It can hardly be a coincidence that the two men who won titles on “The Ultimate Fighter 8” were also among the few who avoided rowdy and disgusting behavior in the house.
Ryan Bader knocked out Vinnie Magalhaes in the light heavyweight final and Efrain Escudero bested Phillipe Nover via unanimous decision on Saturday in the lightweight finale at The Pearl at the Palms in what can only be described as a victory for taste and common sense.
If the best SpikeTV producers and the UFC can do is to show men urinating and ejaculating in others’ food, throwing a glass at a defenseless fighter and making a star out of someone without a whit of class, then it’s time to put a wrap on the reality series.
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At least it’s what it should be about. But the show has devolved into little more than gutter behavior and the emphasis is as much on zany behavior as on mixed martial arts and the fights.
Frank Mir, who coached one of the teams, was turned off by everything that went on and called it “disgusting.”
“The Ultimate Fighter” has been a great marketing tool for the UFC and has been a boon to the sport, but it’s lately begun to portray the fighters and the sport in the wrong way.
Season 8 was as much about Junie Browning’s bizarre behavior as it was about the talent of Ryan Bader and Efrain Escudero.
If Fertitta and White don’t act soon, they’re going to turn off an entire generation of fans and attract lowlifes who think watching a couple of drunks urinate in someone’s food is funny.
It’s beyond time to act.
-- Kevin Iole, writing words that are music to my ears. The repercussions of presenting our sport in this way are neither insignificant nor consequence-free. It's time to wake up to this fact.