had to be restrained by cast members and trainers.

In the end, Team Shamrock had been thoroughly beaten by Team Ortiz with only 1 of Shamrock's fighters ending up in the finale (Ed Herman). To add worse to an already bad situation for Shamrock, he was out muscled by Ortiz in their finale battle at UFC 61 ending after a mere 1 minute and 18 seconds of the first round.

Season 5: Team Pulver v. Team Penn
This season of TUF featured lightweight rivals Jens Pulver and BJ Penn whose bitter hatred stemmed from what BJ claimed was Jens Pulver living off of his decision over Penn in 2002. It seemed like a silly reason to have such a grudge against someone, but then again, it's also possible that their dislike was turned up a notch at the request of producers... but I digress.

It was all tension from the very beginning when Penn and Pulver had to choose teams. Penn decided it was appropriate to ask the would-be fighters who would like to be on Team Penn and not on Team Pulver. Ten of the sixteen fighters raised their hand, which I'm sure got under Pulver's skin more than a little bit, and that was just the beginning of a long line of personal digs between the 2 professional fighters.

It didn't really matter what Penn did, he couldn't get a break. Team Pulver delivered win after win ultimately breaking the spirit of Team Penn. To make matters worse for "Baby Jay" he also had to be on the losing end of a table tennis match between him and Pulver. Set up by Dana White, $10,000 in cash went to the winner and each member of their team received a $1,000 bonus.

At the finale it was 2 members of Team Pulver (Manny Gamburyan and Nate Diaz) who ended up fighting for the UFC contract. But in the end, it was BJ Penn who walked away the victor by defeating Jens Pulver by rear naked choke in Round 2.

What I really liked about this rivalry was the respect that the 2 ended up showing each other. It was a great moment for BJ and for fans of MMA to see the 2 of them come together as maybe not "friends" but as respected peers.

Season 6: Team Hughes v. Team Serra
I gotta tell you, this was my favorite rivalry. Yes, even more than Tito and Ken. Why? Because Matt Serra is one funny man and Matt Hughes is MMA's biggest douche.

After winning Season 4 of TUF, Serra was guaranteed a title shot which he won (against all odds) against the then Welterweight Champion, Georges St. Pierre. For season 6 of The Ultimate Fighter it was to be Team Hughes v. Team Serra and then a fight between the 2 coaches for the Welterweight Title.

I have to say, Hughes did himself no favors on this show to prove he wasn't the pulsating dick that Serra said he was. One particular moment that sticks out in my mind during that season is when Hughes made his team read the book of Ruth from the bible. It was the most masturbatory thing I've ever seen on any season of TUF. Not only was Hughes forcing these guys to read an obviously irrelevant book from the Bible (I would have chosen Job myself) but he was wasting precious training time that they all desperately need seeing as how only 2 of Hughes' guys ended up winning their fights.

In the end it was Serra left holding the bag as 2 of Hughes' guys went on to fight for the TUF title, and the highly hyped fight between Serra and Hughes was put on the back burner indefinitely while Serra had to drop out to nurse an injury. Oh well. It would have been an interesting fight to see those two finally get all that aggression and animosity out in the ring. Personally, I think Serra would have come out on top. Or maybe that's just wishful thinking.

I honestly don't think the following season of TUF with coaches Griffin and Jackson had the same tension as the ones listed above. Both guys had their moments, but for the most part they seemed like 2 really good natured guys who didn't have a serious bone to pick with each other.

Unfortunately, I think it will be the same story with the new season of TUF.I'm not sure how good Nog's english is and I am interested to see how well he can teach with a language barrier. Mir just doesn't really have a very interesting personality to me. I'm hoping the fighters more than make up for the lack of spark between the 2 head coaches.

Which brings me to the subject of my next post. Who could forget the colorful personalities that have gone through the TUF house? JT Money pissing in the corner, Gabe Rudiger missing his weight and then crying like a bitch... ahh... memories...

This post is long overdue as I promised a post once a week. I will be sure to make another post this week to make up for lost time. As usual, comments and suggestions are welcome!