A Sharp Decline: What Happened to The Ultimate Fighter?
Hardcore UFC fans remember it like it was yesterday. On April 29th, 2005, Forrest Griffin and Stephen Bonnar battered each other for three rounds. It was a smash hit, an instant classic, and one of the best fights in early MMA. At its peak, the fight drew three million viewers, making it the most-viewed UFC event in the history of the promotion. The fight was enshrined as the reason the UFC is still around, created an untold number of new fans, and became a permanent fixture in MMA history. When the UFC plays its signature promotional package at live events, with The Who's Baba O'Riley in the background, Bonnar and Griffin are given their own section in tribute, even more than 20 years later.
Now, the Ultimate Fighter is an afterthought to the UFC. The last season was coached by Daniel Cormier and Chael Sonnen. Though both legends and big personalities, they were both long retired by the time their show hit the air. Instead of seeing a season's worth of bad blood fermenting ahead of matchups between elite fighters like Rashad Evans and Rampage Jackson or Michael Bisping and Dan Henderson, viewers saw two jovial, retired friends who host a podcast together engage in friendly competition.
Equally concerning is the decline in quality of talent coming out of TUF compared to other sources, namely Dana White's Contender Series. TUF alumni have produced 10 former UFC champions, including foreign seasons, while fighters from DWCS have produced only three. However, the current rankings contain roughly 30 DWCS fighters, which dwarfs the number of TUF winners. Divisional elites from TUF, such as Khalil Rountree, Alexandre Pantoja, and Kamaru Usman, competed on the show at least a decade ago. Usman has a questionable place in the division due to his inactivity and advanced age.
The most recent TUF winner, Joseph Morales, has been impressive since winning his season as a heavy underdog against Alibi Idris, but he remains the lowest-ranked fighter in his weight class. Such a shift towards the DWCS model is a bleak prospect for the fighters. Although the exact prize is no longer public, winners of TUF have historically received a contract worth around 250,000 dollars, in addition to an entire season of reality TV to build a fan base. Winners on DWCS, on the other hand, need not just to win the season but to do so in a fashion that impresses. If they do, they're offered a contract that pays $10,000 to show and $10,000 to win. The result is a revolving door at the bottom of the UFC rankings, where fighters compete for less than a living wage and are replaced with the next DWCS victor if they lose.
As TUF moves to Paramount+, it could regain relevance. Instead of being buried on ESPN+, which traditionally displayed only live sports-related content, TUF will now be on a proper streaming network. It will be among other forms of television, as it was before it left network TV. Even considering this shift, though, things aren't looking good. Viewership ratings aren't available for the ESPN+ seasons of the show, but recent fighters from TUF lack divisional relevance and star power, a grim omen for the ratings. Switching to Paramount+ is likely a good thing for the show, but it's unlikely to ever return to its former glory.
