Post by stone on Mar 31, 2009 12:15:35 GMT -5
I think we can all agree that the Ultimate Fighter show was a great trojan horse to get MMA on cable. Since then the leaps and bounds it has made to be mainstream have been terrific. however the show doesnt seem to be making any impact now and several seasons havent spouted off many good prospects. I'll explain what i mean.
seasons 1 and 2 had a shitload of prospects even after the show finished. Griffin became a champ (controversial or not), Bonnar i think is still a tough competitor, Southworth didnt go to the UFC but has made some noise in other divisions, Swick has gone 8-1 in the UFC since the show his only loss was to Yushin Okami thats crazy, Hogar and Shoenhour have been making noise in other divisions changing weight classes.
Sanchez has been a force at welterweight and despite losing to two top guys i still think he could have been a top ten guy and eventually made to a title shot. Now at lightweight hes still a scary dude. Koshcheck despite his recent roadblocks has gone 10-4. Kenny has been excellent only losing to sherk since ariving with a 9-2 record and the current lightweight number 1 contender (not to mention while i may be alone on this i think he has a good chance to beat BJ), Quarry is a tough guy who is 5-2 his only losses to Franklin and Maia, neither are chumps. Karalexis while he didnt do great in the UFC has been doing well in the WEC going 5-2 there. Finally Leben has gone 8-4 in the UFC and while he has most of his big losses recently and his steroid problems still was a force in the UFC and part of me thinks he still will be
Ill make this next one as quick as i can. Gurgel despite being released from the UFC and being his own worst enemy at times is a great fighter and i expect good things from him in strikeforce. Marcus davis has to be the most improved guy out of this season constantly getting better at all areas and still having great boxing. Stevenson has lost his last 3 of 4 but thats cuz he fought BJ, Kenny, and Diego come on those aint chumps. and hes still 6-4 in the UFC. holding a winnin record in there aint easy. Cummo and Burkman both had thier moments but never broke through i felt they both had the ability though. burkman was 5-5 cummo was 3-4. finally guillard is 5-3 in the UFC with his next bout and Thiago tavares.
Whitehead only had 1 fight in the UFC and lost to Jardine however his record after that has been 12-1. that loss to Renato Sobral in a decision. Jardine has been all over the place makin noise. Rashad is the current champ. and Seth Petruzelli saved the sport of MMA with a 13 second KO over Kimbo slice.
now out of that whole thing there were 10 prospects from season 2 and 12 out of season 1 thats 22 fighters that could eventually make thier mark in the sport if they havent already. now lets look at the next few seasons. 3-8
season 3: Bisping has been the biggest winner out of 3 going 7-1 in the UFC and so far undefeated at middleweight. I dont think he has faced the same level of competition as other seasons however and in my opinion hasnt won a big fight in the UFC besides Leben. Grove won the show but was being considered being dropped out of the UFC if he lost to Jason Day. Starnes was practally thrown out of the ufc after his Nate Quarry fight. Rory Singer was considered a prospect but went 2-2 in the ufc and hasnt won a fight since released. not to mention with the exception of Hamill the biggest joke of a lightheavyweight class in every season of the UFC. Noah cryin about his girlfriend, Christian and Tait refusing to fight a second time. Ross pointon, who i love, having the heart of a lion but not even the skill of a white belt. and the rest arent even worth mentioning. season 3 was a joke. (prospects: 4 at best)
Season 4: make this one really short. Reinvigerated some carreers but not many and not by much. Lytle kind of has his moments. Serra won a title and never defended with a win. many consider the greatest fluke in UFC history. Lutter had his time in the sun before being dropped. Din is fighting under strikeforce now. and ya.
(Prospects: 3 maybe)
Season 5: great season lot of prospects couple of disapointments. Corey Hill big prospect not sure where he stands yet. Nate Diaz had seriosuly made some noise and i believe he might have won that fight against Guidia if he could have kept the second round standing, Gray Maynard started making noise in the UFC and hasnt stopped still beating tough guys. Emerson is a bit of a wildcard but is still 2-1-1 in the UFC. Wiman is 4-1 only loss to that Jim Miller kid. Lauzon was a big prospect before the show and was after the show. his only loss is to KenFlo in the UFC, Cole Miller is a great fighter and got a huge feather in his cap after submitting Jorge Gurgel. Finally Manvel is 2-3 in the UFC and i think should drop a wieghtclass he is kinda small for 155.
(prospects:6)
season 6:God i really hate bashing this much. Mac Danzig was the winner but is 2-2 in the UFC and i dont know where he stands. Tommy Speer lost to Anthony Johnson and disapeared. Ben Saunders has proved to be a prospect but no one knows how good he is. Matt Arroyo has been dropped after going 1-2. George Sotiropoulos has made some noise but i have no idea where he stands either. everyone else on the show was irrelevant.
(Prospects: 3)
season 7: short and sweet. Amir won and was impressive but has been injured and unable to compete in the UFC thusfar. CB the one of the better prospects has gone 2-1. Matt Riddle ehhh dont know yet still young in his carreer but is 2-0. Cramer 1-0 we'll see. Crueder one of my favorites is 2-0 in the UFC. Matt Brown is 3-1 and seems to fight at a high pace i like that. Jesse Taylor uhhhhh ya.
(Prospects: 5)
Season 8: I cant go too deep cuz no one who was on the show has fought outside of it yet. but i think Marshall Bader Krystoff and vinny are good prospects for Light heavyweight. Nover, Efrain, Junie, Roop and Nelson could be big names some day.
(Prospects: 9 for now i expect it to be 5 within a year)
so after five more seasons we have 30 possible prospects. not many of those have really shined in my opinion either. Usually thier notably wins come against one another. I dont know anymore what good is comming out of this show except drama. I payed more attention to Junie Brownings antics last season than to anyones actual fighting skill.
Let me know where the rest of you all stand
seasons 1 and 2 had a shitload of prospects even after the show finished. Griffin became a champ (controversial or not), Bonnar i think is still a tough competitor, Southworth didnt go to the UFC but has made some noise in other divisions, Swick has gone 8-1 in the UFC since the show his only loss was to Yushin Okami thats crazy, Hogar and Shoenhour have been making noise in other divisions changing weight classes.
Sanchez has been a force at welterweight and despite losing to two top guys i still think he could have been a top ten guy and eventually made to a title shot. Now at lightweight hes still a scary dude. Koshcheck despite his recent roadblocks has gone 10-4. Kenny has been excellent only losing to sherk since ariving with a 9-2 record and the current lightweight number 1 contender (not to mention while i may be alone on this i think he has a good chance to beat BJ), Quarry is a tough guy who is 5-2 his only losses to Franklin and Maia, neither are chumps. Karalexis while he didnt do great in the UFC has been doing well in the WEC going 5-2 there. Finally Leben has gone 8-4 in the UFC and while he has most of his big losses recently and his steroid problems still was a force in the UFC and part of me thinks he still will be
Ill make this next one as quick as i can. Gurgel despite being released from the UFC and being his own worst enemy at times is a great fighter and i expect good things from him in strikeforce. Marcus davis has to be the most improved guy out of this season constantly getting better at all areas and still having great boxing. Stevenson has lost his last 3 of 4 but thats cuz he fought BJ, Kenny, and Diego come on those aint chumps. and hes still 6-4 in the UFC. holding a winnin record in there aint easy. Cummo and Burkman both had thier moments but never broke through i felt they both had the ability though. burkman was 5-5 cummo was 3-4. finally guillard is 5-3 in the UFC with his next bout and Thiago tavares.
Whitehead only had 1 fight in the UFC and lost to Jardine however his record after that has been 12-1. that loss to Renato Sobral in a decision. Jardine has been all over the place makin noise. Rashad is the current champ. and Seth Petruzelli saved the sport of MMA with a 13 second KO over Kimbo slice.
now out of that whole thing there were 10 prospects from season 2 and 12 out of season 1 thats 22 fighters that could eventually make thier mark in the sport if they havent already. now lets look at the next few seasons. 3-8
season 3: Bisping has been the biggest winner out of 3 going 7-1 in the UFC and so far undefeated at middleweight. I dont think he has faced the same level of competition as other seasons however and in my opinion hasnt won a big fight in the UFC besides Leben. Grove won the show but was being considered being dropped out of the UFC if he lost to Jason Day. Starnes was practally thrown out of the ufc after his Nate Quarry fight. Rory Singer was considered a prospect but went 2-2 in the ufc and hasnt won a fight since released. not to mention with the exception of Hamill the biggest joke of a lightheavyweight class in every season of the UFC. Noah cryin about his girlfriend, Christian and Tait refusing to fight a second time. Ross pointon, who i love, having the heart of a lion but not even the skill of a white belt. and the rest arent even worth mentioning. season 3 was a joke. (prospects: 4 at best)
Season 4: make this one really short. Reinvigerated some carreers but not many and not by much. Lytle kind of has his moments. Serra won a title and never defended with a win. many consider the greatest fluke in UFC history. Lutter had his time in the sun before being dropped. Din is fighting under strikeforce now. and ya.
(Prospects: 3 maybe)
Season 5: great season lot of prospects couple of disapointments. Corey Hill big prospect not sure where he stands yet. Nate Diaz had seriosuly made some noise and i believe he might have won that fight against Guidia if he could have kept the second round standing, Gray Maynard started making noise in the UFC and hasnt stopped still beating tough guys. Emerson is a bit of a wildcard but is still 2-1-1 in the UFC. Wiman is 4-1 only loss to that Jim Miller kid. Lauzon was a big prospect before the show and was after the show. his only loss is to KenFlo in the UFC, Cole Miller is a great fighter and got a huge feather in his cap after submitting Jorge Gurgel. Finally Manvel is 2-3 in the UFC and i think should drop a wieghtclass he is kinda small for 155.
(prospects:6)
season 6:God i really hate bashing this much. Mac Danzig was the winner but is 2-2 in the UFC and i dont know where he stands. Tommy Speer lost to Anthony Johnson and disapeared. Ben Saunders has proved to be a prospect but no one knows how good he is. Matt Arroyo has been dropped after going 1-2. George Sotiropoulos has made some noise but i have no idea where he stands either. everyone else on the show was irrelevant.
(Prospects: 3)
season 7: short and sweet. Amir won and was impressive but has been injured and unable to compete in the UFC thusfar. CB the one of the better prospects has gone 2-1. Matt Riddle ehhh dont know yet still young in his carreer but is 2-0. Cramer 1-0 we'll see. Crueder one of my favorites is 2-0 in the UFC. Matt Brown is 3-1 and seems to fight at a high pace i like that. Jesse Taylor uhhhhh ya.
(Prospects: 5)
Season 8: I cant go too deep cuz no one who was on the show has fought outside of it yet. but i think Marshall Bader Krystoff and vinny are good prospects for Light heavyweight. Nover, Efrain, Junie, Roop and Nelson could be big names some day.
(Prospects: 9 for now i expect it to be 5 within a year)
so after five more seasons we have 30 possible prospects. not many of those have really shined in my opinion either. Usually thier notably wins come against one another. I dont know anymore what good is comming out of this show except drama. I payed more attention to Junie Brownings antics last season than to anyones actual fighting skill.
Let me know where the rest of you all stand