The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale

The Ultimate Fighter Finale

Quinton Jackson and Forrest Griffin are both at the show to see their fighters fight and to hype their upcoming PPV fight.

Middleweight Fight- Matt Riddle (0-0) vs. Dante Rivera (10-2)

I’m think Riddle’s going to take this one, he impressed me more during the show then did Rivera even though Rivera made it further in the show than did Riddle. Riddle has a 4” reach advantage. Rivera has the edge in experience as he’s 11 years older. Riddle has been training at the Arizona Combat Sports Club, same as CB Dollaway.

R1- They clinch early and exchange a lot of knees, none of which look really damaging. Riddle slowly starts to get the advantage and then the ref breaks them up. They clinch again and exchange knees. Riddle takes Dante down with about 20 seconds left and hits some elbows. Really close tight first round. I think Riddle barely takes it by hitting more effective knees and getting the rounds only take down. Riddle 10 Rivera 9.

R2- Riddle quickly took Dante down at the beginning of the round but doesn’t get much done. They clinch up against the cage a lot in the middle of the round. Rivera hit a good overhand right but ends up getting mounted by Riddle. Riddle is hitting him with some shots and Rivera rolls over when Riddle went for an arm bar and now Rivera is in Riddle’s guard. Riddle grabs submission on Dante and pounds on Dante’s side but Dante slips out. Another really close round. I give it to Riddle again as he almost submitted Dante at the end of the round and seemed to control a lot of the time they were clinched. I’ve got Riddle up 20-18 but it’s very open to interpretation at this point.

R3- Riddle catches Dante with a right hand and then a knee at the beginning of the round. Riddle picks up Dante and takes him down. Dante had a nice rubber guard but then he lost it. Riddle gives up his position but then takes Dante down again. Riddle gets full mount and gets some shots in as the third round ends. Good showing by Matt Riddle and he wins 30-27 on my score card. Judges score the fight 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 in favor of Riddle

Winner: Matt Riddle by Decision (Unanimous)

Wanderlei Silva is in the house.

Joe Rogan is joined by Dana White and they talk about the 7/19 fight between Anderson Silva and James Irvin. Dana says he’s cleaned out the middleweight division and is going to move up to 205lbs. Says Anderson is the best p4p fighter in the world. They are really hyping Anderson Silva. They say Silva walks around at 215 so that he will have to cut weight to hit 205.

Lightweight Fight- Spencer Fisher (21-4) vs. Jeremy Stephens (15-2)

Both of these guys are from Iowa. I really like what I’ve seen from Spencer, he always has good fights. Stephens is only 22. Stephens has a 3” reach advantage. This should be a good fight. Fisher lets out a “Whooo” during introductions and Mike Goldberg puts him over as a big Ric Flair fan.

R1- Stephens gets an early take down but Fisher gets right back up and takes down Stephens. Both guys are getting in some shots as Stephens has an active guard. Stephens went for a triangle and Fisher passed to half guard and works some elbows in. Fisher has blood on his elbow. Spencer hits some nice elbows from half guard. Spencer gets full mount and Stephens gives up his back with 1:15 left in the round. Stephens gets out but is still in the guard position. Fisher takes Round One has he had the dominate position for the majority of the round and got in more shots throughout the round.

R2- They stand up at the start of this round with both guys getting in shots. Stephens tried a take down but Spencer rolled through and got side control. Spencer starting to get some good shots in on Stephens. Stephens gets a slam about 10 seconds before the round ends. I’ve got Spencer up 20-18 on my score card.

R3- They stand at the beginning of this round and Stephens is getting in some good shots. Fisher goes for a take down but gets stuffed and gets a guillotine on Fisher but Fisher gets out and gets side control. Spencer gets the full mount but they quickly get back to their feet. Fisher went for another take down but slipped and Stephens got the take down. Jeremy is getting some shots in on Fisher. Jeremy goes for a guillotine and the fight ends with Stephens with the guillotine on Fisher. This round goes to Stephens so I’ve got Fisher winning 29-28. All three judges score the fight 29-28 in favor of Fisher. This was a good fight.

Winner: Spencer Fisher by Decision (Unanimous)

Kevin James is in the house and he’s horsing around with Quinton Jackson.

Joe Rogan is out in the crowd and is joined by Rampage Jackson and Forrest Griffin and they talk about the upcoming fight in two weeks.

Next they review the “Road to the Finale” and look at how CB and Amir got to the finals.

Wilmer Valderrama (That 70s Show) is in the house.

Welterweight Fight- Diego Sanchez (20-2) vs. Luigi Fioravanti (12-3)

R1- Long feeling out process. Diego hits a really nice combo about a minute and a half in and then follows it up with a flying knee. Diego hit a big kick that was partially blocked. Diego tried a take down but missed and ate a shot or two. Luigi hits a good combo. Diego comes back with a nice combo of his own as he hits several punches. Diego almost got a take down but Luigi rolled him over and they are quickly back to their feet. Luigi got a slam right at the end of the first round. Good first round, Diego was the aggressor and Luigi kind of laid back and showed good take down defense and tried to counter Diego. I gave this round to Diego put it was pretty close.

