The Ultimate Fighter Finale Discussion: Evan Tanner v. Kendall Grove
Written by Lex on June 21st, 2008 in UFC.
Tags: Amir Sadollah, C.B. Dolloway, Cale Yarbrough, Dante Rivera, Diego Sanchez, Evan Tanner, Kendall Grove, Matt Brown, Matthew Riddle, Spencer Fisher, The Ultimate Fighter, The Ultimate Fighter Finale, Tim Credeur
It’s almost time for the finale of this season’s Ultimate Fighter. The main event features Evan Tanner v. Kendall Grove in a Middleweight clash. Here’s the full card:
Main Card
- Middleweight Bout: Evan Tanner v. Kendall Grove
- TUF Tournament Finale Middleweight Bout: C.B. Dolloway v. Amir Sadollah
- Welterweight Bout: Diego Sanchez v. Luigi Fioravanti
- Lightweight Bout: Spencer Fisher v. Jeremy Stephens
Prelims
- Middleweight Bout: Jeremy Horn v. Dean Lister
- Middleweight Bout: Matthew Riddle v. Dante Rivera
- Welterweight Bout: Josh Burkman v. Dustin Hazelett
- Middleweight Bout: Marvin Eastman v. Drew McFedries
- Middleweight Bout: Rob Kimmons v. Rob Yundt
- Welterweight Bout: Matt Arroyo v. Matt Brown
- Middleweight Bout: Tim Credeur v. Cale Yarbrough
I’m really excited to see if Amir can pull it off again against C.B. Dolloway. If he can keep it standing, he’s definitely got a chance. I think that’s his strength here, even though he beat C.B. with an armbar in their last fight. I hate to see Team Rampage lose, but I think you have to root for Amir here–he’s just a great story.
I’m also excited to see Spencer Fisher v. Jeremy Stephens. That fight should be off the charts. The main event should also be solid, but I think it might end up as a ground war if Tanner can dictate the pace. In a recent appearance on Inside MMA, Tanner sounded like he was really focusing on his ground attack for this one. That should be a nice change of pace since I’ve been watching a lot of EliteXC lately.
It’s great to see some of the guys from the show on the preliminary card–I’ll pick Tim Credeur in an easy win over Cale Yarbrough (why is he on this card?), and I’ll take Matt Brown over Matt Arroyo. Finally, in a battle of two guys from this season, I think Matthew Riddle beats Dante Rivera in a close one.
Discuss TUF Finale here.
June 21st, 2008 at 3:39 pm
[…] is just a reminder that if you’re going to be watching The Ultimate Fighter finale tonight, you can discuss it over at MMA Shoot, where all MMA content will reside from now […]
June 21st, 2008 at 4:59 pm
As impressive as Amir has turned out to be, I don’t see him beating CB twice in a row. I never really gave Amir a chance the first time. I think it’s clear CB is the more well rounded fighter, and I see him not making the same mistake he did last time.
June 21st, 2008 at 5:08 pm
Shane–
I don’t either, but I’ll certainly root for him. C.B. is a great fighter, but as Forrest said, he is kind of a jerk.
June 21st, 2008 at 5:09 pm
You still can’t take Amir lightly because as he proved in the first fight he can come out of no where to catch him with a submission.
Am I the only one who thinks its a huge mismatch in the “Main Event”
between Kendall Grove and Evan Tanner.
I see Tanner just completely wiping the floor with K.Grove.
What do you think Lex?
June 21st, 2008 at 6:10 pm
Come on Yall Am I the only one here.
June 21st, 2008 at 6:40 pm
Cale Yarabrough vs. Tim Creduer has been cancelled what the hell?
June 21st, 2008 at 7:24 pm
Hey brothers, finally made it over here. Glad there’s a bit more separation of wrestling and MMA. I’ll be watching on and on from here on out.
June 21st, 2008 at 7:31 pm
I don’t know, MMA’s a little to boring for me.
June 21st, 2008 at 7:35 pm
Really, Kanadian for me its the exact opposite, Wrestling has lost for me the exciting factor, that MMA now has for me.
Wrestling has its moments, but MMA really excites me.
