Love it or hate it, the
UFC knows what they're doing. With professional boxing fractured and star-less, the UFC has stepped in as the de facto leader in dudes-pummeling-dudes entertainment. A big reason for this is UFC President Dana White, who has masterfully shepherded the sport of MMA into the big time. The UFC is packaged so precisely that it's hard not to be entertained by the product. One large feather in the cap of Dana White and company is
The Ultimate Fighter, the SpikeTV UFC reality show which features established MMA stars coaching up-and-comers in a season long tournament. The seventh season of
The Ultimate Fighter debuts Wednesday, April 2 on SpikeTV and features a brand new format.
This season will feature middleweight fighters (171-185 lbs.), though the coaches are both light heavyweights. Current light heavyweight belt holder Quinton “Rampage” Jackson will coach one team, with contender
Forrest Griffin coaching the other. As per usual on
The Ultimate Fighter, Griffin and Jackson are scheduled to fight on the season finale.
This season, the field of
The Ultimate Fighters has been increased to 32. Instead of beginning the season with sixteen fighters in the Las Vegas house, the fighters will have to earn their spots by winning a first round fight. The first two episodes will reportedly just show the sixteen first round fights. I think I speak for everyone when I say that this sounds awesome. Two episodes of wall-to-wall fighting? Count me in. For those who are interested, here are the list of contestants this season:
David Baggett,Paul Bradley, Matt Brown, Steve Byrns, Eric Charles, John Clarke, Daniel Cramer, Tim Creduer, Mike Dolce, C.B. Dollaway, Josh Hall, Gerald Harris, Nick Klein, Jeremy May, David Mewborn, Mike Marrello, Prince Mclean, Aaron Meisner, Reggie Orr, Matthew Riddle, Jerimiah Riggs, Dante Rivera, David Roberts, Nick Rossborough, Amir Sadollah, Patrick Shultz, Brandon Sene, Dan Simmler,Jesse Taylor, Cale Yarbrough, John Wood, Luke Zachrich
-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image Courtesy of UFC)