The thing you've always got to remember about "reality" tv is that editing is very prevalent - it's perfectly feasible to take the amount of footage the producers have shot and cut it to show pretty much any viewpoint, take the show in any direction they want. You've got sixteen guys being monitored 24 hours a day - you can make anything out of that
The concencus amongst those who've met both guys is that Tito is very friendly and very unlike the persona he likes to project, while Ken is an egomaniac with anger issues.
I realize that reality shows are heavily edited, but why would Dana want to put Tito in a positive light when he himself hates Tito? Seems like he would rather put Ken in a positive light and make Tito the egomaniac, childish one... Regardless I would rather have Tito as a coach from what we have seen so far.
I'm not saying that's exactly what's happening, but in the editing suite you really can put a swing on anything. As for the "why" - Tito's on a three fight contract and the majority of new UFC fans probably haven't seen him fight, to those that have he's still a draw. I'm not sure of the details of Ken's contract, but I think he may just be on the one fight, and he could hang them up at any time. Right now, Tito's more of a draw and more of a long term investment, so it makes sense to cast him in a positive light, even if it is just to balance out all the "Tito Ortiz is an asshat" stuff that gets thrown around the internet. Dana White may not like Ortiz, but he's not the one with the final say on how the show gets cut - in fact I don't think he's got ANY say in it. I think the Fertita brothers and (mostly) the people at Spike are the ones deciding all that and neither party is stupid enough to let whatever White's personal feelings are interfere with what amounts to good business. As for White, say what you will about him, but the man can be professional enough to work with people he can't stand in the name of business. BJ Penn springs to mind. Again, that may not be what's happening, all accounts I've heard from people that have met Tito have said he's cool, I'm just saying that what you see with this may not be exactly the way it was Still, editing or no, episode one was pretty cool and I'm hoping for a much better series than the last one
Your right Sever, and I too hope this season will be better. On a side note, several people mention meeting Tito , anyone here met Ken?
I have to say that I ma pretty excited about this season. The "tension" between Shamrock and Ortiz is actually pretty exciting in a way but I am happier with the idea that there won't be any silly little games... the show seems like it'll be built around the weekly fights and the group dynamics. That's what I like.
Well, the show will be on in 15 minutes, and I thought I read somewhere last year that spike will be dropping the whole WWE pro-wrestling shows. Whatever happened to that? It has only gotten worse with the whole impact thing...
I t seemed like a pretty blah show tonite, just IMO. I am glad Jesse got done out, he was a child. Not that I don't think he is actually a better fighter than Noah, but he was just too damn immature. I would like to see the Brit get taken out, not that I can't see his complaint to a degree, but he sounds like a *****.
Yea..a second-rate wrestling show isnt better than a first rate wrestling show. Only guess I would have is they were able to get a good contract and thought the show could keep some of the TUF viewers on that channel. Similar to the way Fox uses Idol. The second show was pretty good, I dont quite understand why the guy from the U.K who was on Tito's team was complaining so much. Yea Matt Hamill was getting more attention from his coaches, but he's deaf so there is a reason for it. Found him to be kind of whiny. Couldnt believe Noah was drilling the day before the fight, but I guess he didnt think it was to dangerous and he could have cost himself the fight. As far as Shamrocks trouble with his team, mainly Kaleb and the guy from the U.K(always get those two mixed up so Im not gonna use a name) werent working hard enough for him. I did see both of their points, it wasnt fair that Kaleb wasnt helping his team like they helped him, but now that he is in the semi's its natural that he will relax and be more careful. The fight- Jason seemed impressive before the fight, while Noah was a bit more low-key, their fighting styles seemed to match their personalities. Jason goes on the attack, he lands some good punches but decides to take down Noah. He gets him down and starts to land some bombs when Noah grabs an arm and gets a win via armbar. Cant say I expected it, it seemed to come out of nowhere but like Dana said I guess Jason got overconfident and Noah took his opportunity. Overall Im liking this season the most, more emphasis on the fighting and training and less on the "reality show" drama. Not that there isnt any, theres still some drama but not as much as before. Plus, no more Right Guard Extreme ads, thank god.
Jesse definitely got overconfident. When he was trying to block the armbar, he didn't stack noah and work his arm out like he should have, he just tried to slam him not thinking his arm was in deep enough or something. So far we haven't really seen any good fights, but I am sure they are just weeding out the lesser skilled people first. Although I wouldn't exactly call Jesse one of the lesser skilled ones, it wasn't that good of a fight. Jesse shouldn't have lost when he did, but he will become a better fighter for it hopefully. Also, its good that Matt got a translator. I can't even begin to imagine how hard that must be reading lips all of the time.
its funny you should say that because ive trained with ross quite a few times at his gym (gladiators in stoke). he is a top bloke.
I think what it boils down to is experience. Jesse is a great wrestler, and a decent striker. Wrestling alone, as seen a million times before though, isn't enough of a ground game to help. It gets you the takedowns and makes you comfortable grappling, but damn he should have seen that submission coming. Noah popped his hips out to the side after grabbing the arm. From there he didn't get the arm bar immediatly. Jesse should have seen that right away. That's why he got submitted, he just doesn't have that part of his game up to snuff yet. From what I saw in the fight yesterday I don't see Jesse as being any better than Noah. He got a good punch in to start the fight, then Noah followed up with a couple of his own, and Jesse got flustered and had to shoot in. Noah impressed me with his ability to take the punches and elbows he did ,while on his back, and retain enough composure to be able to work that armbar in.
He might have been in big trouble anyway, but Jesse thinking he could rip the arm out and pulling back away instead of staying tight and trying to stack Noah and work out with his strength didn't seem to help the situation too much.
it would really suck to lose the way jesse did, because it could have easily been avoided. it came from a mile away, he had plenty of time to work around it, and then he pulled back for some unknown reason...apparently not much grappling experience. i really thought he was going to win, too. by the way, the whole basketball thing was funny as hell
Is it really immature that when I watched that I had the urge to go and do the exact same thing with my neighbours kids football?
I hope TUF gets a little more exciting as the episodes progress. After watching the first two of the current season I find myself disappointed in the new format. I miss the weekly challenges and find myself getting bored waiting for the several minutes of grappling at the end of the program. I did enjoy the first two seasons and was looking forward to the new one.
I admit i kinda miss the challenges aswell. Though so far i am quite happy with this season. I think Noah got lucky in that match. He looked to be on the losing end right from the begining. I think a good 8 out of 10 times Jesse could have won that.
I'm just the opposite in opinion. I really didn't like the challenges and I am glad to see more time spent on the matches. Yeah, there mya be some dead time in between but I don't mind. As for the basketball thing... what a bunch of little brats who need to grow up. No regard for personal property or for other people. I also was suprised how much "lip" some of the students gave their coach (Shamrock)... I was hoping Shamrock would rip 'em apart and show them who's in charge. I know I sound like an old "stick in the mud", but with an opportunity like that I'd be pretty serious, training hard, and trying to learn as much as I could.
i totally agree with you about the students' attitudes. i was really surprised by the way they were acting toward Shamrock, especially since they're so lucky to be there in the first place. i wouldn't expect professional athletes to be such disrespectful pansies.
I think a lot of the 'attitude' stuff, shaving the eyebrow, the basketball, etc., is simply filler used to replace the challenges and to try to develop 'personalities' for the competitors. Too bad they couldn't incorporate two matches per show instead of just one.