I guess it also helps that I’ve done wrestling b4 and did not like having liberties taken on me, where as when I start my MMA training, I take liberties on the other guys face.
June 21st, 2008 at 7:37 pm
Aaron–
I dunno, I think the main event will be close. Tanner is a former champ, but he’s on his way back up from all the personal problems. I think it will be very close…but you could be right.
June 21st, 2008 at 7:37 pm
Riddle wins, just like I thought. So does Dante retire now? LOL…
June 21st, 2008 at 7:48 pm
So Lex, I am having debate right now, as I want to join an MMA gym there is one in Arlington and there is one in Lewisville close to where I live,
only the one in Arlington is sooooo much more reasonably priced,
at 189 dollars for 6 months
the one in Lewisville is 120 a month.
I’m having a dilemma, can you lend your opinion?
June 21st, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Well, I don’t know much about either. Where is the one in Lewisville?
June 21st, 2008 at 7:51 pm
I believe there’s supposedly a good one in Carrolton. Also, Travis Lutter has a gym in Ft. Worth.
June 21st, 2008 at 7:54 pm
this match is good lol spencer is a ric flair fan haha
June 21st, 2008 at 7:55 pm
The Problem with Travis Lutter’s is the fact that he has conditioning issues, remember his debacle trying to drop 20 pounds in 48 hours when he faced Anderson Silva for the middleweight title1
I’ll give it a shot.
June 21st, 2008 at 7:56 pm
is the next ppv the rampage vs forest fight? ufc 86 i think
June 21st, 2008 at 7:57 pm
Its off of Main Street in Lewisville
North Texas MMA,
the website is NTMMA.com
the benefit with that is thats its closer and they offer alot of morning classes where as THE GYM in Arlington has the majority of late afternoon classes and evening classes.
June 21st, 2008 at 7:58 pm
speaking of mma im doing jit sit su right now thanks to that iv droped 53 pounds im now like 212 i wanna be 185 by august it took me like 2 months to loose the weight after a yr in jit sit su im gonna try boxing
June 21st, 2008 at 8:00 pm
jmart–
Yeah, that’s the next PPV in like two weeks.
Aaron–
Lutter is world class, though, regardless of his issues with conditioning. But, he’s a jujitsu guy, and you might not be interested in that.
I had no idea that there was an MMA gym in L-town, don’t know how I missed that!
June 21st, 2008 at 8:01 pm
Isn’t the gym home of PCW?
June 21st, 2008 at 8:02 pm
Yea, they will charge me 20 dollars more a month if I pay with cash as opposed to with ACH.
June 21st, 2008 at 8:04 pm
That’s REALLY cheap. I mean, what does that include? That doesn’t seem right…
June 21st, 2008 at 8:04 pm
You Are correct Lex,
they do have MMA, boxing and Muay Thai Kickboxing as well though.
I kind of wondered how that all worked into it.
June 21st, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Yeah, maybe that’s just to work out or something…but if not, that’s an amazing deal. Muy Thai would be awesome…
June 21st, 2008 at 8:06 pm
I can’t believe this fight is going to go to decision…I thought for sure it would end early…
June 21st, 2008 at 8:06 pm
The only thing is tho, they don’t offer Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
And the good thing about my Gym that is close is that I don’t need a GI for a while.
June 21st, 2008 at 8:07 pm
So thats 2 in a row that went the distance.
June 21st, 2008 at 8:07 pm
Spencer Fisher is one tough mofo…
June 21st, 2008 at 8:11 pm
Arlington is a long way from L-town…that’s a long way to drive. 120 a month sounds right for martial arts training to me.
There’s a boxing gym in downtown Dallas that’s only like 20 a month, though.
June 21st, 2008 at 8:12 pm
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
June 21st, 2008 at 8:15 pm
If this were EliteXC there would have been four knockouts by now and the show would almost be over…
June 21st, 2008 at 8:16 pm
Im kind of pissed about the 120 though b/c when I was about to sign up in Feburary it was 100 a month.
I did the Math,
throwing in Gas it would cost me 45.85 a week to train at THE GYM and if I were to train at the place in L. Town its 41.58 a week that is at the gas rate of 3.86 a gallon with my car getting 35 miles to the Gallon.
