Fightlinker issues a very relevant question:
Let’s get something straight: a fight between Frank Mir and Big Nog is barely interesting enough to carry a PPV on it’s own, let alone an entire season of TUF. As for the argument that TUF exposure is a great way for Nog to become popular, that’s ass backwards thinking. Sticking a relatively unknown guy on TUF is just going to result in less people giving a shit about it. And it’s not like Nog just needs a showcase for his shining personality. The guy looks / acts like a big lumbering Frankenstein. For all the excitement he creates in the ring, he’s duller than matte paint in real life.
For the record, I think this season is terrible and that’s with two coaches who are good on camera, legitimate MMA stars and generally amiable and funny guys. If this format can’t even work with them at the helm, I seriously doubt Mir and Noguiera is going to be any better (or even as good).
Look, the show – in its current format – has jumped the shark. I think there are a host of reasons for this, but part of it is that the talent well has run dry. If the UFC were able to space seasons further apart, they might be able to draw on more mature and developed talent. But they’re running this machine into the ground and I don’t think they’ve been able to cull the kind of talent they need consistently to make the show interesting.
In fact, the coaches’ celebrity status used to be an ancillary benefit. TUF was originally and almost exclusively about the developing fighters. And when the show first started, there were a lot of up-and-comers to choose from. But between the pacing of the seasons and the growth of MMA leading to other organizations snatching up talent, there just isn’t that much left to go around. Mir and Nogueira, despite being two of my favorite fighters, aren’t going to change that dynamic.