The Ultimate Fighter season premiere is tomorrow night 5/30/23, 7pm PT! The return of Conor McGregor to the UFC screen. It may not be a fight, but it's Conor McGregor, and its reality TV. It's also as real as reality TV gets, the professional fighting lives of sixteen pro fighters are at stake here. Many winners of TUF have gone on to have extremely successful careers including Forrest Griffin, Nate Diaz, Michael Bisping, Tony Ferguson, Carla Esparza, Rashad Evans, Matt Serra, and Kamaru Usman. Jon Jones should be on that list, yet due to a 12-6 elbow, he lost. He is now the greatest UFC fighter of all time. The point is this isn't Keeping Up With the Kardashians or Jersey Shore, this is a platform for fighters to become who they're meant to be in the form of a reality show. The fact that Conor is one of the coaches makes it pure comedy. I was crying, laughing from the teaser trailer when Chandler said he'd fight at 170 lbs and Conor responded by saying "You'll do what you're told!"
It feels like it's all about Conor, but let's not forget that Michael Chandler spoke this into existence. Michael Chandler has been calling out Conor McGregor since the moment he entered the UFC. He probably imagined that fight would be for the UFC Lightweight Championship when he dreamed that original dream as opposed to the result of TUF, but a fight with McGregor has always seemed to be a part of Chandler's plan and if he has to go through a season of reality TV to get said fight, he will. I don't expect as much "comedy" from Chandler as much as I expect him to just take Conor's insults on the chin and attempt to respond with something relatively corny. I don't care though, that's just Michael Chandler for you. He knows when and when not to put the real game face on. I'm sure we're gonna see some competitive fire from him as a coach as well, especially with the staff he brought with him which includes Heavyweight Bellator Champion and former TUF winner, Ryan Bader. Bader won The Ultimate Fighter in '08.
Yet, this is all about Conor McGregor. He didn't build the sport, but he built the UFC's fanbase. I am one of those fans. Sure I watched a few big-time fights before Conor, but I didn't start tuning in live to pay-per-views until Conor started main eventing for the most part. Frankly, no one has cared about TUF in years, but Conor is bringing the show relevancy. No one knew when he was coming back. USADA just confirmed that he entered the testing pool for 2023 which means that he'll most likely be able to fight November at the earliest barring he passes two drug tests.
Regardless, I am excited for The Ultimate Fighter. It is great to have Conor back. I really hope he passes both USADA tests and everything goes smoothly for a fight between Chandler and McGregor by the end of the year because that one has fireworks written all over it!
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