The best thing I saw over the last week and a half was The Ultimate Fighter Season 20 episodes #1 and #2. I am super excited for this season of the show for a handful of reasons. TUF Season 20 is the first all female cast, it is the introduction of the 115 pound Women’s Strawweight Division, the season is being done as a tournament with the winner of the finale being crowned the Strawweight Division UFC World Champion, the cast is filled with fighters I already enjoy watching and I’m getting to see great new warriors that I hadn’t heard of yet. Plus it’s one of the only reality shows I think people should watch.
The majority of all “reality TV” is poorly scripted, badly edited drivel designed to entertain at the lowest common denominator which networks happen to love because it’s about the cheapest form of television you can create. But in the case of The Ultimate Fighter, it’s real fighters having real fights with real consequences. Some of the house stuff is edited for entertainment purposes but you can’t script what happens in the cage.
The first all female cast of The Ultimate Fighter is also a huge deal if you happen to be aware of UFC President Dana Whites previous stance on females in MMA, specifically in the UFC. At one point after seeing a very badly one-sided female MMA match Dana White publicly stated that females would never be allowed to fight in the UFC. And he stuck with that stance until he met Ronda Rousey. Now a few years later White has publicly recanted his stated and said that seeing what female fighters of Rousey’s caliber could do convinced him of the fact that a female division deserved a place in the UFC. So White created the 135 pound Batamweight Division which Rousey is now the champion of. Fast forward a few years and White is welcoming a 2nd female division, the Strawweights.
The first 2 episodes have entertaining as hell with 2 great fights. The coaching teams of Pettis and Melendez have been going head to head in spectacular fashion. I don’t want to give away any spoilers but there have already been upsets and the trash talking just keeps getting turned up. A house full of female warriors are going to make this a fantastic season to watch.
Links below for more information and some really interesting reading from one of the seasons fighters. And I don’t want to seem biased but for those in know I am #TeamCookieDog all the way! Along with that hashtag you can also find this season’s coverage on Twitter with the hashtags #TUFBeauty and #TUFStrength. The UFC’s media coverage has been great, I personally like the commercial that says “Easy on the eyes, tough on the face”. Beautiful warriors are taking over the UFC and it’s a wonderful thing.
The Next Ultimate Fighter Home Page
