The Ultimate Fighter 11 Ratings Drop Despite Having the Best Talent

Spike TV announced that the premiere episode of “The Ultimate Fighter 11″ (TUF) saw a drastic drop in viewership from the debut episode of TUF 10. The ratings drop was a decline of 53 percent and no one was more shocked than me at this news.

Granted, TUF 10 had Internet sensation Kimbo Slice (4-1) but TUF 11 has a crop of middleweight fighters that I feel is far superior to any season we have seen thus far on Spike TV.

According to Spike, 1.9 million viewers were watching “TUF 11″ which is an increase of nine percent over “TUF 9″

As I said earlier, I feel this season has a much better cast of prospects who seem to be more technical than those of previous seasons. However, maybe it is because I am a part of the mixed martial arts (MMA) media and at my very core a hardcore fan.

Many casual fans may not know some of the fighters appearing on the show and thus have no idea how good some of them truly are and how compelling their background stories will be once they receive air time.

One fighter in particular stands out when speaking of background stories. Court McGee (9-1) is a fighter that with the proper exposure could become an instant fan favorite. His story was something I ran across on Queen of the Cage. Court is a former drug addict who was actually declared dead from an overdose of black tar heroin. Since then he has found God and has been clean since Easter of 2006. Court hit the epitome of rock bottom and now is on his rise to the top where he hopes to talk to others about the dangers of drugs.

This story alone would be a very uplifting moment if given the time on the show and could be a positive story for MMA as a whole.

“The Ultimate Fighter 11″ on Spike TV features middleweights fighting it out for a six-figure contract with the UFC and the title of “The Ultimate Fighter”.

Coaches for this season are Fighters.com eighth-ranked and former UFC light heavyweight champion “Iceman” Chuck Liddell (21-7) and his nemesis, former UFC light heavyweight champion “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Tito Ortiz (15-7-1). Both men are coming off back to back losses inside the Octagon and are supposed to face off against one another after the season ends.

There are rumors that Tito suffered some sort of injury during the taping of the show and that his fight with Chuck may be put on the back burner but we will have to wait and see how this season unfolds before the facts actually come to light.

Stay tuned to MMA Gospel Radio each Wednesday from 8-10 PM EST/ 5-7 PT as we discuss the latest season of TUF and interview some of the top fighters in the business as well as the best new talent you may have not heard of yet. We can be found at www.blogtalkradio.com/mmagospel.