"The Ultimate Fighter 11" preview details new format with "wild-card" berths
by MMAjunkie.com Staff on Mar 27, 2010 at 3:05 pm ET
With the debut episode of "The Ultimate Fighter 11" just four days away, the UFC and Spike TV have released a five-minute preview clip available on the new official Web site of the series, UltimateFighter.com.
And while "TUF 11" coaches Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz were announced for the show in December, and the list of 28 middleweight fighters competing on the show was released earlier this month, one detail remained unclear.
What is the new "mystery" format?
With 28 fighters competing in a tournament format, the math simply doesn't work out for a traditional 32- or 16-slot tournament. UFC president Dana White quickly explains the new rules to the gathered fighters.
"We're going to have a wild card," White says. "What that means is there's 28 of you guys; 14 of you will get into the house. After the first seven preliminary fights, the coaches and I will choose two guys who we think deserve a second shot. Those two guys will take each other on. The winner will get the eighth spot in the quarterfinals."
So this season's competitors have a bit of a safety net as they enter the cage for the preliminary round. But as White explains in this season's version of his famed "do you want to be a [expletive] fighter?" speech, he expects 100 percent effort from everyone on the cast.
"This is the opportunity of a lifetime; do not [expletive] blow it," White says. "Go in there and give it everything you've got. Do not leave it in the hands of the judges or the referees. Don't let that happen to you tomorrow. Don't do it.
"You're going to be riding in that [expletive] van on your way back to the airport going, 'What did I do? Why didn't I [expletive] punch. Why didn't I kick? Why didn't I just let my [expletive] go?' And you have to go home and [expletive] sit around miserable for the next [expletive] month thinking about how you blew your [expletive] shot. Don't be that [expletive] guy tomorrow."
The message is reinforced by an inscription over a door in the newly re-designed UFC Training Center.
"Never leave it in the hands of the judges," the message reads.
We'll find out who heeds the advice on this season of "The Ultimate Fighter," which debuts Wednesday night on Spike TV following UFC Fight Night 21.
In the meantime, check out the embedded clip for the preview, and don't forget to read the cast bios and check out our photo gallery of all 28 competitors.
And for more on "The Ultimate Fighter 11," check out the UFC Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com).
