FiveOuncesOfPain.com learned of the news from a source close to the fight on Wednesday.

Eklund, 14-3-1, is a native of Sweden and 1-1 in two career UFC bouts. Facing Samy Schiavo at UFC 89 in his most recent bout this past October, Eklund recorded his first-ever Octagon victory following a rear naked choke submission at 1:47 of round 3. A former competitor of both the M-1 and BodogFIGHT promotions, Eklund holds notable victories over Baron and Rafael Dias.

Dunham is 7-0 in a pro MMA career that began in April of last year. Six of his seven victories have ended by either submission or TKO. He last competed just several weeks ago having submitted Dustin Akbari with a rear naked choke at 0:40 of round 3 during Palace Fighting Championships 12 on Jan. 22.

UFC 95 will take place on Saturday, February 21 and will emanate from the O2 Arena in London, England. The event will be televised on Spike TV and feature main card matchups involving Diego Sanchez taking on Joe Stevenson in Sanchez’s debut at lightweight; Josh Koscheck squaring off with the debuting Paulo Thiago; middleweights Nathan Marquardt and Wilson Gouveia going head-to-head; Demian Maia putting his undefeated record on the line again Chael Sonnen; and welterweights Dan Hardy and Rory Markham in action against each other as well.

The non-televised undercard will feature Junior dos Santos vs. Stefan Struve, David Baron vs. Per Eklund, Shannon Gugerty vs. Jeff Lawson, Justin Buchholz vs. Terry Etim, and Paul Kelly vs. Troy Mandaloniz, and Mike Ciesnolevicz vs. Neil Grove in addition to Dunham vs. Eklund.

Dustin Hazelett was awarded Fight of the Night and Submission of the Night bonuses for his performance Saturday night. This bout was on the undercard so many UFC fans didn’t get to see it. UFC.com has pushed this fight video to its video player for viewers to watch for free (they usually charge $1.99 for fight video).

WATCH Hazelett vs. Burkman fight video.

Check out more TUF 7 Finale content on FiveOuncesofPain.com

Enjoy my random rantings.

– I’m still kind of shocked as to why C.B. Dalloway was so stunned when last night’s fight was stopped against Amir Sadollah. When I started watching MMA in ’93, I thought the universal method of submitting was three taps in succession. However, a lot of rules that I thought were written never actually were, and a lot of rules that I have seen written have been changed over the years.

Regardless of what the written rule is for a submission, fighters are taught to be extremely deliberate of their actions when they are in trouble. They are not supposed to give the referee any room to stop a fight. If Dalloway didn’t want out of the hold then he had no business making that gesture with his hand. There’s no reason to tap even once in that situation if you have any aspirations of continuing to fight.

Furthermore, I believe the unified rules of MMA afford the referee the right to stop a fight via technical submission (stopped a fight while a submission hold is being applied even though a fighter has not submitted). We saw such a thing when Tim Sylvia had his arm broke by Frank Mir and Herb Dean stepped in and stopped it. We saw it last June when Frank Shamrock choked Phil Baroni unconscious. Even if Dalloway didn’t mean to tap, he was done. When Sadollah re-committed to the hold and started cranking again, he had the armbar in so tight that I don’t see how it would have been possible for Dalloway to escape.

If you don’t think that Dalloway was on the verge of tapping, behold the following quote he gave during the post-fight press conference:

“I was definitely thinking about tapping,” said Dalloway. “I did hit it once, but I thought the rule was you had to do it (multiple times). Just as I hit once, I felt that I was in a position where I could get my arm out.”

– I believe Sadollah is going to emerge as one of the UFC’s biggest stars. I just want to know though, where did his jiu-jitsu game come from? It seems like it just evolved overnight. Looking long-term, I can’t help but wonder though if Sadollah’s best competitive weight might be 170 pounds.

