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TV Reviews
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The Ultimate Fighter
THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER REPORT 6/18: Hyden's rundown of all the fights, all the drama on Spike TV By Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor
Jun 18, 2008 - 10:50:07 PM
The Ultimate Fighter review
June 18, 2008
By Frank Hyden
The episode starts off with the fight between the under-confident Amir Sadollah and the overconfident CB Dollaway. CB has a 3 inch height and a 1.25 inch reach advantage. Steve Mazzagatti is the official.
FIGHT- Amir Sadollah vs. CB Dollaway
ROUND 1- CB throw some early punches, then gets a slam on Amir. CB is on top throwing while Amir is trying to escape. They get up and Amir is the one throwing the punches. CB gets back on top and they grope around until the round ends.
ROUND 2- CB throws a leg kick as both fighters are exchanging blows. Amir hits a front kick to CB's stomach. CB gets on top. Amir tries an armbar. A big elbow from CB has opened a cut on Amir's cheek. CB throws a few punches every so often, leading to Mazzagatti standing them up. Thank you, Steve. Amir's trying to throw some punches but both men are very tired. CB gets a takedown. The round ends.
ROUND 3- Both fighters exchange shots. Amir stuffs a takedown attempt by CB. Amir stuffs another takedown attempt, but on the 3rd try CB gets the takedown. Amir escapes a rear-naked choke that CB had on pretty well. They're north-south to each other (the 69 position) before CB gets back into Amir's guard. Amir slips on an armbar and CB is forced to tap.
WINNER- Amir Sadollah by armbar
Amir is jubilant as Dana White lavishes undue praise on the good, but not great, fight. Amir is set to face Jesse Taylor in the finals this Saturday. After the season ends Dana takes the guys out for a night on the town in Las Vegas. Some of the fighters decide to stay another night. Dana gets hold of some security camera footage that involves a limo window being kicked out. Jesse Taylor is the culprit. He got really drunk (what a shock) and his behavior escalates to a level Dana won't tolerate. After kicking out the limo window Jesse made his way inside the hotel to the bar and began harassing some of the female guests. Security intervened and Jesse gave them the old, "Don't you know who I am?" line. He also shouted that he was a UFC fighter.
Dana meets with Forrest Griffin and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson to show them the tape and tell them what happened. They both can't understand what Jesse was thinking. Jesse is brought in and Dana kicks him off the show. Jesse's out of the final. Jesse is extremely emotional about messing up this huge opportunity. Tim Creduer and CB Dollaway are brought in for a 2nd chance. Forrest looks a little bummed. Amir is there to watch the fight as well.
FIGHT- Tim Creduer vs. CB Dollaway
Tim has a 1 inch height advantage but CB has a 1.5 inch reach advantage. Steve Mazzagatti is the official.
ROUND 1- Tim and CB exchange some crisp punches. Neither man is gaining a significant advantage as they're both being quite technical about their boxing. Tim hits a nice headkick before more rapid punches are exchanged between the two. This is a great showcase of each man's boxing skill. Tim is dropping his left hand and raising his chin, though, but CB isn't taking advantage of it. If he would throw out a few jabs then quickly follow that with a right hook he could probably finish the fight with a knockout. They exchange several more times with no clear winner. Tim decks CB with a powerful punch. The round ends.
ROUND 2- CB gets a takedown but Tim stands up soon after. Tim throws a Superman punch but it misses. More exchanges and CB connects with a bomb that floors Tim. CB goes for the finish but Tim is somehow able to avoid being knocked out. Tim gets to his feet. Freaking unbelievable how he wasn't knocked out. 99.9% of the time the fight is over right there. Not only does Tim get up but he's actually exchanging with CB and manages to land some body shots. CB gets a takedown. The round ends.
ROUND 3- CB throws some big punches to start. CB with a takedown. Tim stands up and CB throws some kicks. Tim throws some jabs and a few leg kicks before CB gets another takedown. Tim stands up but CB gets yet another takedown. Tim lies on his back for a while before getting up. CB gets another takedown. The round ends.
WINNER- CB Dollaway by decision
First off, I don't recall there being any warning about this show being 1.5 hours long. That may not affect DVR users but what about us low-tech types who use VCR's or DVD recorders? As for the actual episode, CB looked very different in the 2 fights tonight. The fight with Amir was your typical boring wrestler MMA bout. But the fight with Tim was very exciting as both men looked to box early and often. Both fighters were making mistakes in not just their stances and footwork but also their punch selection. However, given that it's a submissions guy and a wrestler going at it I thought they did amazingly well. How Tim avoided being knocked out in the 2nd round is crazy. We've all seen fights end after much less punishment but Tim battled through it. The rematch of Amir vs. CB is intriguing. I just hope they have a much better fight this Saturday.
It's pretty safe to say that this season is one that Jesse Taylor wants to forget. I'm sure he wants to remember the lessons he's learned both inside and outside the octagon but his behavior is probably something he never wants to be reminded of again. He's got some serious issues that he needs to work out. Hopefully he gets the help he needs.
