Super Fight League to air TUF-style reality show

Super Fight League to air TUF-style reality show

Published on June 8, 2012 by The Sandman in Super Fight League

Super Fight League Will Air TUF Style MMA Reality Show

As details begin to emerge of Super Fight League’s (SFL) reality show in India, The Sandman (still in third person) is here to bring you some links,  quotes and opinions of what this reality show that Dana White calls a TUF ‘rip-off’ has to offer.

Raj Kundra, who is married to Bollywood star and Big Brother UK winner Shilpa Shetty, says that his wife has helped him create the reality show and that “he discusses the show” with her. 

He told the Hindustan Times:

"Initially, we had jointly decided that it’s going to be a 16 male fighters /contestants show. Then, we thought of combining eight male and female each, to make it more interesting and add masala for the public."

One can only assume that ‘masala‘ is codename for a curry-based sex orgy.

He then told the Times of India:

"For any new sport other than cricket, you need to have some Bollywood guys. I hope that a year down the line, I won't have to show so much entertainment and Bollywood."

Back to the Hindustan Times:

"It’s going to be 50-day long series. The concept is that every week people will vote for two people they want to see fight, and Friday will be the elimination night. The fighters will also be given tasks throughout the week."

So, to update you guys- its TUF meets Big Brother with a little The Voice on the side. Will be interesting to see how the voting system works; a really boring fighter could win, I can only imagine the excitement when Cesar Gracie says, “Don’t be scared, Bhaiya.” Jokes aside, experienced trainers are expected.

The reality show will start recording by July 1st according to the Hindustan Times. The Times of India story reports that if everything goes according to plan, the show will start airing in August.

Since those articles were published a few updates have surfaced. Opposing Views has confirmed that the show will air on Viacom 18′s Colors, the same channel that owns SFL events’ TV rights. Opposing Views also adds that the winner will earn “20 lakhs and a 3-year contract (worth 50 lakhs)” with SFL.

For additional reading, check out what CEO Ken Pavia had to say about the reality show (not much) and also what he thought of Dana White’s comments regarding SFL (more interesting, but still meh.) on Fight Bulletin.

The Sandman’s thoughts:

Overall, despite my disdain for ‘masala‘, SFL just might be able to pull this off. Kundra seems to know his audience well, but planning will be the major hurdle. It seems a little rushed and with the recording starting in less than a month we still don’t know that much about the show.

It will also be interesting to see how SFL’s reality show stacks up against UFC’s Ultimate Fighter India which will also take place this year. My prediction is this, Indian MMA fans will probably watch both anyway. TUF India doesn’t take place until November (rumoured). So both reality shows will probably be reasonably successful.

On a side note (to SFL):

WTF SFL?! Where the hell is your marketing team? I had to scan through Google and combine a bunch of different articles just to make this story. Have a fuckin‘ press conference instead of giving different sources different quotes at different times. It almost seems like you wait for someone from the media to contact you guys and you just give them a quick response and move on. You can spend millions on an event but can’t spend a few bucks on a press conference to hype up your next ‘project’?! C’mon!

for more rants and opinions, feel free to follow the Sandman at @MsianGooner on twitter.