When the first season of The Ultimate Fighter came on the air January of 2005, only the true hardcore fans of the Ultimate Fighting Championship knew anything about the sport.
When the first TUF finale aired live on Spike TV three months later, not many more people knew about the UFC.
It took two unknown Light Heavyweight fighters, Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar battle it out for three classic rounds to bring the UFC, as well as TUF into the limelight.
All of the sudden the UFC was popular and TUF would be renewed for new seasons. As the seasons two and three progressed, we were introduced to such fighters as Rashad Evans, Diego Sanchez, Keith Jardine, Joe Stevenson, Josh Burkman, Michael Bisping and Kendall Grove.
Season four brought about something different, a comeback edition. UFC fans were reintroduced to fighters that may have fought once or twice in the octagon.
The fans saw such fighters as Shonie Carter, Din Thomas and the eventual winners, Matt Serra and Travis Lutter.
Unfortunately season four suffered from low ratings. Season five gave the people something new, 16 Lightweights to duke it out, with Jens Pulver and BJ Penn as coaches.
There has been a lot of tension and amusing moments during this season’s TUF. For example, Gabe Ruediger and his (20 lbs. over) weight problem, then there is Nick Diaz’s little brother causing a stir and let’s not forget the bitter feud between the two coaches.
So the ratings should be high, right?
The ratings have been worse for TUF season 5. According to MMAweekly.com, the overall ratings have been low. The first four episodes have gone 1.4, 1.3, 1.2 and 1.0.
The article also mentions that males 18-49 are lower than the previous year. The fourth episode drew a 1.1 in that demo.
Fortunately, TUF won’t be cancelled. But there are no doubt problems with the TUF show. The UFC and Spike TV have many challenges to conquer, in order for TUF to stay alive for the next round.
Why the low ratings?
Its hard to pinpoint the exact problem with the TUF shows. This season is much different because only Lightweights are fighting. The previous four seasons had two weight classes, which contained eight fighters each, that were fighting.
One problem that faces TUF is the concept remains the same. The show has remained the same for all five seasons. One exception was the first two seasons had competitions to determine the fights.
The point is, the concept is the same. Any episode after episode one usually starts out in the winners locker room. Then the fighters go back to the TUF house, something crazy usually happens.
Then there’s the training for both camps and then the challenges. Then more crazy stuff and more training.
Depending on how much time has passed on the show the viewer can usually tell how long the fight will last.
If the fight begins 35 minutes into the hour, it will go all three rounds. If the match starts around 45 minutes into the hour, it will go only two and if there is 10 minutes left in the show, it’s knockout city baby.
There’s still hope for this season. If the ratings don’t improve, then there is always season six. Next season will feature Matt Hughes and TUF four winner Serra, which is interesting because the two will face each other for Serra’s title in the near future.