R2- Both guys start off the round by getting in a good shot. Luigi looked like he hurt his ankle getting away from Diego but he appears to be okay. Diego drilled Luigi with a right hand and Luigi hit the mat and Diego dove on him. Luigi does a nice job of getting back to his feet with minimal damage. Diego barely missed with a head kick but Diego got his back while they are standing but Luigi escapes again. Diego with another good combo as he floors Luigi. Luigi gets up but Diego pounds him back down. Luigi back to his feet again, Diego goes for a kimura but is denied. Great sequence. Really good round. I’ve got this one going to Diego so he’s up 20-18 on my score card.

R3- Luigi is showing some really good take down defense in this fight. Diego gets his back and they do some crazy sprawling and they go back to their feet. Diego with a big head kick on Luigi and then a huge knee and then some Ground and Pound and this one is over. Fantastic finish by Diego. This was fight of the night so far. Luigi did a great job of stopping Diego from getting take downs but Diego showed some really improved stand up and finally picked his spot and hit a solid kick and then a spot on knee and took out Luigi for the win. This is one of the better fights that I’ve seen in the UFC this year.

Winner: Diego Sanchez TKO (punches) R3 4:07

Minotuaro Noguiera and Frank Mir are in attendance and they mention that they will be coaches in Season 8 of The Ultimate Fighter which will feature lightweights and light heavyweights and will take place in September. They mention that they will fight in December for the interim Heavyweight Title following the season of the Ultimate Fighter.

The Ultimate Fighter Season 7 Middleweight Finale: Amir Sadollah (1-0) vs. CB Dollaway (7-1)

The show a short feature on what CB and Amir been doing since the Ultimate Fighter ended. This is also the first fight that they show the full entrances for.

R1- They trade some kicks early and CB gets a take down about a minute into the fight. CB gets side control and Amir gives up his back and rolls CB back into full guard. CB getting in some good shots but Amir grabs an arm bar. CB appears to tap and Herb Dean stops the fight and then CB throws arms up. Looks like he tapped to me. Great submission from Amir to win the fight much in the same way that he won the last one against CB.


Dana White presents Amir with the trophy and the 6-figure contract and then Joe Rogan interviews him.

Winner: Amir Sadollah by Submission (Arm Bar) R1

Middleweight Fight: Evan Tanner (34-7) vs. Kendall Grove (10-5)

Tanner is sporting a Kimbo Slice beard and looks pretty rough but also looks like someone that I wouldn’t want to step in the cage and fight.

R1- They battle up against the cage and then Tanner gets a take down. Grove gets to his feet but eats a knee on the way up. Grove grabbed a Muy Thai clinch and hit some strikes. Grove with some more strikes. Grove has a big reach advantage and definitely looks like the better fighter when both are on their feet. Tanner grabs a leg of Grove and Grove nails Tanner with a big jumping knee. Tanner gets another take down and is back in his comfort zone. Kendall gets a triangle and escapes. Grove hits Tanner and Tanner goes down. Grove has his back and Tanner is bleeding pretty badly. Tanner slips out. Grove hits a big up kick but Tanner comes back in and gets in Kendall’s guard. Tanner gets some good shots in on the ground. Overall, a very good and even first round. Tanner got more take downs and Kendall owned the stand up game and did more damage on Tanner as Tanner was bleeding pretty badly. I’ve got Kendall Grove up 10-9 after Round One.

R2- They both come out and exchange some punches. Kendall hits a nice combo. Kendall hits Tanner with some nice shots. Kendall is really throwing some good punches early in this round. Tanner gets a take down up against the cage. Kendall quickly gets back on his feet. They sprawl and Kendall hits a big elbow and his hitting some strikes. Tanner is in trouble but grabs onto Kendall. Tanner looks like he is just barely hanging on in this fight and Kendall hits him with some nice kicks to close out the round. Kendall looked great in this round. Kendall up 20-18 after two rounds.

R3- Lots of clinching in this round. Tanner starting to get aggressive towards the end of the fight as he knows he needs a knock out here. This was a close third round. I think Tanner probably stole the third round which means fight goes to Kendall 29-28. One of the judges throws up a 29-28 Tanner, the next judges scores the fight 30-27 Grove, and the last judge scores it 30-26 Grove. What a weird difference in score cards.

Winner: Kendall Grove by Decision (Split)

Undercard Middleweight Fight- Marvin Eastman (15-7-1) vs. Drew McFedries (6-3)

R1- McFedries jumps at Eastman and Eastman takes him and flips him over almost hitting him with a Northern Lights bomb. Wild start. McFedries charges Eastman and hits several shots on him. McFedries is all over Eastman and the ref stops the fight. Great showing by Drew McFedries as he dominated this fight. They show Eastman post-match and his eye is swollen shut.

Winner: Drew McFedries by TKO (strikes) R1 1:08

This was a solid night of fighting with Sanchez/Fioravanti taking fight of the night and Grove/Tanner and Fisher/Stephens both having solid fights. I’m glad Amir won and I also thought that Matthew Riddle looked good in his fight. Drew McFedries looked awesome in his undercard fight.