[fennway4414]

I love TUF, I think this season is particularly good. I like Lauzon, Hill, Diaz, Manny, Emerson, Wiman and Gray a real lot.


I think a few of them could be very good in the future as well.

[fz22gq]

It's entertainment ....... and i enjoy it.

[RobKendrick]

As with most decisions in life and entertainment, this seems to be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it is good to be able to see the UFC on mainstream television, rather than having to pony up $40-$50 for a PPV once or twice a year. Also, I must admit, while fighters like Diego Sanchez are not quality fighters, it's good to see a brawl every once in a while.

What I dislike, though, is the fact that while I'm enjoying a highly technical fight (Drew Fickett vs. Karo Parisyan, 12/13/06), I can sometimes hear the crowd booing simply because both fighters aren't standing up in a slugfest.

Now, don't get me wrong; I appreciate more than most the hard work and dedication Dana White has put into the UFC to bring it to the forefront of contact sports. What I disagree with is the fact that grappling has become frowned upon. Technique has become frowned upon. How frequently in the UFC, for instance, have you seen a guard sweep?

I hope that in the future, Zuffa Entertainment LLC will realize that the blowup of the sport has its downsides as well, and will be careful about catering to a new fanbase which has no idea what true mixed martial arts is all about.

What I anticipate: The awesome fighters left behind such as Frank Trigg will go to a new place. So far, the only other places to go seem to be the IFL and PRIDE. Perhaps someone else will step up to the plate and create a new circuit? How about UGC: Ultimate Grappler's Championship? I'm all for that. 100% strategy!

Thoughts?
Take care,
Rob

[Veengrd]

This is a really interesting thread with some good intelligent posts. My opinion is that TUF is a big help, if only for the reason that it has made the UFC so big that we're able to (finally) see the best of the best in the ring together. The loss of top fighters who tend to be grappling oriented is sad. Lindland is a great fighter and a big loss. It's my sincere hope that the american audience will warm up more and more to grappling over the coming decade, and will be able to enjoy awesome ground wars like we've seen so many times in Pride.

[jg149]

[quote=Pitcher9999;15567480]That being said, I wish that it was used more to develop truly new MMAers and not re-start the careers of experienced fighters. QUOTE]

Totally disagree that a tournament style show that rewards a UFC contract should be totally new fighters. I also wouldn't say that the show "re-starts" careers (TUF 4 being the only time this was really done). The current cast and the first 3 are generally up and comers who have done well on smaller stages, not a bunch of has beens. They really are not much different than most others who get signed to the UFC. Does anyone think that a guy like Diego Sanchez or Josh Kozchek, who were undefeated at the time before TUF 1 wouldn't have made it to UFC?

What actually could be interesting would be an installment of the show where guys with no MMA experience compete for a spot in a top training camp. The coach can be a top trainer: Randy Couture, Greg Jackson or Pat Militech would be awesome. They could have college wrestlers, martial artists, etc., might be neat seeing how people develop new skills. As a wrestler, seeing how they teach guys to strike and sub working off a wrestling base would be cool.

On the negative side, the fights would likely not be that high in quality. Perfect example: Wayne Weems is 16-2 as a pro, and prior to that was a state wrestling champ from on of the top wrestling states in the nation. In relation to the others on the show, he still lacks skill (don't get me wrong - he'd kick any of our asses, but he was certainly below the level of his competition on TUF 5), imagine what a guy who has barely trained MMA at all would be like, talk about not ready for matches on tv.

It also would stand even more of a chance that those seeking camera time who aren't serious would show up. I hate to compare MMA to pro wrestlng, but does anyone remember the "tough enough" show? Half those guys were cluless and did not really want to train and/or did not tuly grasp what it takes. Thats bad enough for entertainers, but would be horrible for pro athletes.

You may like the tapout show, which really goes out of its way to profile inexperienced fighters on small shows. Its pretty imformative on the "road to success" that most travel.

What both these shows do is expose the fighter's personalites (albeit editing altered). Lets face it, personality sells in sports (individual sports especially, how else culd anyone pick a favorite NASCAR driver?). Seeing how Joe Lauzon and Gray Maynard carry themselves as people is a great thing to show anyone who detracts all mixed martial artists as uneducated, ignorant street thugs.

[dokanninja]

This is a tough one... I think that TUF is doing a lot for the sport. i have been a fan of the ufc etc... since the begining and i have himed and hawed at a few of the changes to date. like the new rules, rounds, weight classes, striking rules etc... but i have to addmit that the fights have become much more entertaining especially when you have entertaining fighters or should i say fighters that take risks and stay busy..
the stand up rule i tend to dislike but understand... i remember the old days when 2 oaffs would just hug eachother on the ground unitl someone made a mistake 15 mins into the fight and gets submitted or pounded out... Its definatley a tough subject to tackle

As far a TUF making that big of a difference in those aspects i dont think its hurting anything at all

So many more people are watching the sport now because of the show and i think that the quality of fighters that come out of it are pretty damn good... and its not like danna white lets these guys hang around if they dont perform to the level that they should... you have to keep winning to stay around

The Ultimate Fighter has brought the new face of the UFC to the forefront and thats exactly what the powers to be wanted and i think deep down everone agree's its just too damn entertaining to bitch about... take a step back for a bit and realize the truth

[CobraCraig]

Its helped bring mma into the mainstream which is a good thing though i think dana is going overkill with it,we are now on the fifth series with the welterweight series coming up,i think they should seriously consider stopping it for a while at least as it is wearing thin on me at the moment,even though i have enjoyed the lightweight series,i dont really see where any of the welterweights in the next series would fit in such a staked divison which the ufc has.But Dana is a moneymaking machine so if ratings are still high and it brings in new fans i dont think it will stop anytime soon.

[DiazDomination]

Personally, i love that the is always MMA to look forward to week in and week out! TUF guarenttes a weekly fight. I dont know what id do without weekly mma!

[MindTravel]

I'd say TUF is a help. It helped me find the sport, that's enough for me. I don't ask anything else of the show.

Two years, a few hundred bucks worth of DVDs and a few hundred hours online later and it's changed my life.

[jtwood]

I'm new here, but it looks like two years ago was the last time anybody posted a reply to this. I hope it's not listed in chronological order, because I'm too lazy to find out if others have answered in recent years.

In any event, I don't think any exposure to mma is basically good exposure. We want people to see the sport and see it often. We need people to understand that it's not a needless, over-agressive, barbaric event. There are too many misunderstandings about these athletes and it's an important time to change these general public point of views.

The Ulitimate Fighter show has brought great exposure to the authenticity of the art and sport of what we do, and the merit to what the sport can provide. In regards to the UFC cutting fighters for fight excitement reasons - you have to understand that the general public will never understand a wrestling match. As amazing and as exciting as we find it, the non grappler just doesn't have the eyes for it. This is one of those situations where you won't respect it, unless you're actually involved in it. When was the last time you saw a prime time televised college wrestling match? When was the last time ESPN showed wrestling highlights on Sports Center? Right. We first have to get their attention with the action... then we can dig deeper into where these arts begin. Do you recall watching some of the first UFC fights with Ken Shamrock and all the boos that came from the crowd? They mistook the grappling for stalling, and likewise so do most Joe Averages that watch a UFC fight. This is a new sport, and it will take a while to build respect. Until then, it's imperative for Dana and the UFC producers to continue to provide exciting fighters and fights so that the respect and interest in this sport will grow.

I imagine 100000 people have already said this... but I'm new and haven't seen their posts. I'm sorry if this is true... I have a lot of reading to do.