TUF 7 Finale Review

Last night had some good fights. Overall it was not a great card but I was personally very happy with the results of the co-main event. Let's dive right in and see how I did.

Tim Credeur v. Cale Yarbrough: This fight was canceled due to Credeur testing positive for Adderal which while not a performance enhancer could endanger the fighter due to possible side effects.

Matt Brown v. Matt Arroyo: This fight wasn't televised. Brown won by TKO in the second round. Called this one right on the nose!

Rob Kimmons v. Rob Yundt. This fight wasn't televised either. Yundt won by submission in the first round. I really need to stop picking against guys I've never seen fight! They always win!

Drew McFedries v. Marvin Eastman: This fight was crazy! They both came out blazing. McFedries threw a flying knee and Eastman caught him and slammed him to the ground. They both got back to their feet and started banging with both guys getting shots in but McFedries got the best of it winning by TKO in the first round. Again, I got one right on the button!

Dustin Hazelett v. Josh Burkman: This fight also wasn't televised but Hazelett won by submission in round 2. I was very close on this one picking Hazelett by submission in the first.

Dean Lister v. Jeremy Horn: This was the last non televised fight. Lister won by submission in round 1. I was way off on this one.

Matt Riddle v. Dante Rivera: This fight wasn't all that competitive. Riddle basically just took Rivera to the ground and kept him there. Riddle displayed some decent ground and pound but nothing too damaging and Rivera never got his BJJ game off the ground. Somehow one of the judges gave Rivera a round but overall it was a decisive decision for Riddle. At his age it looks like he has a bright future in MMA. Rivera didn't retire after the fight like he quipped on the show but Rivera is not a strong enough fighter to be in the UFC and at his age I doubt he'll make it back. I did predict that this fight would go to a decision correctly unfortunately I picked the wrong fighter.

Spencer Fisher v. Jeremy Stephens: This fight was very competitive. These guys banged on the feet with Stephens usually getting the best of it but Fisher took him to the ground early and often and looked strong with his ground and pound. Fisher edged out a unanimous 29-28 decision. I did get the winner right but not the prediction.

Diego Sanchez v. Luigi Fioravanti: Sanchez looked very good in this fight. His stand up has improved exponentially since his losses. He totally took Luigi apart with some nice shots and some great kicks and for the most part this fight stayed standing with Sanchez wanting to prove how good he was on his feet now. Eventually he hurt Luigi and took him out with a TKO in the third round. I picked the winner again but not the prediction. With his past two wins Sanchez appears to be back on track for title contention at welterweight.

Amir Sadollah v. CB Dollaway: I couldn't believe this fight. CB walks right into another arm bar but this time in the first round? He mentioned that after the TUF season ended he went home and partied for awhile. Apparently he did a little too much partying and not enough training because this fight wasn't even close. At least in their first fight CB beat on Amir for two rounds before getting caught. This time Amir was taken down again but locked in the submission immediately. How do you get caught by the same hold by the same fighter in two fights? I really will never understand. CB obviously is talented but has a loooooooooooong way to go mentally before he'll ever be an elite fighter. I was also very upset that CB tried to act like he never tapped when he clearly did. This kid is so full of himself and is such a whiner I'm so happy he didn't win. Amir on the other hand is awesome! He is down to earth, funny, really talented, and to top it off he was born in Brooklyn! Could there be a better TUF winner!? Seriously though he is a really good fighter who is young enough where he still has room to grow and improve and hopefully turn into a legit title contender at whatever weight class he belongs in (as most of these winners move around when the show is over). He's probably the best ambassador of the sport since Forrest Griffin and I hope we hear a lot from Amir in the coming years. Congratulations! Oh yeah and I picked the winner again but the prediction wasn't correct.

Kendal Grove v. Evan Tanner: This appeared to be a loser leaves town fight. They appeared very focused and eager to bring it. Grove looked very sharp and very focused. His stand up wasn't super powerful but was very crisp and effective. He landed a lot of good knees and punches that opened Evan up. He also looked good in his guard staying out of any danger from Evan when he got taken down and scrambled well to get back to his feet quickly. It was no surprise that by the end of the fight Kendall won the decision. What was a surprise was that one judge gave Tanner the fight 29-28 while the other judges gave Grove the fight 30-26! I mean if you're retarded and only score the bout on take downs then yes I guess Tanner won but Tanner never landed a shot standing and did nothing on the ground. Whoever that judge is should be banned from further judging until they get him off of crack. I was happy for Grove as he is still a young guy with a lot of promise and appears to be much improved since having moved back to Hawaii and trained with BJ Penn. I think anytime you can get away from Tito Ortiz it's a good move. Tanner on the other hand appeared angry and sluggish (and had the beard of a mountain man). He had no skill to speak of and really never had a chance to win this fight no matter what that one judge claimed. I can't imagine the UFC bringing Tanner back and if I had to bet I'd say his MMA career is over. Tanner's heart and head aren't right and his skills have eroded after years away from MMA and too much substance abuse. Plus time has caught up to Tanner in a big way and he is no Liddell or Couture. I was happy for Kendall. He always seemed like a good guy and hopefully we'll see the best Kendall Grove in future fights. I also picked this fight right on the nose by the way.

That's all for last night. I'm pretty damn proud of myself going 7-3 with 3 extra points for picking the fight perfectly. I don't know who got KO of the night for certain yet but I would be really shocked if it wasn't Drew McFedries so I think I get another bonus point there. Obviously my submission pick of Spencer Fisher and fight of the night pick Amir v. CB won't be right. All in all it was a fun night (although not the best fights I've seen) and it was free (and three hours this time!) so who could ask for more? Keep it locked as the hype builds for UFC 86 in two weeks. Until then,

Soccer kicks and head stomps...