Jeremy Botter of FloCombat.com tweeted out this piece of news late Wednesday night/early Thursday morning:
Little late night birdie tells me that WME plans on getting rid of The Ultimate Fighter, possibly after this season.
— Jeremy Botter (@jeremybotter) October 20, 2016
While “The Ultimate Fighter” airing directly after WWE Monday Night Raw on Spike TV was the catalyst for the initial UFC boom period, the show’s popularity and relevance had fallen off after doing at least two seasons a year for over a decade. The current season, while praised by viewers for featuring the best fights on the show in recent memory, has done the worst viewership in the history of the franchise.
Allegations of “The Ultimate Fighter” growing stale have plagued the show for many years, though the format was tweaked a bit starting with season 17, which featured Jon Jones and Chael Sonnen as the coaches. At that point, the UFC hired a new production company to run the show, which took it in a more documentary-style format than the debauched, stereotypical reality show antics that it had become known for.
