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UFC The Ultimate Fighter Finale (12/13/08) in Las Vegas
By Zach Arnold | December 13, 2008
Originally posted on December 4th
Undercard
- Lightweights: Rolando Delgado vs. John Polakowski
- Lightweights: Shane Nelson vs. George Roop
- Light Heavyweights: Kyle Kingsbury vs. Tom Lawlor
- Light Heavyweights: Eliot Marshall vs. Jules Bruchez
- Light Heavyweights: Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Shane Primm
Main card
- Lightweights: Junie Browning vs. Dave Kaplan
- Welterweights: Kevin Burns vs. Anthony Johnson
- Middleweights: Jason MacDonald vs. Wilson Gouveia
- Light Heavyweight: Ryan Bader vs. Vinicius Magalhaes
- Lightweights: Phillipe Nover vs. Efrain Escudero
Commentary
Ivan Trembow on Sleazeball Promoters and Trash TV: What The Ultimate Fighter has become:
White also presented the ridiculous argument on the show that Browning would have been able to tell people in his hometown that he was kicked off of TUF for being so much of a bad-ass, as if that factor is equal in its importance to the show’s remaining credibility being destroyed.
Keeping Junie Browning in the UFC after five separate actions that would have individually warranted kicking him off the show and out of the UFC is not “justice being served,” as White said. It’s White acting like a sleazeball promoter. That’s what it is.
One must also keep in mind the message that this sends to future TUF contestants. When the UFC actually does want to send a message about something to other fighters, they do that by making examples out of people. (Ask Jon Fitch about that for verification.)
In Browning’s case, instead of sending a message of that kind of behavior not being tolerated, the exact opposite message has been sent.
“Act like an idiot, do things that could and should get you kicked off the show, and we’ll build an entire season around you and keep you in the UFC instead of kicking you out of TUF and outside of the UFC.”
As a criminologist, even one with extremely liberal tendencies who thinks America’s “get tough on crime” movement does far more harm than good, I felt tonight’s episode of TUF (episode 12) portrayed some of the most hideous dimensions that can emerge from MMA when manipulated by gluttonous intentions and/or poor judgment.
In the past few months, we’ve seen mixed martial arts make major strides. The extensive mainstream media coverage of Randy Couture vs. Brock Lesnar and UFC 91as a whole was not characterized by questions about MMA’s legitimacy, nor did it insinuate that MMA was comprised of street fighting thugs. MMA was constructed in the media as an exciting sport with talented, hard working, articulate athletes. What we saw on episode 12 of TUF was quite the opposite. Junie Browning’s exit from TUF as a result of losing to Efrain Escudero was not justice; it was convenient. MMA was turned into an institution used to settle non-sporting violence. That sends a horrible message to viewers, reinvigorates the connection between MMA and street violence, and is neither sport, nor justice.
Dave Meltzer & Bryan Alvarez had a slightly different take. Some quotes include:
“I was just in awe of Dana White in the second episode.” — Meltzer
“What a worker!” — Alvarez
“He was awesome!” – Meltzer
Dave went on to say that Junie Browning should have been kicked off two months ago, but that Dana White handled the situation like a skillful old-time pro-wrestling promoter. (Partially paraphrasing here, but listen to the audio yourself if you can for validation of this notation.)
Update: Junie Browning compares himself to Muhammad Ali in an interview with AOL Fanhouse:
“I think The Ultimate Fighter made me look a little nicer than I was,” Browning said. “I was pretty happy about that. I did other stuff like that that they didn’t show — the usual, me acting like a prick.”
“They’ll probably boo me and probably throw rocks at me,” Browning said. “They’ll probably try to fight me coming out to the cage. But that’s OK. Some of the best fighters in the world, everyone hated them starting off. I think people will grow to like me once they see I can fight. Muhammad Ali, people hated him.
(12/13) — According to three different TUF 8 contestants quoted by the Canadian Press’ Neil Davidson, Junie Browning admitted to those contestants at various times that he planned his antics on TUF 8 ahead of time in order to make a big name for himself. — Ivan Trembow
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 60 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Old-time pro wrestling promoters were liars and con artists. For an MMA promoter to be referred to as being like an old-time pro wrestling promoter and for it to actually be a compliment is just mind-boggling. Is that what we want out of MMA promoters?
Old-time pro wrestling promoters, no matter what else they may have been, were definitely not in the business of legitimate sporting contests. An air of shadiness and fast-dealing attaches to the image conjured.
I would say that Dana White definitely has that aspect to his character.
