The Ultimate Fighter 10: Preview

In the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter, much of the attention and screen time will be given to building up the rivalry between the two coaches, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, and “Sugar” Rashad Evans. The two magnetic fighters really don’t like each other, and their feud should make for some good television.

The show recently has done a great job at making characters out of the opposing coaches, but it was not always that way. When Chuck Liddell coached opposite Randy Couture, very little emphasis was placed upon the coaches.

When the coaches did appear, they often were speaking the scripted lines for the UFC elimination challenges that were in place at the time.

Since then, the challenges have been dropped from the show’s format, and much more emphasis has been placed upon the coaches.

The UFC has since done a great job of setting up contrasting personalities. Even when given a classy and quiet fighter like Rich Franklin, who wasn’t too interested in trash talking, the UFC did a great job contrasting him with the arrogant and authoritative portrayal of Matt Hughes.

When Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira was coaching against Frank Mir, the UFC showed Nogueira spending a lot of time at the TUF house bonding and creating a real team environment. Meanwhile, Mir was shown as a seemingly uncaring coach, who never visited the house.

While there was some truth to that representation, after the airing of that season Mir has said that he was often in the TUF house, and that the producers simply chose not to show him, in order to create that contrast.

Given Rampage’s larger-than-life persona, and the real feud with Rashad Evans, the UFC won’t need to do too much editing in order to create some drama this season.

That being said, if you’re a fan of reality television like me, you’ll probably still be interested in seeing the direction that the UFC takes in its portrayal of the two coaches this season.

Rashad Evans has been portrayed as a villain ever since his stint on TUF 2. Matt Hughes saw Evans as a showboater, and the UFC latched on to that idea. That particular portrayal was never clearer than it was when Rashad Evans faced off against Chuck Liddell.

Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg frequently made reference to Evans’ dancing and dropping his hands in the fight. Other fighters have moved around, and lowered their hands in a similar fashion, yet were not called showboaters.

The setup was clear: Chuck Liddell was going to put an end to the dancing of Rashad Evans.

When Rashad Evans knocked out Liddell and followed it up by beating Forrest Griffin, he gained a lot of fans who previously did not like him for his perceived showboating.

Now that Evans has tasted the bitter drink of defeat, it will be interesting to see if the UFC still chooses to portray him as the villain against Rampage Jackson. Hopefully Rashad Evans gets a chance to bust out his impersonations his mother, and of Mike Tyson.

But if you are not interested in the dramatic aspects of the reality show, there are still plenty of reasons to watch.

The biggest reputation comes in with Kimbo Slice, the man famous for his Youtube brawls. UFC president Dana White had often dismissed Kimbo’s abilities while Kimbo was fighting for EliteXC. Now, Kimbo gets a chance to fight back.

When Kimbo lost to Seth Petruzelli, the Kimbo Slice hype bubble burst. But while Kimbo’s quick loss did not look very good, it really wasn’t totally his fault.

Kimbo Slice had been preparing to fight Ken Shamrock, a submission wrestler. When Shamrock pulled out of the fight, EliteXC scrambled desperately for a replacement, and Seth Petruzelli accepted only a few hours before the fight.

Seth Petruzelli is an accomplished karate fighter, creating stylistic problems for Kimbo, who had not planned on fighting someone who could possibly cause problems for him in the striking department.

Many people saw Kimbo’s loss as proof that Kimbo couldn’t fight, as he had lost to a man who did not succeed in the UFC. That’s one way to see Kimbo’s career. However, Kimbo Slice also absolutely dominated Ray Mercer, the man who recently knocked out former UFC champion Tim Sylvia.

That of course does not mean that Kimbo Slice is UFC championship material, but while some see Kimbo as a bust, while others stress his victories over Ray Mercer, Bo Cantrell, and Tank Abbott, the truth about Kimbo lies somewhere in between. We will soon find out exactly how good Kimbo Slice is.

Aside from Kimbo, TUF 10 brings in three former professional football players, three veterans of the UFC, a few young and undefeated prospects, and a former IFL Champion in Roy Nelson.

The UFC veterans will actually be big underdogs coming in to this season of The Ultimate Fighter, and will now get a chance to validate themselves, as they compete against fighters who lack the experience, but seem to have more physical talent.

There has been a long-standing belief that the reason for the lack of depth in the heavyweight division is due to all of the good talent going to the NFL and NBA. This season will test that theory, as we will get to see some legitimate NFL athletes test their supposedly greater athleticism against guys who have been focused solely on combative sports.

Roy Nelson has long been saying that he fights to show that “fat people can fight.” At 6 feet tall, and a bloated 265 pounds, he’ll get his chance to prove himself correct on a very large and public stage. In doing so, he’s putting his reputation on the line.

A lot of reputations are going to be on the line this season. A lot of questions are going to be answered.

By Darren Wong for FightMania.com

Tags: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Chuck Liddell, Dana White, Forrest Griffin, Frank Mir, Matt Hughes, Randy Couture, Rashad Evans, Rich Franklin, Tim Sylvia, UFC