The current edition of the Ultimate Fighter show that pits UFC female fighters as coaches includes Strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk age 28, from Poland against Brazil's Rose Namajunas 27. The bitter history between the two current coaching competitors is deep - (UFC photo)

SPORTS NOTES - THE UFC's BEST FEMALE FIGHTERS CONFLICT

James Loving/National Radio Text Service

The current edition of the Ultimate Fighter show that pits UFC female fighters as coaches includes Strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk age 28, from Poland against Brazil's Rose Namajunas 27. The bitter history between the two current coaching competitors is deep. The two fought in Brazil December 13, 2014. Namjunas clearly won the fight but the very questionable SPLIT decision was given to Jedrzejczyk now they are on again

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

UFC's RAGS TO RICHES

There is no question that the UFC's top creative boss Dana White and Ferittia brothers have done a masterful job of making a silk purse out of a sow's ear. The organization has evolved from a sport that was threatened by the US government as something to be eliminated due to its brutality to emerge as the fastest growing sport on the planet.

The genius was organizing the rules to be more amenable to being humane while retaining the blood and guts aspect. The other was to gain exposure and White did that by buying television time to telecast the UFC since he couldn't find a network that would buy it.

Perhaps the most genius move was to create the Ultimate Fighter show in which he developed the UFC's own home grown talent which in effect built his champions from within.

The current edition of the Ultimate Fighter show that pits UFC female fighters as coaches includes Strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk age 28, from Poland against Brazil's Rose Namajunas 27. This is the real centerpiece of this seasons program. Their pairing also spotlights the glaring issue if the UFC is more about show business than sport.

The bitter history between the two current coaching competitors is deep. The two fought in Brazil December 13, 2014. Namjunas clearly won the fight but the very questionable SPLIT decision was given to Jedrzejczyk. Since that time both have gone undefeated with Namajunas whose record is 13-1 winning only one fight while Jedrzejczyk is undefeated 11-0 has been more active winning three.

On the Ultimate Fighter the two have been arguing with the irritation coming from Jedrzejczyk who demands respect from her coaching opponent. She feels since who won their fight she deserves more respect while in actual fact she lost and Gadelha knows and tells her that.

The tension between Jedrzejczyk and Gadelha will be palpable all season long, and that dynamic will certainly drive the competition that much harder as both women want to win at all costs.

A rematch between the two is expected to take place on July 8, 2016 at The Ultimate Fighter 23 Finale which raise the question if UFC fights are fixed to stimulate future rematches and a greater interest to attract box office and Pay Per View revenue.

Namajunas is proving to be the better coach with her male, female team winning all four of their fights while Jedrzejczyk's team has yet to win. She also is a more dedicated coach as she gets into the ring between rounds to coach and encourage her fighters. This scenario heightens the anger between the two.

The Brazilian is taking the high road by demonstrating a calm, classy behavior while brushing off The Pole's repeated arrogant attempts to infuriate her.

This season the quality of the fighters talent and personalities is one of the best in the shows history qualifying it to be a worth watch.

In the past, The Ultimate Fighter has produced a slew of notable fighters from the seasons featuring light heavyweights, including the first ever edition of the show, which resulted in a future champion in Forrest Griffin, as well as his dance partner for arguably the most important fight in UFC history, Stephan Bonnar.

Buying up his competition was another masterful business decision. In doing so the UFC gained more talent and the competition's talent which was matched with the UFC's own home grown champions in their champion verses champion matchups. The problem is the fighters are locked into having few to no choice to bargain and are basically in a monopolized situation.

Currently the UFC has matured and become profitable enough to draw criticism. There is a concern that the UFC has too much power and are in a position to arrange fights and the fighters that they feel can bring in big dollars to fatten their bottom line. In short the UFC is focusing on going Hollyweird in match making fighters that have marquee appeal.

White acknowledges that his big bread winners are Ronda Rousey and Colin McGregor since they draw fans and huge pay TV sales. Bottom line is they make money. It raises the question is the UFC going too Hollyweird and moving away from being a true sport?

The Ultimate Fighter airs Thursday nights in Asia on the FOX Sports channel and is subject to being pre-empted.

TO BE CONTINUED

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