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TV Reviews
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The Ultimate Fighter
CATTELANE: TUF 6 - Episode 4
Jerry Cattelane - MMA Torch Columnist
Oct 10, 2007, 23:51
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Hah! Drew you in, didn't I? I guess you didn't see the show either?
Truthfully, I saw the first episode and have missed the last two. I was watching my Montreal Canadiens and Carey Price put the clamps on a win over the Pittsburgh Penguins and decided to channelsurf after the game ended.
Lo and behold, as I rolled through Spike TV, there was The Ultimate Fighter and a fighter sobbing. Intrigued, I hung around. I learned that Joey Scarola, in a fit of pique, had abandoned the house. Now, we have Blake who apparently has a rib injury and can't bear to go to the doctor and he's crying too. We then cut to Dorian who is crying because he can't train and as I kick back on my couch, I wonder when TUF got picked up by the Oxygen channel.
There's the usual Serra mantra of hating Hughes. There's Hughes "punishing" his team (making them work harder is punishment? My understanding is that's what training is all about. Yes?). And, then there's all these guys crying? And, Dorian stalking a cameraman? Seriously, what is going on here?
Dana pulls Dorian aside and suggests that threatening the production team is a no-no. Dorian references his race in such a manner that, as a white guy, I can't repeat it here for fear of incurring the political correctness gestapo (not that there are many of them reading this anyway). Dana uses the word "thug" apparently forgetting that most of the clips pimping this show had classless behavior written all over them and, that last season wasn't exactly a shining example of sportsmanship either.
In any case, the fight comes along eventually and the usual formula applies. Guy with no experience (in this case, his record was listed at 0-0) gets pounded/submitted by Guy with some/more experience. Guy with no experience claims injury, apologizes to his team and, of course, cries.
What exactly have I missed in not watching this show? What is with all the crying? What is with all of the injuries? Is this normal in a MMA gym? Do guys get this banged up training in real life? You would think that after FIVE seasons of this crap, the lucky 16 fighters that have been chosen for the show (And, how they picked these guys should be the subject of it's own show in my opinion) would have an idea of just exactly what they're getting into. It's almost like there's Mac Danzig and then, everybody else. Is ANYBODY else watching this show? I swung over to mmaweekly's forum and where they usually have a relatively lively TUF thread, there were a whopping FOUR posts an hour after the show had ended. It was like when I cover a PPV on our board, except I'm too obsessive to stop at four.
Anyway, if there was ever any evidence to show that this format is stale, played, jumped the shark, insert your cliche here, it is that none of the other columnists on this website (and they are as dedicated a group as you will find...) are interested enough to post on the show either. (And, please, do NOT take that as me pulling a Hope Solo on the guys here. I'm not, so just stop.)
So, if you actually saw the show and would like to let Torch Nation know what happened from the drama perspective (because the fight frankly was awful), stop by our message board and start a thread or two.
See you there!
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