There are quite a few reasons as to why The Ultimate Fighter season fifteen will prove to be one of the best seasons ever. Considering the groundbreaking format on FX live on Friday nights with live fights, this season will stand alone as a blueprint for future seasons to come.
This is one of many reasons fight fans are clamoring for March 9th, 2012. Another alluring point, and definitely the most exciting part of this show, is the match up of coaches set to compete both during the 15th season of TUF, and eventually after the show in a rubber match of an intense and heated trilogy.
Sometimes in the realm of combat sports two fighters come together as their careers intersect. Regardless of their personal feelings of one another, they thrive as a duo; they perpetuate each other in a symbiotic relationship that signifies not just their individual greatness, but how far they were able to push themselves and each other to compete.
Simply put, the greatest of warriors is only as good as he has to be to defeat his most bitter of rivals. The stronger the opponent, the stronger a fighter must become to defeat opponent. And rarely, the absolute diamond of relationships is born spawning the groundwork for a trilogy.
A holy grail for fight fans, the trilogy is a culmination of circumstances that rarely come together where two combatants find victory, and defeat in such a fashion that demands that they compete a third and final time.
Think Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard to get the full picture. And ironically with that pair, after three fights the score still truly is not settled.
It is not every pair of fighters who can create this magic, but when it happens it is undeniable in the eyes of an entire sport. Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture come to mind. In the sweet science, Ward vs. Gatti still stands as one of the greatest trilogies of all time. Back to MMA, Hughes vs. Penn is another great example of two all-time classic warriors whose careers intersected in a poetic display of camaraderie via hand to hand combat.
Certain fighters were made for one another. Another pair of modern day warriors with growing legends of their own are Urijah Faber and UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz. These two sincerely loathe one another, but regardless of their distaste for each other, they are a match made in MMA heaven.
They will prove to become the two greatest coaches, followed up by the greatest bout between coaches in TUF history during the year of 2012. They will become the spearhead for the UFC to bring its brand of combat sports to an all new audience on a new stage as TUF 15 is showcased on FX.
As always, the UFC will take every necessary step to ensure that not only the talents of the fighters on the show are worthy of an opportunity to fight in the UFC, but they will also ensure that the personalities behind the fighters will be equally entertaining.
But anyone who knows anything about The Dominator or The California Kid knows full well not too many personalities can hold a candle to these two veterans of the game. Both sharp as a tack, witty and outspoken, Cruz and Faber alone are entertaining to say the least.
When they get cooped up and forced to deal with one another on a daily basis, the competitive nature of these men will hit overdrive quickly. Shortly thereafter fight fans can expect one of the best tennis matches of trash talk and banter they have ever seen on a TUF season or anywhere in the sport.
When Faber and Cruz are done ribbing each other and relentlessly competing to win at every turn, even Chael Sonnen will have learned a thing or two about promoting a fight.
Both men are extremely likable, depending on which side of the fence fans fall on, and both men are incredibly talented. They possess a wit and charm that will make for some of the best T.V. in MMA history.
Most importantly though, they have a combined championship pedigree that will set the table for one of the greatest rubber matches ever.
As they lead these up and coming fighters toward their future as potential UFC fighters, the students will be learning from two of the best in the business. Team Alpha Male and Alliance MMA produce some of the top talent in the game.
These two are the flagships of those elite camps.
So when they bring their knowledge to the table, the fighters in the TUF house will be given a world class education and MMA Ivy League instruction under two of the top fighters in the world.
Again, while these fighters are brought along and groomed under the tutelage of Cruz and Faber, the teachers themselves will steal the show.
They will steal the show through their utter personalities, and equally through the anticipation they build leading into a match that will barrel down on MMA with the weight of a freight train.
The UFC knows full well what they have in the Cruz vs. Faber rivalry. And simply put, what they have is MMA gold. This season of TUF will be the most iconic since Forrest Griffin fought Stephan Bonnar in one of the most important fights in MMA history.
With the added angle of the UFC being featured on FX with a new semi live format, and the compelling mixture of Cruz and Faber, this season may very well set a new precedent by the time it is over.
The Ultimate Fighter: Cruz vs. Faber will by far and away become the greatest season of the franchise thus far. Every ingredient is perfect, and this will forever take the expectations up a notch, if not up to an entirely new level.
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