TUF 7 Episode 8

This week saw the end to the preliminary bouts and what a fight it was. But before we get to that, let's handle this episode in chronological order. They did a brief recap of last weeks fight in order to explain why Forrest went into a tantrum about being called out by Rampage and Pat Shultz. He even destroyed the door to his own dressing room. The tension was high for a second but after the apology by Shultz and Forrest had a second to calm down from his "Man Period" as he called it, he immediately went back into his usual playful nature. After some boring training sequences Forrest decided to net gun Rampage which was actually fairly amusing. Rampage didn't seem to like it too much but I bet even he thought it was funny on the inside. After some more boring training and the weigh ins Rampage got back at Forrest with a squirt gun. That was pretty unoriginal but effective I suppose. I would've expected more ingenuity from Rampage. After all this we finally made it to the last pre-lim fight, CB v. Nick. CB must be the most arrogant, self centered fighter I've ever seen. He even talked in the 3rd person for god's sake! He might be Rampage's number 1 pick and the best talent in the house but boy do I hope someone hands his ass to him. Anyway, let's break down the fight:

Round 1: Nick immediately went in for the shot and got CB to his back but CB's grappling ability was too much for Nick as he was swept almost immediately. They both looked dangerous on the ground with CB' ground and pound and Nick's BJJ but CB certainly did more damage and looked more dangerous. CB wins round 1.

Round 2: After Nick's corner implored him to keep it standing because CB did not display much skill up there I guess Nick got tired or thought he had a better chance to win on the ground after losing round 1 that he immediately shoots and pulls guard. Dumb. Nick seems tired and loses all his submission steam and looks weak on the ground. CB is able to choke him out with a guillotine choke. Nick I think gave up a little simply because he never fought the choke and CB only had him in half guard and Nick tapped immediately.

Everyone expected CB to win (including myself) but to be honest I thought it was a better fight than most people expected (again, including myself). I'm not sure CB is as good as advertised, especially standing up. He certainly isn't as good as he thinks he is. CB is not a lock to win this which is good because after him I don't see any clear cut favorites which should make for an interesting next few weeks.

At the end of the episode the quarterfinals are announced. The only grudge match is between CB and Cale who apparently don't get along after Cale made some disparaging remarks about CB being a homosexual. The match ups look like this:

Jesse (Forrest) v. Dante (Forrest)
Amir (Forrest) v. Matt (Forrest)
Dan (Rampage) v. Tim (Forrest)
CB (Rampage) v. Cale (Forrest)

Jesse v. Dante is not the most exciting match. Jesse is kind of a brawler and Dante's fight wasn't very exciting but he is solid so I expect this fight to go to a decision as Dante will neutralize Jesse's aggressiveness. However, I think Jesse will pull out the fight.

Amir v. Matt looks much more interesting as both guys knocked out their last opponent. I think this will be a stand up war with Matt coming out the victor. My prediction is Matt by TKO in the 2nd round.

Dan v. Tim also looks interesting as it matches Dan's stand up with Tim's submissions. I think Tim is the better fighter so I'll go with him in this match. My prediction is Tim by submission in the second round.

CB v. Cale looks like another walk through for CB. CB looked pretty good against Nick and Cale barely edged out a controversial win over Shultz. However, everyone thought Nick would be a walk through too. I'm convinced the next fight will be different as CB will look to crush Cale early and dominate him on the ground. Cale of course will look to bang but I doubt he'll be able to do anything against CB on the ground. My prediction is CB by TKO in round 1.

That's it for this week folks. Stay tuned for my UFC 84 review, WEC/EliteXC previews, and of course the latest installment of TUF 7 (and maybe some random thoughts). Should be a great week! Until then...

Soccer kicks and head stomps