Friday, May 04, 2007

TUF 5.5 - The End of UFC Legitimacy

This is it. The episode we've all been waiting for from the first episode. The One Where Gabe Loses Weight. But first, we get the recap. Then we get the non-Gabe related drama of the week. This week, the drama comes in the form of Noah getting stretched by Tony DeSouza. From what the show portrayed, Noah was a lippy, arrogant twerp, who thought it would be funny to insult Tony during training. Tony took offense, and proceeded to show Noah what grappling and submission style wrestling is all about.

There are two ways one can look at this. One is that Tony went too far and was picking on someone smaller, weaker, dumber, and less experienced than himself.
The other is that Noah has an attitude problem, and thinks he's the bee's knees. Given what we have seen from Noah in previous episodes, I believe this is the more likely of the two. From his bragging about being a Marine, which Noah seems to think a) is a good thing, and b) makes him somehow better than others, to his attitude before he got schooled by Manny, to the behaviour that drove Tony over the edge, Noah doesn't seem like a good person.

The incident certainly wasn't as bad as Bob Holly's assault on Matt Capotelli a few years ago on Tough Enough, and hopefully Noah will now take training more seriously, as he's now had his ass handed to him twice.

Now for the main event.

10 minutes into the show, the fight announcement is made, and, as anyone who saw the previews would know, Corey Hill called out Gabe Rutabaga. We then begin the grand adventure that is Gabe trying to lose weight. He starts out by eating ice cream cake. That makes sense. Gabe insists that he can cut the weight, as he's never had a problem doing so before. At the beginning of the adventure, Gabe is 21 lbs overweight.

The rest of the show features Gabe's attempts to cut weight, which finally culminate in BJ and Gray Maynard taking Rutabaga to the house where he is forced to ride the stationary bike in the sauna.

Hilarity ensues when Gabe "collapses." It is unclear whether this collapse was legitimate, or just Gabe playing the drama queen. I'm leaning towards the latter.

Back at the gym, we see Corey getting ready for the weigh-in, having made weight. With ten minutes to go before weigh-in, Jens comes in and tells Team Pulver they have to go back to the house.

When they arrive, they see an ambulance pulling away, and Team Pulver learns that Rutabaga has been taken to the hospital for dehydration.

It is at this point that Corey should be declared the winner by forfeit.

Instead, everyone just hangs out in the house, unsure what is going on. Gabe returns, and is shunned like an Amish kid who bought a GameBoy. He apologizes to people, but for some reason the house is unwilling to forgive the guy who has been insulting, rude, egotistical and self-involved.

The next day, everyone goes to the gym for a meeting with Dana, and the end of any claims to being a legitimate sport that UFC ever claimed to have. With everyone in the gym, Dana shows up and tears Rutabaga a new one. He then kicks Rutabaga out of the house and off the show. In a one-on-one interview, Rutabaga cries. I laugh.

Then, Dana proceeds to destroy the UFC's legitimacy. Rather than making the only logical choice and declaring Corey Hill the winner, Dana proclaims that "there are no free passes" and gives Rob Emerson a free pass back into contention. As punishment for Team Penn's inability to get Rutabaga to fighting weight, Team Pulver is allowed tp pick the next two fights. They choose Brian Geraghty to take on Joe Lauzon, and Corey Hill to face Rob Emerson.

Here's the problem with this whole situation. Corey Hill chose his opponent. His opponent was unable to meet the conditions of his fight, forfeiting his right to fight. Therefore, Corey Hill wins by forfeit.

Instead, Dana decided that Corey should be required to fight someone who has already lost a fight. In so doing, Dana has made clear that The Ultimate Fighter, and by extension the UFC, is sports entertainment, not an athletic contest. By rigging the competition in the name of entertainment, Dana White has abandoned any claims to being a legitimate sporting event.

While I can understand the need for fighters to replace an injured fighter, that wasn't the case here. This was a case of one team, after having been informed of who was to represent them in a fight, being unable to meet the requirements of that fight. As a result, the opposing team, having proven successful at meeting the requirements of the fight, wins. No questions. No debate. No free passes. If every player from the Golden State Warriors suddenly tears their ACL tomorrow, the Dallas Mavericks won't be allowed to play in GS' place.

UFC is no better than pro wrestling. How can we believe in the legitimacy of anything the UFC does when they make their manipulation and match fixing so blatantly obvious?

Next week we will have both fights announced this week. The only question is whether I will bother watching.

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