TUF SEMIFINALS REPORT

Posted on | June 19, 2008 | 1 Comment

TUF THOUGHTS: Semifinals – June 18, 2007

by: Jack Bratcher

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C.B. Dolloway vs. Amir Sadollah to start off the show. Amir gave C.B. one helluva fight and basically owned him standing but C.B. would get that shot on him and take him down and lay on some good old fashioned lay and pray and some ground and pound but more of the former than the latter I think. I found myself rooting for Amir, just because probably few people gave him much of a chance and he started doing so well I couldn’t help myself. But Amir kept getting in too close, not sprawling and losing to the takedown. This whole fight was decided in the clinch. Amir could have won if…… Just “IF”. No need to even finish that sentence. There are so many “if’s” that he…….

And holy fucking shit he just beat C.B. Dolloway. He just fucking beat C.B. Dolloway; the golden boy; the favorite of the world. Amir just arm-barred C.B. Dolloway and made the wrestler tap out. I’m ecstatic. I even had Amir counted out as you can see by the first paragraph. I just kept seeing Amir barely missing these submissions, avoiding the takedown, then finally getting taken down. It just seemed like he was one step behind Dolloway. But Dolloway honestly looked tired and sluggish as the fight went on. Dolloway went for a rear naked choke but Amir escaped. But Amir pulled it off. Wow. I love a twist and that was a great one.

But it wasn’t the ONLY twist. The next twist was what the first finalist, Jesse Taylor did. He went to the Palace Station Casino, which I used to frequent myself, and he acted a damn fool. The show was over. He had made it to the finals and he decided to stay in Vegas a extra day or two. He and a few guys rented a limo and a room at the casino. Well Dana got a call from the casino saying they had some trouble from a guy who was claiming to be a UFC fighter. First of all, it was a Casino the Fertittas own. That was Jesse’s first mistake. Second mistake was he got caught on security video kicking out the window of the limo he had rented. Then he goes into the Casino and causes a big ruckus, “terrorizing the women” and trying to pull the “Do you know who I am?” routine on the security when they tried to put him out. Oh man. All I’m gonna say about that is that is some shitty damn luck. He just got too drunk and acted a damn fool and got caught. Bottom line….he got caught. However, Dana did tell him to call him in a few months that as of now he’s not mentally ready to be in the UFC. To paraphrase, Dana said “if you gonna act like this and you’re not even in yet, what are you gonna do if you get in and start getting the fame and the women and the money? You wouldn’t be able to handle it.”

However, Dana did tell Jesse to give him a call in a few months so I do expect to see Jesse Taylor fighting in the UFC in the future. Jesse looks like a cross between Big John McCarthy and Judge Alex. If I had to bet on it, I would bet we’ll be seeing Jesse again before too long. It is a tough break though missing out on the chance to win the contract. To Jesse’s credit he was very remorseful and seems to realize he screwed up bad. Hopefully, he will take this as a learning experience and move on. I think he will.

To fill the void left by Jesse’s departure, Dana brought back Tim Credeur and C.B. Dolloway, the two semifinalists who lost, and had them fight each other to see who would meet Amir in the finals. It seemed the only fair way to do it and made alot of sense. They both come out swinging and standing. C.B. isn’t looking for that shot yet like his last fight. C.B. throws some good leg kicks. Tim is pressing; more leg kicks by C.B. Tim lands a couple of strikes and more leg kicks by C.B. Both guys look much better than their last fights. They are banging and bringing it this time. The whole first round Rampage has been telling C.B. to use jabs and he hasn’t thrown one. Both guys are banging and connecting in flurries then move back a little and set up for the next flurry and Tim drops C.B., jumps on him but C.B. reverses it, gets on top. But then Tim escapes and both are back to their feet. C.B. lands a big shot before the bell rings and then Rampage hollers for a quick takedown and C.B. immediately shoots like he just heard a magic mantra and takes Tim down as the end of round one bell rings. This is one of the best fights of the season to be honest.

Round two. C.B. gets a takedown but Tim is right back to his feet. C.B.’s standup looks much better this fight than he did against Amir. Tim has a slip. Gets up. C.B. lands some big punches and tim finally goes down but to the ref’s credit he didn’t stop it and Tim seems to have recovered. For some reason C.B. didn’t keep the heat on and let Tim get some rest. They are both exchanging landing nice shots. C.B. has hit air with about four big shots. Tim strikes moves back and C.B. hits air. Body shot by Tim. C.B. gets a takedown at will even though he knew it was coming. It’s a damn close fight as the round ends. I think C.B. probably won but I hope there’s another round. Only thing is we’ve already seen Amir Sadollah fight C.B. Dolloway so if does end up with those two in the finals well……it’s just a bit odd, that’s all.

One more round. Nice that means it’s even. Tim takes a hard shot then gets taken down but C.B. gives him room to get up. C.B. looks tired. Tim does look fresher at this point. But C.B. still lands some strikes. C.B. gets another takedown at will again. This time he’s laying but for some reason gets off Tim and lets him up. I really don’t understand that. C.B. takes him down again and lands a shot or two on the ground. C.B. takes him down again and Tim is throwing pitter patter from the bottom. I’m very disappointed in Tim’s lack of takedown defense. I think he got taken down four times in the last round. Very ugly. Dana thinks Tim won the third round. I don’t see that at all. And just as I thought…..C.B. Dolloway wins it.

So. This Saturday, June 21st in The Ultimate Fighter Live Finale will be

C.B. DOLLOWAY vs. AMIR SADOLLAH

Since both fighters have had a couple of months to train since they left the show their rematch this weekend should be pretty exciting. The TUF Finale fight plust the other fights on and the main event should make June 21st a night to remember.

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