The Ultimate Fighter 7 Episode 3 Re-Cap

The Ultimate Fighter 7- Episode 3 Re-Cap
Team Rampage vs. Team Forrest


Preliminary rankings so far based on what has been shown in the first two shows:

1. Tim Credeur
2. CB Dollaway
3. Dante Rivera
4. Nick Klein
5. Matthew Riddle
6. Luke Zachrich
7. Gerald Harris
8. Matt Brown
9. Daniel Cramer
10. Jesse Taylor
11. Mike Dolce
12. Amir Sadollah
13. Jeremy May
14. Brandon Sene
15. Paul Bradley
16. Cale Yarbrough

Team Selection

Team Rampage (TR) Pick 1: CB Dollaway- good pick IMO, I had him ranked #2 overall.
Team Forrest (TF) Pick 2: Tim Credeur, my #1 pick.

Team Rampage: CB Dollaway, Matt Riddle, Paul Bradley, Daniel Cramer, Gerald Harris, Mike Dolce, Brandon Sene, Jeremy May.

Team Forrest: Tim Credeur, Amir Sadollah, Jesse Taylor, Matt Brown, Cale Yarbrough, Dante Rivera, Nick Klein, Luke Zachrich.

Forrest gets to pick first fight since Rampage picked the first fighter. And Paul Bradley has some weird rash on his neck and they are sending him to a dermatologist to see if he is contagious. The doc says he has herpes and it may be contagious.

“Push him off like you’re in prison and he’s trying to get your booty” – Rampage Jackson training session.

Forrest’s training session looks more structured than Rampage’s. Gray Maynard is one of Forrest’s assistant coaches. Dana calls Paul and Rampage out of their second training session and Dana says that he has to send Paul home because he is contagious.

Forrest picks the first fight of Jesse Taylor vs. Mike Dolce. Should be pretty even based on what I had them ranked as I’ve got them ranked right next to each other. Forrest says Jesse is a “raw, unadulterated meathead.”

They have to bring someone back due to Rampage losing a fighter. He brings back the guy with Nigel McGuinness’s hair- Patrick Schultz. Dana says he doesn’t think Patrick was the strongest guy to be brought back but says that Rampage’s assistant coaches really liked him. Quinton dropped by the house later before the fight to check on the guys and hang out for a while and get to know them. Matthew Riddle looks like a kid.

“I think I’m probably like one of the coolest people on Planet Earth”- Rampage Jackson

Mike Dolce (4-4) vs. Jesse Taylor (6-2)

This is their second fight in one week. I’m thinking Dolce is going to take this one- he just seems like he’s a smarter fighter but I think Taylor definitely has the possibility to overwhelm him with strength/power as you have to think Forrest saw something to make this fight the first one. Winner of the fight gets $ 5,000

R1- Taylor dives in but gets caught on the bottom but then flips over and has Dolce’s back and this one could be a quick tapout win for Taylor. Taylor can’t really get the choke locked in but is dominating so far. Taylor still has his back, Dolce trying to fight out of it. Dolce turns him over and is in Taylor’s guard. Dolce with punches. Taylor grabs a guillotine but then Dolce slips out. Taylor gets a half guard on top of Dolce. Taylor tries to pass to full mount but Dolce gives up his back instead. Taylor trying for a choke. Dolce slips out and Taylor once again has him in half guard and now has side control. Taylor hitting some punches and Dolce again give up his back. Taylor punching now. Taylor getting in some real good shots now. Dolce trying to cover up. Dolce gets saved by the bell. Taylor clearly won Round 1 but didn’t show any finishing power. He was in position several times to lock on a submission on Dulce but couldn’t finish him. Dulce gave up his back way too much in this match and an experienced fighter would have eaten him up in the first minute of this fight. Neither of these guys looked particularly impressive here. Taylor has a ton of raw talent but doesn’t have the submission skills at this point yet.

R2- Taylor immediately takes Dolce down and is in Dolce’s guard. Taylor hitting some punches and trying to pass Dolce’s guard. Dolce again gives up his back rather easily but Taylor doesn’t take it. Dolce is just simply covering up now and is gassed but Taylor having trouble finishing him even though he’s basically barely fighting him off. Taylor with a choke and Dolce taps. Jesse Taylor wins but I just can’t see him going anywhere in this competition unless he improves a ton during training. I think he’s going to stay where I have him from a rankings standpoint right now. Jesse wins $10,000 for winning the fight and getting a stoppage.

Winner: Jesse Taylor via Rear Naked Choke

New Rankings:

1. Tim Credeur
2. CB Dollaway
3. Dante Rivera
4. Nick Klein
5. Matthew Riddle
6. Luke Zachrich
7. Gerald Harris
8. Matt Brown
9. Daniel Cramer
10. Jesse Taylor
11. Amir Sadollah
12. Jeremy May
13. Brandon Sene
14. Cale Yarbrough
15. Patrick Schultz

Eliminated:
First Elimination: Paul Bradley (sent home, was ranked #15)
Second Elimination: Mike Dolce (lost to Jesse Taylor, was ranked #11)