Before the seventh season of The Ultimate Fighter, Dana White booked one of the most gregarious and popular fighters, Rampage Jackson, to be one of the coaches. One of the choice reasons for doing so is that the country’s talent pool is severely waning. Just compare some of the early winners (Forrest, Rashad, etc.) to this year’s favorite (C.B. Dolloway). The point is: the well has run dry. And so, it made complete sense that Rampage was booked in an effort to boost ratings.
For the next season, the eighth installment, logic tells us that the talent pool will be even shallower. The logical thing for the UFC to do, as a result, would be to book coaches even wilder than Rampage. It’s probably impossible to find someone quite as hilarious, but the coaches should be well spoken, talented, and American. Not one, but all of these things.
Instead, the UFC inexplicably chose fighters that, together, represent what one coach should be. You know its trouble when Frank Mir is the more qualified of the two coaches. He is American and well spoken, so he should be able to connect to the fans. That is, if they give him a chance to begin with. Mir is not one of the more popular fighters in the sport and many new fans don’t remember his successes more than three years ago. He may be well spoken, but what if no one listens? His talent is also still at question. Shortly after winning the heavyweight title from Tim Sylvia, Mir was involved in a bad motorcycle accident. His return saw him out of shape and on the wrong end of a knockout loss. While he has started to rebound with the Lesnar victory, Mir has not yet shown himself to be ready to take on top-flight competition.
Even worse, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira has been chosen as the second coach. Yes, Nogueira is one of the most talented fighters in the world – but as a coach, that’s about all he has going for him. As far as I know, he speaks just enough English to ask for a bathroom. In front of skeptical and tough American viewers, they will not give him the time of day. They will turn the tv off or rip him apart in the forums. Will he even appear in front of the camera? Probably not – after all, what would he say? A Brazilian outsider will not relate in the least to even the greenest of TUF fans.
With these men chosen as coaches, the UFC only aims to put an end to its originally groundbreaking series – and maybe, that’s just what needs to happen.
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