– Evan Tanner’s demeanor during last night’s fight was somewhat perplexing to me. Granted, I am not a mind reader, nor even a “body language expert,” but there were times during last night’s main event in which Tanner looked completely disinterested in the fight. Watching the damage he took during the fight wasn’t an easy thing to do. In light of Tanner’s candidness about his financial situation, I can’t help but be concerned that he might only be fighting at this stage for no other reason than it’s a way to make a paycheck.

– Can someone please explain why last night’s main event was a split decision? How can one judge score the fight 30-26 in favor of Kendall Grove and then another judge score it 29-28 in favor of Tanner? Grove deserved to win that fight via unanimous decision.

Grove was professional in his response when asked by Joe Rogan about how he felt not being awarded a unanimous decision. However, I won’t be so diplomatic. Judge Al Lefkowitz is the judge who scored it 29-28 in Tanner’s favor and I think the Nevada State Athletic Commission needs to evaluate his future performances with great scrutiny. If his poor performance becomes a trend, he should cease to judge MMA events.

– Apparently there is a significant amount of people that did not enjoy last night’s card. I was there live so I can’t comment on the telecast. However, I thought the fight quality of the main card was excellent. I felt the main card was good but I felt that the undercard was great. The Dustin Hazelett vs. Josh Burkman and Matt Brown vs. Matt Arroyo fights were incredible. I highly recommend checking them out when you get a chance.

– Regarding the cancellation of the Tim Credeur vs. Cale Yarbrough fight, I have mixed feelings about it. Apparently Credeur has a legitimate medical need for Adderall and apparently he notified the commission ahead of time. The thing is, just because you have a prescription for a drug and have notified the commission, it doesn’t mean it’s okay for you to have it in your system.

If a substance is on a commission’s banned list, it means it can’t show up in your urine sample. That was part of Nick Diaz’s problem in California prior to his March 29 fight in San Jose. Just because a civilian is allowed to use marijuana in California if they have a card, it doesn’t mean an athlete is allowed to use it. Athletes are held to a different standard than civilians. I believe that some of the standards are unfair, but they are written in plain English. I don’t think fighters should be tested for marijuana or be flagged for Adderall if they have a prescription, but until the rule is changed, a fighter can’t test positive for it or give a commission reason believe they are under its influence.

– If you’re a regular reader of this site, you know I have a bias for Philadelphia sports teams as well as Philly fighters. So I was excited to be able catch an HBO replay of last night’s battled of undefeated heavyweights between Chazz Witherspoon and Chris Arreola. I am a big Witherspoon fan as he’s best boxing prospect, but I had been told that Arreola was no joke. Well, those people were right. I was extremely impressed with Arreola, as the guy is a big-time hitter who isn’t afraid to brawl. I think he’s the kind of fighters that MMA fans will learn to appreciate.

The main event of last night’s fight card was a welterweight (145 lbs.) bout between Andre Berto and Mikki Rodriguez. Berto remained undefeated with yet another dominating performance. I’m a fan of Berto’s, but the guy has never really been tested. His record is meaningless to me because he’s yet to fight a top level guy and he’s had over 20 fights. The good news is that during Berto’s post-fight interview with Max Kellerman, it sounded obvious to me that he will step up in class for his next fight.

– I see a ton of ads for the fast-food chain Sonic while watching TV. The thing is, there aren’t any Sonics near me. However, there is one across from Palms Place in Vegas and much to the envy of my wife, I went there last night to see what the big deal was about. While the food was solid, I wasn’t blown away. I’m not a big fan of fast food, so by me saying it was solid, I guess that was really saying something. The hamburger I had was two notches above what you get at McDonald’s, but a notch below of what you get at Wendy’s.

Hazelett, a member of Team Jorge Gurgel in Ohio, fought Josh Burkman during the non-televised portion of the fight card. Despite giving up noticeable strength to Burkman, Hazelett still walked away the victor after executing an armbar following a whizzer.

