Dana's ability to scout for TUF and the UFC

[#1taz]

Is it just me or has Dana's ability to pick decent people to be on the TUF or fight in the UFC...and to get them to represent the UFC and MMA respectfully on and off camera been really bad...or getting worse lately?

Letting the guys haze each other, get sloppy drunk and trash the house, having guys quit, guys refusing to fight, bickering coaches having to be pulled apart, guys fighting like unskilled rookies, etc. - it's all made for fascinating "reality" tv...but it sure isn't helping the sport's already tarnished image much.

Plus this last PPV with Tito vs. Ken that was partially connected to TUF 3 was certainly not their best effort ever.

If TUF4 or their next PPV is just as bad or worse...I wonder how that will effect Dana"s relationship with Zuffa and the UFC?

After all...they are committed to doing TUF untill 2008....and they are about to ink a deal with HBO...so they must be a little considered about how all this is looking.

[air biscuit]

There's surely many, many hours of footage from TUF shows left on the cutting room floor. They pick and choose what they're going to air based on what they think will make an entertaining show, not necessarily on what might most closely reflect reality. I truly believe, for example, that the Matt Hammil situation was manufactured to create drama for the show, because he is not the monster that he was made out to be.

Regarding TUF shows, I think they have a good mix of drama and action in them. A good percentage of the show is dedicated to actual competition, and the drama is held to a relative minimum. I think that formula has been pretty successful so far. It's kept me tuning in, at least.

As a whole, the talent in TUF 3 was probably the worst yet, I agree. However, I do think it has arguably produced the best fighter yet in Bisping.

[#1taz]

I really felt genuinely bad for Bisbing when Dana brought all of the two-fisted drinking, loud-mouthed, and whiney losers back into the house just before the semi-finals and told him he had to fight Ross...poor guy.

Dana should just stop trying to copy MTV's "reality" shows and lay off the drama, and FFS keep the all of booze out of the house....it doesn't do much for MMA's image in the press and is counter-productive to any serious training regimen.

Trying to focus on his training in that environment must have been pretty tough for Bisbing.

When Sugar Ray and Sylvester Stallone did that boxing competition show a while ago...I was impressed with how they kept everything focused on training and didn't allow any misconduct by the contestants.

At least we got to see some good examples of how hard Tito really trains with his guys on TUF3....thank goodness.

[air biscuit]

I think that's possibly just creative editing, though. I think they probably trained quite a bit more than is shown. I mean, it wouldn't be a very interesting show if we just saw hours of footage of the fighters training.

I don't think the show could survive very well without some "Reality TV" style drama. I mean, hardcore MMA fans would surely be satisfied seeing a show dedicated solely to training and competition between UFC hopefuls. However, the show is not intended to draw in hardcore MMA fans. It's the casual fan that Dana White is trying to attract here, hoping to get them hooked on MMA. Hell, it worked on me. I'm a relative newbie to the sport, but TUF got me interested and watching the regular shows and PPVs.

I don't know that it is bad for MMAs image to have all of this stuff on TV. I see it as being a good thing if it draws in more fans and ensures that I'll be seeing UFC on my TV for years to come.

[pimpslappd]

As long as it keeps getting good ratings and gives UFC publicity I cant really see Zuffa having a problem like really.

[supermark21]

Originally Posted by #1taz

I really felt genuinely bad for Bisbing when Dana brought all of the two-fisted drinking, loud-mouthed, and whiney losers back into the house just before the semi-finals and told him he had to fight Ross...poor guy.

Dana should just stop trying to copy MTV's "reality" shows and lay off the drama, and FFS keep the all of booze out of the house....it doesn't do much for MMA's image in the press and is counter-productive to any serious training regimen.

Trying to focus on his training in that environment must have been pretty tough for Bisbing.

When Sugar Ray and Sylvester Stallone did that boxing competition show a while ago...I was impressed with how they kept everything focused on training and didn't allow any misconduct by the contestants.

At least we got to see some good examples of how hard Tito really trains with his guys on TUF3....thank goodness.

yea but that show isnt doing what tuf is. i personally think that they should just have pride style tournements rather than the b-list underground fighters who come out to get trained by the best. what have they done to deserve that?

