COMMENTARY | Last weekend fight fans had the opportunity to witness the crowning of the two champions from the 18th season of "The Ultimate Fighter." The season saw the addition of women to add a new ripple to the show dynamic but still didn't offer much in enticing new fans to the series. Now, as the UFC prepares for the 19th season of "TUF" and other shows are in development one must wonder if reality television is "watering down" some aspects of mixed martial arts.
In all facets of the conversation, reality television is about ratings. MTV led the charge in creating shows based on "real life" with their series "The Real World" which led to shows such as "The Jersey Shore" to today' s popular "Real Housewives" series. That purpose has carried over into shows such as "The Ultimate Fighter" and Bellator MMA's "Fight Master." What was meant to be a vessel to introduce viewers to new talent may end up damaging the sport if continued.
Look back to the recent TUF 18 Finale as an example. The main card featured eight fighters that were on this past season of the show. Coming into the fight card their combined win-loss record is 43-23. Now while this show featured a number of women who are just breaking into the sport it still continues a recent trend that has been occurring within this platform. Chris Holdsworth and Juliana Pena both won this season of the show with only 5 professional wins each. Kelvin Gastelum (7-0), Colton Smith (3-3) and Michael Chiesa (10-1) are three more examples of recent winners who are still breaking into the sport and not well known at this point. Along with the winners many of the other competitors are kept on board as well. As more seasons are held and more fighters are brought on board the trickle down effect will touch the entire roster. In a time that sees Ben Askren kept off the UFC's roster for not having enough experience, how are these fighters justified in being a part of the organization?
Earlier this year UFC President Dana White announced that "there's 100 more guys that are gonna go," which kicked off a year that saw many fighters be removed from the roster. This year some big name and big payday fighters such as Yushin Okami and Jon Fitch have been released. Others such as Jacob Volkmann and Paul Sass were also released even though they had put together solid Octagon campaigns. Another linking factor for all these fighters is that they were often considered "boring" even though their fighting styles were effective. As the UFC moves to release fighters who are losing and not putting on exciting shows, this has caused a need to restock the promotion. The TUF series is one opt ion to do so.
In 2014 the UFC hopes to hold 50 events which means they need enough fighters on roster to create match ups and have injury replacements. As more established fighters begin to require higher pay days for their services the promotion may not want to be locked into a bidding war with these combatants. Fighters such as Fitch and Okami became expendable while other, less experienced fighters coming off of the shows are available for cheaper costs.
Unfortunately this plan will have a lasting effect on the quality of the sport. For example, a similar situation occurred in college basketball. As great high school level players began to go straight into the NBA many college teams were not able to bring in top tier talent to their universities. What occurred is that the quality of basketball went down over time. The solution was to implement an age restriction for professional basketball players which basically forces them to spend a year playing in colleg e or overseas before they can enter the professional arena. Now while the verdict is still out on the effectiveness of that idea, the fact is still there that the overall quality of the action on the court was harmed before this movement was put in place. Mixed martial arts may be headed for that same problem if fighters are still developed through the reality show platform.
The value of these shows is also in question. TUF 18 was expected to develop the boiling feud between Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate, yet it may have damaged one of their most valuable stars beyond repair. Rousey went from being a face that the organization could build around to hated by many and potentially headed out of the sport. Past seasons were used to develop stars with personalities such as Chris Leben and Josh Koscheck, but as the talent well begins to dry up many of these competitors are no more than the personality they present.
The television slot that is currently dedicated to th ese reality shows could be used for a weekly live fights format to help promote these athletes doing what fans expect: fighting. Dropping the reality show gimmick would give promotions such as Bellator and the UFC the opportunity to build up fighters the correct way. With the expectation of filling so many events, the UFC could use these smaller cards to build up names that the fans will eventually want to see on pay-per-view showcases. Ratings of "The Ultimate Fighter" continue to dwindle while "Fight Master" has yet to be completely green lit for a second season, so this shows that the strength of the platform is beginning to fade.
Long gone are the days that these shows were used to find stars such as Rashad Evans, Forrest Griffin, Kenny Florian and Diego Sanchez. Fans are slowly turning away from the genre. The talent pool isn't as deep as it once was. Major promotions will have to look away from using reality television to build their brand. Hopefully, those chan ges will come sooner rather than later.
Raphael Garcia lives in Washington, DC and has worked as a sports journalist since 2006. His work has contributed to outlets that includes multiple newspapers, websites and ESPN.
- Sports & Recreation
- Television
- UFC
- reality television
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