There is good news for the UFC and FX when the 17th season of The Ultimate Fighter airs next year.
According to news broken by mmajunkie.com, the upcoming season, which will be coached by UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones and Chael Sonnen, will be moved from Friday night to sometime earlier in the week.
This is welcoming news to fans and UFC President Dana White alike, as the ratings of TUF on FX have been a complete disappointment since the move to Friday nights. The current season on FX is dredging, drawing the lowest numbers in the long-running show’s history.
This is the second move by the UFC (and FX) attempting to reinvigorate the show.
The first move was to obviously bring in Sonnen and Jones as coaches. Jones is arguably the best fighter on the planet now and a figure who many fans love to hate.
Sonnen is another love him-or-hate him guy. Sonnen has a devoted cult following and is a master of entertaining the masses.
Sonnen‘s pre-fight buildup and irritating antics will surely make for good TV. He has already gotten under the skin of Jones, which could make this one of the most heated coaching rivalries in show history, short of maybe Chuck Liddell-Tito Ortiz and Rashad Evans-Quinton Jackson.
Now, with this move off of Friday nights, in combination with the coaching selections, ratings could reach an all-time high.
Many fans don’t watch TUF currently because of its Friday night time. Most people are out celebrating the weekend, while the show continues to limp along.
This may be exactly what the reality show has needed.
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