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A middleweight bout between Kendall Grove and Demian Maia is coming to The Ultimate Fighter's 12th season finale event this December, according to Grove on Twitter.
The event, airing live on Spike TV on December 4, is expected to take place from The Pearl at the Palms Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Grove got himself in hot water with the UFC heading into his UFC 116 bout with Goran Reljic, as he criticized Spike producers and The Ultimate Fighter itself for the antics that have taken place over recent seasons. The comments, made on TapouT radio, got the fight with Reljic pulled from its slot on the Spike TV Prelims Live special.
Grove wound up winning a split decision in a tough back and forth fight to avoid a second straight loss.
Maia, meanwhile, got himself back on track at UFC 118 at the end of August with a one-sided unanimous decision victory over Mario Miranda. Bouncing back from the embarrassing fight with Anderson Silva in April, Maia is out to re-establish himself in the upper echelon of the division.
Penick's Analysis: I like this fight for the Spike TV event. Grove's long and lanky limbs could give Maia some issues while looking for submissions, as he had with locking one on against Mario Miranda. At the same time, it should make for a definitely interesting dynamic with Grove's reach advantage and Maia's ground superiority. Their skills match up well and that makes for an entertaining fight.
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