The beautiful sequence earned Hazelett a bonus for “Submission of the Night,” which will be paid to him on top of his guarantee and win bonus. However, Hazelett was awarded a second bonus when both he and Burkman were awarded”Fight of the Night” honors.

The value of each bonus for the event is $20,000, meaning that Hazelett will receive a total of $40,000 in bonus money.

Drew McFedries was also awarded a bonus for the “Knockout of the Night,” following his lopsided first round TKO over veteran Marvin Eastman.

News and Views:

– A source has revealed to FiveOuncesOfPain.com that Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira is likely to defend his interim UFC heavyweight title against Frank Mir during the UFC’s year end event on December 29.

– Conspicuous by its absence from the card was an advertised undercard matchup between Tim Credeur and Cale Yabrough. The UFC did not make an official announcement that the bout had been canceled. However, Five Ounces of Pain learned from a source speaking on the condition of anonymity that the bout was pulled from the show because Credeur failed a drug test. The source indicated that Credeur tested positive for Adderall. While we were not able to contact Credeur for comment, the source indicated that the drug is prescribed to Credeur to help counteract the effects of Attention Deficit Disorder.

– There was a rumor making the rounds at the Palms Hotel & Casino that former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz had re-signed with the company. When contacted by Five Ounces of Pain via text message, Ortiz indicated that the rumor was false.

Speaking of Ortiz, as he had stated on the Underground forum, he was indeed in attendance during the TUF 7 Finale. However, there was no confrontation of any kind between he and UFC President Dana White.

– No one can dispute that Hazelett vs. Burkman was a great fight, however, my vote would go to the undercard welterweight matchup between Matt Brown and Matt Arroyo. Saturday’s bout was actually a rematch between the two, as they had fought each other once outside of the UFC in 2006. Brown was victorious in the first encounter and won last night’s bout as well. However, it didn’t look like he was going to come away a winner initially. Arroyo got out to a fast start and stunned Brown. Showing improved standup since his last UFC appearance, the Gracie Tampa product was able to bruise Brown’s face in several places.

The outcome of the fight could have proved differently had Arroyo not injured his ankle in the first round. Brian Bereck sponsored Arroyo through his company The Abacus Group and also cornered him as well and according to him, Arroyo was taken to the hospital following his fight. His ankle was so swollen that there was concern it might be fractured. Arroyo had not gotten his test results back as we went to press.

Arroyo and Brown were very verbal during their fight. During the fight’s finish in the second round, Arroyo was on his back while Brown was reigning down punches on him. According to Arroyo’s corner, he kept challenging Brown to drop down in order to test his jiu-jitsu. Brown obviously declined and finished the fight via strikes. Arroyo’s corner indicated that Brown’s posture during the closing sequence was superb and made it difficult for Arroyo to escape.

– Many people, including the fighters themselves, had speculated that the loser of Saturday’s main event between Kendall Grove and Evan Tanner would be released by the UFC. However, the UFC itself has never made such a proclamation. And while Tanner did not look like the fighter he’s been in the past, he still went the distance and showed amazing toughness. Nobody can say for sure, but I consider it highly unlikely that the promotion will drop him at this point.

– According to a public relations official from the UFC, the TUF 7 Finale was a sellout.

– The TUF 7 finale was the first event I have ever seen at the Pearl at the Palms. I must say, that it is without question the best venue I’ve ever seen an MMA show in.

– Matt Riddle now trains with Todd and Trevor Lally of Arizona Combat Sports, which is also home to C.B. Dalloway. The 22-year old still looked somewhat green, but showed marked improvement. Also showing tremendous signs of improvement were Hazelett, Arroyo’s standup, and Diego Sanchez’s standup. In regards to Diaz, it was the longest duration in which we’ve seen him fight on his feet.

– Phil Baroni was in attendance at the event and has stated publicly that his next fight will be at welterweight. Baroni looked extremely slim and it doesn’t appear as though cutting down to the 170 pound weight limit will be too much of a problem for him.