June 21st, 2008 at 8:21 pm
There you go, if you’re in Lewisville, you could probably walk to that place…or take those short buses that ride around, lol.
Check out the one in Carrollton, too:
http://www.crowsmartialarts.com/
June 21st, 2008 at 8:22 pm
http://www.starbjj.com/schedule.htm
I’m currently looking at this one also in Carrollton
June 21st, 2008 at 8:30 pm
I might check them both out to see which one is cheaper and offers the most.
June 21st, 2008 at 8:30 pm
Aaron–
Good luck finding a gym, guess there are plenty to choose from around here…
June 21st, 2008 at 8:31 pm
Time for Diego Sanchez v. Luigi Fioravanti!
June 21st, 2008 at 8:38 pm
What a great first round. This CAN’T go past two at that rate…
June 21st, 2008 at 8:44 pm
Well Lex it just did.
June 21st, 2008 at 8:48 pm
I thought for sure someone would get knocked out at that rate in Round 2!
June 21st, 2008 at 8:48 pm
Holy crap! Sanchez knocked the CRAP out of him!
June 21st, 2008 at 8:49 pm
HOLY SHIT WHat a Kick and Knee.
June 21st, 2008 at 8:49 pm
That is definitely bonus for the KO of the night.
June 21st, 2008 at 8:53 pm
That is the kind of excitement that Wrestling is Missing.
June 21st, 2008 at 9:08 pm
So Lex are you rooting for Amir
June 21st, 2008 at 9:18 pm
WOW,
First round tapout by Amir.
That is Awesome.
June 21st, 2008 at 9:18 pm
Wow…SAME exact ending as their first fight…I’m shocked. That was just like a shorter version. And C.B. is such a baby, everyone saw him tap!
June 21st, 2008 at 9:22 pm
That was a really quick tapout,
Almost way too quick,
Like CB didn’t try to fight out of it.
June 21st, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Just Like the announcer said Lex, It seems to me like it was training Tap-out in the way that it was very quick almost without even thinking to prevent injury.
June 21st, 2008 at 9:31 pm
I believe that if Kendall Grove loses,
He will be released by the UFC very shortly afterwards.
June 21st, 2008 at 9:34 pm
He looks like a White Kimbo Slice with that full beard going on that.
June 21st, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Wait a minute.
I thought Middleweight fighters fought at 185.
They both weighed in at 186 what gives?
June 22nd, 2008 at 4:15 pm
Aaron-
They will always give you a pound on the weight limits, so really you can be over by 1 pound and still be at the weight.
The show as a whole was pretty good. I am shocked CB lost the exact same way as the first fight. The guy might be an All American wrestler, but he can’t defend an arm bar worth a shit. Diego Sanchez looked very impressive, I think it’s safe to say he is well on the way to the top of the welterweight division again. Also everyone head over to UFC.com and check out the unaired Josh Burkman v. Dustin Hazelett fight for free. Hazelett showed some very slick BJJ and worked the rubber guard very nicely. I’m a big fan of Hazelett as he grew up not far from where I grew up.
June 23rd, 2008 at 3:55 pm
I Liked the fights over all. I do think that Evan Tanner has been left behind in the sport. He was a favorite of mine in the past but his game has just been surpassed. It is Kind of like all of the Militech fighters of old.
The gameplanning is evolveing. As the sport gets more complex fighters will rely less on tough tactics and more of mental planning and conditioning. I think CB needs to come a little futher on his conditioning and planning. Other than that he is a solid fighter and you will see victories from him in the future. Amir is a throw back to a much tougher era. He has nerves of steel and he is fantastic at on the fly thinking. He will be an exciteing fighter to watch. I am looking foward to Rampage VS Griffin. I would rather see Rampage VS Rashad Evans though. I think they match up well and Evans diserves it. Evans Vs Lidell is a bad matchup for him though.
But that is another discussion
June 24th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
Joe,
I agree with you completely on Evan Tanner. He did give a gutsy performance, but he was definitely outclassed in the stand up game. His only chance was to take it to the ground, which he did do a little bit of, but it wasn’t enough. I wonder if he will end up fighting for some other promotion or just call it quits?