After 17 seasons the TV show that started the UFC’s meteoric rise, where we watch fighters battle their way by any means necessary to get a contract in the world’s top MMA promotion, has returned. No fan of MMA in general can forget that first season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) where we watched personalities collide both in and out of the octagon, which was all capped off by one of the most memorable fights in the history of the sport. Since that time, however, the show has started to lag for a number of reasons. Knowing that the UFC is a marketing enterprise at the end of the day, they decided to kick-start the TV show with a slightly modified format and a couple of coaches that would no doubt make for some entertaining banter.
While I never base my opinion of anything on the first foray, after watching the recent premiere of The Ultimate Fighter, Season 17, I was left asking myself if they’ve done enough to re-ignite interest in the show?
Let’s get one thing on the table, TUF is the sole vehicle that re-ignited the UFC and turned into the machine that it is today. Any blue-blooded fan of the show can’t deny that they watched that first season of the show with just as much interest as a 17-year girl watching “The Bachelor”. The finale of the show, when we watched Stephan Bonnar and Forrest Griffin go toe-to-toe for three straight rounds, never letting up, was legendary. While I’ve found that there have been a few gems in the series along the way (e.g. Penn vs. Pulver, Hughes vs. Serra, Rampage vs. Rashad), the show just has had a lot of difficulty recreating that initial magic that we saw.
17 seasons over 7 years equals almost 2.5 seasons per year, which in turn equals over-saturation and a lack of interest. Season 16 of The Ultimate Fighter was the lowest rated season to-date – despite having the additional marketing clout of FOX backing it (bearing in mind the show was aired on FX). Some blame the time slot that it was aired, I blame a lack of creativity and innovation in the shows platform. Based on what I have seen from Season 17, Jones vs. Sonnen, thus far, I truly have no reason to believe that things will be any different.
Jon Jones is one of MMA’s elite in his own right, and Sonnen is one of trash talkings elite in his own right. Those two ingredients when mixed should make for a combustable reaction – but, alas I saw none of this last night. No witty banter from Sonnen, and Jones was pretty laid back most of the night (until his teammate showed up in the ring, that is). In the season preview of the show at the end of the premiere I saw nothing that would indicate that this volatile relationship is going to spiral out of control – all I saw was an allusion to nasty knock-out, which truthfully by itself isn’t enough to keep me watching all season. The only way they’re going to sell this show to the viewing public is by having a lot of trash and smack talk between Jones and Sonnen. Don’t get me wrong, good fighters/fights help too, but the show is about marketing drama and people watch it for the drama as much as the fighting.
A couple of new elements might help the shows success, but I am still not so sure. The new format, which gives an American Idol-like look into the fighters lives prior to entering the ring for the first time, was nice – but, it wasn’t enough to get me emotionally vested in a fighter. The new timeslot, Tuesdays at primetime should help – but, again I’m not so sure that is the only missing piece of the puzzle.
If I could end my thoughts with a quote from Gladiator: “I was not the best because I killed quickly. I was the best because the crowd loved me. Win the crowd and you will win your freedom”. I think this quote is 100% applicable to TUF as well, and I hope they give us, the viewing public enough to love them again – because frankly, it’s off to a shaky start.
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