2. The Well Has Run Dry
Not to rain on the parade, but it appears that the deep well of talent that produced standout performers in the early seasons of TUF has been tapped. McGee is a great story, a tough kid and will be a solid fighter for the rest of his career, but championship gold doesn’t appear – at this point – to be in his future.
What made the first few seasons of the show so special was that fighters came off the program with championship expectations and opportunities. Early winners like Forrest Griffin and Rashad Evans fulfilled that promise, while others like Diego Sanchez, Joe Stevenson and even Michael Bisping have risen to main event status.
But since then, the talent has dropped off, a result of the sport’s growth and the shifted focus onto making good TV over great fighters. Unfortunately, since the advertising and ratings wells are still producing, the show isn’t going anywhere, depleted talent pool or not.