"i remember when we had this other show that was designed to find the best boxer. it was called boxing"- comedian greg giraldo about 'the contender'

[#1taz]

Well I still remember when MMA first started out and a lot of lawmakers and the press were all calling it nothing more than paid bar-room brawls and human cock-fighting and used to compare it to dogs fighting in a pit....and tried to get it banned everywhere and make all fights illegal.

Then The UFC worked hard after it changed ownership to establish a decent set of rules and get itself sanctioned by athletic commissions in various states so that they could get it on tv and widely accepted by the mainstream public.

But now Dana is showing guys pissing in each other's beds, guys getting drunk every damn night and fighting with each other or trashing the house, quitting, chickening out of fights, the coaches acting like bickering little kids on a playground, guys hazing the other guys and calling people gay...the embarassing list goes on and on.

That is clearly not the image that is ever going to help gain any widespread public respect or support for this great sport or it participants.

And that image does not represent the average MMA fighter accurately at all.

But it does show just how much more love Dana has for his wallet than he has respect for the fighters and MMA.

Now we have more so-called "fans" showing up to the fights alright...but they are also getting sloppy drunk, fighting in the aisles, booing fighters and throwing crap in the octagon, and screaming for blood like some ancient roman gladiator spectacle.

I realize the UFC is a business and Dana is just trying to do anything he can to make money...but at what cost to the fighters and MMA?

He could just as easily have created an original program and shown each fighter's background, their families, a little about ther home life, etc. and it would have been just as entertaining...and would have been a hell of a lot better for the fighters and MMA as a whole...but he chose the cheap easy boring repetitve formula that too often all "reality" shows use.

Isolate a bunch of total strangers somewhere that they hand-picked to not get along, put them through challenges, add lots of free liquor, promise them a prize if they win, and watch them all act like idiots.

How exactly is this good for the sport?

[supermark21]

Originally Posted by #1taz

Well I still remember when MMA first started out and a lot of lawmakers and the press were all calling it nothing more than paid bar-room brawls and human cock-fighting and used to compare it to dogs fighting in a pit....and tried to get it banned everywhere and make all fights illegal.

Then The UFC worked hard after it changed ownership to establish a decent set of rules and get itself sanctioned by athletic commissions in various states so that they could get it on tv and widely accepted by the mainstream public.

But now Dana is showing guys pissing in each other's beds, guys getting drunk every damn night and fighting with each other or trashing the house, quitting, chickening out of fights, the coaches acting like bickering little kids on a playground, guys hazing the other guys and calling people gay...the embarassing list goes on and on.

That is clearly not the image that is ever going to help gain any widespread public respect or support for this great sport or it participants.

And that image does not represent the average MMA fighter accurately at all.

But it does show just how much more love Dana has for his wallet than he has respect for the fighters and MMA.

Now we have more so-called "fans" showing up to the fights alright...but they are also getting sloppy drunk, fighting in the aisles, booing fighters and throwing crap in the octagon, and screaming for blood like some ancient roman gladiator spectacle.

I realize the UFC is a business and Dana is just trying to do anything he can to make money...but at what cost to the fighters and MMA?

He could just as easily have created an original program and shown each fighter's background, their families, a little about ther home life, etc. and it would have been just as entertaining...and would have been a hell of a lot better for the fighters and MMA as a whole...but he chose the cheap easy boring repetitve formula that too often all "reality" shows use.

Isolate a bunch of total strangers somewhere that they hand-picked to not get along, put them through challenges, add lots of free liquor, promise them a prize if they win, and watch them all act like idiots.

How exactly is this good for the sport?

its not. i watch the show to see the fights. all the bullshit before that i dont tune in for. thats why i was saying i hope they just have tournaments for people who think they can make to a ppv event. that way you dont have the little shitheads who are taking advantage of the training opportunity and the weaker guys wont get all this airtime. and i agree dana white shouldve been laying down rules a long time ago. hopefully the coaches will make their own and put an end to the silly shit

[poeg]

Yer kidding right? You're watching Spike TV and not the History channel or Biography. Ring card girls, smacktalk press events, palooka fights to pick up the wins column, the old "food! its anabolic as hell" comercials, endless use of the term "fight of the century", reality TV for men (that one kills me) and a host of other glitzy distractions. Its all like Junior said in Platoon, "redneck noise". But it sells...

[Bran]

Originally Posted by supermark21

"i remember when we had this other show that was designed to find the best boxer. it was called boxing"- comedian greg giraldo about 'the contender'

haha, i love that joke. giraldo's awesome