What the fuck. Seriously. That is all I can say. Have people just missed every season of the Ultimate Fighter? Pissing in beds, trashing the house, trashing hotels, limos.. That is what the show has always been. I don’t watch it and haven’t watched it since season 4 (I’ve caught stuff here and there, but not sat and watched it weekly), you know why? Because it is crap, it isn’t about the fighting.
The show has always been about the Junie Brownings and Chris Lebens.
The issues people have with TUF are legit. It just doesn’t seem to bother me.
It’s not like Browning is getting a title shot for acting like an idiot. The UFC has over 50 Lightweights already on their roster. Browning, whether he is a mental midget or not, still has to prove himself. And honestly, he brings in good ratings, so good fights like Gouveia vs. MacDonald will be seen by more fighters.
Kimbo brings “good ratings”, should the UFC bring him in so that undercard fighters are seen by more people? Wasn’t that the entire idea of using him for EXC?
EXC is bad for the sport!!!! lol
Kimbo was also talked about on the broadcast as being a great star… and they built the entire show around him.
The UFC builds their shows round champions…. Or int he case of TUF Finals, around the tournament finals.
Big difference.
I do have to agree that this season has been pretty over the top in the out of the cage antics. However I felt like there were some pretty strong and unique fighters this season and actually some interesting fights. Going in, nearly everyone seemed impressive and there were some good fights.
I also have to question the credibility question when the next PPV is co-headlined by Season 1 TUF Winner Forrest Griffin against Season 2 TUF Winner Rashad Evans. Maybe that’s irrelevant to the argument but I feel like it has some bearing.
The Ultimate Fighter is a television show. The producers of the show are going to do what they can to generate interest in this show. Is this rocket science?
Alex Sean makes a good point about the quality of fighters.
I thought this season was one of the better season in terms of quality. A few of the past seasons only had a few fighters making the finale. This season is cmopletely filled with fighters from the show (minus one fight). And honestly, most of them seem UFC worthy.
It is what it is. A TV show to generate interest in the sport and make money. The true sport of it mainly comes later. I don’t see why people get so up in arms over it. The show is not meant for the over sensitive die hards.
Well would you support bringing in Kimbo Slice to the UFC because he brings ratings? He’s a “street fighting thug” just like Junie and he’ll bring 10x the ratings that guy does.
You never answered me.
p.s. Junie is on the main card. I’m sure they won’t mention what a “crazy person” he was on the show at least 1000 times.
Also,
They’ve built this ENTIRE season of TUF around Junie and “what will this degenerate do next?”…so while there is a difference, it’s not really that big of a difference in my mind.
If people buy tickets to see Junie lose fights, is that a bad thing?
“They’ve built this ENTIRE season of TUF around Junie ”
I didn’t see it that way. I thought they started it around Junie but then it spread out.
As far as Kimbo being on TUF…sure why not. Who cares. If he wins the he indeed does have some MMA skill…if he loses then so what.
Again…this show is not meant for the Die Hards who spend all day complaining about everything.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Mma4realnet/~3/474706374/
I would have no problem with Kimbo being in the UFC. As long as he is fighting legit competition, isn’t the main event of a PPV with title fights on it, or talked about as if he is the best fighter ever.
Yes, TUF has always been about drunken idiocy to some degree, but as I pointed out in my editorial, the difference is that when a fighter did something that warranted being kicked off the show on multiple separate occasions, we would get the usual santimonious speech about how the UFC doesn’t tolerate that kind of behavior, even though they set up the environment for that behavior to thrive in. But the fighter would ultimately be kicked off the show and out of the UFC.
In this season, Browning did literally five different things would have individually warranted being kicked off the show, and he wasn’t kicked off, and he is being rewarded for his behavior even further by being put on the main card of the finale while the non-drunkards languish in the prelims. The show’s rules have lost any remaining credibility that they had.
As Dana White said (and I don’t remember it word for word):
Would you rather have him kicked off, or beat off.
I have no problem with fighters being kicked off the show. If anything, I liked this seasons approach more. If the guy wants out, let him get beat up on his way out. It’s much more fulfilling to us the fans. At least some of us.
And we the hardcore fans can complain about this, but to a general viewer, the fact that he was forced to take a beating to get off the show, actually makes people like the UFC more. It gives it a more authentic feel. No different then the hardcore fans hating on Dana White, and the regular fans loving him as a breath of fresh air.
“The show’s rules have lost any remaining credibility that they had.”
That’s the thing: what rules? What credibility? It’s a reality TV show. What kind of standards of decency were you expecting. Besides, it’s almost word for word the speech Dana gave about Leben when he got into trouble.
