There’s been a lot of talk about season 8 of the Ultimate Fighter as being a promise of salvation for the heavyweight division, as the show has produced a lot of great prospects for divisions in the past. After all, even the fourth season, which incurred the wrath of hardcore TUF fans by bringing back unknown UFC veterans to line one of the them up with a title shot resurrected the careers of Patrick Cote and Din Thomas (not to mention putting the stars in position for one of the greatest upsets any sport has seen, ever) and made their divisions a little bit more interesting.It’s hard to deny that the show produces great prospects, and even fighters who lose on the show go on to produce interesting careers and allow us the opportunity to watch as their game evolves on the biggest stage American MMA has to offer. We can’t forget Josh Koscheck, who (while losing in the very first round of the show to Diego Sanchez) went on to become a top contender, and it would unfair to say that even more recent prospects like Nate Diaz and Manny Gamburyan (the winner and runner up of TUF 5) have been less than exciting to watch.
It seems, though, that people care more about revitalizing the heavyweight division then they do about the lightheavyweight season starting next week, and I can hardly blame them. It has nothing to do with Forrest Griffin and UFC champion “Rampage” Jackson being any less than absolutely hysterical television personalities and everything to do with the cast list. Despite the new 32 fighter format, which I think it going to be great because, ideally, it will give us more fights, the UFC has gone to immense length to expand a roster that, by my count, has 4 fighters with losing records and 2 that are batting .500, not to mention the 10 guys that are either unlisted or have yet to make their professional debut.
I’m not saying that this season isn’t going to be interesting, because I think that it will be. I’m not a reality show fan, and tend to record episodes so that I can watch the training in the gym and the fights, as well as the occasional shit talk between the coaches, but I’m a little skeptical about a show that offers what I see as offering a huge roster, with only 11 prospects. This, frankly, would have made a great season of the show, if they had just stuck to 16 guys. Still, I could always be wrong about who the real warriors on the show are.
I’m not convinced, as I’ve mentioned elsewhere on the site, that TUF 8 is going to solve the UFC’s heavyweight woes, and I wish that they had dedicated an entire season to the big men, but I understand as much as anybody that the promise of lightweight fights will balance the potentially slow action of the heavier fighters, as it did on TUF 2.
Still, I’ll be watching this season closely because it gives me an opportunity to watch fights, and I’ll never deny myself that.
The guys I’ll be watching the closest:
Paul Bradley (5-0, 2 TKOs, 2 Submissions)
Steve Byernes (6-1, 6 Submissions)
Dante Rivera (10-2, 3 TKOs, 5 Submissions)
Tim Creddeur (9-2, 2 TKO’s, 7 Submissions)
Nick Klien (3-0, 3 Submissions)
Mike Marrello (7-1-1, 5 Submissions)
Aaron Meisner (2-0, 2 TKOs)
Luke Zachrich (7-1, 3 TKOs, 4 Submissions)
I’d also like to note that, unlike alot of other seasons, there are many great submission fighters in this house. Byernes and Rivera are the two that I think are going to be the most interesting, but there are other guys that have a handful of interesting, tapout victories.
It will be a fun season to watch. I only hope that it’s not overshadowed by the fear that the UFC is procrastinating on dealing with the heavyweight problem. Hopefully the UFC brass’ actions over the next few months can easy those worries and we can really watch the fights to see some interesting up and comers and the inevitable pathetic athletes that slip in.
All that’s left to do is wait and watch.
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I do still love MMA and have...
