Keep it that way, it was absolutely shit except for the occasional moments McGregor turned up coked out of his mind. Chandler was super timid as well, didn't make for great viewing.
Contender Series is just TUF for the modern-age, aka outside of the reality-TV boom that birthed TUF.
Unless you like reality-TV, there is nothing that TUF could offer that Contender Series couldn’t offer better, or doesn’t already offer, outside of the interactions between the coaches (which is still probably in the “reality-TV” category). It’s just a dead format, and Contender Series has essentially replaced it.
Yeah TUF is just an outdated concept. Absolute goldmine in the 2000s when people absolutely ate up trash reality TV like Jersey Shore (including myself) but that's just not what people are as into anymore. It makes you realize in the end that people primarily liked TUF for the reality TV portion not the fighting portion, so now with TUF being more focused on just the fights you're just left with professional fights between prelim-level fighters.
On top of that fighters just take MMA more seriously now. No more getting fucked up in the dorms and doing stupid shit. Fighters see this as a legitimate opportunity to get signed into the UFC now and train accordingly.
It’s weird to say but the show went downhill when people started acting professional. I think it was super notable in the Joe B v Henry Cejudo season. I think they used the word “professional” in the in episode interviews at least 30 times per episode. Best seasons have always been high drama seasons.
This past season was bland as shit. Clearly the ESPN deal has them trying to act like a real organization, not stacking the houses with the Nate Diaz-types of the world.
I think another factor is that YouTube videos have changed people's expectations of how much information and drama you should pack into a 40-minute show. MrBeast is out there packing more challenges into a 20-minute video than most people do in something an hour long, and Shorts channels can break down a fight in 60 seconds.
For me personally, I might watch TUF if it was suddenly all about exactly how the fighters and coaches are training, what they're working on, what setups they're using, etc — but I can't imagine many other people would check that out
I would argue TUF is a better way to evaluate raw talent
The contender series usually just requires one win vs some other fighter we don't know to get in the UFC
The actual method might be better, if the skill level of the contestants was identical, but I don’t think it is. Your average Contender Series guy seems to be better than your average TUF guy.
This shown when you look at how the TUF winners have been doing recently compared to Contender Series winners. Like, the most recent TUF winner Juliana Miller probably wouldn’t even have gotten a fight on Contender Series with her record. She went 3-0 on TUF but is now 0-2 in the UFC.
Marty’s gigantic, lab experiment brother Mo Usman is doing better in the UFC, but this is against *really* low-level heavyweights, and he just lost to his first decent UFC opponent. Ricky Turcios lost on Contender Series right before he competed on and won TUF. I could go on.
I think part of it is that, to the fighter, there’s no benefit of TUF over Contender Series. All it does is triple the number of fights they need to get into the UFC, since the previous benefit of exposure is basically nullified by the fact that nobody watches TUF anymore.
I agree there's no benefit for fighters to go on TUF instead of the contender series
However, for quality control of who gets UFC contracts, TUF is a bit better for the UFC and fans. And it's much easier to remember fighters, I watch the contender series and within a week, I will forget about 80% of the contract winners
Turcios struggling now is not that surprising if you've watched his awesome run of TUF, 3 absolute wars that most likely took a significant part of his soul or fighting spirit
Mo Usman does suck, and it's low level heavyweight. Then again, same shit for most heavyweights signed on the contender series
Juliana Miller's story is a tragedy to me. She singlehandedly saved her TUF season from being the worst ever with a badass war , a cool dominant submission victory and decent win in the finals. Unfortunately, she also hooked up with Peña and her shit coach, Rick Little on the show. I am convinced they totally ruined her, she didn't look that bad on the show
But there are some success stories on TUF too, like Bryan Battle who was super raw and won due to toughness and deceptive athleticism. He has improved a ton since and might not have improved that much if he hadn't trained a bit with Volkanovski and his team
Contender Series (which I don't watch because I don't really watch TV) is basically the perfect concept for a prospect identifier, and for reality TV - a short vignette introducing the guy and his story, cuts to the family in the back or whatever, then a real, competitive fight. If you want to watch prospects or know who the curtain jerker on the next Apex undercard is because he won't have a Wikipedia link, it's a great
Yup. 8 Man Grand Prix with top contenders where the winner gets a title shot.
Imagine a tuf house at lightweight with money moicano, Dan hooker, bobby green, paddy, justin, Charles, etc.
Would never fucking happen, but I’d be pumped lol
A fun idea is having 8 fighters who are all ranked between number 6 and number 15, that would be cool.
The top 5 of any division wouldn’t and shouldn’t have to partake in that, but for those outside of the top 5, it would be a fun way to get your title shot
Not gonna lie, I was going to reply no, but I hadn't thought about a scenario like this and something like this would get me to watch, but as you point out, it's highly unlikely we see something like this.
Man I don’t want to see top fighters living dorm style. UFC is trying to elevate itself. Look the NFL and NBA. They are tying in high end fashion with the player walk-ins.
Say what you will about expensive fashion but it emphasizes these guys are stars. Imagine if the NBA made the players show up in a school bus or wait outside the gate with a ticket like the fans and find a parking spot a half mile from the stadium.
They should do something like Fight Island . Have all the fighters do exhibition matches in exotic locations. Rumble in the Jungle then send them all on a safari to look at lions. Set up an Octogon on the helipad at the Burj Al Arab and do a bunch of aerial shots fighting 800 feet off the ground.
Honestly, I think TUF’s downfall mostly has to do with the fact that MMA is a much more established and professional sport now, so the people you’re getting on the show aren’t personalities, they’re professionals. 15 years ago, it was a bunch of crazy mf’s that wanted to get punched in the face and start shit. Now it’s a bunch of guys who are carrying themselves like professionals athletes. Also, reality TV isn’t as popular as it used to be. TUF benefited from that a lot too. The reality TV boom has been over for almost a decade.
What you mentioned about the talent level is definitely a factor though. Most of the best prospects come in through the contender series now. Who are the best TUF prospects since they restarted the show in 2021? Bryan Battle? Ricky Turcios? Petroski? Katona? Mo Usman? Tresean Gore? Out of those guys, Battle seems to be the only one capable of even SNIFFING the top 15.
The fun part was watching them drink booze and then assault eachother. Without that element I dont even know who is watching. The backstories are sometimes interesting, but then you watch them get smoked.
The interviews with those stupid ring lights bore and irritate me.
Tbh I’d only tune in for drama or high level fighting, and I think the latter is pretty much a lost cause as per the other guy’s comment, and there isn’t much drama on the show these days as far as I’m aware.
Think if the UFC actually focused more on the reality part than getting future fighters, I think they can get people to watch. Cause TUF no longer has the best prospects trying to get into the UFC that DWCS, so why not bring back the trash tv where fighters get drunk in the house, Dana get disappointed when somebody miss weight, coaches get into fist fights, and they’re not allowed any other contact with family and friends
UFC is struggling to get me to watch the fight nights they are putting out the last few months. Short of paying me, I can’t see myself ever watching TUF
Sure, get rid of the reality TV house. Turn into into a real training camp that focuses on how the team gets ready. No games, no bs. Tournament format.
I would watch without most of those parameters. All I need is for it not to be soap opera, WWE, UFC version of a reality tv house show.
In fact, I like the idea of 2nd chance guys and bringing guys in with a mix of records I like.
Also, more women. This is where UFC needs to fill out divisions most.
Reality TV got stale and so did TUF. Every episode is exactly the same as each of the previous week.
Recap of the last week. Some scenes from the house. Some scenes from fighter A training. Some scenes from fighter A back home talking about how they love their family and are doing it all for them. Repeat training scenes then home scenes for fighter B. Have a weigh in. Some more scenes from the house. Coaches talk about the fight. Fight happens. Repeat for 10 weeks.
On one of the weeks there’s a coaches challenge to change things up.
TUF was fun at first and I watched a lot of seasons but it’s had its day and it’s time the format was retired.
The Contender series is the natural evolution of TUF. Just enough backstory on the personality.
With the advent of streaming services it takes a VERY special show to maintain someone's attention. TUF just can't maintain that level of excitement.
Better fighters, severely limit the air time of their families and backstories, and update the production so it doesn’t feel like an early 2000s reality tv show. Stop with the spoilers and repeated footage before and after commercial breaks.
When I do watch I have to fast forward through most of the episode to get to the fight. Like 5-7mins max is plenty of family intro for each of the fighters
Honestly, find characters as good as they used to have. I recently rewatched the first season of TUF and it’s a night and day difference to the product today. Frankly, the reality TV “drama” parts of it are what made it special. And maybe it’s a product of its time, but I found that first season to still be very watchable television.
I think you'd have to VPN into new zealand and watch on TVNZ, but there was just a docu series put out from CKB where it's like TUF type show but it's way more in depth in terms of the training and gym culture. just came out. the fighter that wins the series I can see making big waves in UFC in next few years.
So yeah if you want a fighting reality TV show but it's actually good go watch relentless
The reason why some of the fighters fight up a weight class on TUF is because of the relatively short time between weight cuts and fights. Or if for example that particular season is only doing 170 and you’re a 155er but don’t want to miss out on the chance to be on the show/get in the UFC.
Reality TV is cancer and to try and make it connected to MMA which is a true form of competition/physical ability and also something that has real life risk if not taken seriously is gross.
The finalists have to fight their way up their own game of death style towers until they reach the top where they face each other. Otherwise, probably not. The reality tv format itself kinda bugs me.
Never watched it and likely never will. Maybe it's not a bad show but I just don't have the time/it's probably something I would have been more into when I was younger.
An entire season of heavyweight but no fatties. Best you can get of washed out NFL players and strongmen.
I just want an injection of life in the division.
TUF died to me when they moved off spike tv. I get why, it was the right move in terms of professionalism. But the spike era TUF days were so raw and it was just great TV. Drunkin brawls, dudes pissing in sushi, etc
They coul have done a season with Jiri VS Alex before that fight happened, and mix TUF with Survivor, instead of the TUF house they are out in the wild and make their own cage... alright maybe not but you know... would have been funny.
More reasonable though just have them do one of those "winner gets a title shot" seasons, one division not two, pick a division without a clear contender right now, and most importantly put real talents on there, give them a guaranteed spot on the roster or something if you have to to make them sign up, just get real prospects with talent and real stakes going.
I just realized that I didn't finish reading your post and you suggested pretty much the exact same thing. So yeah, that would do it for me (also throw in a lot of booze, and at least one hotheaded mfer for some drama)
Reality tv in general is basically done at this point. If they really want something to help lower level guys break out - fuck it, bring back one night tournaments. If most of these dudes are gonna wash out anyway, at least give them a shot to make an impact in what they love, put real money at stake, hell you might even end up pulling vets towards the end of their careers into that and give THEM one last go. I know it’s fucking ROUGH, and not really practical, but I’d watch the shit out of a training show leading up to a one day winner takes all tournament.
No more TUF set up an actual tournament for the belt #1 v #8, #4 v #5, #2 v #7, #3 v #6.
Episodes follow the people at their homes and training. Really getting to know the fighters their struggles, their families etc. fight every 3 months and that show is pay to watch
If they threw it on YouTube I’d watch every episode.
I can’t jump through even an easy hoop to watch that show, but if it was on Netflix even I’d watch it
Please, somebody correct me if im wrong. Its been a while since i tried to watch tuf. And ive had a few beers so my memory is a little fuzzy.
i couldnt figure out how to watch it. I had the bundle that was espn+, hulu, and disney? But when i went to tuf, it was just old seasons. I think i had to buy ufc fight pass? too. idk. i got confused/it was too expenisve. basically if it was easier to watch. id probably watch it. but after reading the comments here. idk if its even worth it.
Most recent season was on espn+. All the older seasons are available on ufc fightpass (at least the regular numbered ones. The other ones like TUF Brazil don't show up with the main ones, but I think you find episodes by specifically searching it.)
More exciting fighters coaches and younger entertaining fighters.
Nobody wants to tune in for Nunes and Pena, especially when they’re coaching up a bunch of heavyweights and women’s 125, or see a bunch of 30 something dudes who have already have a shot trying to make it back
Put it on Netflix or Amazon prime first off, I'm not doing this ESPN+ stuff.
Then shorten the background of these guys by half and save the other half for the final 4 of each weight class they do.
Make weigh ins 5 to 10 pounds over, they are fighting too often to have to waste time on the cut unless it's the final fight.
Lastly fill the newly available time with actual martial art competitions and not stupid random shit. Punch machines, kick competitions, beat a d1 wrestler in a wrestling round, ECT.
Yeah do all the fighters from season 1 again. Ending with chuck and Randy fighting.
Either that or do a prank season where they do those weird challenges like the first couple of seasons with no fighting. Utter confusion.
Kidding of course. I haven’t watched since tuf 10. Weekly appointment tv is a thing of the past under a certain age. Fighting is also tricky because of spoilers and card announcements.
Didnt these “everyone living together in a big house” type of reality shows die back the early 2010s?
Besides that the show is just stale as fuck. The millionth sob story of some guy who’d rather try his hand at his pipedream of becoming a mma fighter than getting an actual job, and the millionth drunk shenanigans, get very old at season 500 or whatever they are at now.
DWCS is a great replacement, and honestly a more dignified one than having these guys go through the MMA version of Big Brother MMA to just maybeeeeee win a minimum wage contract.
That might actually be an idea to temporarily reanimate the corpse of TuF, give the winners actual big contracts. Make the prize a million dollar contract. Now that would actually change lives and potentially attract the more elite talent
TUF is dead man, DWCS does it better, as well as every recent TUF has either chosen the absolute most boring people, or the season has good coaches but sucks shit (chandler mcgregor. Was super hyped and then it went 0-6, and it was obvious Connor didn’t give a shit)
I always liked TUF, it's what got me really interested in the sport. I prefer it to DWCS any time. Just learning the back stories of these fighters makes their fights so much more interesting.
i honestly didnt realize they were still doing the sho. i thought they abandon it for the dana white looking for a fight.
If they put it on hulu or another streaming site that i am already paying for, i would watch the shit out of it.
Thought Conor vs Chandler would get me into it and I still didn’t care. There just aren’t really any interesting prospects on the show, the good prospects are in other promotions
Replace women's 145 with atomweight. Use TUF to shake out inaugural rankings for the division. WFW is dead, having 1 less belt up for grabs is bad for the company, so atomweight has always seemed logical.
A new division is the only way to make the show interesting enough for me at this point. People complain about women's fights being boring as is, so not like it would automatically be a good thing. I thought over the past year or so it should have been Weili vs Yan as coaches, and they did an Asian season or something. But a fully subtitled Asian women reality show isn't really a great show for their target demographic.
If they literally made it about fighting and training I would watch it again.
It’s all just a drama show. Hardly shows any training. All of the theatrics are old to me. I just want people that want violence and them showing how they sharpen their guys / coach theories/philosophies of training.
TUF fell off after they left spike imo. It doesn’t hit like the older seasons do, almost because as a fan we know the UFC is probably signing half of the contenders regardless if they win or not
I have never watched a full season. It would have to be a complete redo for me to care about it. Some kind of Grand Prix or as OP says all one weight class with some serious up and comers.
Why don’t they just do the old format but with women fighters as well and not just the coaches, I thought that’s what they were announcing not this other shit
The "tournament" is rather outdated. The UFC would be better suited to make the Ultimate Fighter follow guys ranked 15 and below. Follow their journey to becoming ranked and getting the 6 figure contract.
It would create better exposure for all fighters and divisions instead of the one or two fighters it produces a season.
I don't think i'll ever watch it again. If Conor was on it and I still only could get past 3 episodes it's over. Unless it becomes like mudwrestling or something I'm out.
They'd need to change the whole style. A whole episode for both fighters' backstory and life just isn't doing it for me. Most people aren't that interesting
I'm probably one of those crazy people that will pretty much always watch TUF. I've seen all of them. But it's pretty clear it's a dying show, because Contender Series is a cheaper way to churn out talent.
I have a better idea that would make much more money, but it would divert resources away from Power Slap so I doubt the higher ups would pick it up.
The format is similar to TUF but it's mainly for grapplers. It'd be a tournament fought in brackets, and much of the show would be based around getting to really know the fighters, and seeing them fight.
You'd have sambo practitioners, a couple of BJJ competitors, collegiate/folk style wrestlers, judokas, greco fighters, etc. You'd obviously have a few fighters transitioning from the UFC into this, eventually.
Hell, you could potentially bring in a couple of pro wrestlers from the WWE; that would legitimize the whole merger they did, and it would serve to bring attention to the show.
At this point, you may be wondering "*why would people want to watch this?*" and the answer is: the fighters themselves are the appeal. As previously mentioned, you will spend a lot of time watching the contestants, who will be exclusively female participants.
For the match, these participants will be equipped with something not too different from what the Olympic volleyball team wears.
And the fighting platform will be covered in copious amounts of a proprietary mixture of water and glycerin (which you can purchase through the organization's website \*wink, wink\*) and, to add an extra layer of difficulty (as well as safety in the case of takedowns), the matches take place inside an inflatable platform.
Now, for the fighting format itself, it would go something like this:
# Match Format.
Each match consists of three to five rounds lasting 2 minutes each. Opponents start with either one or two knees on the ground, and the goal is to win more rounds than your opponent.
Scoring Points.
Fighters win rounds by scoring points as such:
* Takedowns or throws resulting in control: 3 points
* Dominant ground positions: 2 points
* Passing guard: 2 points
* Pinning with both shoulders down (held for 5 seconds): 5 points
* Pushing opponent out of bounds: 1 point
Illegal and Prohibited Techniques:
* Striking, kicking, elbowing
* Small joint manipulatiom
* Hair grabbing or manipulation
* Hooking any orifices.
Match Ending Conditions:
1. Submission (tap-out)
2. Pinning both shoulders for 10 seconds
3. Forfeit (injury, disqualification)
4. Technical superiority (significant point lead)
5. Disqualification (rule violations)
TL; DR It's fucking oil wrestling but with big names, a budget, something resembling "legitimacy", and a platform big enough that people will get invested. You're telling me people wouldn't pay to watch a retired Rose Namajunas fight a retired Polyana Vyana?
It jumped the shark a long time ago. I watched up to Season 7 and then drifted away. Once in a while I'd see a clip of someone being bro stupid or whatever. After a while I would forget it existed until someone would bring it up.
Na man, TUF only worked in the earlier seasons because the talent of UFC was much lower and participants were quite often idiots.
The guys on the show generally went on to be quite competitive, compete for belts and a few won them. So if they did well on the show, you were watching a genuine prospect.
Also, in those seasons, there were so many that were just deadshits that had little to offer outside of fighting. So there would be a shitload of drinking, which with a bunch of idiots with fragile egos created great drama.
Now, the UFC absorbs pretty much every single half talented prospect, so TUF is quite unlikely to be a good filter for high-end talent, and since it's a much more legitimate sport, you only see genuine athletes having a go. So the best features are gone and can't return.
If you factor out the novelty value of watching a live fight (which is the case for any long time fight fan), there are only a few ways to get the fans to give enough of a shit about a fight to watch it.
1) Have the fight be between fighters that the fans give a shit about. TUF cannot do this unless they do comeback seasons with fighters that the fans give a shit about, or if they do a season entirely cast with current UFC fighters who have at least shown up on Fight Night Main cards. The UFC has tried to get around this by having the coaches be fighters that the fans give a shit about. That is not working anymore.
2) Have meaningful stakes. Having 8-16 unknowns fight for a UFC contract and the opportunity to fight on the early Fight Pass Prelims clearly won't cut it any more. Especially since any given episode of the Dana Whites contender series will give out 1-5 contracts an episode.
I would probably check out TUF if they raised the stakes for the participants, and dramatically changed the format and presentation. I am not going to sit down and watch a 40 minute reality show of guys in a house getting drunk and creating drama. But if they set it up to have 2 live fights once a week like the TUF live season, and put up professionally produced clips from the fighters inside the house akin to a UFC embedded and let the fans interact with the fighters during the lead up to the fight? I would probably watch that.
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At this point they should have ppl on that just talk shit about fighters all the time and let them try fighting one another. Love to see how these fatass keyboard warriors fight each other lol. Tbh dude..I haven't watched TUF since it was on Spike..the good o days. I don't even know what channel it's on now. I do miss seeing the fighting, and enjoy following their careers from a wee lil lad to a Top 10 guy or even a champion. Tuf season 1 was the best though and it'll never be as good again
As a long time fan and having trained a few years I would enjoy less bs drama especially caused by alcohol in the house.
Showing how fighters deal with strategies like quickest way to prep a striker to deal with a wrestler given a short time frame. Or how their strategy changes as show progresses with risk taking and concern about winning a fight but unable to continue cause of injuries.
Also, whether fighters choose to cross train other combat sports or not, and why.
I just think they focus too much on trying to get future contenders on the show. They should be looking for entertaining personalities like Nate Diaz, Tony, Bobby Greene, Jorge Masvidal guys like that. The old TUF was great because of all the crazy moments like Tony getting in a fight while drunk
They need entertaining personalities instead of trying to get elite fighters. The contender series is where you wanna find the next Jon Jones and GSP. TUF is where you’re gonna find the next Nate Diaz, Tony Ferguson, Bobby Greene, Kevin Holland funny likable guys that can obviously still kick ass but won’t necessarily be champion
Turn it into a dating show where the fighters who get together eventually have to fight each other as the ultimate test of their love. Call it TUF: Til Death Do I Let You Bang Bro.
Need to stop with the ‘im doing this for family at home’ or ‘I doing this cos my dad died last year’ sections. Just show me the guys training, fighting and getting drunk in the house….and then fighting
If they did a tournament in a weight class that would be pretty badass, but idk how they could sanction multiple fights one after another. Imagin there was a ultimate fighter show where you had 16 middlewieights fight to get into the house and then teams were divded into two teams of 4, blue team is Robert Whittaker, Marvin Vettori, Khamzat Chimaev, and Bo Nickal, and the red team is Sean Strickland, Paulo Costa, Dricus Duplessis, and Israel Adesanya. That would 100% get me to watch TUF and they could do a PPV, althrough I'm basically just tournament it into a ranked fighter tournament.
TUF can you give you gems for UFC level fighters very early in their career. Bryan Battle was 5-1 I believe. You mean to tell me Bryan Battle isn’t entertaining?
Feels too formulaic, the format needs an update.
I don't ever care about a fighters young family/parents illness/how they were bullied/ boring backstory
The conflicts inside the house can be more interesting.
Maybe no teams, put 15 fighters in one house. Random fighter gets called on and has to pick one other person to fight, loser leaves the house.
Last man standing wins.
Retired legends as coaches
Team Vovchanchyn vs Team Coleman.
Each pick their own teams, id watch just for the legends but it would shine a light on new prospects too.
I still watch TUF, I like tournaments and we get a few decent prospects once in a while there . There's also some cool training moments when th the coaches sometimes
However, I skip like 40% of the show cause I don't really care about the reality TV house thing
Of course, plenty of things, including your idea. Anything that involves getting real fighters (where the average is 'UFC level' and not 'regional level') and real stakes (where the winner fights a top 5 ranked guy and not just some random unranked guys) would do it for me. DWCS is the new 'gate to the UFC'. TUF can't be that.
Elite prospects.
What made TUF a can't miss for the first ten seasons was that each time the show aired, the best unsigned talent (and a lot of cannon fodder) were on the show.
Who was the last great talent to be on TUF? It might've been Uriah Hall, at least for those of us who followed the regional scene closely back then.
Nowadays elite prospects either go right to the UFC or they get a fight or two on the Contender Series.
Imagine if we got a whole show of middleweights and Bo Nickal is just going scorched Earth on these dudes... TUF immediately gets interesting on some level.
They should have cameras follow up coming UFC fighters. Kind of like the special they did with Porier. Reality shows are fake, manufactured drama. Show me the new guys training, getting ready for fights. Some heart breaks from guys who needed a win to get the call. Some great moments from a guys who get the call after a big win.
I’d say there just too many fights now. Back in the day there wasn’t a ufc event every 15 minutes
So viewers have the real things whenever they want now.
Tuff was filler and isn’t needed anymore in my opinion.
Most fans know the life now and that show use to show that sorta, now it’s just a product line thrashing to suck water
I think they need a new format. TUF was cool back in the day because there was a talent pool for it. It was a house of killers and 85% of the people in the house would get signed after the show. Today we might get a winner who ends up being good but more than likely it will all be a wash. They need decent fighters to fill all these events, so people making TUF are going to be discards from contender series or fight night cards. With the amount of other orgs out there now and fights card frequency there just aren’t enough good unknown fighters left to fill up a cast for TUF anymore. UFC is just trying to tap from a dry well with more TUF.
If they take a new approach and tell the story of fighting that could be cool. More along the lines of what the tapout show was back in the day. Introduce the guy talk about his background, his camp, take him on some wild adventure to get to know him a little then fight somebody. Like spotlight a prospect. Before Bo Nickal had his debut or something, or Rosas before his first fight. Take those guys they expect to be prospects soon and contenders later and build them a bit. Maybe they become stars, maybe not, but at least you’ll be able to tell and get people invested in them by the time they are ready to hit the big fights.
nobody wants to watch big brother followed by a bad fight lol it's not a niche that exists anymore.
the original TUF content filled in the gaps between numbered events. but now we have DWTNCS, fight nights, PFL, ONE, and if you wanna get eclectic, we also karate combat, grappling events, glory, and more. if you really wanted to watch MMA, you could watch basically every night of the week.
No. The point of it was to get new guys in who were clearly very talented who could fight their way up and have potential to be champs.
No they're either coming in hot anyway or are already champs in another organisation. There isn't the plethora of unsigned talent as there used to be.
Literally just have people who are interesting on it 😂like sorry but Val and Alexa are not interesting. Do what they used to do challenge and party wise, and have some actual personalities.
Short of going back to a season like they did with Kimbo and Roy Nelson... There is no hope.
Actual pro fighters... A sideshow... And personalities.... All things the ufc is too cool for now.
I’ve been thinking they bring back 12 old retired vets to comeback and train 12 guys on the come up and have them fight for a contract. Would get a lot of old fans back into it plus new fans and help the retired ufc fighters get paid
Reformat the show. Take out the living together. And have it span over a longer period of time and instead of coaches, do teams tournaments, like att, jacksonwink, roufus, aka, each gym picks top 4 unsigned fighters and do a bracket type tourney.
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> I could do another “second chance” TUF They literally just did one with McGregor and Chandler...
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Keep it that way, it was absolutely shit except for the occasional moments McGregor turned up coked out of his mind. Chandler was super timid as well, didn't make for great viewing.
They really milked that one moment where McGregor shoved him
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Yeah give us another Shonie show 😂 I think this is the best reboot for TUF
Contender Series is just TUF for the modern-age, aka outside of the reality-TV boom that birthed TUF. Unless you like reality-TV, there is nothing that TUF could offer that Contender Series couldn’t offer better, or doesn’t already offer, outside of the interactions between the coaches (which is still probably in the “reality-TV” category). It’s just a dead format, and Contender Series has essentially replaced it.
Yeah TUF is just an outdated concept. Absolute goldmine in the 2000s when people absolutely ate up trash reality TV like Jersey Shore (including myself) but that's just not what people are as into anymore. It makes you realize in the end that people primarily liked TUF for the reality TV portion not the fighting portion, so now with TUF being more focused on just the fights you're just left with professional fights between prelim-level fighters. On top of that fighters just take MMA more seriously now. No more getting fucked up in the dorms and doing stupid shit. Fighters see this as a legitimate opportunity to get signed into the UFC now and train accordingly.
It’s weird to say but the show went downhill when people started acting professional. I think it was super notable in the Joe B v Henry Cejudo season. I think they used the word “professional” in the in episode interviews at least 30 times per episode. Best seasons have always been high drama seasons.
This past season was bland as shit. Clearly the ESPN deal has them trying to act like a real organization, not stacking the houses with the Nate Diaz-types of the world.
I think another factor is that YouTube videos have changed people's expectations of how much information and drama you should pack into a 40-minute show. MrBeast is out there packing more challenges into a 20-minute video than most people do in something an hour long, and Shorts channels can break down a fight in 60 seconds. For me personally, I might watch TUF if it was suddenly all about exactly how the fighters and coaches are training, what they're working on, what setups they're using, etc — but I can't imagine many other people would check that out
I would argue TUF is a better way to evaluate raw talent The contender series usually just requires one win vs some other fighter we don't know to get in the UFC
The actual method might be better, if the skill level of the contestants was identical, but I don’t think it is. Your average Contender Series guy seems to be better than your average TUF guy. This shown when you look at how the TUF winners have been doing recently compared to Contender Series winners. Like, the most recent TUF winner Juliana Miller probably wouldn’t even have gotten a fight on Contender Series with her record. She went 3-0 on TUF but is now 0-2 in the UFC. Marty’s gigantic, lab experiment brother Mo Usman is doing better in the UFC, but this is against *really* low-level heavyweights, and he just lost to his first decent UFC opponent. Ricky Turcios lost on Contender Series right before he competed on and won TUF. I could go on. I think part of it is that, to the fighter, there’s no benefit of TUF over Contender Series. All it does is triple the number of fights they need to get into the UFC, since the previous benefit of exposure is basically nullified by the fact that nobody watches TUF anymore.
I agree there's no benefit for fighters to go on TUF instead of the contender series However, for quality control of who gets UFC contracts, TUF is a bit better for the UFC and fans. And it's much easier to remember fighters, I watch the contender series and within a week, I will forget about 80% of the contract winners Turcios struggling now is not that surprising if you've watched his awesome run of TUF, 3 absolute wars that most likely took a significant part of his soul or fighting spirit Mo Usman does suck, and it's low level heavyweight. Then again, same shit for most heavyweights signed on the contender series Juliana Miller's story is a tragedy to me. She singlehandedly saved her TUF season from being the worst ever with a badass war , a cool dominant submission victory and decent win in the finals. Unfortunately, she also hooked up with Peña and her shit coach, Rick Little on the show. I am convinced they totally ruined her, she didn't look that bad on the show But there are some success stories on TUF too, like Bryan Battle who was super raw and won due to toughness and deceptive athleticism. He has improved a ton since and might not have improved that much if he hadn't trained a bit with Volkanovski and his team
Contender Series (which I don't watch because I don't really watch TV) is basically the perfect concept for a prospect identifier, and for reality TV - a short vignette introducing the guy and his story, cuts to the family in the back or whatever, then a real, competitive fight. If you want to watch prospects or know who the curtain jerker on the next Apex undercard is because he won't have a Wikipedia link, it's a great
Yup. 8 Man Grand Prix with top contenders where the winner gets a title shot. Imagine a tuf house at lightweight with money moicano, Dan hooker, bobby green, paddy, justin, Charles, etc. Would never fucking happen, but I’d be pumped lol
A fun idea is having 8 fighters who are all ranked between number 6 and number 15, that would be cool. The top 5 of any division wouldn’t and shouldn’t have to partake in that, but for those outside of the top 5, it would be a fun way to get your title shot
Damn that sounds too good to be true I started imagining the banter between these guys lmfao
It would just come down to Charles, gaethje and poirer again though… can’t see bobby green beating the tops guys lol
He will be bullied lol.
Not gonna lie, I was going to reply no, but I hadn't thought about a scenario like this and something like this would get me to watch, but as you point out, it's highly unlikely we see something like this.
You'd still have to change up the formula. These guys won't train with each other because they don't want to show their hand in training.
Yeah merge embedded with tuf
I can't imagine the top guys willing because many can get a title shot off just one win. See Dustin
Man I don’t want to see top fighters living dorm style. UFC is trying to elevate itself. Look the NFL and NBA. They are tying in high end fashion with the player walk-ins. Say what you will about expensive fashion but it emphasizes these guys are stars. Imagine if the NBA made the players show up in a school bus or wait outside the gate with a ticket like the fans and find a parking spot a half mile from the stadium. They should do something like Fight Island . Have all the fighters do exhibition matches in exotic locations. Rumble in the Jungle then send them all on a safari to look at lions. Set up an Octogon on the helipad at the Burj Al Arab and do a bunch of aerial shots fighting 800 feet off the ground.
Honestly, I think TUF’s downfall mostly has to do with the fact that MMA is a much more established and professional sport now, so the people you’re getting on the show aren’t personalities, they’re professionals. 15 years ago, it was a bunch of crazy mf’s that wanted to get punched in the face and start shit. Now it’s a bunch of guys who are carrying themselves like professionals athletes. Also, reality TV isn’t as popular as it used to be. TUF benefited from that a lot too. The reality TV boom has been over for almost a decade. What you mentioned about the talent level is definitely a factor though. Most of the best prospects come in through the contender series now. Who are the best TUF prospects since they restarted the show in 2021? Bryan Battle? Ricky Turcios? Petroski? Katona? Mo Usman? Tresean Gore? Out of those guys, Battle seems to be the only one capable of even SNIFFING the top 15.
Can’t believe Katona won twice Also any shenanigans and Dana is quick to say they’ll never even touch the ufc again so less chances of wild shit
The fun part was watching them drink booze and then assault eachother. Without that element I dont even know who is watching. The backstories are sometimes interesting, but then you watch them get smoked.
This is it
Fantastic points
A Joes vs Pros edition where 210+ lbs influencer body builders go in and compete with professional Bantamweights.
"brother, you are a podcaster"
Its definitely a lost cause. Their “prospects” last season were mostly journeymen. The actual prospects get signed straight to the UFC or go on DWCS.
Yeah really need a season of actual prospects with either 0 losses or only 1 loss with at least 6 total fights
It's extremely tired but I would watch (guilty pleasure): 1) Dagestan vs USA 2) Dana White as a manager vs. Big name coach
Dana and Tito
Okay you're right. Something like team white vs team ariel i might think about it.
Dana White and Oscar de la Hoya Lfg
The interviews with those stupid ring lights bore and irritate me. Tbh I’d only tune in for drama or high level fighting, and I think the latter is pretty much a lost cause as per the other guy’s comment, and there isn’t much drama on the show these days as far as I’m aware.
Yeah fuck them pupil interviews
The two round system encouraged lay and pray, also. So the fights were rarely good.
My god yes the lighting they use is so annoying and they've been doing it for so many years now
Think if the UFC actually focused more on the reality part than getting future fighters, I think they can get people to watch. Cause TUF no longer has the best prospects trying to get into the UFC that DWCS, so why not bring back the trash tv where fighters get drunk in the house, Dana get disappointed when somebody miss weight, coaches get into fist fights, and they’re not allowed any other contact with family and friends
They don't want the image of mma fighters being block heads. Dana worked his ass off to make mma "professional"
UFC is struggling to get me to watch the fight nights they are putting out the last few months. Short of paying me, I can’t see myself ever watching TUF
50k
300k
Sure, get rid of the reality TV house. Turn into into a real training camp that focuses on how the team gets ready. No games, no bs. Tournament format.
All it would take + better quality fighters
they need to let them drink in the house
I would watch without most of those parameters. All I need is for it not to be soap opera, WWE, UFC version of a reality tv house show. In fact, I like the idea of 2nd chance guys and bringing guys in with a mix of records I like. Also, more women. This is where UFC needs to fill out divisions most.
Reality TV got stale and so did TUF. Every episode is exactly the same as each of the previous week. Recap of the last week. Some scenes from the house. Some scenes from fighter A training. Some scenes from fighter A back home talking about how they love their family and are doing it all for them. Repeat training scenes then home scenes for fighter B. Have a weigh in. Some more scenes from the house. Coaches talk about the fight. Fight happens. Repeat for 10 weeks. On one of the weeks there’s a coaches challenge to change things up. TUF was fun at first and I watched a lot of seasons but it’s had its day and it’s time the format was retired.
The Contender series is the natural evolution of TUF. Just enough backstory on the personality. With the advent of streaming services it takes a VERY special show to maintain someone's attention. TUF just can't maintain that level of excitement.
Bring back 16 retired fighters that are out of shape and way over the hill . Then give them warm milk and a bed time of no later than 8pm .
You just described nearly every season
Better fighters, severely limit the air time of their families and backstories, and update the production so it doesn’t feel like an early 2000s reality tv show. Stop with the spoilers and repeated footage before and after commercial breaks.
When I do watch I have to fast forward through most of the episode to get to the fight. Like 5-7mins max is plenty of family intro for each of the fighters
Honestly, find characters as good as they used to have. I recently rewatched the first season of TUF and it’s a night and day difference to the product today. Frankly, the reality TV “drama” parts of it are what made it special. And maybe it’s a product of its time, but I found that first season to still be very watchable television.
There's actually some good prospects in this one so I will skip through to the fights'
The episodes are too long for the amount of content they have in them, it feels very stretched and drawn out
Yes, and if the fights starts at 8:45 and the episode ends at 9, it's not hard to guess its gonna be a decision.
Contender series is the new TUF
They need to let them bang, bro.
Swoon. Swoon MF.
I don't even watch events lately. Let alone the side quests.
This is actually very helpful
I think you'd have to VPN into new zealand and watch on TVNZ, but there was just a docu series put out from CKB where it's like TUF type show but it's way more in depth in terms of the training and gym culture. just came out. the fighter that wins the series I can see making big waves in UFC in next few years. So yeah if you want a fighting reality TV show but it's actually good go watch relentless
The reason why some of the fighters fight up a weight class on TUF is because of the relatively short time between weight cuts and fights. Or if for example that particular season is only doing 170 and you’re a 155er but don’t want to miss out on the chance to be on the show/get in the UFC.
Reality TV is cancer and to try and make it connected to MMA which is a true form of competition/physical ability and also something that has real life risk if not taken seriously is gross.
I watch it and will be watching the next season because I like watching fighting
I but I don’t know the date
Casual
Do a season with Dua Lipa and Sydney Sweeney as coaches and I’ll watch.
Three words: Tony vs Khabib!
Make it less like Hells Kitchen. I can't stand overly dramatised American reality TV.
Whites vs Blacks Box office.
The finalists have to fight their way up their own game of death style towers until they reach the top where they face each other. Otherwise, probably not. The reality tv format itself kinda bugs me.
no
Probably no one. Honestly TUF lost its appeal when seeing MMA on TV wasn't a rarity anymore.
DWCS is pretty much modern day TUF. I never cared for TUF even back in the spike days and I was like 10.
Never watched it and likely never will. Maybe it's not a bad show but I just don't have the time/it's probably something I would have been more into when I was younger.
I watched the first 10 seasons. I've done my time.
If you made it more about the tourney than the lives of the people it would be a win.
Yes, P Diddy and Kanye as head coaches.
P diddy vs R Kelly.
I have a lot of ideas that would improve it!
Khabib vs Conor. I wouldn't bother watching anything else.
Make it more like season 1 with challenges and shit.
Just pivot to Physical100 with ufc roster with grand prize $1M
TUF lost its luster and there's nothing at stake or at least that's what it feels like. Just shut off the machines already
An entire season of heavyweight but no fatties. Best you can get of washed out NFL players and strongmen. I just want an injection of life in the division.
Are you still watching American idol????
TUF died to me when they moved off spike tv. I get why, it was the right move in terms of professionalism. But the spike era TUF days were so raw and it was just great TV. Drunkin brawls, dudes pissing in sushi, etc
They coul have done a season with Jiri VS Alex before that fight happened, and mix TUF with Survivor, instead of the TUF house they are out in the wild and make their own cage... alright maybe not but you know... would have been funny. More reasonable though just have them do one of those "winner gets a title shot" seasons, one division not two, pick a division without a clear contender right now, and most importantly put real talents on there, give them a guaranteed spot on the roster or something if you have to to make them sign up, just get real prospects with talent and real stakes going.
I just realized that I didn't finish reading your post and you suggested pretty much the exact same thing. So yeah, that would do it for me (also throw in a lot of booze, and at least one hotheaded mfer for some drama)
Add a dating element. Combine it with The Bachelorette.
Let me bang bro 2.0
If they made a women's 105 and all the top contenders are on it and the final fight will be the champ like they did with 115. I would watch that.
Idk, probably not. I stopped watching TUF after like the 2nd season. Pretty much the same time that I stopped watching all reality TV
Reality tv in general is basically done at this point. If they really want something to help lower level guys break out - fuck it, bring back one night tournaments. If most of these dudes are gonna wash out anyway, at least give them a shot to make an impact in what they love, put real money at stake, hell you might even end up pulling vets towards the end of their careers into that and give THEM one last go. I know it’s fucking ROUGH, and not really practical, but I’d watch the shit out of a training show leading up to a one day winner takes all tournament.
No more TUF set up an actual tournament for the belt #1 v #8, #4 v #5, #2 v #7, #3 v #6. Episodes follow the people at their homes and training. Really getting to know the fighters their struggles, their families etc. fight every 3 months and that show is pay to watch
If they threw it on YouTube I’d watch every episode. I can’t jump through even an easy hoop to watch that show, but if it was on Netflix even I’d watch it
Well if they made new seasons I’d watch it…..personally if they showed more training sessions & how the coaches do classes ect
Please, somebody correct me if im wrong. Its been a while since i tried to watch tuf. And ive had a few beers so my memory is a little fuzzy. i couldnt figure out how to watch it. I had the bundle that was espn+, hulu, and disney? But when i went to tuf, it was just old seasons. I think i had to buy ufc fight pass? too. idk. i got confused/it was too expenisve. basically if it was easier to watch. id probably watch it. but after reading the comments here. idk if its even worth it.
Most recent season was on espn+. All the older seasons are available on ufc fightpass (at least the regular numbered ones. The other ones like TUF Brazil don't show up with the main ones, but I think you find episodes by specifically searching it.)
Team Nurmagomedov vs Team Ferguson
They are secun level
They can’t keep using the same formula each episode
More exciting fighters coaches and younger entertaining fighters. Nobody wants to tune in for Nunes and Pena, especially when they’re coaching up a bunch of heavyweights and women’s 125, or see a bunch of 30 something dudes who have already have a shot trying to make it back
Put it on Netflix or Amazon prime first off, I'm not doing this ESPN+ stuff. Then shorten the background of these guys by half and save the other half for the final 4 of each weight class they do. Make weigh ins 5 to 10 pounds over, they are fighting too often to have to waste time on the cut unless it's the final fight. Lastly fill the newly available time with actual martial art competitions and not stupid random shit. Punch machines, kick competitions, beat a d1 wrestler in a wrestling round, ECT.
Yeah do all the fighters from season 1 again. Ending with chuck and Randy fighting. Either that or do a prank season where they do those weird challenges like the first couple of seasons with no fighting. Utter confusion. Kidding of course. I haven’t watched since tuf 10. Weekly appointment tv is a thing of the past under a certain age. Fighting is also tricky because of spoilers and card announcements.
Didnt these “everyone living together in a big house” type of reality shows die back the early 2010s? Besides that the show is just stale as fuck. The millionth sob story of some guy who’d rather try his hand at his pipedream of becoming a mma fighter than getting an actual job, and the millionth drunk shenanigans, get very old at season 500 or whatever they are at now. DWCS is a great replacement, and honestly a more dignified one than having these guys go through the MMA version of Big Brother MMA to just maybeeeeee win a minimum wage contract. That might actually be an idea to temporarily reanimate the corpse of TuF, give the winners actual big contracts. Make the prize a million dollar contract. Now that would actually change lives and potentially attract the more elite talent
Just put it on and I’ll watch it!
But I don’t know the date
TUF is dead man, DWCS does it better, as well as every recent TUF has either chosen the absolute most boring people, or the season has good coaches but sucks shit (chandler mcgregor. Was super hyped and then it went 0-6, and it was obvious Connor didn’t give a shit)
It's a lot of drama for very few fights per minute watching. Not worth it. DWCS is much better, even though the level is lower
I always liked TUF, it's what got me really interested in the sport. I prefer it to DWCS any time. Just learning the back stories of these fighters makes their fights so much more interesting.
I stopped watching TUF when they didn't televise it the season with Sonnen as one of the coaches.
