Economics of TUF

[Dowdy]

Dana white has said it cost millions to put a full TUF season together. Although he always exaggerates, i'll take his word for it

Considering the last few TUF have been snooze fests (china, brazil, canada v aust, 19), wouldn't it be more economical to just poach top fighters from different divisions

And they're not ratings bonanzas either.

UFC already pays its rookie fighters minimum. They could put 100 fighters on a 1-2 fight contract and your out based on loss or poor performance for 10k a fight and i'll only cost them 2mil and at the end of the day they'll have some fresh new awesome talent at the end of the day

The first TUF is what arguably put the UFC on the map but the format is getting old and outdated, unless it gets another Uriah Hall (killer) fighter in there.
It's like Big Brother, it worked well in the first season or two and people just got sick of it. And if you want to compare it to singing shows, there are different formats that work well - voice, ....got talent, x-factor, idol etc.

 

[EndlessCritic]

Considering the last few TUF have been snooze fests (china, brazil, canada v aust, 19)

What shit were you watching? Warlley, Cara de Sapato, Vitor Miranda, and Lyoto put on incredible performances in Brazil. TUF Canada was great as well, with laprise, OAM, theodorou emerging as legitimate talents.

wouldn't it be more economical to just poach top fighters from different divisions

Do you believe Joe Silva is an oracle? Do you really think Joe Silva knew when Matt Brown was put on TUF that he would become the top 10 fighter that he is today? Did anyone really think CB would be in the top 10 either? The TUF format gives 16-32 guys a shot at glory. Yes, there are early favorites, but there are always a couple of diamonds in the rough, that would never have been picked up but for TUF -- the Matt Brown's (8-7 record into TUF), the Michael Johnson's (8-4 record going into TUF), and guys like Gastelum and Brad Tavares who probably would have had to wait years with their paltry 5-0 records.

UFC already pays its rookie fighters minimum. They could put 100 fighters on a 1-2 fight contract and your out based on loss or poor performance for 10k a fight and i'll only cost them 2mil and at the end of the day they'll have some fresh new awesome talent at the end of the day

In case you're unaware, Sherdog is already complaining enough that the UFC has too many events, and too many fighters on the roster. TUF solves the problem by creating a new scouting mechanism to separate the wheat from the chaff, without having to take up precious roster space.

The first TUF is what arguably put the UFC on the map but the format is getting old and outdated, unless it gets another Uriah Hall (killer) fighter in there.

Your solution to solving TUF is to hype the shit out of someone who starts his UFC run going 0-2? Huh? Again, the UFC doesn't know in advance who the elite fighters are going to be. Dillashaw was considered good on TUF, but nobody expected him to be champion, especially not after losing at the finale.

It's like Big Brother, it worked well in the first season or two and people just got sick of it. And if you want to compare it to singing shows, there are different formats that work well - voice, ....got talent, x-factor, idol etc.

I like fights. The day TUF is stale is the day all of MMA is stale, since it's all the same.

 

[KekoJones]

But no-one would know who these 50 fighters that won their fight you suggest. TUF is to invest peoples time to get to know the fighters a little bit better, because if you know the fighter, you engage a lot more than if its some random name you never heard of.

Compared to building a star the "traditional" way, like Chuck Lidell I reckon a season of TUF is cheap. Yeah, you're note likely to get a star at the caliber of the Iceman, but if you're lucky you get a handfull of mid-tier stars that still can grow, and you don't have to push them as much.

To promote just one guy is a risky business, because that one guy can loose a couple of fights and never reach stardom, but if you promote 20 guys at the same time it increases the chance of atleast one of them going far.

 

[MMAth Problem]

Dana white has said it cost millions to put a full TUF season together. Although he always exaggerates, i'll take his word for it

Considering the last few TUF have been snooze fests (china, brazil, canada v aust, 19), wouldn't it be more economical to just poach top fighters from different divisions

And they're not ratings bonanzas either.

UFC already pays its rookie fighters minimum. They could put 100 fighters on a 1-2 fight contract and your out based on loss or poor performance for 10k a fight and i'll only cost them 2mil and at the end of the day they'll have some fresh new awesome talent at the end of the day

The first TUF is what arguably put the UFC on the map but the format is getting old and outdated, unless it gets another Uriah Hall (killer) fighter in there.
It's like Big Brother, it worked well in the first season or two and people just got sick of it. And if you want to compare it to singing shows, there are different formats that work well - voice, ....got talent, x-factor, idol etc.

Hey now, Big Brother still doing great ratings, like 6 million, much more than UFC. Also the new Canadian Big Brother doing best ratings the pay channel its on has ever seen, AND its moving to Canadian Network next year.One could argue Big Brother is pulling in more ratings than its first few season , and in fact with licensing the format to more and more countries it is making more profit than ever. Know your facts. Big Brother begins June 25th

 

[BrazilianDude]

What shit were you watching? Warlley, Cara de Sapato, Vitor Miranda, and Lyoto put on incredible performances in Brazil. TUF Canada was great as well, with laprise, OAM, theodorou emerging as legitimate talents.

I don't know what TS watched either.

We still get some good fighters from TUF shows. Also those fighters get some more name recognition.

TUF China did'nt have great fighter quality, but it is justified by the possibility of opening a huge new market.

 

[ALAN PARTRIDGE]

show is bit out dated, needs huge overhaul

 

[Pleb]

I watched most seasons up until The Heavyweights and started losing interest. I watch a lot of TUF: Live and I thought that was really fun but other than that TUF kind of sucks. I will watch season 20 though.

 

[EndlessCritic]

I watched most seasons up until The Heavyweights and started losing interest. I watch a lot of TUF: Live and I thought that was really fun but other than that TUF kind of sucks. I will watch season 20 though.

So you're saying you didn't watch TUF 14, which is widely considered the best in the show's history?

 

[o'dubhlaoich]

Why not market and promote fighters the old fashion way? Why do we need reality tv drama? Also, it seems that TUF is also about promoting a coaches fight as well. Reality TV drama is for the WWE and no legit sport should use it. I hate hard knocks as well.

 

[VolkHan]

Why not market and promote fighters the old fashion way? Why do we need reality tv drama? Also, it seems that TUF is also about promoting a coaches fight as well. Reality TV drama is for the WWE and no legit sport should use it. I hate hard knocks as well.

Agreed.

It remember me an italian reality show based on soccer they did in mid 2000s, but in that case was even more shameful and it lasted only one season with the 2 of the best players that went to the league of the Republic of San Marino and another one that played a bit in USL-1, MLS and NASL due to having puertorican/american passport.

Is good that btw in some seasons they showcase very good fighters like Dillashaw and Dodson in the past, and they give u more fights to c, but frankly I would prefer to c them fighting in a "development league" like WSOF could be and then move to UFC.

 

[Dowdy]

Also, it seems that TUF is also about promoting a coaches fight as well. R

This.

But I reckon Road to Octagon type shows usually do a good job promoting fights anyways