Let's call Dana White's Contender Series what it is: Ultimate Fighter 2.0

[TouchButtDork]

I’m glad you were figuring this out for us man. Brilliant deductions

 

[horc00]

I don't know about The Contendere series but there has been a lot of talent that came from TUF. Several champions.

Kamaru Usman
Robert Whittaker
Tony Ferguson
Michael Bisping
T.J Dillashaw
Kelvin Gastelum
Rashad Evans
Ryan Namajunas
Ryan Bader
Paulo Costa
Yair Rodrigues
Forest Griffin
John Dodson
Josh Koscheck
...

And more.

 

[brackis1]

It's a good way to find new fighters to the roster.

UFC got a LOT of real fucking talent in those shitty shows (Dillashaw... Evans... Ferguson... Chiesa... Marreta... the list goes on and on...

You listed like 5 guys across like 25 seasons on the show who ever made the Top 10 rankings in the UFC lol, and none of those were in the past 5 years. That isn't an endorsement of it as a place to find the best guys.

 

[brackis1]

Add

Nate Diaz
Diego Sanchez
Thiago Santos
Gray Maynard
Juliana Pena
Raquel Pennington
Kenny Florian
Joe Stevenson
Matt Serra didn't but he wouldn't have won the belt if it wasn't for TUF
Roy Nelson
Matt Mitrione
Carla Esparza
Tatiana Suarez
Matt Brown

That's just some names I've added who've fought for a belt or have probably been top 5 at some point in their division. You could add about 30 more guys who've had UFC fights and done alright in the promotion. How the odds of a contender coming through TUF is "slim" is beyond me.

You just listed a bunch of people who were in earlier versions of TUF before it lost the ability to attract prospects. They ran TWENTY EIGHT SEASONS rofl. None of those has been in the past like, 5 years.

 

[mahavishnunj]

I don't know about The Contendere series but there has been a lot of talent that came from TUF. Several champions.

Kamaru Usman
Robert Whittaker
Tony Ferguson
Michael Bisping
T.J Dillashaw
Kelvin Gastelum
Rashad Evans
Ryan Namajunas
Ryan Bader
Paulo Costa
Yair Rodrigues
Forest Griffin
John Dodson
Josh Koscheck
...

And more.

I see what you did there. She was "Rose" before the haircut.

 

[TCE]

The talent pool on this show is much better than TUF.

They're bringing in guys/girls with legit skills who are former regional shows (like LFA) champions to fight for a a UFC contract.

TUF signed guys merely for their personality so people would tune in and watch.

Look how good fucking Johnny Walker is and he came from this show, and we're only in the third season.

 

[elwani]

I call it Dana’s power trip.

 

[chrisdiaz]

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.

Main commonalities:
-Iffy talent pool: Most real contenders are snapped up on real contracts immediately unless extremely green and being used for squash matches (ala Hardy). Like the Ultimate Fighter the odds of a real title holder coming thru the series is slim.
-Midweek broadcasts
-Low production budget and off-strip Vegas film set
-Huge focus on Dana as some sort of fight-emperor who gets to scream and yap about how impressed he was or not.
-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).

Why do you even watch MMA? I seriously want to know cause it doesnt sound like you like watching people fight. The contender series guys have all been great so far...you have no idea what your talking about.

 

[orangecuse]

It takes basic logic to understand how this can attract a bigger talent pool. It's one televised fight that they get paid on a UFC scale for. As opposed to living in a house with a bunch of dudes for a while. Some of them you'll have to fight, fighting for free multiple times while cameras follow you around the whole time.

 

[kalabula]

90 percent fights and 10 percent drama (the fighter promos). TUF was the opposite.

 

[infidelkastro]

Like the Ultimate Fighter the odds of a real title holder coming thru the series is slim.

Forrest Griffon
Ryan Bader (different organization, but I feel without Jones it would have happened in UFC)
Michael Bisping
Matt Serra (still lol)
TJ Dillashaw
Rashad Evans
Robert Whitaker

 

[brackis1]

Forrest Griffon
Ryan Bader (different organization, but I feel without Jones it would have happened in UFC)
Michael Bisping
Matt Serra (still lol)
TJ Dillashaw
Rashad Evans
Robert Whitaker

So 3 legit champs out of...

Why do you even watch MMA? I seriously want to know cause it doesnt sound like you like watching people fight. The contender series guys have all been great so far...you have no idea what your talking about.

