On Friday UFC President Dana White announced that newly signed Middleweight Jason "Mayhem" Miller (24-7-0(1)) and TUF3 winner Michael "The Count" Bisping (21-3-0) would coach the fourteenth installment of the SpikeTV reality MMA competition series The Ultimate Fighter. The next day after UFC 130: Rampage vs Hamill, it was announced that the bout when these two would face each other in the octagon would serve as the main event for the finale of the season sometime in December later this year. For the second time in the history of TUF, first being Pulver vs Penn II on the TUF5 Finale, the two opposing coaches leading a season of TUF will headline the finale where the next Ultimate Fighter will be crowned.
Information on the some what suspicious decision to make a newly signed fighter like Miller has recently come to light. During this current running season of TUF13, promotion of the show lacked the usual drive and the season's ratings have taken a dramatic plunge compared to previous seasons. The lack of promotion drew suspicion that SpikeTV was intentionally sabotaging this current season to play hardball with the UFC. It has become well known that the current deal between SpikeTV and Zuffa will expire by the end of the year, and has brought speculation on whether a new deal will be signed between the two to keep showcasing free prelims, events, and the series TUF. The partnership between SpikeTV and Zuffa/UFC has always appeared to be the perfect combination with the channel being a perfect draw to the main demographic that the sport attracts, but it seems to have soured. Information has surfaced that Miller was actually signed because of his devoted fan base and that SpikeTV specifically wanted him as a coach for this next season to draw in fans of his MTV based show Bully Beatdown. This raises suspicion that the network was intentionally sabotaging this season to justify leverage in picking a coaches and for when negotiations come up.
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