It’s the inevitable battle that sports-themed shows end up running into during their careers on television. Should the show focus more on the drama or the actual sport? It’s been a topic of interest in the blogosphere recently due to The Ultimate Fighter’s shift toward more fight action as opposed to drama from the spats in the fighter house. Which do we prefer?

In my honest opinion, I could care less which philosophy edges out the other. The show, for me, has become as dull as it could be, and it stems from the actual talent in the cage week to week rather than how the show is formatted.

Luke Thomas over at BloodyElbow.com hit the point that the talent outside the UFC that they can bring in for the show has dropped off, and I believe that to be very true. Other organizations are signing on the unsigned talent before the UFC can bring them on for the show, and it’s going to likely continue for the next year while ProElite is still in business and Affliction & Adrenaline try to build rosters.

For other fans who are actually interested in the entertainment side of the show, drama is likely to be something that the casual fanbase wants to be included in the show. After all, arguments, rants, and spats between competing fighters in the house make for some great storylines and tension leading up to a bout. It’s no secret that Tito and Ken’s hatred for each other produced ratings on what many hardcore fans knew was a “past his prime” Ken Shamrock vs. Tito Ortiz season.

What can improve the show in regards to producing drama that will engage the viewer? I’m not sure the show can really come out of the funk it is currently in without some major changes. A season of nothing but a bunch of fighters who hate each other would likely set off some alarms for drama, or another season with two coaches who want to tear each other apart would likely work, but what could change for the future?

Here’s a sure-fire way to create huge drama, and the formula is simple if you look at most major networks primetime lineups. Most of the drama on primetime television involves women and men and a bunch of tension in the workplace due to sexual innuendo. Grey’s Anatomy couples that along with high tension situations, medical terms, operations, and death, and the same could be said for House or ER. Most of the drama in comedies revolves around similar paths. Death, love, and animosity seem to be what drama is created from with most of the shows.

TUF already has the animosity factor, and the show has used it brilliantly in the past. Each of these fighters puts their life on the line in the cage as well, but it definitely isn’t comparable to open heart surgery on a primetime drama medical show. What doesn’t the house have?

Women… here’s my half jokingly way to infuse the house with drama. 16 single fighters, 8 single women… same format, add in a few short fuses, and you have the most drama filled hour of reality television that MMA has ever seen. Maybe that’s a complete joke of an idea, but it’s better than seeing two guys gets mad over lime juice in some damn chewing tobacco.
I haven’t obviously thought this through completely either. Why would the women be there? Just to create drama? I have no idea how you’d do it, or if maybe all these girls were fighters. Obviously, at this juncture, women in the house wouldn’t fly as fighters since the UFC has yet to expand to women’s MMA.

As much as I’d love to think this was a legitimate idea, it sounds like a ploy that FOX would come up with. A Paradise Island / Ultimate Fighter mashup, if you will. Nonetheless, something has to change on the Ultimate Fighter to make it more interesting for everyone. Hardcore fans love the fights, but the fights don’t have a lot of meaning without a little bit of bite behind them. Low ratings won’t help the show continue either, but then again, the UFC may be looking forward to getting rid of the show for a different format down the line.