Quote of the Day: The Accidental Success of the "U.S. vs. UK" Theme for TUF 9

by Luke Thomas on Apr 13, 2009 3:24 PM EDT in News Comment 16 comments

"We were all in a different country and we were all proud to represent the UK. We stuck together and had a real bond. We did everything together."

"It definitely mattered to us during the fights. We didn't want to lose to the Americans. We all agreed that if we couldn't win the show ourselves, we'd want another member of the UK team to win it. We didn't want an American to come out on top and were very proud to represent our country."

"America are at the forefront of MMA and we had a lot to prove on the show. We had to prove that we couldn't only hang with Americans but actually get the better of them. We Brits are always getting badmouthed on MMA forums and it was about time we were given the opportunity to show we're not as bad as people make out. Even Mike Bisping gets a hard time from a lot of American fans and he's been nothing but good for the sport."

-- Dean Amasinger, member of Team UK on this season of "The Ultimate Fighter". The theme of the season was always designed to gin up and exacerbate identity-based conflict, but not in the way it's actually unfolding. The rivalry actually tapped into the insecurities and ambitions among the British MMA fighters regarding the status and quality of the UK MMA scene. By any measure, the sport in the UK is well behind what's going on in the states, but there have been notable improvements in the UK from the creation of British-based stars to the quality and number of fight camps. And that feeling of upswing is helping to seemingly drive the British toward their goals of properly representing - and debunking what they see as old memes - their country and their ability to compete with the Americans.

It's something of an accident that SpikeTV would be able to home in on what hardcore fans discuss as prevalent issues and turn them into themes for the reality show, but it seems to have happened nonetheless. Or maybe it wasn't accidental at all.

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Does this show air in the UK? I assume it does, and I’m very interested to see those ratings.

"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito on Belfort at Affliction:DOR

by Rundownloser on Apr 13, 2009 2:37 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

It shows in Setanta, but they dont have great viewership here as its a subscription based service that requires either a digital STB (non-subscription) or Satellite/Cable (Subscription). IIRC, they have around 1.5 million subscribers (whereas Sky, the main pay tv company here, for example has nearly 10 million).

Its certainly not available to the majority, like it is on Spike in the US, is what I am trying to get at :)

by -Sam on Apr 13, 2009 3:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I thought it aired on Virgin1 (freeview) on Sunday nights?

by Chris Nelson on Apr 13, 2009 3:50 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

My bad, I thought those ones were the reruns of older seasons. I knows SS1 is also showing TUF, just assumed those were the newer ones.

by -Sam on Apr 13, 2009 4:16 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hmm. I was wondering if this season might not galvanize folks in the UK since it has these nationalist overtones, but with that sort of TV deal, I don’t know if it could really tell me that. Thanks for the info.

"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito on Belfort at Affliction:DOR

by Rundownloser on Apr 13, 2009 3:51 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Man, that must have hurt. Saying something nice about TUF. That’s a big change around here.

by The_Vig on Apr 13, 2009 2:49 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I find this statement oddly amusing.

by Cannon Jacques on Apr 13, 2009 2:55 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The last line embodies my thoughts while reading this piece. Perhaps this was the intention? Seems realistic enough. I don’t believe the premise was created purely as a change of pace.

"I hit [Evensen], and you could just see it in his head. He went, 'Oh, man. We don't have to do this anymore. I'm good. Thanks for having me. I'm going to go home now." -Pat "The Real Techno Viking" Berry

by Blackout612 on Apr 13, 2009 2:56 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I remember Dana saying he thought it was stupid and blaming the format on Spike. Maybe he’ll try to take credit now?

by subo on Apr 13, 2009 3:40 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Doubt it

I’m pretty sure he was well aware that the formula could result in this sort of dynamic. And he probably still thinks it’s a stupid idea, based on the criteria he defined as making it stupid.

by Blackout612 on Apr 13, 2009 4:00 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think the single best outcome here, in terms of an improvement for the reputation of MMA in England, is that a UK fighter not from Wolfslair wins at least one of the weight brackets. We already know Wolfslair is a legit camp; Bisping, Rampage and Kongo are tremendous representatives for it. That in mind, do any other UK fight camps stand out as being elite, or even passably competitive? If someone from an unheard-of UK fight camp takes this, it’s going to do a lot to boost the stock (or at least the visibility) of the level of training across the pond.

On the opposite end of the UK training reputation, I’m reminded of an English TUF-like TV series called “Fighting Hurts” that really showed how shallow the talent pool was/is. A lot of the contestants couldn’t do 50 push-ups at a shot, one guy’s idea of a sprawl was judo-style ukemi…it was BAD.

by Tedd Welch on Apr 13, 2009 3:14 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

There are some really good camps in England for a lot of other martial arts disciplines, boxing and kickboxing being excellent examples. BJJ is coming along, havent had a chance to go down to Roger Gracies academy in West London, but I know him and his father (Mauricio Gomes), do actually teach there. The standard at my gym (although I dont do BJJ anymore, just Muay Thai) is good as well from a European standpoint and they won a good few medals at europeans a little while back.

I think the fundamentals are in place, its taking that next step towards good MMA-centric setups and teaching.

by -Sam on Apr 13, 2009 3:33 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

That show was full of Large amounts of FAIL, but funny!

by JAYGK95 on Apr 14, 2009 9:58 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

So, by the inflection there, I’d assume that Team UK wiped the floor with team US… I thought these guys weren’t allowed to talk until each specific episode aired.

by Amsterdaam on Apr 13, 2009 4:52 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs