- Joined
- Mar 31, 2007
- Messages
- 42,610
- Reaction score
- 24,191
It just dawned on me that in the age of being tied with ESPN and a true sports network, combined with the stale TUF brand, this Contender Series crap is the next iteration of The Ultimate Fighter. ESPN doesn't really do true "reality shows" and that who subgenre is a relic of the 2000s by now, but this is shot in the same style and achieves many of the same things for the UFC and its home network without having to put money or effort into real events or fighter pay while Dana gets his rocks off in front of the camera.
Main commonalities:
-Iffy talent pool: Most real contenders are snapped up on real contracts immediately unless extremely green and/or being used for squash matches (ala Greg Hardy). Like the Ultimate Fighter the odds of a real title holder coming thru the series is slim and the majority of them have no business ever fighting on a real UFC card.
-Early midweek broadcasts to avoid live sports competition for ratings.
-Low production budget and off-strip Vegas film set
-Little to no audience (ridiculous to pretend that this environment is at all relevant to MMA when every other legitimate pro fight is going to have tons of screaming fans and noise, not this weird sterile non-event location)
-Huge focus on Dana as some sort of fight-emperor who gets to scream and yap about how impressed he was or not, his power, and him "making" these fighters (as if they wouldn't have been scouted or signed otherwise)
-Story and drama focuses more on family life and the feast v. famine of "making the UFC" rather than belt contention.
-Little to no budget/payout to fighters: these fights get put on cable/premium cable but the guys aren't actually on UFC contracts, earning basically nothing (probably losing money after expenses).
-End of episode drama: TUF always finished with a fight or an announcement, The Contender Series devalues whether someone wins or loses and instead makes it build up to the "big decision" by Dana. Almost Bachelor-esque, except with a fat billionaire trying to sign young talent to low-income contracts and instead of dates, we got some fights.
Main commonalities:
-Iffy talent pool: Most real contenders are snapped up on real contracts immediately unless extremely green and/or being used for squash matches (ala Greg Hardy). Like the Ultimate Fighter the odds of a real title holder coming thru the series is slim and the majority of them have no business ever fighting on a real UFC card.
-Early midweek broadcasts to avoid live sports competition for ratings.
-Low production budget and off-strip Vegas film set
-Little to no audience (ridiculous to pretend that this environment is at all relevant to MMA when every other legitimate pro fight is going to have tons of screaming fans and noise, not this weird sterile non-event location)
-Huge focus on Dana as some sort of fight-emperor who gets to scream and yap about how impressed he was or not, his power, and him "making" these fighters (as if they wouldn't have been scouted or signed otherwise)
-Story and drama focuses more on family life and the feast v. famine of "making the UFC" rather than belt contention.
-Little to no budget/payout to fighters: these fights get put on cable/premium cable but the guys aren't actually on UFC contracts, earning basically nothing (probably losing money after expenses).
-End of episode drama: TUF always finished with a fight or an announcement, The Contender Series devalues whether someone wins or loses and instead makes it build up to the "big decision" by Dana. Almost Bachelor-esque, except with a fat billionaire trying to sign young talent to low-income contracts and instead of dates, we got some fights.
Last edited:
