TUF 27 Finale Preview
The beginning of The Ultimate Fighter can be counted as one of the biggest shifts in the UFC’s history.
When the UFC decided to start a reality show based around fighters where the prize for the winner was a 6-figure deal in the UFC it was the perfect storm.
The first season aired in 2005 at the height of the reality show era when reality was the new thing for all networks.
It was the UFC’s chance to put their brand out there and put on their own show to get in on the craze at the time.
Although the big goal was to make money and grow the brand, Dana White and the Fertitta brothers saw a different goal.
They were looking to change the view of the UFC and MMA in general by exposing the public to fighters in a different light.
The view of fighters had always been these rough guys who had no other skills but to beat other people up.
They were essentially no better than members of a biker gang or those guys at the bar just looking for someone to fight.
The Ultimate Fighter looked to change that by letting the public in on a house full of fighters and show that they are far more than what everyone thought.
It did exactly that as the show exposed people to the fact that fighters are from all different backgrounds and are much more like everyone else than some people realized.
The show caught on and became a massive boost for the sport and the UFC, without the show the UFC may not have become the premier MMA promotion in the world.
It was such a success that the UFC continued to bring it back and expanded the show to places like Brazil and Japan.
As the seasons wore on they threw new things into the mix from hosting the first all-women tournament to launch the strawweight division to putting both men and women in the same house.
The show was a staple for the UFC and became the main way to build up new talent in the UFC by showing them in a new light and giving them a contract after winning a tournament.
Over the last few years though reality TV has not been the same as it was in the past and The Ultimate Fighter began to drop in ratings.
While they used this show to build up new fighters it was not having the effect that it used to have.
Nobody was paying attention anymore and so the UFC has begun to look in a different direction.
The launch of Dana White’s Tuesday Night Fights and Looking for a Fight have begun to provide new ways to tell stories of young fighters coming into the promotion.
With poor ratings and likely little interest from their new broadcaster, ESPN, the UFC announced that TUF 27 would be the second to last season.
This was another attempt at throwing a new twist into the show as the 27th season was possibly the most talented season yet.
The idea behind this new show was to bring in only undefeated fighters to the tournament where the UFC would find a new lightweight and featherweight fighter and potentially a title contender.
The two sets of fighters came in underneath Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier to look for their chance and show that their perfect records were enough to earn a spot in the UFC.
In the lightweight tournament two Americans came out on top as Mike Trizano and Joe Giannetti got through the tournament to the finale.
Trizano came into the tournament with a 6-0 record that included four stoppages and a brief stint in Bellator.
His opponent, Giannetti fought far more locally as the Massachusetts product fought in a local promotion to a 6-0 record that included five submissions.
In the featherweight tournament, it was a Canadian who moved to Ireland to train with SBG and a fighter who got a second shot and proved that he belonged.
In the first fights Jay Cucciniello took a loss by unanimous decision but after injuries to other fighters in the competition, he was given a second chance.
He made good on that chance earning a TKO in his next fight and earning his spot in the finale.
That is where he will take on Brad Katona, who came into the tournament with some high expectations as the SBG athlete looked like one of the top fighters from the start.
Although he squeaked by in his first fight he earned a submission in his second and made good on the promise that people saw in him.
At the TUF Finale, two more fighters will earn their contracts but they will be among the final to do so as the reality show that launched a brand is reaching its end.
The Sport Addiction 