Hyden's Take
HYDEN BLOG: Early Thoughts On The Ultimate Fighter "Team Lesnar vs. Team Dos Santos"
Mar 30, 2011 - 9:15:55 AM HYDEN BLOG: Early Thoughts On The Ultimate Fighter "Team Lesnar vs. Team Dos Santos"

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By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor

The newest season of the The Ultimate Fighter begins tonight. The show's selling point is one of this year's coaches, Brock Lesnar, and we're all waiting to see if Brock is going to do anything controversial and how he's going to respond to his team. If past seasons are any indication, there's sure to be at least one or two jackasses who are only there to be on television. I doubt they'll reach the levels that Gabe Ruediger or Junie Browning reached, but there's sure to be some shenanigans going on. Anytime you get that many people all cooped up together a few of them are going to be singled out for picking on. It'll be interesting to see how coach Brock handles that.

Of course, the other coach is Junior Dos Santos. Not much is known about Dos Santos outside of his fighting style and who he trains with. This is an excellent opportunity for us to get to know Dos Santos better. The TUF coaching gig seems to always alter people's perceptions of some of the coaches, and with others it reinforces the perception. Brock Lesnar has a reputation for being surly. Will we see that side of him, or will he be surprisingly kind to his team? Junior Dos Santos comes from the Black House team and lists Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira as a hero. Will he follow Nogueira's lead as a head coach and try to sell his team on the family aspect of training?

It's ironic that Dos Santos is coaching against Lesnar when Nogueira coached against Frank Mir in Season 8 of The Ultimate Fighter, given the history between Lesnar and Mir. I have to wonder if this season will have the same trajectory as Season 8, with Mir making himself out to be more of a conceited jerk as the season went on. I also wonder if Brock will react the same as Mir did during the Coaches Challenge, when he and Nogueira had a goaltending battle. Mir really went off the deep end when he failed at the challenge.

That's the biggest reason why I love the Coaches Challenge so much. It takes these great fighters and puts them into unfamiliar territory. It makes them uncomfortable and shows what they're made of. Some people say losing builds character, but that's not true. Losing doesn't build character, it reveals it. Your true self shows when you're out of your element. It's easy to be the guy who's great at something, though some really need to learn how to win gracefully. It's a lot harder to lose or not be good at something. How will Brock respond if he sucks at the Coaches Challenge? Also, how will Brock respond if his team is on a losing streak? What happens if his team loses three or four fights in a row? These questions might get answered this season.

This season features welterweights, and means that we should be seeing some good fights. These guys should be in shape, but usually there's a guy or two who always struggles to make weight. All the guys should have good cardio so maybe we can see some good battles. I do miss the format of fighting your way onto the show, as it made for an exciting first few episodes and weeded out some of the guys who didn't want it as much. The UFC dictated that, in order to be on the show, you must have had at least three professional fights and be at least 21 years old. I hope that's enough to ensure a good season. Some seasons have been fairly bad, but I have hope that this one will be among the better ones.


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