Another Ultimate Fighter has come and gone, with the win going to team Lesnar via Tony Ferguson’s first round KO of team Dos Santos’s Ramsey Nijem.
Hopefully, Ferguson, and maybe Nijem, will be able to give Georges St-Pierre some competition in the future.
Not to take from Ferguson’s moment, which was very well deserved, but it is time to look ahead. The call has already gone out for the next season of The Ultimate Fighter, which has made full use of the media hype surrounding Zuffa’s buyout of the WEC. For the next season, Bantamweights and Featherweights, or just one of the two, will duke it out for the chance of being crowned TUF 14 winner.
There are often problems with trying to hype a fight between the lower weights. Due to their natural size, many lack the power to KO an opponent, which means a bigger emphasis on wrestling and Jiu Jitsu.
That’s not a problem if they are constantly transitioning from position to position. A technical battle for control can be just as exciting as two guys standing up and trading. The problem is not many people appreciate the ground aspect of MMA.
So, how do you get around people’s conceptions?
Enter Michael Bisping and Jason “mayhem” Miller.
I will admit now, I am a huge fan of both. Bisping, for the fact that he is a fellow Brit and Miller for his never-say-die craziness that he brings to each and every one of his fights.
For a reality show, as TUF falls into, you could not have two better coaches. Bisping is an outspoken individual who knows how to hype a fight and Miller gets a fight going just by putting his name on the card.
Both have had checkered pasts over the year. Bisping recently won everyone’s hatred for giving Jorge Rivera an illegal knee prior to ending the fight via TKO in the second round. To add insult to injury, he spat at Rivera’s corner and refused any attempt at conciliation by Rivera.
Mayhem dominated headlines due to his involvement in the “Strikeforce: Nashville Brawl,” where he asked Shields for a rematch before being blindsided by the Diaz brothers, who both refused to face him afterward.
They are also both very outspoken. Bisping is eager to call out his opponent on any given occasion, whilst Miller clowns around, sure in his ability to end any fight.
All in all, Dana White has created a masterpiece compared to TUF 13. He has signed two coaches who will train their fighters well, whilst still taking part in some lighthearted/serious banter, as opposed to the “fiasco” of TUF 13 where the coaches (shock, horror) focused on training their fighters and avoiding any serious confrontations that could have hyped their now non-existent fight, due to Brock Lesnar’s most recent bout with diverticulitis.
It stands to reason that this season of TUF could imitate “TUF: UK vs USA” in terms of the coaches, with Bisping always eager to carry on the Anglo-American hostilities that exist in combat sports, leading to a finale built upon the coaches potential animosity towards each other and a meeting that could turn sour.
Congratulations to Ferguson, now bring on Bisping vs Miller!
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