One of the things that has hurt recent seasons of The Ultimate Fighter is an overall dip in the talent level of those trying out to be on the show. With the upcoming season being the first to feature women, there was a significant uptick in the talent level.
MMA Junkie had some of the big names who tried out for the season:
Top-ranked female fighters Shayna Baszler, Tonya Evinger, Tara LaRosa and Roxanne Modafferi were among nearly 300 hopefuls who attended Monday’s open tryout session for “The Ultimate Fighter 18.”
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Other intriguing women’s names attending the session include Kim Couture and Revelina Berto (sister of former WBC welterweight boxing champ Andre Berto), as well as veterans of the all-female Invicta FC promotion: Marciea Allen, Jessamyn Duke, Bethany Marshall, Sarah Moras, Jocelyn Lybarger and Raquel Pennington.
While I don’t know who made the cut, Couture — ex wife of UFC legend Randy Couture — only has a 3-6 record and hasn’t looked particularly impressive over her career.
Andre Berto had previously mentioned that his sister planned to try out, so that was known. Revelina has a 3-1 record and comes from a fighting family so she could be interesting on the show.
What made the early TUF seasons so successful was the combination of talent and an undeniable attraction of some reality show drama. The level of the women who are trying out appear set to address one of those two keys. We will have to wait and see if it brings the show back to the heights of the first few seasons.