The Ultimate Fighter scores ratings win

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This article was published 04/12/2010 (5721 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Season 12 of The Ultimate Fighter doesn’t wrap until today when lightweights Jonathan Brookins and Michael Johnson face off in Las Vegas but UFC president Dana White has already pronounced the latest version of the reality TV show a success.

While Canadian Georges St-Pierre largely ignored attempts by brash rival Josh Koscheck to rile him, the tension between the two coaches was hard to miss this season.

There were no actual fireworks unlike past seasons when rival coaches like Ken Shamrock and Tito Ortiz had to be separated to avoid coming to blows. And amazingly no doors were broken at the UFC Training Center.

But Koscheck’s ever-present smirk and St-Pierre’s forced smile at his rival’s antics suggested more powerful emotions will be unleashed when the two meet in the cage Dec. 11 in UFC 124 at Montreal’s Bell Centre

“Two completely different personalities,” UFC president Dana White told The Canadian Press.

“Here’s what I didn’t think going into The Ultimate Fighter. That people could possibly love Georges St-Pierre more than they already did. And that people could possibly hate Josh Koscheck more than they already did.

“And that’s what happened this season.”

The numbers show that fans were caught up in the GSP-Koscheck rivalry — and drawn in by several top-notch fighters in the cast.

Spike TV says Season 12 boasted the third-best U.S. viewership in the series’ history. The ratings king remains Season 10, with heavyweight Kimbo Slice centre stage, and Season 3 (Shamrock-Ortiz) in second spot.

“Never at any point did I really think that Georges St-Pierre was going to be trash-talking him,” added White. “What I thought could happen was he would eventually snap and get tired of the… Josh was talking and the stuff he was doing.

“But one of the things about Georges St-Pierre, one of the things that I think makes him not only a great mixed martial artist, a great human being and a great champion is the way this guy carries himself.”

St-Pierre emerged from the show with the coaching kudos. He outsmarted Koscheck when the teams were chosen and his fighters compiled an 8-3 record against Koscheck’s crew. Both finalists wore the red of Team GSP.

By the end of the season, Koscheck’s fighters were openly criticizing their seemingly disinterested leader while looking longingly at GSP guest coaches like boxing guru Freddie Roach, Olympic silver medallist wrestler Gia Sissaouri and Muay Thai maestro Jean-Charles Skarbowsky.

“You could tell kind of quick that we were getting a better coaching staff than the other team,” Brookins told a media conference call this week.

Said Johnson: “The main thing that separated our coaching staff from their coaching staff was Georges actually trained with us every day. I got a feeling that Koscheck didn’t do that. He was more of a ‘Let me sit on the sideline and try to kill these guys for the six weeks’ as opposed to helping these guys win.”

In training for the finale, Brookins (11-2) opted to remain at his Orlando base. Johnson (8-4) worked at home in Springfield, Mo., and spent almost three weeks at Greg Jackson’s camp in Albuquerque, N.M.

“I don’t think we’ll be the same fighters come Saturday,” Brookins said.

Today’s card at the Palms Casino Resort also features a light-heavyweight bout between Season 1 alumnus Stephan Bonnar (15-7) and Igor Prokrajac (22-7).

 

— The Canadian Press