The Ultimate Fighter: It’s Time for the Show to End Its Run

UFC’s long-running reality series, The Ultimate Fighter, first premiered in 2005 on Spike TV. Since that time, the show has gone through over 23 seasons. It’s currently in the midst of its 24th season on FOX Sports 1. The show has had even more seasons if you count the international editions. However, with the amount of UFC programming that’s currently available to MMA fans, and the show being in a steady decline it’s time for the institution known as TUF to finally end.

I’m not saying this because I’m someone who absolutely loathes and hates the series. It’s not the bane of this MMA fan’s existence. It’s the complete opposite. The Ultimate Fighter was undoubtedly a success for the UFC. The debut season helped turn the UFC’s business around, and the finale fight between Stephan Bonnar and Forrest Griffin helped carry the UFC into a new era. The organization finally started to become profitable, and it changed the face of the business forever.

You cannot argue The Ultimate Fighter’s success at this point. The show has been on TV consistently for over 11 years. It helped bring a lot of interest and eyes on the sport. It created stars, champions and fueled legendary feuds. It garnered international spin-offs to help build and grow the UFC’s audience around the world. At it’s peak, the show drew millions of viewers.

However, the erosion of the show at this point is undeniable. When The Ultimate Fighter originally premiered, the UFC only had about six PPV events a year. Now there are about 13 PPV events a year. But that’s not all, UFC holds quarterly free fight cards on FOX and a steady stream of live fights on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass. The Ultimate Fighter was a great way for MMA fans to get a fix of sorts when there wasn’t so much MMA and UFC content that was readily available. If there was a big fight to make, those fighters would coach against each other on the show to build up a fight later on. But times have changed.

The current season of the show, coached by Joseph Benavidez and Henry Cejudo, debuted with only 370,000 viewers. Now granted, there has been a gradual increase in viewership over the subsequent episodes, plus more viewership counting those who recorded the episodes on their DVR devices. But if I have a point there, for MMA fans, TUF used to be must-see TV. There would be a big rating for the premiere and maybe a drop-off later. By comparison, the debut episode for the season coached by Conor McGregor, one of the UFC’s top draws, only managed about 660,000 viewers. That’s only a fraction of the viewers the show could draw in its heyday on Spike TV.

Now part of the reason for the erosion is the move to FS1 and FS1 still being in less homes. However, it just doesn’t seem that there’s enough A-level talent to bring in through The Ultimate Fighter anymore. Now it seems a much more beneficial way to bring in a new, surging prospect, instead of The Ultimate Fighter, is Dana White: Lookin’ for a Fight. Some good fights have come out of The Ultimate Fighter in the last several years. However, it seems unlikely the UFC is ever going to find someone who can become a star comparable to the level of Forrest Griffin or Rashad Evans anytime soon. Even John Dodson and T.J. Dillashaw, one who become a title contender and the other a champion, competed on The Ultimate Fighter 11 almost five years ago when the show was still on Spike TV. Tony Ferguson, one of the top lightweights in the world, was on the show five years ago. The point here is, you are less likely to become a star in the UFC off of your run on The Ultimate Fighter at this point. The top fighters are coming into the UFC elsewhere. The ones who are getting a lot of media attention are getting showcased on Lookin’ for a Fight. The Ultimate Fighter used to be a discussion and buzz-worthy show. It just doesn’t have that it-factor anymore.

I’m not even saying The Ultimate Fighter needs to or even should go away forever. Maybe just for a while. The UFC can keep the international versions around. The domestic version really just needs to go in some sort of hibernation until the concept can perhaps be revived and revamped later down the line. Just right now, The Ultimate Fighter is a superfluous show. It’s not able to draw the star power it used to with the coaches. It wouldn’t be surprising if top stars are possibly reluctant to sign up for the show at this point. For one thing, it takes them out of action for quite a while.

In conclusion, the reason The Ultimate Fighter needs to be put away is not because it was a failure, but it was in fact a success. The show did it’s job. It helped create future stars, draws and champions for the organization. it helped re-ignite and re-organize interest in the sport and the UFC. However, the show’s really reached the end of its rope. Other programs like Lookin’ for a Fight essentially do the job TUF used to and get a lot more attention these days. It caters to the AHDH crowd that’s crazed for quick digital content. Now it’s time for TUF to ride off into the sunset.