Issue 072

February 2011

As the first group of anxious reality-show hopefuls walked quasi-confidently into the Las Vegas ballroom, that housed the open tryouts for the upcoming 13th edition of The Ultimate Fighter, it was hard not to notice Diego Dumas. A 51-year-old ironworker from New York, Dumas sported a physique that would even make the ageless Randy Couture blush. At first, most in the room assumed he was there as a coach to a prospective fighter, but the numbered sticker on the left-hand side of his T-shirt told a different story. Dumas was there to get on the show.

“This is my love, my passion,” Dumas said. “I know I’m the oldest guy here. I know my chances are probably slim because of that, but I’m going to give it my best and I’m going to unleash hell when I can.”

Almost six years after it first began, The Ultimate Fighter reality competition series has become an integral part of the UFC. In the first three seasons alone, the show launched the careers of UFC stars such as Michael Bisping, Stephan Bonnar, Rashad Evans, Kenny Florian, Forrest Griffin and Diego Sanchez, plus the debut edition is widely regarded as the launching point for the current growth in popularity of the sport of mixed martial arts. Yet there are critics who say the tournament-based series has run its course. Even with the addition of elimination fights to get into the house and the wild-card matchup, some fans say the program has turned stale and is no longer worth watching. Ohio’s Brian Rogers, who traveled to Las Vegas for his fourth attempt at qualifying for the show, couldn’t disagree more.

“It’s legitimate, free MMA,” Rogers said. “Ten years ago, if someone had come up with this idea, no one would be bitching about it. Everyone was so thirsty for MMA. If you truly love MMA you don’t have a problem with it.” With the exponential growth of MMA and the rapidly rising number of aspiring Octagon-warriors, Rogers believes The Ultimate Fighter has established itself as a much-needed feeder system for prospective pros. “I try to compare the system closely to minor-league baseball but without teams,” Rogers told me. “You start in the minors and try to get your name out there. You’re not affiliated with any team, but you’re trying to get a call-up to the show. This isn’t much different. There are a lot of prospects and veterans who have not had their shot, and that’s what the show has been good for.”

While The Ultimate Fighter was originally conceived as a means of educating the public on a then-unknown sport, UFC president Dana White also agrees it has morphed into a necessary institution.

“We thought that bringing this thing in would introduce more people to the sport; they’d learn about it,” White said at the trials. “But this has been an incredible way to evaluate talent. Even guys coming on that people have hyped up and thought were going to be great end up being beat in The Ultimate Fighter. You bring these guys in, they live in a house together and they fight. If you look at all the talent this show has produced, and will continue to produce, it’s incredible.”

Talent such as Swedish middleweight Magnus Cedenblad, who not only blogs about the sport at MMANYTT.se but also competes as a professional fighter. Cedenblad too made his way to Las Vegas for a shot at UFC glory. The Swede has watched all 12 seasons of The Ultimate Fighter and he believes there is still plenty of life in the series. “This is a great way to get into the UFC, and that’s the main goal,” Cedenblad said. “It’s the biggest show in the world and it’s a place you can make a living. This is a way in and people are still watching it, so why should they stop it? They can continue for many years.”

Which brings us back to the 51-year-old kickboxer. For hardcore enthusiasts of the sport, The Ultimate Fighter may no longer be must-see TV. Much like MTV’s long-running series The Real World, the MMA-themed The Ultimate Fighter has become predictable in format and often the only suspense, outside of the fight results, is determining who will be the next Junie Browning. But for a generation – several, in fact – of trained combatants who indeed “want to be a [expletive] fighter,” the show serves as a means of proving their worth to the world’s biggest mixed martial arts organization. “You’ve been in it so long and you want to see how you would fare, out against some of these guys,” Dumas said. “You want to see how good you are compared to some of them. You want to be able to be right there with them. I’m not here to play games. I want to win.”

Besides, as Rogers says while channeling his inner Dana, no one is making you tune in. “If you don’t like it, don’t watch it,” Rogers said. “Put it on mute and fast forward to the fights.”

By John Morgan, former Fighters Only World MMA Awards ‘Journalist of the Year’.