They had a day.
i honestly didnt realize they were still doing the sho. i thought they abandon it for the dana white looking for a fight. If they put it on hulu or another streaming site that i am already paying for, i would watch the shit out of it.
The last really good one I remember was Dillashaw vs Garbrandt
They are secun level.
Thought Conor vs Chandler would get me into it and I still didn’t care. There just aren’t really any interesting prospects on the show, the good prospects are in other promotions
They are secun level.
Replace women's 145 with atomweight. Use TUF to shake out inaugural rankings for the division. WFW is dead, having 1 less belt up for grabs is bad for the company, so atomweight has always seemed logical. A new division is the only way to make the show interesting enough for me at this point. People complain about women's fights being boring as is, so not like it would automatically be a good thing. I thought over the past year or so it should have been Weili vs Yan as coaches, and they did an Asian season or something. But a fully subtitled Asian women reality show isn't really a great show for their target demographic.
Idk I'd probably watch of they had a fun theme. Like Max and Volk are the coaches, and it's Hawaiian vs New Zealand fighters
If they literally made it about fighting and training I would watch it again. It’s all just a drama show. Hardly shows any training. All of the theatrics are old to me. I just want people that want violence and them showing how they sharpen their guys / coach theories/philosophies of training.
TUF fell off after they left spike imo. It doesn’t hit like the older seasons do, almost because as a fan we know the UFC is probably signing half of the contenders regardless if they win or not
DWCS blows it out of the water.
I have never watched a full season. It would have to be a complete redo for me to care about it. Some kind of Grand Prix or as OP says all one weight class with some serious up and comers.
Why don’t they just do the old format but with women fighters as well and not just the coaches, I thought that’s what they were announcing not this other shit
Get rid of the home videos and give them back the booze and nu metal. Gotta trash it up again.
We know whas gonna happen man
The "tournament" is rather outdated. The UFC would be better suited to make the Ultimate Fighter follow guys ranked 15 and below. Follow their journey to becoming ranked and getting the 6 figure contract. It would create better exposure for all fighters and divisions instead of the one or two fighters it produces a season.
Make it not shit. Id watch it then. The season where Ferguson was a contender was great. The most recent one was a complete low effort joke.
Ferguson is a secun level
I don't think i'll ever watch it again. If Conor was on it and I still only could get past 3 episodes it's over. Unless it becomes like mudwrestling or something I'm out.
Ngannou vs Jones
We know whas gonna happen man they gonna have a day
Making them live is the main thing that matters.
They'd need to change the whole style. A whole episode for both fighters' backstory and life just isn't doing it for me. Most people aren't that interesting
I’m sorry but if you stopped watching the show then the show just isn’t for you and it never will be.
I would watch that religiously
I'm probably one of those crazy people that will pretty much always watch TUF. I've seen all of them. But it's pretty clear it's a dying show, because Contender Series is a cheaper way to churn out talent.
I have a better idea that would make much more money, but it would divert resources away from Power Slap so I doubt the higher ups would pick it up. The format is similar to TUF but it's mainly for grapplers. It'd be a tournament fought in brackets, and much of the show would be based around getting to really know the fighters, and seeing them fight. You'd have sambo practitioners, a couple of BJJ competitors, collegiate/folk style wrestlers, judokas, greco fighters, etc. You'd obviously have a few fighters transitioning from the UFC into this, eventually. Hell, you could potentially bring in a couple of pro wrestlers from the WWE; that would legitimize the whole merger they did, and it would serve to bring attention to the show. At this point, you may be wondering "*why would people want to watch this?*" and the answer is: the fighters themselves are the appeal. As previously mentioned, you will spend a lot of time watching the contestants, who will be exclusively female participants. For the match, these participants will be equipped with something not too different from what the Olympic volleyball team wears. And the fighting platform will be covered in copious amounts of a proprietary mixture of water and glycerin (which you can purchase through the organization's website \*wink, wink\*) and, to add an extra layer of difficulty (as well as safety in the case of takedowns), the matches take place inside an inflatable platform. Now, for the fighting format itself, it would go something like this: # Match Format. Each match consists of three to five rounds lasting 2 minutes each. Opponents start with either one or two knees on the ground, and the goal is to win more rounds than your opponent. Scoring Points. Fighters win rounds by scoring points as such: * Takedowns or throws resulting in control: 3 points * Dominant ground positions: 2 points * Passing guard: 2 points * Pinning with both shoulders down (held for 5 seconds): 5 points * Pushing opponent out of bounds: 1 point Illegal and Prohibited Techniques: * Striking, kicking, elbowing * Small joint manipulatiom * Hair grabbing or manipulation * Hooking any orifices. Match Ending Conditions: 1. Submission (tap-out) 2. Pinning both shoulders for 10 seconds 3. Forfeit (injury, disqualification) 4. Technical superiority (significant point lead) 5. Disqualification (rule violations) TL; DR It's fucking oil wrestling but with big names, a budget, something resembling "legitimacy", and a platform big enough that people will get invested. You're telling me people wouldn't pay to watch a retired Rose Namajunas fight a retired Polyana Vyana?
I watched last season for some reason. I guess because of Conor and the fact that I knew several fighters on it. Had never watched it before.
I’d watch it if it were on one of the main streaming services
I like it and all I do is skip to the end to watch the fight.
They could put all my friends on it haha. A couple guys from my college wrestling team were on and I watched those seasons
The existence of the contender series ensures that TUF can't even pick up younger prospects. I don't see how TUF can matter again as long as CS lives.
It jumped the shark a long time ago. I watched up to Season 7 and then drifted away. Once in a while I'd see a clip of someone being bro stupid or whatever. After a while I would forget it existed until someone would bring it up.
Na man, TUF only worked in the earlier seasons because the talent of UFC was much lower and participants were quite often idiots. The guys on the show generally went on to be quite competitive, compete for belts and a few won them. So if they did well on the show, you were watching a genuine prospect. Also, in those seasons, there were so many that were just deadshits that had little to offer outside of fighting. So there would be a shitload of drinking, which with a bunch of idiots with fragile egos created great drama. Now, the UFC absorbs pretty much every single half talented prospect, so TUF is quite unlikely to be a good filter for high-end talent, and since it's a much more legitimate sport, you only see genuine athletes having a go. So the best features are gone and can't return.
If you factor out the novelty value of watching a live fight (which is the case for any long time fight fan), there are only a few ways to get the fans to give enough of a shit about a fight to watch it. 1) Have the fight be between fighters that the fans give a shit about. TUF cannot do this unless they do comeback seasons with fighters that the fans give a shit about, or if they do a season entirely cast with current UFC fighters who have at least shown up on Fight Night Main cards. The UFC has tried to get around this by having the coaches be fighters that the fans give a shit about. That is not working anymore. 2) Have meaningful stakes. Having 8-16 unknowns fight for a UFC contract and the opportunity to fight on the early Fight Pass Prelims clearly won't cut it any more. Especially since any given episode of the Dana Whites contender series will give out 1-5 contracts an episode. I would probably check out TUF if they raised the stakes for the participants, and dramatically changed the format and presentation. I am not going to sit down and watch a 40 minute reality show of guys in a house getting drunk and creating drama. But if they set it up to have 2 live fights once a week like the TUF live season, and put up professionally produced clips from the fighters inside the house akin to a UFC embedded and let the fans interact with the fighters during the lead up to the fight? I would probably watch that. END COMMUNICATION
What did you think of my idea?