– It’s a shame the undercard wasn’t televised, because it was outstanding. There wasn’t a bad fight on it.

Here’s the results of the TUF 7 FINALE event:

• Kendall Grove def. Evan Tanner via Split Decision
• Diego Sanchez def. Luigi Fioravanti via TKO (punches) Rd 3.
• Amir Sadollah def. CB Dollaway via Armbar Submission Rd 1.
• Spencer Fisher def. Jeremy Stephens via Unanimous Decision
• Matthew Riddle def. Dante Rivera via Unanimous Decision

Undercard

• Dustin Hazelett def. Josh Burkman via Armbar Submission Rd 2
• Dean Lister def. Jeremy Horn via Guillotine Choke Submission Rd 1.
• Drew McFedries def. Marvin Eastman via TKO (punches) Rd 1
• Rob Kimmons def. Rob Yundt via Guillotine Choke Submission Rd 1.
• Matt Brown def. Matt Arroyo via TKO (punches) Rd 2.

Tim Credeur vs. Cale Yarbrough – canceled due to Credeur testing positive for the ADHD drug Adderall.

Check out more TUF 7 Finale content on 5 Oz. of Pain.

The weigh-ins were not held in the Pearl concert venue, but instead in a ballroom that was located in the same area. The weigh-ins were jammed packed.

Results and bout order are as follows:

Non-televised undercard…

• Rob Yundt (185 lbs.) vs. Rob Kimmons (185 lbs.)
• Cale Yarbrough (186 lbs.) vs. Tim Credeur (185 lbs.)
• Dean Lister (185 lbs.) vs. Jeremy Horn (186 lbs.)
• Matt Arroyo (170) vs. Matt Brown (170 lbs.)
• Drew McFedries (185 lbs.) vs. Marvin Eastman (186 lbs.)
• Dustin Hazelett (170) vs. Josh Burkman (170 lbs.)

Spike TV card…

• Dante Rivera (185 lbs.) vs. Matt Riddle (185 lbs.)
• Jeremy Stephens (155 lbs.) vs. Spencer Fisher (156 lbs.)
• Luigi Fioravanti (171 lbs.) vs. Diego Sanchez (170 lbs.)
• C.B. Dalloway (185 lbs.) vs. Amir Sadollah (185 lbs.)
• Kendall Grove (186 lbs.) vs. Evan Tanner (186 lbs.)

Things got interesting during the Fisher vs. Stephens weigh-in. Stephens weighed in before Fisher and was waiting for the staredown. Fisher came up to him like he was going to hit him. Stephens gave him a fake backhand and words were exchanged. The two were separated but were still exchanging words. Who knew the battle for Iowa would be so intense?

Credeur and Sanchez had a lot of supporters in the crowd, especially Sanchez. He is back to his old super-intense style that he had when he was racking up wins. He looked like he wanted to fight at the weigh-ins.

Grove was especially intense as well and refused to shake hands with Tanner after the staredown. Tanner came out in sun glasses, a bandanna, and a crazy beard. He looked like Kimbo Slice.

Seen attending the weigh-ins were UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and trainer Juanito Ibarra; TUF 7 competitors Mike Dolce, Jeremy May, and Gerald Harris; TUF alum Troy Mandaloniz; and Ariel Helwani of MMARated.com.

In an interesting turn of events, there were actually a fair amount of people going up to May seeking pictures and autographs.

I had never met the man or had even seen him fight. However, based on the circumstantial evidence, I was less than enthusiastic when hearing he made a strong impression with casting officials.

The article extolled his virtues as being a humorous guy. We also learned from the piece that he was 0-0 as a professional with limited amateur experience. So I thought “Great, another fighter with no pro fights under his belt who is being selected because they believe he could make great television.”

