TUF: A Help, or a Hinderance? - Page 13

jakesteele · 02-09-2006, 02:42 PM

TUF is ultimately good for MMA in general. Granted, it is one of those "Deals with the Devil" type situations, but you have to remember that each country/culture has certain things deeply ingrained into its cultural ethos. In the USA we have always had boxing as a major sport as opposed to kung fu/karate stuff which is deeply ingrained into the Asian cultures. The USA has NFL Football while the rest of the world has Soccer as its favorite sport.
I remember back in the mid-to-late '70's a thing called PKA (Professional Karate Association) where you had incredible athletes having incredible fights. There was Bill "Superfoot" Wallace, "The Golden Boy" Jeff Trimble, "Bad" Brad Hefton etc. Their format mandated that each fighter was required to throw at least seven legitimate kicks per round or they would be severely penalized. This made for some spectacular fights with all kinds of cool "Bruce Lee" type of stuff. However, it just didn't catch on to mainstream America
TUF is capitilizing on a cultural phenomena known as "reality tv" that has unfortunately captivated the American veiwing mentality. "Politics makes for strange bedfellows" and sometimes "Deals with the Devil" must be made to accomplish your ULTIMATE goal If this is necessary in order to get MMA deeply ingrained into the cultural fabric of this country...so be it!! Anything is better than seeing MMA go the way of PKA.
Also, if you notice, whenever there is a big event, either PPV or UFC Unleashed, there are a lot of big-name celebrities in the audience that were drawn there for whatever reason...fad, new-found interest, get-there-face-in-front-of-the-camera...ULTIMATELY, it doesn't matter. I say, "KO all of them and let GOD sort it out!!!

Respectfully,

Jake Steele

SUPER G.CO · 02-11-2006, 10:11 AM

I think the T.U.F fighters are talented enough to make it to the U.F.C. anyway, I don't agree with them getting mid card fights straight away they should work there way up the way every1 else has to!

Gratification · 02-11-2006, 10:47 AM

Anyone who says hindrence is a snob and doesn't care about what's best for the sport. Straight up. They can build any fighter they want to, everyone else will have to improve to stay at the level. Even the advertising is unbiased, of course UFC wants TUF stars to win.

If they're not fixing fights, ANY promotion is good for the sport.

crazywhiteguy · 02-12-2006, 03:43 PM

i agree that letting matt lindland go and all the other good fighters of the ufc go is wrong. if you're winning, why not keep the guy. here's the thing that saves the ufc. already this year the ufc had the biggest gossing mma event in north american history. that would be chuck liddel randy couture part 3. the ufc has a lot of great talent in it. i'm not knockin pride or any other fighting organization. the ufc has so much talent just falling to its feet. when someone starts their fighting career, more times than not, they want to end up in the ufc.

they already have fighters like liddel, hughes, bj penn, gsp, caro parysian, plus all the talent from tuf. leben has knock out punchin power and charisma. nate quarry has the nice guy that can fight. diego beat down nick diaz a vet in ufc. and who will be the one to beat arlovski.

all that being said, how could the ufc fail?

RUFFNEK · 02-16-2006, 11:12 PM

Help for sure.

Lethal_Striker · 02-16-2006, 11:32 PM

Before TUF they were happy when they did 100,000 buys for a PPV. And they only did 5 shows a year. I can't see how you would think that TUF would be a bad thing for UFC or MMA in general. Most american MMA fans will first become MMA fans because of UFC or Pride. Once they have become fans of the bigger companies they will branch out to the smaller shows to have more stuff to watch, since there is only an average of 1 UFC show a month.

nescience · 02-23-2006, 01:41 PM

Definite Help. TUF introduces fighters to a fan base that take an interest in them. That's what it is all about. The most exciting fights are the ones in which you feel vested in the fighters. Their performance, their win or lose matters because you feel you know them and have an interest. Watching a fight grow, develop skill and climb through the ranks is what makes it a sport.

Diezel · 02-28-2006, 10:17 AM

I think that TUF is definately a help, especially in North America. Pride enthusiasts seem to forget that Pride Fighting Championship is established in Japan and a staple to the entertainment over there. They have big money backing them and can afford to get the very best for whatever cost. UFC is just now breaking into that area in the States. The UFC is trying to market specific fighters that will draw audiences and money. If they put all of their money into getting the best fighters then they would probably lose some of the momentum they have been building with new fans. There fights would undoubtably be better but the random viewers would not buy the pay per views to watch some guy with a name they cannot pronounce grapple with another guy with a name they cannot pronounce. Is this ignorant? Yes, but I'll admit that Americans like to root for Americans. So the UFC Fronts more americanized fighters that people in the states can get behind.

Give it a couple years. When the UFC is more established in the states I bet you'll see them start going after the bigger names in MMA. Does this mean the guys they have now aren't the best in the world? thats debatable.

And as for the TUF guys getting fights on cards right after the show, well hell man. This is a business. Like I said before, the UFC is trying to bring MMA to the states from a Grass roots standpoint. So they are exposing these fighters and riding them for all they're worth. Giving them all the chances available to be great. If they lose continuously, well you probably wont see them too many times.

Is that fair to them? Yes, they are getting money and experience in big fights. Look at Forrest for example. i think a lot of people think that him fighting tito at this point in his career is suicide. But it just looks like another chance to better himself.

All in all it comes down to what is better for MMA in general.

More Fans = More Money = More Fighters = More events = More entertainment.

but what do I know I'm just a fuckin white belt

Baby Mu · 03-02-2006, 02:29 PM

I do understand that some fighters have gained popularity from TUF and fighters like GSP and AA are at a disadvantage in this area because they can't speak english that well. This doesn't taint ny ability to see how increadable GSP and AA are. Why would we be disoppointed that some of the growth in the UFC is due to people who are into the personalities and the reality TV a little more than the fighting. It doesn't hurt the hardcore fans. I don't think that after Forrest and Stephan famous fight you can say that they should have held on the Matt Lindland or even Frank Trigg. The huge majority of the fighters from TUF are legit. That is a plus.

nescience · 03-03-2006, 09:16 AM

In a growing sport like ours TUF can only do good. It gets young fighters known ( love them or hate them). Our sport needs more fighters of all levels. In boxing they had Tuesday Night Fights, where you could see a fighter's pro debut and watch him grow and climb the ranks. Our sports problem is the ranks are very short. In a weight class there's the Champion and maybe one or two serious contenders, so we have fighters who have great potential and little experience being thrust into a championship fight usually before they are ready. Fighters need to be brought up. I hope the UFC develops a grassroots level competition that brings in a multitude of fighters and gives fans a weekly show. It will develop a larger fan base and we will get challengers with 20-30 wins instead of 8.