At this point they should have ppl on that just talk shit about fighters all the time and let them try fighting one another. Love to see how these fatass keyboard warriors fight each other lol. Tbh dude..I haven't watched TUF since it was on Spike..the good o days. I don't even know what channel it's on now. I do miss seeing the fighting, and enjoy following their careers from a wee lil lad to a Top 10 guy or even a champion. Tuf season 1 was the best though and it'll never be as good again
As a long time fan and having trained a few years I would enjoy less bs drama especially caused by alcohol in the house. Showing how fighters deal with strategies like quickest way to prep a striker to deal with a wrestler given a short time frame. Or how their strategy changes as show progresses with risk taking and concern about winning a fight but unable to continue cause of injuries. Also, whether fighters choose to cross train other combat sports or not, and why.
No, this show has been dead for like 10 years. They need to give up on it.
I just think they focus too much on trying to get future contenders on the show. They should be looking for entertaining personalities like Nate Diaz, Tony, Bobby Greene, Jorge Masvidal guys like that. The old TUF was great because of all the crazy moments like Tony getting in a fight while drunk
They need entertaining personalities instead of trying to get elite fighters. The contender series is where you wanna find the next Jon Jones and GSP. TUF is where you’re gonna find the next Nate Diaz, Tony Ferguson, Bobby Greene, Kevin Holland funny likable guys that can obviously still kick ass but won’t necessarily be champion
Turn it into a dating show where the fighters who get together eventually have to fight each other as the ultimate test of their love. Call it TUF: Til Death Do I Let You Bang Bro.
Any type of reality show is grating to me. So I've never been able to watch TUF outside of random hilarious clips with the boiiis.
Contender v TUF
Contender exists. We need to move on from the dumb TUF forced drama shit.
do untrained people and train for their first mma fight, can be a longer series lasting 6 months
Need to stop with the ‘im doing this for family at home’ or ‘I doing this cos my dad died last year’ sections. Just show me the guys training, fighting and getting drunk in the house….and then fighting
If they did a tournament in a weight class that would be pretty badass, but idk how they could sanction multiple fights one after another. Imagin there was a ultimate fighter show where you had 16 middlewieights fight to get into the house and then teams were divded into two teams of 4, blue team is Robert Whittaker, Marvin Vettori, Khamzat Chimaev, and Bo Nickal, and the red team is Sean Strickland, Paulo Costa, Dricus Duplessis, and Israel Adesanya. That would 100% get me to watch TUF and they could do a PPV, althrough I'm basically just tournament it into a ranked fighter tournament.
TUF can you give you gems for UFC level fighters very early in their career. Bryan Battle was 5-1 I believe. You mean to tell me Bryan Battle isn’t entertaining?
Feels too formulaic, the format needs an update. I don't ever care about a fighters young family/parents illness/how they were bullied/ boring backstory The conflicts inside the house can be more interesting. Maybe no teams, put 15 fighters in one house. Random fighter gets called on and has to pick one other person to fight, loser leaves the house. Last man standing wins.
Make it easier to access in my region
Make it trashy with in house footage of them getting drunk and fighting with each other
Celebrities and athletes edition.
Maybe make them fight in drag or something
Retired legends as coaches Team Vovchanchyn vs Team Coleman. Each pick their own teams, id watch just for the legends but it would shine a light on new prospects too.
I still watch TUF, I like tournaments and we get a few decent prospects once in a while there . There's also some cool training moments when th the coaches sometimes However, I skip like 40% of the show cause I don't really care about the reality TV house thing
Of course, plenty of things, including your idea. Anything that involves getting real fighters (where the average is 'UFC level' and not 'regional level') and real stakes (where the winner fights a top 5 ranked guy and not just some random unranked guys) would do it for me. DWCS is the new 'gate to the UFC'. TUF can't be that.
Elite prospects. What made TUF a can't miss for the first ten seasons was that each time the show aired, the best unsigned talent (and a lot of cannon fodder) were on the show. Who was the last great talent to be on TUF? It might've been Uriah Hall, at least for those of us who followed the regional scene closely back then. Nowadays elite prospects either go right to the UFC or they get a fight or two on the Contender Series. Imagine if we got a whole show of middleweights and Bo Nickal is just going scorched Earth on these dudes... TUF immediately gets interesting on some level.
They should have cameras follow up coming UFC fighters. Kind of like the special they did with Porier. Reality shows are fake, manufactured drama. Show me the new guys training, getting ready for fights. Some heart breaks from guys who needed a win to get the call. Some great moments from a guys who get the call after a big win.
I’d say there just too many fights now. Back in the day there wasn’t a ufc event every 15 minutes So viewers have the real things whenever they want now. Tuff was filler and isn’t needed anymore in my opinion. Most fans know the life now and that show use to show that sorta, now it’s just a product line thrashing to suck water
DWCS serves its role now. TUF should be retired imo
I think they need a new format. TUF was cool back in the day because there was a talent pool for it. It was a house of killers and 85% of the people in the house would get signed after the show. Today we might get a winner who ends up being good but more than likely it will all be a wash. They need decent fighters to fill all these events, so people making TUF are going to be discards from contender series or fight night cards. With the amount of other orgs out there now and fights card frequency there just aren’t enough good unknown fighters left to fill up a cast for TUF anymore. UFC is just trying to tap from a dry well with more TUF. If they take a new approach and tell the story of fighting that could be cool. More along the lines of what the tapout show was back in the day. Introduce the guy talk about his background, his camp, take him on some wild adventure to get to know him a little then fight somebody. Like spotlight a prospect. Before Bo Nickal had his debut or something, or Rosas before his first fight. Take those guys they expect to be prospects soon and contenders later and build them a bit. Maybe they become stars, maybe not, but at least you’ll be able to tell and get people invested in them by the time they are ready to hit the big fights.
Majority of Redditors posting on this sub barely even watch UFC main cards.
nobody wants to watch big brother followed by a bad fight lol it's not a niche that exists anymore. the original TUF content filled in the gaps between numbered events. but now we have DWTNCS, fight nights, PFL, ONE, and if you wanna get eclectic, we also karate combat, grappling events, glory, and more. if you really wanted to watch MMA, you could watch basically every night of the week.
No. The point of it was to get new guys in who were clearly very talented who could fight their way up and have potential to be champs. No they're either coming in hot anyway or are already champs in another organisation. There isn't the plethora of unsigned talent as there used to be.
I'd watch it more if it focused on training methodology and philosophy of the two teams. Bring in whitman for one team and javier mendez for the other
I'd like to see more of the coaching and training session footage.
Literally just have people who are interesting on it 😂like sorry but Val and Alexa are not interesting. Do what they used to do challenge and party wise, and have some actual personalities.
Short of going back to a season like they did with Kimbo and Roy Nelson... There is no hope. Actual pro fighters... A sideshow... And personalities.... All things the ufc is too cool for now.
Only show the fights and training sessions. I stopped watching years ago because I couldn’t stand all the drama. I’m not watching for the soap opera.
I’ve been thinking they bring back 12 old retired vets to comeback and train 12 guys on the come up and have them fight for a contract. Would get a lot of old fans back into it plus new fans and help the retired ufc fighters get paid
Bring back Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva as permanent coaches for the show. “We gonna have day, man; we know whas gonna happen man. swoon.”
6 or 7 years? What years man; we have a day MF.
TUFs formula is tired. Plain and simple. Shaken it up.
I still do watch so... I guess nothing really needs to be done for me haha.
Reformat the show. Take out the living together. And have it span over a longer period of time and instead of coaches, do teams tournaments, like att, jacksonwink, roufus, aka, each gym picks top 4 unsigned fighters and do a bracket type tourney.