The Ultimate Fighter 7- Episode 9 Re-Cap

The Ultimate Fighter 7- Episode 9 Re-Cap
Team Rampage vs. Team Forrest

Rankings so far based on what has been shown in the first eight shows:

1. CB Dollaway (beat Nick Klein in Round 2)
2. Tim Credeur (beat Matthew Riddle in Round 2)
3. Matt Brown (beat Jeremy May in Round 2)
4. Daniel Cramer (beat Luke Zachrich in Round 2)
5. Amir Sadollah (beat Gerald Harris in Round 2)
6. Cale Yarbrough (beat Patrick Schultz in Round 2)
7. Jesse Taylor (beat Mike Dolce in Round 2)
8. Dante Rivera (beat Brandon Sene in Round 2)

Here are the third round scheduled fights:
Jesse Taylor (#7) vs. Dante Rivera (#8)
Amir Sadollah (#5) vs. Matt Brown (#3)
Daniel Cramer (#4) vs. Tim Credeur (#2)
CB Dollaway (#1) vs. Cale Yarbrough (#6)

Looks like we’ve got Taylor/Rivera and Brown/Sadollah tonight. I think Brown/Sadollah will be the better fight. Forrest has to pick out who corner’s which of his guys since both of his guys are fighting each other. They do a coin flip and Forrest will corner Jesse and Amir and Rampage will corner Brown and Rivera.

Jesse Taylor is kind of the dumb jock guy but he’s kind of likeable in a weird way. They talk about his eating habits and how he eats a bunch of junk food and is still muscular and has more endurance than the other guys. Jesse reminds me of a buffer Colt Cabana.

“Jess is gonna do what Jess is gonna do and I can’t control him. I learned that right off the bat”- Forrest Griffin.

Looks like Jesse is having some issues with his weight. So he puts on some plastics and plays ping pong. Basically jumping up and down during the game. Jesse is then shown urinating outside the hot tub and then getting back into the hot tub.

“Pretty soon after that Dante was in the hot tub, I don’t know if he knew about it or not”- some random fighter from the house.

“No, I didn’t know that”- Dante

Jesse Taylor (6-2) vs. Dante Rivera (10-2)

R1- Jesse has a reach advantage of about 3.5” but Dante has the age/experience factor as he’s 8 years older and has won 4 more fights. I’m picking Jesse to win this one although I think he could easily loose just because he’s so raw. Dante misses an overhand early and Jesse takes him down. Jesse getting in a couple of punches and landing some shots. Jesse is in half guard. Jesse looks really good early. Jesse with some more shots. Dante trying to hold on. Jesse with some really nice punches as he’s in half guard. Dante moves into a full guard but Jesse is still come with some punches and fists. Dante looked like he tried to pull Jesse’s hair to get him off top. Dante finally gets out, Jesse dives back in and almost gets caught with a kick and then with a triangle but Jesse gets back to full guard on top of Dante. Jesse with some nice shots to the face. Jesse just dominated this round from start to finish. I don’t think Dante even got in one shot on offense. This looked like a 10-8 round to me.

R2- Jesse takes down Dante about 10 seconds into this round and begins to do more of the same stuff that won him round one handily. Not much action but Jesse is getting in a copule of punches. I think Dante hit is first punch of the fight. The ref stands them up with two and a half minutes left. Jesse is really tired. Dante wildly swings at Jesse and Jesse takes him down. Jesse hits two powerful fists. Jesse is more active in the second stanza of this round and is hitting more shots. Jesse seems to be finishing strong.

This is an easy decision. I had Jesse winning Round Two 10-9 which makes for a 20-17 fight. Looks like I had Dante pegged correctly as the weakest fighter left out of the Final Eight as he just got overwhelmed by a stronger Jesse Taylor in this fight.

Winner: Jesse Taylor by Decision (Unanimous)

The next fight is Matt Brown versus Amir Sadollah. Matthew Riddle looks a little lit up and tells them that it’s going to be one for the record books, it’s going to be a bloodbath!

“Amir is less confident then before when he had no confidence”- Forrest Griffin

“He’s actually just vocalizing the kind of feelings that every fighter has. He’s just sissy enough to vocalize them”- Forrest Griffin on Amir Sadollah.

Matt Brown is training with Rampage for this fight and Rampage talks about Matt Brown’s fighting spirit and says he is a samurai.

Matt Brown (9-6) vs. Amir Sadollah (0-0)

R1- I think Matt Brown has to be the favorite in this fight. This should be a good fight, I just see Brown taking it with his experience and confidence. Brown is the aggressor early as he gets in a couple of strikes. Brown landing and hits a knee that’s blocked. Amir starting to come back. Both guys trying to work dual Muy Thai clinches. They clinch for a while, nobody gets a take down and then they go back to exchanging on their feet. Brown hits a couple of good combos and Amir clinches to avoid damage. Brown hits a good punch to the face. Amir answeres with a couple of jabs as Brown was distancing himself and then sends Brown to the cage and they clinch again. Amir is coming on srong at the end of this round and landing some shots. Brown with a take down at the end of the round but they quickly get to their feet. Man, this was a very close round. I want to give the round to Amir just based on how he finished the round as I think he got the best shots of the round in at the end. I’m gonna go Amir 10-9 in round one but that’s very highly debatable.

R2- Matt Brown comes out and starts the round with a flurry of punches. Amir withstands it and comes at Brown with his own and then they clinch. Neither guy able to get a take down. Brown lands a nice knee. Brown with some nice shots. Amir with a take down where he basically just falls into Brown’s guard. Amir finally gets in full mount and is getting some shots in. Brown rolls through and gets on top but gets caught in a triangle and taps. Good fight and a strong showing by Amir especially in Round Two.

Winner: Amir Sadollah by Submission (Triangle)



Rankings so far based on what has been shown in the first eight shows:

1. CB Dollaway (beat Nick Klein in Round 2)
2. Tim Credeur (beat Matthew Riddle in Round 2)
3. Daniel Cramer (beat Luke Zachrich in Round 2)
4. Amir Sadollah (beat Gerald Harris in Round 2, beat Matt Brown in Round 3)
5. Jesse Taylor (beat Mike Dolce in Round 2, beat Dante Rivera in Round 3)
6. Cale Yarbrough (beat Patrick Schultz in Round 2)


Eliminated:
First Elimination: Paul Bradley (sent home, was ranked #15)
Second Elimination: Mike Dolce (lost to Jesse Taylor, was ranked #11)
Third Elimination: Matthew Riddle (lost to Tim Credeur, was ranked #5)
Fourth Elimination: Brandon Sene (lost to Dante Rivera, was ranked # 12)
Fifth Elimination: Jeremy May (lost to Matt Brown, was ranked #11)
Sixth Elimination: Gerald Harris (lost to Amir Sadollah, was ranked #5)
Seventh Elimination: Patrick Schultz (lost to Cale Yarbrough, was ranked #10)
Eighth Elimination: Nick Klein (lost to CB Dollaway, was ranked #3)
Ninth Elimination: Dante Rivera (lost to Jesse Taylor- Round 3- was ranked #8)
Tenth Elimination: Matt Brown (lost to Amir Sadollah- Round 3- was ranked #3)