The eighth season of The Ultimate Fighter pits UFC interim heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira against his next challenger, Frank Mir, as coaches of a group of fighters vying for UFC contracts. This season, we've got a UFC contract up for grabs in two different weight classes: Lightweight and light heavyweight.
Like last season, the show will stick to the formula of having 32 men fight their way into the house over the course of the first two episodes. That pretty much guarantees rapid-fire action on the early episodes. Usually, you'd think cramming eight fights featuring largely unfamiliar names into about 44 minutes (a one-hour show minus the commercial time) would make it impossible for any personalities to shine through, or bizarre extra-curriculars to take place. Having seen the first episode, I assure you that's not the case here.
Without dishing out spoilers, I can tell you there is one strange incident within the first three minutes of the premiere (before Dana White even finishes his opening speech) that has never happened before on TUF. There is an issue with one fighter having real problems cutting weight, culminating with an ill-advised verbal tirade against a very important official.
There is more of the grandiose trash talk we've come to love in the prefight interview segments, with my favorite line of the entire show coming from Junie Browning, who found a clever way of illustrating his opponent's chance of winning against him (I'll let you tune in for the actual quote).
Despite the wall-to-wall fights, you really do get to know some of the fighters, with two names already famous by association. Jason Guida, the older (and much larger) brother of UFC fan favorite Clay Guida, is featured prominently on episode one. Lance Evans is also front and center on the first episode. Lance's brother Rashad -- maybe you've heard of him -- just knocked out Chuck Liddell, so yeah... he's kind of a big deal. But family names only get you so far, and Evans and Guida have to fight their way into the house like the rest of the crew.
Can they do it? No spoilers here.
But I will say this: While I thought it was a smart move for the UFC and Spike TV to switch to the "fight your way into the house" format, it posed a problem last season that, so far, seems to have been alleviated this time around. When you've got eight fights per show for the first two episodes, you're basically asking viewers to watch two hours of full-contact auditions before the real show starts. It's the third episode before we know who the final 16 guys are, and before we see any major interaction within the house -- which serves the purpose of letting viewers get familiar with the fighters, their personalities (or lack thereof), senses of humor (or lack thereof), and other intangibles.
Judging by the first episode of TUF 8, they've done a better job of infusing the "tryout" episodes (for lack of a more fitting term) with enough subtext and storytelling that it feels more like a true episode, and less like an extended sneak peek at the auditioning process. By the third episode, when we're down to 16 fighters, viewers will probably feel more familiar with the new cast than last season.
The Ultimate Fighter 8: Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir airs immediately following UFC Fight Night 15 on Wednesday night (10 p.m. ET, unless Fight Night goes into overtime).
- One final note: CBSSports.com will have an exclusive weekly blog from TUF 8 contestant Tom Lawlor, who will post after each new episode has aired with his thoughts, opinions, and stuff you didn't see on the broadcast. Check out Tom Lawlor's CBSSports.com blog right here.