“I have no problem with fighters being kicked off the show. If anything, I liked this seasons approach more. If the guy wants out, let him get beat up on his way out. It’s much more fulfilling to us the fans. At least some of us.”
That was the old-school carny pro wrestling promoter argument that Dana White set up on the show. Is the promoter going to suspend those dastardly heels, or are the faces going to get their chance to beat up the heels? I’m pretty sure that’s what Meltzer meant when he said that White was like an old-time pro wrestling promoter on this show. Of course, the reason that it’s a false argument is because it focuses on the here and now of that moment (“Do you wanna fucking beat Junie’s ass, man?”) while conveniently not mentioning that it’s also the difference between Browning getting kicked out of the UFC, or Browning still being in the UFC even when he does lose in the semi-finals, and subsequently getting a main card spot above non-mentally-unstable-drunkards.
TUF has always been a low-brow marketing scheme for the UFC. Ideally for the UFC and Spike, there would be a lot of inter-house drama, capitalized by the fighters finishing it inside the cage. The drama attracts people, the fights hook them.
I disagree with Junie breaking TUF rules. TUF has only one rule: the UFC will only intervene when there’s more damage than benefit. They maintain a delicate balance between promoting the drama for increased ratings and denouncing it for PR.
Consider all the unprofessional behavior from all the seasons, and then realize that the only time TUF kicked anyone out of the house was in season 5, and I personally think it was the UFC making a statement because it involved two very disposable fighters. If it had been two important fighters, say Lauzon and Diaz, they would not have been banned from the UFC, and there’s a good chance they’d stay on the show after getting a vicious verbal beatdown by Dana and showing sufficient remorse.
The UFC is subjective with their decisions. If you offer them something they want or need, they’ll allow you exceptions they wouldn’t offer to other fighters. Conversely, if they don’t like you, you’re got a very narrow margin of error to work with. That’s not just a UFC rule, that’s a universal rule you’ll find in almost all aspects of life.
Ivan
Its a reality TV show…do you get this upset at survivor? I’m really asking…no sarcasm.
Besides…considering how much SpikeTV paid Zuffa I doubt they have as much control over the in house antics as they used to have.
“MMA was turned into an institution used to settle non-sporting violence.”
Yeah, that certainly hasn’t happened before. At all. Ever.
But there is this guy, his name’s Tito… eh, you probably haven’t heard of him.
“I disagree with Junie breaking TUF rules. TUF has only one rule: the UFC will only intervene when there’s more damage than benefit.”
Didn’t Jeremy Jackson get kicked off the show for pursuing a fat lifeguard?
Survivor isn’t an embarrassment to an entire sport, so no, I don’t get upset when I watch Survivor.
Also, Dana White made it very clear in public interviews earlier this season that he has the final decision on who gets kicked off the show and who doesn’t, and that everyone else involved in the production of the show was shocked by his actions (ie, not kicking Browning off the show after the first three incidents).
TUF isn’t an embarrassment to an entire sport either. It’s embarrassing for family and friends of certain idiot fighters. For everyone else (well, all stable non-Zuffa grudge holding weirdos)it’s just a momentary diversion.
I commend Dana for his social work with Junie. Junie now thinks of Dana as the father figure he lacked in his youth. Dana has shown the caring side of the Ulimate Fighting sport.
Now, that’s comedy, Steve.
Dana White isn’t heartless. Watching Junie talk with him during his video blog showed Dana White cares about his well being.
And lets not forget Nate Quarry and what Zuffa did for him.
He cares about Junie Browning so much that he was willing to exploit his alcoholism and his potentially dangerous mental instability for an extra 0.3 of a ratings point.
I wish someone would exploit me by plucking me from obscurity and hand selecting me for a high payingjob I could never earn on my own.
What tragedy. Such pathos.
Junie has some serious childhood trauma that he won’t let up on, maybe he was sexually abused. He acts like such a tough guy, hes definitely got demons.
Ivan you take this way too seriously. Its just a simple show.
45 Huddle – I enjoy your posts and you’re quite knowledgeable in the world of MMA, but just between you and me: you’re on the UFC payroll, right?
I’m surprised that the “MMA Hardcore” crowd isn’t more likely to brush this stuff off. The only part of TUF that’s MMA is the finale. Everything else is “MMA-ish.”
They aren’t real fights, there’s not a real tournament, the “prizes” are contrived and losers are nearly as likely to get a contract as winners. It’s reality-TV, that’s how it works.
