The LA Times reported that Chael Sonnen and Jon Jones will be opposing coaches for The Ultimate Fighter 17 set to air on FX this spring. The two coaches will face one another on April 27th.
This likely means that Chael Sonnen, coming off of a KO loss to Anderson Silva at middleweight, skips the line of challengers at Light Heavyweight to get a shot at Jon Jones’ title. Jones had made vague references to a possible showdown with the reigning King of Smack via twitter. Sonnen goaded Jones after he refused a possible bout at UFC 151.
Payout Perspective:
How appropriate that this announcement comes out the day after TUF’s worst ratings ever were made public. The booking is good television but bad for UFC morale and does not reflect a long range plan. The UFC is banking on Jones-Sonnen to boost its TUF ratings and then a fight in the spring could draw a PPV buy rate close to 1 Million. The booking is a tacit admission that the TUF series, at least in America, is below expectations with ratings. The move reflects the need to inject something into the TUF franchise. TUF has done this before with putting Brock Lesnar on as a coach and Kimbo Slice as a contestant as two examples. While the Lesnar placement did not help, Slice (plus Rashad and Rampage) aided season 10 ratings.
We will see how this plays out for the TUF series and the future of the Light Heavyweight division.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Payout/~3/wDMYv9r1xCM/
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