I’ll be honest here, the Ultimate Fighter has been a show that I’ve avoided like the plague for a long time now. To get a perspective on this, the last time that I really paid attention to a season of The Ultimate Fighter it involved Ken Shamrock and Tito Ortiz. Part of what made The Ultimate Fighter work in the first place was that it was a gateway for a lot of fighters to get into the UFC. It served as a way to weed out fighters who weren’t ready in an age when the UFC seemed to be far more selective about who fought for them and were booking less events.
Things have changed and as competition has heated up, the UFC has been determined to pick up every prospect available to fill out their many, many events. It works as both a deterrent to compete with them as well as keeps their lesser cards full of fights. If there ever was hope for The Ultimate Fighter, it would have to be in the realm of female fighters. The UFC’s Bantamweight Division was clearly created for Ronda Rousey and any female fighter who has been signed by the UFC was signed under the impression of challenging Rousey or competing for a chance to challenge Rousey.
That will change with The Ultimate Fighter 18, which is set to be a co-ed house. That alone has people clamoring about the idea of the hijinx and sexual escapades that will go down during that season, but honestly, the most appealing part of the show seems to be that it is drawing out some elite female talent. According to this report from MMAJunkie the tryouts brought out the likes of Shayna Bazler, Tara LaRosa, Roxanne Modafferi and more. Those names alone are enough to make this one of the more stacked seasons of TUF in recent history.