It sounds like I want high quality fights involving:
-The best talent
-Fair pay
-Focus on dudes becoming best in the world and climbing toward a title, not "let's get fans excited that this guy will now be able to stop eating rice and beans with his wife and children because they landed on a reality TV show and beat some other really poor fighter for a chance to be the worst paid guy in the UFC while earning a few thousand dollars

I want MORE FIGHTS, not minor league MMA mixed with Dana ranting like a slaveowner in ancient rome ranting about the quality of the slaves he bought for a coliseum fight.

 

[t3c9]

Dana wants Rockem Sockem Robots.

 

[BEATDOWNS]

So 3 legit champs out of...

It sounds like I want high quality fights involving:
-The best talent
-Fair pay
-Focus on dudes becoming best in the world and climbing toward a title, not "let's get fans excited that this guy will now be able to stop eating rice and beans with his wife and children because they landed on a reality TV show and beat some other really poor fighter for a chance to be the worst paid guy in the UFC while earning a few thousand dollars

I want MORE FIGHTS, not minor league MMA mixed with Dana ranting like a slaveowner in ancient rome ranting about the quality of the slaves he bought for a coliseum fight.

I am just curious how many of these names do you recognize? be honest

 

[DanAndroid]

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.

Main commonalities:
-Iffy talent pool: Most real contenders are snapped up on real contracts immediately unless extremely green and being used for squash matches (ala Hardy). Like the Ultimate Fighter the odds of a real title holder coming thru the series is slim.
-Midweek broadcasts
-Low production budget and off-strip Vegas film set
-Huge focus on Dana as some sort of fight-emperor who gets to scream and yap about how impressed he was or not.
-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).

1 - The Ultimate Fighter gave us Robert Whittaker, Diego Sanchez, Rashad Evans, Roy Nelson, Forrest Griffin, Kelvin Gastelum, Nate Diaz, and Michael Bisping. Those are just some of the winners. Neither has an "iffy" talent pool, you have no evidence for this and it was a shitty point all around.

2 - I don't know if this means anything? Both shows were not on the weekend, so what?

3. Where do you get this from, are you judging production value on some subjective criteria you have in your head?

4. Dana is a part of the show he created. Not to mention he is the president of the organization. Sounds like the goof is living in your head rent free.

5. Story and Drama doesn't exsist on DWTNCS, they give a little fighter background that's it. TUF was a reality show, completely fucking different.

6. They are fighting for a chance to be in the UFC, that is the entire point of both shows. DWTNCS fighters get paid 5k show + 5k win in season one, which isn't really bad considering they are nobodies. TUF contestants got weekly paychecks, overall less than DWTNCS fighters.

Concluding I would say you didn't actually think about this it all. You just wanted to talk shit about something you don't even watch.

 

[drabon74]

Contender Series fights are often much better than crap cards we are offered between ppv’s. Every single fight from last night was more interesting with a 4 minute buildup than the main event coming up this weekend. Talent so far looks impressive also.

 

[Bowel-forged Stool]

Completely TUF 2.0
However, a vital distinction is right there in the title where this new series really helps direct even more attention away from the fighters towards some fat dude who makes the real dough - you remember, the fighters, the individuals who are the actual reason we watch MMA!!???

Dana blessed our bum lives with the fights. Give the boss his due.

 

[Thunderchild]

I've never watched a single contender series fight

 

[brackis1]

It takes basic logic to understand how this can attract a bigger talent pool. It's one televised fight that they get paid on a UFC scale for. As opposed to living in a house with a bunch of dudes for a while. Some of them you'll have to fight, fighting for free multiple times while cameras follow you around the whole time.

The talent pool on this show is much better than TUF.

They're bringing in guys/girls with legit skills who are former regional shows (like LFA) champions to fight for a a UFC contract.

TUF signed guys merely for their personality so people would tune in and watch.

Look how good fucking Johnny Walker is and he came from this show, and we're only in the third season.

lol they didn't "come from the show"
They came from a background of training and should have been in the UFC.

 

[brackis1]

Contender Series fights are often much better than crap cards we are offered between ppv’s. Every single fight from last night was more interesting with a 4 minute buildup than the main event coming up this weekend. Talent so far looks impressive also.

lol wut?
Many of the best cards I've actually seen are/were fightnights.
Last night you got a bunch of finishes by UFC-caliber guys against nobodies. Except unlike the Fight Nights, the UFC got to avoid paying any real money and gets to let Dana rant like he is giving out flowers on The Bachelor.