The Ultimate Fighter was undoubtedly a ground breaking TV series. The finale of the first show is credited with sparking a renewed interest in the UFC and MMA in general. Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar put on an unbelievable fight. The TV show has some stellar alumni that have carved impressive careers, think Forrest Griffin, Gray Maynard, Josh Koscheck, Kenny Florian, Michael Bisping and many more. I just think that recently the show has lost alot of its lustre. Reality TV shows always tend to fall off after a while, the in-house antics are now a little tiresome, you put ketchup in someones wrestling shoes...big deal. Go and watch the Junie Browning series for a lesson in how to be an asshole on the ultimate fighter. Even the "tension" between the coaches feels manufactured. I get the sense that Bisping and Miller don't mind each other at all, and the pranks they play on each other seem staged and lack any kind of malice. Nothing can match the Ortiz v Shamrock season, genuine hatred and some of the funniest scenes the series has ever seen. In recent times the quality of the fighters has really dipped too. The first 4 or 5 series really decimated the talent pool of fighters outside of the UFC (who weren't contracted to other organisations), it used to mean something to win the ultimate fighter, but now....I'm not so sure. The good thing about this series is that it focuses on the two lightest weight classes. I think that was a great idea, these guys haven't had the chance to appear on the show before (unless they tried out as an undersized lightweight) and we have seen a better quality of fighter than in recent years. Even so is the interest really there? Viewing figures are still decent, I still watch every episode, but if I missed one it wouldn't be a big deal.Tuesday, October 18, 2011
The Ultimate Fighter - on its last legs?
The Ultimate Fighter was undoubtedly a ground breaking TV series. The finale of the first show is credited with sparking a renewed interest in the UFC and MMA in general. Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar put on an unbelievable fight. The TV show has some stellar alumni that have carved impressive careers, think Forrest Griffin, Gray Maynard, Josh Koscheck, Kenny Florian, Michael Bisping and many more. I just think that recently the show has lost alot of its lustre. Reality TV shows always tend to fall off after a while, the in-house antics are now a little tiresome, you put ketchup in someones wrestling shoes...big deal. Go and watch the Junie Browning series for a lesson in how to be an asshole on the ultimate fighter. Even the "tension" between the coaches feels manufactured. I get the sense that Bisping and Miller don't mind each other at all, and the pranks they play on each other seem staged and lack any kind of malice. Nothing can match the Ortiz v Shamrock season, genuine hatred and some of the funniest scenes the series has ever seen. In recent times the quality of the fighters has really dipped too. The first 4 or 5 series really decimated the talent pool of fighters outside of the UFC (who weren't contracted to other organisations), it used to mean something to win the ultimate fighter, but now....I'm not so sure. The good thing about this series is that it focuses on the two lightest weight classes. I think that was a great idea, these guys haven't had the chance to appear on the show before (unless they tried out as an undersized lightweight) and we have seen a better quality of fighter than in recent years. Even so is the interest really there? Viewing figures are still decent, I still watch every episode, but if I missed one it wouldn't be a big deal.
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