|
Posted 12/13/2008 at 07:21 PM
The Ultimate Fighter television show has been around eight season since 2005, and is one of the main reasons for the popularity of the sport. UFC President Dana White has stated that the most important fight in the UFC was the Season One light heavyweight matchup between Forest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar. Griffen won a razor-thin split decision to earn the guaranteed contract, and three short years later became the UFC's light heavyweight champion.
Back in 2005, the UFC was still seen as a blood sport. But the finale between Griffin and Bonnar on Spike TV drew huge television ratings, guaranteeing that the show would continue on Spike TV. When Zuffa bought the UFC back in 2001, they lost $44 million dollars the first few years trying to get the sport profitable. The UFC even spent $10 million to be on Spike TV the first season, but owned all the show's content.
Season 8 has just wrapped up, and the UFC and Spike TV are under contract to do four more seasons. The premise remains the same, having some high level coaches train some up and comers with a shot at a guaranteed contract with the UFC. The coaches also square off against one another at a UFC pay-per-view event.
However, Season 8 jumped the shark with the whole Junie Browning episode. 'Jumping the Shark' is a term that states when the plot of a show veers off into an absurd story line in an effort to attract the most viewers. In the process of these new story lines, the show loses its original appeal. 'Jumping the Shark' refers to the show 'Happy Days' when Fonzie jumped sharks wearing swim trunks and his trademark leather jacket.
Browning should have been kicked off the show numerous times for his bizarre actions, but was kept on for the sake of ratings. Watching the show became more about what his antics were going to be every week, and less about the other cast members and fights.
Browning was rewarded for his bad behavior, doing everything from starting drunken fights at the house to jumping into the octagon after a lightweight matchup. The Kentucky native was also disrespectful to fellow fighters, spitting on a black belt of his opponent among other things. But the ratings for the show were through the roof.
It is this mentality by the UFC that gave Brock Lesnar a shot at the heavyweight title back in November. Lesnar was not the most deserving fighter to get a shot at Randy 'The Natural' Couture, but he can sell the most PPV numbers which translates into more money.
UFC 91: Couture vs. Lesnar sold just over a million PPV's, making it a huge success concerning cash flow. Lesnar is a one-dimentional fighter in this era of mixed martial arts, but he did control Couture to capture the heavyweight title. Lesnar figures to be an underdog in his next fight against the winner of Frank Mir and Antonio Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira, two noted Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts.
Let's just hope Browning doesn't have the same opportunities.
|