Junie is that desperate for “fame” and big payoffs that he gets drunk and brings up his childhood trauma in the most immature way… but yeah, he planned it for attention. Now I look down on the character of Junie even more!
For the record, I am really not on the UFC payroll.
As for this card…. Wilson Gouveia missing weight is not a good thing. He admitted that he struggled with the weight cut previously. And now he is overweight. Seems like he should be moving back up to Light Heavyweight.
On a side note, I don’t think weight classes should be restructured based on fighters missing weight…. But it does seem time to do a little restructuring, and that includes making the gap between LHW and MW down to 15 lbs.
Just saying, as a reader, what is the purpose of reposting the same post from several days ago?
According to his interview on USA Today’s web site, it looks like Dave Kaplan planned the same kind of thing:
“I think I did a good job. There was definitely some things that I may have changed and there’s something that I might wish I might’ve done a little bit more of. But as far as, with letting Tom punch me in the face, that went 100% the way that we wanted to. … It’s one of the main events of the show, if they do a top 25 best moments of all the shows, that one gets part of it, so I’m happy with that.
I feel like I was definitely one of the memorable people. Junie obviously, was one, if not the most memorable. But other than him, I mean, I get recognized everywhere I go. there’s a lot of guys, guys fighting in the finals now that didn’t make that much of an impression, as far as in the house and stuff like that.
I felt like I did exactly what I wanted to do. I’m fighting on TV on Saturday just like they are, so obviously I did.”
In the same interview, Kaplan displays a Marcus Davis/Chris Lytle kind of attitude that the most important thing is not to do your best, but to go out there and have an epic back-and-forth fight so that he can get the Fight of the Night bonus:
“I don’t care about the winning or losing as far as, that’s not my main goal. I want this fight to be talked about more than the finals are talked about and I think that it has the possiblity because of both of our styles of being that kind of battle… there’s a part of me that wants it to go 15 minutes. Because I want that Fight of the Night, and I want that battle, and the back-and-forth, both of us putting it on the line and punching. If I bleed that’d be awesome; if he bleeds, that’d be awesome. That’s what I want. I want the Fight of the Night; I want that extra 30, 40 grand that you get for that, and if you beat somebody quick, you’re not going to necessarily get that.”
Finally, in regard to Junie Browning planning his antics ahead of time in order to make a name for himself… guess what? It worked.
Instead of nipping Browning’s behavior in the bud by kicking him off the show the first time he did something that warranted being kicked off (or the second time), they built the whole reason around him, they didn’t kick him off the show (and thus out of the UFC) even after five separate offenses that individually warranted being kicked off, and they gave him the one and only main card fight on the live finale that involves TUF 8 contestants who were not tournament finalists.
Can you imagine what the behavior of the contestants will be on future TUF seasons now that they have seen someone do five different things that warrant being kicked off the show and still not be kicked off?
Actually, I’m sure that the UFC, Spike TV, and the show’s producers CAN imagine what kind of behavior that message is going to further encourage, and they probably view that as a good thing: Even more hijinks to come on future seasons!
How many of the guys who have been “kicked off the show” have actually ended up being banned from UFC? I’m not a huge fan of the show, but three guys that I think have been kicked off of it are current UFC fighters.
I can’t recall off the top of my head. Does anyone have the full list of contestants who have been kicked off of TUF for non-medical reasons?
Jeremy Jackson.
Ok, researched it.
I would consider Jessie Taylor (fought on a UFN, and now he’s back to the minor leagues) in that category. Hamill left on medical (now in UFC). As noted Jeremy Jackson (who fought on that Finale card, then he was out). Marlon Sims (made it as far as Strikeforce) and Noah Thomas (recently TKO, never made a major promotion) were kicked out with Allen Barube (fought on the Finale, then went back to the minor leagues). Matt Arroyo quit on his own, then fought on two finales.
So at least half the guys who left for one reason or another (including disciplinary) fought in at least one UFC event). None of them are particularly successful fighters.
Yeah I think only three guys in Ultimate Fighter history were kicked off and then permanently banned. All from the same show Ultimate Fighter 5
Marlon Sims: For Fighting
Noah Thomas: For Fighting
Gabe Ruediger: Ice cream cake
Wasn’t Jeremy Jackson allowed to come back for the Finale? He wouldn’t count then.
Kenny Stevens didn’t get ‘kicked off’ per say, but had to forfeit his fight and leave the show for missing weight on TUF 2.
It’s really lame that they delay these 3 hours for us on the west coast. I have to watch a stream.