TUF 11 Will Feature 28 Middleweights, New Format
by Scott Haber on Jan 23, 2010 12:50 AM EST
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MMA Junkie has a new scoop on the 11th season of The Ultimate Fighter, set to premiere on March 31st following UFC Fight Night 21:
Straying from the normal format and surely likely to cause more than a few head scratches, Ultimate Fighting Championship and Spike TV officials today confirmed that the upcoming 11th season of "The Ultimate Fighter" will feature 28 middleweight fighters.
The show traditionally features 16 or 32 competitors because of its single-elimination tournament format, though officials promise a "new format" that will be revealed during the show's March 31 debut.
The show started filming today and the reveal of a new "format" is surprising. Starting the show with 28 fighters instead of the usual 16 or 32 certainly seems odd, as it's essentially impossible to get down to two finalists with an equal number of elimination fights. But it appears that Spike and Zuffa will be very tight-lipped about this new twist in the show until it premieres at the end of the March.
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Well, a new twist is needed.
I liked when they decided to add elimination fights at the start of the season – it actually made me want to watch those episodes.
Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. -Samuel Beckett
by Scott C. Broussard on Jan 23, 2010 12:43 AM EST reply actions
I agree
I might be a tad biast though since I train out of GMG and Kris is one of my boys.
by GoldmedalGrappling on Jan 23, 2010 1:40 AM EST up reply actions
Hopefully the New twist is 2 fights per episode and the rest just training, no in-house jackassery
by IRodC on Jan 23, 2010 1:26 AM EST reply actions 3 recs
I wish it was this.
But this is SpikeTV.
Walking the line between intelligence and ignorance since 1985
@deowade
Best of Pride got moved to 9PM? Blue State crap was played instead. Bullshit.
by snakecharmer1340 on Jan 23, 2010 1:30 AM EST reply actions
My guess is something like
they go from 28 to 14 to 7, and then some super secret middle weight comes in, giving them an even 8.
Tagteams. Obviously.
You have to be the man... you have to be very, like, alpha male with her. You know? Decide what you do and everything. So, show her who's the boss, you know? - GSP
by pud333 on Jan 23, 2010 2:04 AM EST reply actions 4 recs
Eh?
Wasn’t it 30? 29 people and the surprise guest who somehow wins the fucking thing without breaking a sweat (ala Cena)
These 28 guys (half UFC, half Strikeforce) and instead of Chuck and Tito they’re gonna have Brock and Lashley as coaches.
by ufc4 on Jan 23, 2010 9:42 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
TUF finalists wont fight each other
they will fight lower/mid-tier UFC fighters in the finale to earn their way into the UFC. Maybe previous TUF contestants?
Thats my prediction.
"The path to enlightenment is through suffering"
by RearNakedChoker on Jan 23, 2010 5:51 AM EST reply actions
That’s a cool idea but what if none of the TUF guys win? That’d basically be like wasting a whole season of the show.
by ufc4 on Jan 23, 2010 9:45 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
Damn it ufc4!
I didn’t even think about that! You’re right. :(
"The path to enlightenment is through suffering"
by RearNakedChoker on Jan 23, 2010 3:40 PM EST up reply actions
28 is such an odd number.
Maybe they’ll do something like the contender and do some sort of athletic testing to see who gets into the main tournament, just doing random matchups and a single elimination to get in the house leaves a lot to chance.
28 is such an odd number.
This statement makes me laugh.
Guillotine.
by iiowyn on Jan 23, 2010 6:34 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
I don't think it will be double-elimination...
Then, there would possibly have to be two fights for the final. If fighter A goes through to the finals without a loss while fighter B makes it to the finals with a single loss, then there would have to be a second fight if fighter B won, since this would be fighters A’s first loss. This would confuse casual fans and make for a very anti-climatic ending. How would they even schedule it? If it’s on the finale like usual, then there is a 50% chance you don’t even crown the champ that night.
That being said, I think the most likely scenario is first round byes. I don’t see many other things making much sense, although the byes don’t make too much sense either as it shows favoritism.
Maybe they’re expecting a few guys to miss weight a la Jason Guida?
by ufc4 on Jan 23, 2010 9:47 AM EST via mobile reply actions
That’d make sense if they brought in 17 or even 18 guys, but 28? That means they are bringing in enough fighters to have 12 of them miss weight.
by Swordslasher on Jan 23, 2010 5:45 PM EST up reply actions
It's actually pretty straight forwad guys...
They will be split into four groups of seven. Each group will vote off one fighter before anything happens. That leaves 24…then 12…6…and then finally 3. There will be a triple threat match at the TUF finale. The winner will believe he has won the contract…wrong! At that point, the first four fighters that we voted off will return in a four man mini tournament, the winner of which will fight the guy who thought he had already won, but actually still has to fight once more. See? Very straight forward.
I think you might have been on to something - at first.
Four teams of seven, four coaches, everyone fights once, losers go home.
Two teams with most wins get to save one guy each.
Straight KO from there.
http://www.vancouversun.com/mma
by Ozzz on Jan 23, 2010 11:25 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
I think the drama will stem from:
will Kimbo fight this episode?
BOOSH
by Farthammer on Jan 23, 2010 10:45 AM EST reply actions 3 recs
Man it will either be something like the top 4 guys get a bye, or they will have guys who lost fight again or something.
Anyway this is brilliant by the UFC, totally brilliant. Coming off the biggest season ever last year, which didnt have great fights, they need something to spice up this season and add interest. Now Chuck/Tito as coaches is big and will get viewers, I think this season will have alot of good prospects and the fights will be good, but they do this new format, as long as they can keep it secret till the debut, it will add alot of interest with the fans to see how they are gonna do this, so right away the first episode should pull in good ratings, and with Gomi/Florian as the main event for the big fight night before the debut, alot of people will be watching.
So this is just another way to spice it up.
Heres my thing, people bitch and cry about this show, its old, boring, the house pranks are dumb, it should go off the air, I’m like why? Really, if your an mma fan, whats the show about?
the show is about prospects, new fighters fighting trying to earn a contract and get into the UFC. Its about finding new talent, so if your a fan of mma, maybe you dont like the format, the pranks, the house shit, but if your a fan of mma and your like me, you like to watch prospects fight, to see who might be the next superstar, thats still what the show is.
Its about finding new talent, so how can people say it should go off the air? Its still about finding new top talent. Thats why the show should never stop.
But what Zuffa should do is do a WEC show, cause if you notice Bellator is now scooping up alot of top FW prospects, so the WEC should get on that to get them.
What if WEC did a FW show year or two ago? Joe Soto probably would have tried out for it, instead he is now the BFC FW champ.
They fuck around and wait too long, Bellator will scoop up all the top FW talent. WEC should get on this, maybe not the same as TUF, maybe not do a house shit, but def do it as a tournament to get into the WEC, you can find a ton of the top BW and FW talent out there, since UFC doesnt have those divs, guys either have to bulk up and they arent as good at LW or something, with the WEC doing a show, why wouldnt Versus air it, what else do they show on that channel? So they need to get on that before Bellator snags all the top FW talent, which they pretty much are already doing.
Im glad they chose Middleweights
Now there’s going to be some fresh faces in the 185lbs class. Thats one thing about the show that I like, once the season is over they take the best 6 or 7 guys and give them pre-lim/undercard fights in the UFC. Some may say it’s filler, but I can’t complain.
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