SCRAPP! FIGHT MAGAZINE
November - 2015
29
So maybe I’m not the most ob-
jective critic of the show. How-
ever, with the release of Eddie
Gordan — the second TUF
champion to go winless after
the finale and then be cut —
perhaps it is time to admit de-
feat. The show, frankly, is not
what it once was. And by that,
what is really being said is that
the show is no longer a collec-
tion of the best talent outside
the UFC fighting for a way into
the promotion.
That might have been the case,
once, in the early seasons. Yet
the years have not been kind
to TUF, because the UFC has
allowed the best fighters to
bypass it. To be fair, they have
little choice. You didn’t see
Conor McGregor on TUF, or
Sage Northcutt. What you see
is the fighters the UFC is not
worried about losing out on
to Bellator MMA and WSOF.
That’s the reality of the MMA
game. Don’t sign the top guys,
and they’ll go elsewhere.
So you wind up with the Colton
Smiths and Eddie Gordans
of the world as TUF champs.
Neither are bad guys, neither
are bad fighters, but they’re
not fighters that are about
the break out in the best pro-
motion in the world. Not yet,
and possibly not ever. It was a
case of too much, too soon for
both, which is why they have
now both been cut from the
promotion. Gordan, the most
recent release, was champion
in season nineteen. That sea-
son culminated just over a year
ago. That’s how quick a TUF
champion has now washed out
of the promotion.
If you don’t want to put a stake
in it, admit that it is no longer
what it once was. Admit that
it’s simply a bunch of struggling
fighters trying to make it, not
the best of the best. Position
it as such. Maybe it’s time for
another season like The Come-
back. At least then, you could
find some notable names, and
kickstart a career or two.
Otherwise, let the show either
evolve, or die.
