When we look at the world of MMA right now, there’s plenty to complain about. In fact the constant complaining about the state of the UFC, Strikeforce, Bellator, Japanese MMA and such is a fairly regular refrain from the hardcore fans of the sport. It’s a nice situation to be in when you don’t have to worry about the long term viability of a sport on the rise. That’s where the UFC and MMA was seven years ago, before the introduction of “The Ultimate Fighter,” as the reality television series marks the beginning of the sport’s rise from the fringes to the mainstream.
Without “TUF” MMA’s rise to secondary sport prominence and broadcast television deals would never have happened. This last ditch creation saved MMA, pure and simple. When the book on MMA’s rise is written years from, with the adding perspective of hindsight needed to accurately gauge the history in the making that’s currently happening, MMA will have to be divided into a handful of eras after the very first UFC changed everything.
After the initial days, best described as part Toughman contest and part freak show, the sport became more cult-like and insular. Fans gravitated to Pride, mainly due to the higher level of competition, and the sport survived but wasn’t winning new fans en masse despite regulations to run it like a sport and not a freak show. With new management in Zuffa, MMA made inroads into the American sporting lexicon but wasn’t growing fast enough to be profitable or take a foothold in the sports landscape. Pro wrestling, by comparison, was significantly more popular and profitable.
MMA in America was a money losing proposition and it’s counterparts in Japan were still a couple years away from the Yakuza scandal that would bring down that organization. The UFC was on its last legs, having lost a significant sum of money and profitability still seeming like a pipe dream. Even “The Ultimate Fighter” was a massive risk, being paid for by Dana White and company without even the promise of airtime. Spike TV aired it and got impressive ratings, but wouldn’t commit to another season until after the finale.
Being able to scour the country for the best prospects available, the show was a wealth of riches in fighter talent hard to match. A future world champion (Forrest Griffin) came from these ranks as did a handful of fighters (Kenny Florian, Diego Sanchez, Josh Koscheck, Nate Quarry) who wound up fighting for titles. Chris Leben and Mike Swick have been UFC mainstays ever since the show, as well. After a fairly engaging first season, the big test would be the finale.
Could they deliver live, when the ability of an editor to clean things up in post production wasn’t available?
Then the first Griffin-Bonnar fight happened and the rest, as they say, is history. With the sport exploding to the degree it has been, including a monumental deal with Fox Sports earlier this year, the roots of all this trace back to one singular event: that first season of “The Ultimate Fighter.”
Without the influx of fans into a more accessible version of introductory MMA, Dana White and company sell or fold the company. “The Ultimate Fighter” created a whole new generation of fans and introduced another group to pick up a pair of gloves and learn to kick box, wrestle, et al. It’s denoted condescendingly in mma forums across the web as “TUF noob,” but you can’t underestimate the sheer power of a television show in crafting a narrative for a brand new audience to follow. Without the show to expand the audience and drive up revenues to the point of profitability, MMA worldwide doesn’t exist in the way it does now.
Without the new audience from the show, a massive draw like Brock Lesnar stays in pro wrestling and the ability for the sport to grow exponentially doesn’t happen. When Pride effectively was shut down do to scandal, there is no Zuffa there to pick up the pieces. MMA falls farther down the chain without a UFC to pick up the pieces and become the dominant force in MMA. Without the show we’re left with Dana White as perhaps a boxing manager in Las Vegas, another failed fight promoter who managed to convince two childhood friends into losing tens of millions on a sport that never quite connected with the masses.
Think of the alternatives for a moment.
While you could argue that someone else could’ve done the exact same things Zuffa has done over the past years to grow MMA, one imagines that a boxing promoter looking for cheap cash in like Gary Shaw or Don King wouldn’t have had the patience or bankroll to bring MMA to the masses like Dana White has. Any credibility as a sport would’ve gone out the window if Vince McMahon made the UFC his next XFL. Any other number of alternatives without “The Ultimate Fighter” and Zuffa and we’re left with a void where MMA used to be.
And it all starts with Spike TV taking a chance and airing a competitive sporting show called “The Ultimate Fighter.” It was the ultimate in risk/reward situations that paid off more than anyone could have ever imagined.
