TUF Fixed??

Underground
1

Man am I going to get a lot of flack for this one, but here goes.

Does anyone else think those challenges were a little fixed to make sure Randy's team lost?

Think about it: Who got voted off? The two weakest competitors, the two who really had no business being there, the two who would most likely have been seriously injured if they went in the ring with one of the other guys. Serious injuries = bad for the sport.

No other reality show competition changes the rules in the middle - why is the first elimination done in this manner, chosen by the coach, and every other elimination is in the ring? They clearly wanted to get rid of the two guys who would be completely decimated and make the show and the sport look bad.

All you need is one guy to put a little less effort in and the challenge is lost. Think about it - if Chuck's team lost, who are they going to get rid of? Everyone else has a decent shot. On Randy's team, the got rid of the two guys who definitely wouldn't have made it. Chris S. might have had the skills but he wasn't in shape. Thacker was just a disaster and had no confidence. Could you imagine him in the ring with, say, Bobby Southworth? The way things went, it worked out perfectly for the show. A little too perfectly? Am I the only one who noticed this?

Let the attacks begin.

-Shaz!

2

Can you say Liability?? Zuffa's lawyers were obviously thinking about it.

3

By the way, I'm NOT suggesting the fights are going to be fixed in any way - just questioning these two challenges.

-Shaz!

4

My question is, WHEN THE HELL DO THEY FIGHT? if it is going to just be another relaity show where people do some sort of challenge and then get voted off I will be very disappointed.

303

5

Episode 3 starts the fights.

6

Chill dude, its a reality show. Of course there will be some things to create "storylines". You got the gay storyline, the drunk storyline, the misfit storyline. The fights will be real and I'm looking forward to it. Just enjoy it.

7

I have suspicions...

=)

8

The storylines are created by editing, not rigging. You said "it's a reality show" - hence, it should be real. Yes there are storylines, yes the producers of pretty much every reality show urge contestants to do certain things, but there's a phenomenal difference between creative editing or suggestions made to cast members, and blatant rigging of an event - if that's what happened.

-Shaz!

9

Do yuo find it strange that weakest characters were elminated first from the freaking fighting show?

10

Oh for goodness sakes did you even bother to READ what I wrote?

-Shaz!

11

Cause and effect dude. Thacket lost the recliner in the water didn't he? And Sanford was really slow at wielding that saw.

12

The point is that the producers couldn't risk Lidell's team losing either challenge, especially not the one with Thacker - they couldn't risk a serious injury, and therefore wouldn't leave it up to chance. How could they possibly know that Thacker would drop the chair? Or that Chris S. would be slow with the saw? It seems almost as if this whole "the coach decides who goes" was added once they realized that they had some competitors who should not be getting in the ring.

-Shaz!

13

Shaz is one of the smartest guys on the page, without a
doubt, and has me thinking.

14

of course it is...anyone who thinks Randy or Chuck have ANY say on whats going on is a fool!

-BUFFGEO!

 

15

those challenges were lame anyway

16

Kirik, I'm going to put that as a blurb on the jacket of my memoirs :)

El Guapo, I'm not disagreeing with most of what you're saying, but my point is that it seems like this entire challenge thing in episode two was specifically designed to eliminate these two particular people. If it was legit, there was a chance that two people from Chuck's team would go, and Thacker and Chris S. would stay. Who would the producers want to see leave from Chuck's team - WITHOUT fighting?

Middleweight:
Kenny Florian
Josh Koscheck
Josh Rafferty
Diego Sanchez

Light Heavyweight:
Forrest Griffin
Sam Hoger
Alex Schoenauer
Bobby Southworth

Every single one of these guys has a legitimate chance, and would put up a good fight in the ring.

Thacker would be destroyed, which would - as I said before - be bad for the sport. Honestly, I wouldn't want to watch Thacker fight someone like Forrest or Bobby - there's no joy in watching one-sided competition (Kerr/Stott notwithstanding). Would you really want to see that kid get pummelled? He knew he was in over his head the first day he was there - this gave him (and the producers) an easy out where nobody gets (physically) injured. The fact that I'm glad I don't have to see him get hurt doesn't change the issue as to whether his exit from the show was rigged or not.

And as to your point about not throwing people into the ring immediately, keep in mind two points. One, all these guys, to my understanding, have prior MMA experience, so they wouldn't just be thrown into the ring cold. Two, if they needed extra training time, why not just have the episode cover two weeks of training instead of one week? The show is pre-taped, they can arrange it any way that they want.

Look, I'm still going to watch the show, and I'm still going to force my wife to watch it with me. I just like to know what the true deal is. If this is supposed to be a reality show, or "unscripted drama", let it be that and not force people out (even ones who shouldn't have been there to begin with).

If they really wanted to knock out one guy from each division, all they had to do was delay the team selection a little longer, and when the guys picked teams, the last guy in each weight class who isn't picked has to go home. Simple as that.

-Shaz! (c)