Court McGee Wins UFC’s TUF Season 11, But Is It Too Much Of A Fairy Tale Ending?

Posted by By Sports Session at 22 June, at 13 : 20 PM Print

The UFC’s reality show, The Ultimate Fighter which shows on Spike TV, has come to a conclusion with its 11th season. The final chapter was closed on the middleweight saga at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas with a story book ending, and the entire season was riddled with controversy which you would expect from Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz.

The most notable development—the catalyst for Liddell vs. Franklin at UFC 115—was the dishonorable discharge of Tito Ortiz’ services on the show due to yet another spinal injury requiring surgery.  It was somewhat interesting that Ortiz developed this only a few weeks from the end of the show, and decided to drop out of the fight with Liddell.

In two consecutive seasons of The Ultimate Fighter, the two headlining rival coaches were unable to conclude their “drama” in the octagon at a finale show in a timely fashion.  Rampage Jackson and Rashad Evans’ escalated issues on the show failed to be resolved until UFC 114, five months after the winner of season ten was determined.

Even without a third fight between Ortiz and Liddell, season 11 produced a seemingly scripted story of redemption. Utah native Court McGee, the newly crowned Ultimate Fighter, is a former heroin addict who was clinically pronounced dead before being resuscitated after an overdose in 2005—a horrific prequel to his current mixed martial arts success story.

After turning his life around by finding salvation and direction in MMA, McGee constructed an 8-1 professional record before entering the home of the Ultimate Fighter. Despite showcasing his potential, McGee lost a controversial fight to the show’s No. 1 pick, Nick Ring.

But, once Rich Attonito broke his hand and forfeited his quarterfinal spot, Dana White picked McGee as a replacement due to his belief that McGee’s “loss” should have went to a sudden death third round—the rest is history.

Clearly, McGee’s destiny has been tarred with life altering obstacles and rewards, but in the end, it will go down as one of the UFC’s most memorable underdog success stories.  Although I applaud McGee for his win and what he has gone through, this makes me feel like the UFC is once again scripting things in order to maximize their business.

I would not put it past Dana White to totally have most of this planned out, it’s the perfect story an ex-addict who now has a wife and two children overcomes all obstacles to win the Ultimate Fighter and a UFC contract.  It just seems to me that the Ultimate Fighter has become the UFC’s main lifeline to breathe life into their product, since it is a free show that can be followed on television it allows them to gain fans.  This is good marketing by the company, but overall I think meddling and making sure TUF cast members are successful in the UFC is a practice that should not be continued (if it is really happening).  But that is another article for another day.

Front Page Features MMA & Boxing Chuck Liddell, chuck liddell and tito ortiz, Dana White, heroin addict, mixed martial arts, palms casino resort, Rampage Jackson, rashad evans, spike tv, The Ultimate Fighter, Tito Ortiz, TUF, ultimate fighter