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#1 - UFC Ultimate Fighter: The Grand Prix
For this idea, I would take sixteen fighters from eight locations from around the globe and have them compete in a tournament that would feature two separate weight classes. The eight locations I would choose is the United States, Canada, Brazil, Japan, United Kingdom, Mexico, Australia and Ireland. I believe this concept could open the eyes of the UFC fans to a host of fighters from other countries that they may not have heard of at this point in their viewings of the promotion. Also, without the need for coaches to headline the reality show, the focus can remain strictly on the fighters themselves and not the people leading the individual teams. The UFC has also been looking to expand into other countries, which could be advanced further following a grand prix style season of the UFC Ultimate Fighter.
#2 - UFC Ultimate Fighter: The Average Joe
How many times have you watched a UFC event with a group of friends and one of them spurted out the phrase, “I can kick his butt.†Well, in this idea I have for the UFC Ultimate Fighter, the average person who makes this statement can finally have that career in the UFC that they have only talked about. The tryouts alone would be worth watching, because every average person who always wanted to be an MMA fighter would show up for the opportunity to be on the show. Also, think of the potential drama that could exist between the sixteen selected competitors, who would all be fighting for the once in a lifetime opportunity to get a contract in the UFC. One would also think about the ratings the show could potentially grab with the realization that average people are competing to achieve a dream that was never before thought possible.
#3 - UFC Ultimate Fighter: Title Shots
There are currently five weight classes in the UFC, those are the heavyweight, light heavyweight, middleweight, welterweight and lightweight divisions. Now, you take four of the top competitors from each division that never get an opportunity to compete for their respective weight class title and you hold five mini-tournaments to crown top contenders. If I were to book the contestants, I would pick these fighters for the UFC Heavyweight Title shot (Cain Velasquez, Shane Carwin, Mirko Cro Cop and Junior Dos Santos), UFC Light Heavyweight Division (Thiago Silva, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Brandon Vera and Keith Jardine), UFC Middleweight Division (Michael Bisping, Wanderlei Silva, Damien Maia and Chael Sonnen), UFC Welterweight Division (Josh Koscheck, Dan Hardy, Anthony Johnson and Ben Saunders) and the UFC Lightweight Division (Clay Guida, Tyson Griffin, Gray Maynard and Frankie Edgar). Just think about the rating that the UFC Ultimate Fighter Finale could draw with this concept being used in the future.
#4 - UFC Ultimate Fighter: The Coaches
As much as the UFC Ultimate Fighter has been about the contestants, it has also been about the rivalry developed by each teams coaches. Now, the UFC would reverse the roles and have all the coaches compete in an open weight tournament where the winner gets a title shot at the champion from his weight class. The roster of this show would include Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture, Matt Hughes, Rich Franklin, Tito Ortiz, Ken Shamrock, Jens Pulver, BJ Penn, Matt Serra, Forrest Griffin, Quiton Jackson, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Frank Mir, Michael Bisping, Dan Henderson and Rashad Evans. Like I said earlier about my idea for the UFC Ultimate Fighter: Title Shots, imagine the ratings that the finale alone would draw with this amount of talent on the roster.
#5 - UFC Ultimate Fighter: The Originals
It all had to begin somewhere with the UFC, and for the UFC, that day of reckoning was on November 12th, 1993 as UFC 1 went live on pay-per-view. In that one night tournament, the UFC saw Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock, Patrick Smith, Art Jimmerson, Kevin Rosier, Zane Frasier, Gerard Gordeau and Teila Tuli. In that event, Royce Gracie won the one night tournament and became the first ever UFC Champion and first ever UFC tournament winner. My idea would be to reunite these eight fighters in another tournament, with the winner getting a contract with the UFC. Some of the fighters like Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock and Patrick Smith are still semi-active on the MMA scene to this day. Imagine the nostalgia factor alone for this show, as fighters who helped put the UFC on the map get one more opportunity to become worldwide superstars.
You can contact David Tees at bigtees360@yahoo.com
