The Ultimate Fighter Finale

As C.B. Dolloway paraded around the cage protesting referee Herb Dean’s decision to stop the fight, Amir Sadollah just smiled, like usual, and celebrated another victory no one thought he would get.

C.B. was anointed as the “champ” of the show by his coach Rampage Jackson as the show was in progress. Whether the hype got to him and he took Amir lightly in their first fight, when the cage door closed in front of the live audience in Las Vegas there was no way C.B. was looking anywhere but at the warrior directly across from him.

Even UFC announcers Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg talked up C.B. and down to Amir before the fight. “Easily C.B. could have win that fight if he had just been a little more patient and kept his arms out of harms way,” Rogan said about the first Sadollah-Dolloway fight.

“He is Rampage’s and the entire shows top pick,” Goldberg said. “And I think maybe this seasons, Kendal Grove if you will, was Amir. He overachieved in many minds, except maybe his own.”

When the fight started, Amir came out with some strong kicks, pushing C.B. back in the early going. But less than a minute in C.B. scored with a big double leg take down, and fell into Amir’s guard. C.B. transferred into side control and looked to be in a real dominant position. He continued his ground and pound and held Amir, who was just trying to hang in, down with no offense. But Amir ate those punches, and finally trapped C.B.’s left arm. He sank in the arm bar, and Dean quickly came to the rescue as C.B. contested his blatant tapping motion.

And just like that Amir got up, ran over to his corner and embraced his coaches. The underdog all season, Amir proved that physical strength and great trash talking skills are not all that encompass the best fighters in the world. The soft spoken, self deprecating fighter from Virginia once again defeated the brash, sometimes cocky All-American wrestler. An unlikely winner to cap off a crazy season of the reality show that launched mixed martial arts and the UFC into the mainstream.

Main Event: Kendall Grove vs. Evan Tanner

In a fight featuring a former ultimate fighter winner and an old-school UFC veteran, 6 feet 6 inch tall season three winner Kendall Grove dominated former middleweight champion Evan Tanner.

Tanner came out strong early, scoring a take down and going straight to side control. But the lanky Hawaiians kicks and elbows quickly stunted that momentum and cut Tanner. The fight also provided the highlight of the night, a huge jumping knee scored by Grove out of the clinch that left Tanner bloodied.

Grove used his superior striking to dominate Tanner in a fight that Grove called a “loser leaves town match.” Both Grove and Tanner had their share of recent struggles after their promising beginnings.

Two of the judges scored the bout 30-26 in favor of Grove, while a third somehow had it 29-28 Tanner. The victory may propel Grove back up the middleweight rankings, where there is currently no one on the same level as the champ, Anderson Silva. Silva’s next fight will actually come at light heavyweight, on July 19 against James “The Sandman” Irvin.

Other Action:

Diego Sanchez proved that he is back on the winning track after defeating Luigi Fioravanti by TKO in the third round. Sanchez was aggressive all fight, finally connecting with a head kick that stunned Fioravanti, then following it up with a vicious knee to the face. Sanchez jumped on the downed Fioravanti and landed a few punches before the fight was stopped.

Matt Riddle def. Dante Rivera Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Spencer Fisher def. Jeremy Stephens Unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Dustin Hazelett def. Josh Burkman Submission (Arm Bar) 4:46, Round 2

Drew McFedries def. Marvin Eastman TKO (Strikes) 1:08, Round 1

Matt Brown def. Matt Arroyo TKO (Strikes) 3:40, Round 2

Dean Lister def. Jeremy Horn Submission (Guillotine) 3:52, Round 1

Rob Kimmons def. Rob Yundt Submission (Guillotine) 3:58, Round 1

Under card results courtesy of UFC.com

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