Take it easy on a “TUF Newb”

There’s a bit of a war between MMA fans. Most of the “Old Guard” fans who were MMA enthusiasts pre-The Ultimate Fighter 1 reality series hit airwaves on Spike TV, embrace the new fans of the sport. But amongst some of the more experienced MMA faithful, there’s a sentiment of superiority over fans that have caught onto the UFC since being introduced the sport via Spike TV. But the truth of the matter is at some point everyone was a so-called “newb.” Some fans may have jumped on board at UFC 14, UFC 40 or when Spike TV started covering the sport. But at some juncture we all had to figure things out and map out the intricacies of the MMA landscape. Even the ultra-hardcores who have been watching the UFC since UFC 1, most of them were scratching their heads at the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu displayed on the inaugural show. Surely there were no Brazilian’s well-versed in decades of Vale Tudo pointing at those fans labeling them “Ultimate Fighting newbs”, or whatever the equivalent to that is in Portuguese. And whatever draws people into the sport shouldn’t be held against them. After Tank Abbott and the UFC was featured prominently on the TV show Friends in 1997, it would have been silly label fans who got turned onto the UFC from that as “Friends newbs.”

The fact remains, without all the legions of newcomers embracing the sport, there’s a good chance Zuffa would have sold the UFC, which was quickly dissolving millions up millions of dollars each year. The new fans may very well have saved the sport in North America, and in that sense there definitely needs be a sense of acknowledgment and appreciation for that.

So while often it’s surely just fun and games, try not to be too harsh on the newbies; because a decade or so down the line, every fighter wearing a belt in the UFC may very well be a “TUF Newb.”

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