Dana White recently announced the contenders for TUF 7, and two things of note stood out immediately. One, the season will focus on Light Heavyweights, not the Middleweight division which is in such dire straits. However, this is another discussion for another article. The more important aspect of the new season to discuss is the fact that the roster features generally new fighters. Most of them have only been in 4 or 5 sanctioned MMA bouts compared to the well-traveled contestants of season's past.This is a huge mistake on White's part as he will be taking away two elements that make the series what it is. First, since past contestants such as Michael Bisping (pictured) have held title belts in other organizations (like Cage Rage), they know their way around the Octagon, are able to put on professional and entertaining matches, and have some credentials to back up all the talking. Even so, you occasionally get a fighter like Danny Abbadi who, at least during the season, looked like he had never fought in an MMA bout in his life. Now, imagine if the entire season was composed of fighter's with similar skill levels. It would be a disaster, reminiscent of a Kimbo Slice YouTube video. The fact of the matter is that fighters who know what they are doing is really what the show was created for. It was meant to give quality fighters who may have otherwise been overlooked another shot at rising to the top. See: Bisping, Evans, Sanchez. It was not meant for a bunch of brand-new fighters (some of which hold 1-0 records...no joke) to figure out if they are any good.
The second reason fighters should be a little more experienced is that it allows for more story lines to be created. I defy any other expert in the field to find me a story line for fantastically tangled than Joe Lauzon, fighting on Penn's team (who lost to Pulver), AGAINST Pulver (who Lauzon knocked out as an 11-1 underdog a year earlier). The fighter was able to do something that his coach wasn't WHILE holding a KO over the opposing coach. I'm a creative guy, but I couldn't write that if I tried. If you take away the element of history, you delete the story line that kept me watching all season long.
The UFC should receive suffered ratings as a result of this move and rebound with a season for experienced Middleweights. As long as we don't have to see Chris Leben, it'll be better than this.
