Fight Reality TV

I've been meaning to write about this for a while, but have been preoccupied with the birth of my Daughter (something else I have been meaning to write about)...

There are two television shows on currently, that I watch, that, while different, are very much alike.

The shows are the Contender, on NBC, and The Ultimate Fighter, on Spike TV.

Both are similar in that they are both "reality" shows about fighting, Boxing, in the case of the Contender, and Mixed Martial Arts, in the case of the Ultimate Fighter. On both, a group of fighters are competing against one another to attain money and fight contracts, or somthing to that effect. They are different in that one is a huge prodution starring a huge movie celebrity, and the other is a low(er) budget production, with no celebrities other that those in the world of Ultimate Fighting.

I've watched both programs religiously since they began. The Ulitmate Fighter (UF) beat the Contender to the air waves by two months, so by the time the Contender premeire I was already fully ensconced in UF.

A bit of history first -- I've never really been a huge fan of Ultimate fighting, or Mixed Martial Arts, as it is know. I watched a few UFC videos years back, but never thought it more than a exercise in violence for the sake of violence. Then I watched the documentary "The Smashing Machine," which is the story of a MMA fighter named Mark Kerr. That documentary, which I consider to be one of the top 5 of all time, let me see that while the sport may be violent, at its heart it is just regular people just trying to get by. It also showed me that the sport had advanced to the point of "sport" reather than just violence. There were more rules now to protect the fighters, ala boxing. Actually, the documentary made me miss some of the old violence that was allowed, but that was just the power of the movie.

Fast forward a couple of years. When I saw that there was going to be an Ultimate Fighting reality show I immediately thought of the Smashing Machine, and knew I had to watch it. I went in with huge expectations, and am happy to say I was not let down. The show is a great mix of stories of the fighters and their thoughts and lives, and of straight on fighting. Top notch all the way.

Then the Contender appeared. My expectations, being set by the Ultimate Fighter were high, and... I was unfortunately let down. Not that the Contender is a bad show, Ultimate Fighter just does it all much better. I should also point out that there was another boxing show on eariler in the year, which I assume died an early death. I should also point out that I find it humorous that everyone was comparing these two shows, to determine which would come out on top, when in reality the unknown black horse would trump them both.

First the similarities:
On both shows there are two teams that compete. The winning team gets to chose a person on their team who will fight the opponent of their choice from the opposing team. At the end of the show they show the fight. The loser goes home. On both shows fighters have had to leave due to medical reasons, and elliminated players were chosen to return.

The differences:
On Ultimate Fighter each team is led by one of the top 2 light heavyweights in the UFC. Awesome. On the Contender, i'm not sure who the team leads are, I don't think there are any. On UF the lead coaches give advice and provide opinions on the fighters and the developing story.

On Ultimate Fighter they show the entire fight at the end of the show. The fight is in the facility where the fighters train and the audience consists of people involved with the show, and three judges. On the Contender, the fight is in a huge venue with packed house and the whole package. Unlike the UF, they only show a "highlights" version of the fight, with added sound effects!

This pretty much illustrates the main difference between the two shows -- the Contender is like a movie, the UF is more concentrated on the fighters and the fighting.

Interestingly, while the Contender does focus more on the 'movie' factor to drive stories, the story lines in UF are actually much more compelling. The likeable fighters are more likeable, the hateable fighters are more hateable, and I overall care more about the Ultimate fighters than I do the Contenders. After an episode of the UF I feel like I know the fighters who have fought. After the Contender I feel I have been given a few minor glimpses into their lives.

Not that the Contender approach doesn't have its merits -- some of the fights have been great, and some of the stories very inspirational. But the UF is just more real.

One other major difference that puts UF ahead once again is the fact that on the UF all of the fighters live in the same house, so that we are able to see the evolving relastionships between the fighters. On the Contender I feel like we see the fighters in their natural environment occasionally, but I don't have a real feel for any of the fighters, or feel that there is any story developing.

So hurrah for UF, for beating goliath. Kudos to all.

Actually, extra Kudos to the UFC president Dana White, who appears on the show, for (I assume) comming up with the show. Not only is it exposing UFC to a wider audience, but the main fight on the next UFC PPV is none other than a fight between the two coaches on the show - Chuck Lidell and Randy Couture, both awesome fighters! Talk about hugh publicity! Nice!

In the end, I'm still going to watch both shows, but I'll only be buying The Ultimate Fighter on DVD (if the extras make it worth seeing again.)