Is it Time to End The Ultimate Fighter?
By Curtis Clontz on Dec 04, 2008
Like many MMA fans around the world, halfway through the final show of the season I sat with my jaw in the floor. I don’t know if it is ratings or if Junie really is Dana’s long lost cousin, but why did he not get thrown off of the show? Saying that he was a coward and so on was ridiculous. Dana and the UFC state that they have been trying years to keep this type of person out of the UFC then when it comes time to make a decision they make the wrong one.
What do the legends of the sport think about Junie? Imagine what the MMA forefathers would say if they were all in a room watching that episode. Junie is a disgrace to every professional mixed martial artist in the world. His antics should be ranked with the acts of Starnes and Filho. He should be held back not pushed forward and given the chance to make the finals.
In season 2 of the reality show “Sugar” Rashad Evans was the beneficiary of a stern talking to by the hands of Matt Hughes. Rashad’s showboating seemed to be one of the highlights and most controversial points of that season, wow have we came a long way. Now the fighters continuously disrespect the coaches and have stooped to urinating and worse in food.
A few years ago John McCain was quoted as saying this sport is nothing more than human cockfighting. Currently the UFC is in a battle trying to get sanctioned in New York and several other states. Imagine if the voters placed their decision to sanction the sport on this season of TUF. I just hope that those that are against the sport are in bed asleep or were watching the Big Ten vs. ACC Challenge.
The past 2 seasons of TUF have seen a steady decline of viewers. The combination of the two most colorful and comical fighters in the organization seemed to fall short of expectation, and the two never truly lived up to any of the hype created for the show. They did have a good fight, but that had nothing to do with the show.
This season it seems like the UFC used more drama and less fighting than ever before. Instead of using solid fighters, up and comers, or great training techniques, they used the drama of a person that acted like a lunatic 75% of the televised time. They used horrible gimmicks and pranks to keep the viewers coming.
The only silver lining in the entire thing is that Junie Browning did not make it into the finals. His loss on the final show isn’t what I would call justice for a crazed man that threw coffee cups, jumped the a cage post fight, and made countless threats. At the end of the day the mouth of the south suffered a loss by submission. It is a loss but it is not justice.
In my opinion the show needs something. They need some sort overhaul, addition, or extreme change. They need to go back to the training. They should use the positive things in the sport to generate fans. Showcase the strengths of the up and coming fighters, showcase the camps around the world, and display good eating habits that amateur fighters can learn from. I know the show isn’t going anywhere, but if they don’t change something they will lose the remaining hardcore fans that still watch the show.
Filed Under: Opinion
Evans “showboating” was by far not really controversial just blown out of proportion. It was really how one person percieved the event. When commentators decided to bring it up during the aftermath of the Liddell match-up, I came to the conclusion that the issue will continue to be retread again and again. It’s reality T.V, the producers of the show need something to tell a story, create drama, tension in order to keep viewers engaged.
With that said, let’s talk Junie Brown. In the end who knows what was encourage behind the camera. It is usually interesting when many people speak about TUF’ers after the show, they usually do not have a problem with them. Junie is currently training at Xtreme Couture with Shawn Tompkins and he has nothing but good words about the fighter.
Another note, while I would like to see more of the positive aspects of the sports, training method, preparation and guest fighter appearances . . . positive doesn’t sell as well as the negative aspects.
The show should continue. Dana and the show producers have been steadily tweaking the show after several seasons. I really don’t think Spike TV is expecting the ratings the increase after every season, after all it has to level out at some point. The show works well as a great marketing tool for the UFC brand. It promotes the heck out of new upcoming fighters and creates legends if they’re successful. And I’m sure Spike TV is not suffering, they don’t have too many original programming but TUF is still going while FOX’s The Contender and De La Hoya’s show is not around. Versus does have TAPOUT’s show and the Contender and Muay Thai(Contender), but Spike’s TUF is still a good product. The first two episode usually promises to be good because you get to see the initial elmination fights.
I can do without the frat-boy antics but it is television. Personally some times, I wait till the last half-hour to catch the training and the fights. You can always tell if the fight goes on for 3-rounds if it starts really early.
Bader . . .
I was still not impressed with Vinny. All he reminded us is that his jiu-jitsu is good and he can’t do anything standing up. Bader’s gameplan is so obvious that if Maghales can’t learn some basic striking, he’s going to be done.
As for Junie, I don’t think the problem with him as that he was on the show, it was that he wasn’t removed from the show as soon as he started acting like an idiot. Why that is we will never know.
As for what needs to be done, I don’t want a major overhaul, I just want interesting fights and good, respectful fighters. If Junie had been good I wouldn’t be so frustrated, but he sucked in both of his performances over the course of the show, and that’s bad for TUF, because I don’t tune in to watch a bad fight.
Well said…
It was def overhyped! As for Junie, I don’t know him personally and can only go by what I have seen on the show. He has the physical tools to be a good fighter, but I currently believe he is missing the mental tools. Sometimes that can be learned through experience and others it can’t…
I hope he proves me wrong and has a long succesful career in the UFC, but wouldn it surprise anyone if he had similar headlines in the future as “War Machine”?
War Machine . . . hey, he definitely performed in the cage!
Junie is just the talking point. Immature-young fighter-Leben 2.0 with little bit more skills but more personal problems and mental baggage. He’s the car wreck that every body pauses to see and then they move on. I think the producers of the show (including Dana) wants the show to be more compelling for the not-so-fanatical fight fans.
Josh,
Better fights, you can’t control unless you’re Vince McMahon or the ref who decided to stand up Rothwell against Arvolski. Respectable fighters? Respectable young athletes. Not happening. A young Michael Jordan not only berated teammates, he also smack 1 or 2 in his time.
I’ll bet you .25* cents Maghales lack of striking game beats Bader’s lay-n-pray skills. (*obviously I don’t gamble, especially in the fight game)
I could not agree more. I can’t understand how that guy is still on the show. When does it stop. Is this WWE or MMA?
I doubt it, a young MJ didn’t even make his high school team first time up…. There are tons of positive young athletes check out Florida State DB Myron Rolle.
Junkie is far from a young Chris Leben. Do you think his tenure in the UFC will be as long as Chris’ has been?
Shrum i agree! he shoulda been gone the first time, not the 2nd…3rd….
I personally think the show should continue because it’s the best way to bring up talent and basically have a minor leagues in which the fans can be exposed to the newcomers before they ever show up.
However, I propose the format should change and I agree, it should focus on the training. My girlfriend was watching the last episode and she said he had no idea what was going on. She didn’t know how a D’arce choke worked or how to get out of it. I think during the training sessions there should be some kind of segment where they break down techniques of the various martial arts studied. That way people watching the show will not only be exposed to the fighters, but also to the art of MMA.