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It was a crazy, addled, drunken, and unprecedented journey to reach the final participants in the seventh season of The Ultimate Fighter but the decision is in and CB Dollaway will be fighting the underdog Amir Sadollah for the six figure contract in the UFC.
The matchups predicated by the season would have been Jesse Taylor vs. Amir Sadollah. Amir had the toughest road to the finale, having to go through and defeat the season favorite CB Dollaway with a last minute and unexpected armbar. Jesse Taylor easily defeated Tim Credeur, a good BJJ specialist, to earn his shot at the contract.
What happened next was unprecedented. After the season, Dana White allowed the fighters to stay in Las Vegas and enjoy themselves after putting them through six weeks of hell and isolation. Jesse Taylor took it too far however, drinking in excess, kicking out a limo window, and generally terrorizing the casino that they were patronizing. Despite the property damage, Jesse's cardinal sin in the whole rampage were the words he uttered when the security guards tried to calm him down, "I'm a UFC Fighter!"
Property damage can be covered but connecting the UFC name to an out-of-control rampage set Dana off. The UFC president, on national TV no less, called Jesse Taylor in, called him a monster, and then kicked him off the finale card and out of the UFC.
The aforementioned action by Dana White opened a hole in the finale and for the first time in the history of the venerable reality show, the participants of the TUF finale had to be decided outside of the regular season. Both CB Dollaway and Tim Credeur were called back to Las Vegas and informed that they could fight for the vacant spot, which both accepted immediately. CB ended up winning the three round stand-up battle (very surprising since both are ground fighters) and winning the empty spot in the finale, despite having lost in the semi-finals to Amir.
The Season Finale will air on Spike TV for free on Saturday June 21st at 8:00 CT/9:00 ET. The card, which has been incomplete up until the finale, is finished and it features some really good matchups that include both this season's fighters (Matt Riddle, Dante Rivera, Matt Brown, Timothy Credeur, Cale Yarbrough) and previous season's participants (Kendall Grove, Diego Sanchez, Josh Burkman, Matt Arroyo).
The main event will feature a must-win situation with Evan Tanner taking on Season 3 winner Kendall Grove. Kendall is coming off a two fight losing streak against journeyman Jorge Rivera and resurging Patrick Cote. Evan Tanner just recently re-joined the UFC and already has a loss under his belt against Yushin Okami.
Despite all the controversy, the proverbial question will be answered after Saturday, "Who will be the Ultimate Fighter?"
Evan Tanner Vs. Kendall Grove
Amir Sadollah Vs. CB Dollaway
Diego Sanchez Vs. Luigi Fioravanti
Spencer Fisher Vs. Jeremy Stephens
Matt Riddle Vs. Dante Rivera
Josh Burkman Vs. Dustin Hazelett
Marvin Eastman Vs. Andrew McFedries
Matt Brown Vs. Matt Arroyo
Jeremy Horn Vs. Dean Lister
Timothy Credeur Vs. Cale Yarbrough
Rob Yundt Vs. Rob Kimmons
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