10 Ways To Reinvent The Ultimate Fighter TV Show
Lets face it: The Ultimate Fighter could use some revamping.
The Ultimate Fighter Season Season 19 is currently approaching its finale, and as you know, Team Penn vs. Team Edgar has been hotly contested... wait, what's that? You don't know? You haven't been watching? Well, you're not alone. Viewers have tired of the MMA reality show stalwart. Ratings have generally been declining, and this season, frankly, hasn't been hotly contested at all - in fact, UFC President Dana White stated to MMA Junkie earlier this month that TUF 19 "was without a doubt the worst season and the least motivated the fighters have ever been." That's not at all what you want to be hearing from the head of the UFC about his own reality TV product. Thing is, White is simply being honest, and for once, you can't fault him for it. The show has gone from must-see TV to barely watch-able, as the same tired drama has played out over and over again, and TUF products have continually struggled to find success in the octagon. There have been a few bright spots: John Dodson won season 14 of TUF and has since fought for the flyweight title, while the man he beat at the TUF 14 finale, T.J. Dillashaw, shocked the world by beating Renan Barao this Spring for the Bantamweight title. The show, however, is still stale, and lets not even speak of the disastrous TUF: Live, which marked the shows debut on FOX-owned FX. TUF 17 was something of a turn-around, with better production values, and talk of a monster who kept sending opponents to the ER. That monster turned out to be Uriah Hall, and while he was a beast on the show, and an interesting, well-spoken individual on a personal level, he has still struggled to find success in the UFC. Kelvin Gastelum, who beat him on the show, is one to watch for, but the jury is still out. The women's bantamweight portion of TUF 18 was a great success as well, and that's something we'll cover later. Sadly, however, that's about the most positive things we can say about The Ultimate Fighter since, oh, lets say Season 10. In other words, there's a lot that needs fixing. So here are ten ways that TUF can reinvent itself to keep viewers interested.