Then I thought, “Didn’t the UFC and Spike TV learn their lesson with Blake Bowman?” Bowman had a reputation for being a character; someone who could call attention to himself and drive viewership. The problem was, by UFC standards, he couldn’t fight a lick. In spite of being an upstanding citizen the entire time he was involved with the taping of the show, he was not invited to be a part of the finale.

Bowman was the only fighter involved with the cast of TUF 6 not to be invited to the finale that hadn’t either quit or been kicked off. It also turned out that he wasn’t the over-the-top character that many had purported him to be. Bowman seemed like a nice enough guy, but not someone who was so entertaining that it compensated an obvious lack of fighting experience.

In my eyes, Sadollah was another Bowman and exemplified everything that was wrong with what had become of “The Ultimate Fighter.”

Boy, was I wrong.

The reality is (no pun intended) is that Sadollah is everything that’s right about the TUF concept. Not every fighter involved with the show is going to be a Mac Danzig or a C.B. Dalloway. Meaning, you’re going to have your blue chip prospects in the cast, but it’s a necessity to mix in a few sleepers.

I slept on Sadollah and I’m here to say that I was wrong. The aim of the show is to create stars and as a colleague pointed out the other day, this kid could be the middleweight version of Forrest Griffin.

Win, lose, or draw, Griffin is a favorite of the fans. His never-say-die attitude and an ability to take a licking and keep on ticking have endeared himself to many UFC followers. He’s also someone that has been portrayed on television as a laid back guy that brings a high level of affability.

While there are many differences between Griffin and Sadollah, there are similarities that are striking. Sadollah finds himself in the finals of the current season of TUF but he didn’t exactly steamroll his way there. The Cinderella story has had to pull off several rallies after taking his fair share of punishment. What Sadollah has lacked in fighting experience, he’s made up for with heart.

And while we weren’t in the house with these fighters 24/7, Sadollah represented himself in a professional manner at all times on the show. He was respectful of the opportunity given to him during all of his confessionals and as far as I could tell, never got caught up in some of the typical antics that take place in the house that anger many purists. Another thing he had in common with Griffin was an unassuming dry sense of humor. This attribute helped make Sadollah even more likable.

It doesn’t take a genius to know that he’s going to get a strong reaction from the crowd when he’s introduced to the audience at the Palms. America loves underdogs and Sadollah was expected to take the loss in every fight he was involved in. And despite already having beaten Dalloway once this season, dare I say he’s an underdog yet again?

Regardless of Saturday’s outcome, the UFC has a fighter in Sadollah that could become a UFC household favorite for years to come. The ability to bring an unknown fighter like Sadollah into the limelight has made TUF a invaluable marketing tool for the UFC. In year’s past, we’ve seen less and less of those stars being created.

So while I thought Sadollah was bad for the show, he was TUF had been sorely lacking in recent years. It’s okay for a fighter not to have a lot of experience coming into the show, just so long as he’s someone that has potential and the ability to conduct himself as a professional and not cast the sport in a negative light.

For better or worse, there will be 1-2 more seasons of TUF. The key to ensuring that fighter quality is respectability is allow UFC officials even more say in the selection process so they can help Spike casting officials determine the difference between project and prospect.

The good news is that TUF 8 will feature the lightweight and light heavyweight weight classes. By only having to find eight finalists per each weight class as opposed to 16, that will decrease the burden on casting officials since there will be less spots to fill. If they can find themselves 1-2 more Amir Sadollahs, the show will prove to be a success regardless of the ratings.

While I am out here, I will be taking in the live season finale for “The Ultimate Fighter.” Check back here as well for weigh-in results as well as undercard results. If anything breaks, I’ll have that as well. There’s already one potentially large story that I’ve been looking into.

In the meantime, I wanted to list the money lines for some of tomorrow’s fights, as per the Sportsbook at the Palms. At initial glance, this is a tough card to bet:

* Evan Tanner (-210) vs. Kendall Grove (+175)

Grove hasn’t looked good in his recent fights but was has Tanner done to be such a prohibitive favorite? Maybe there’s a lot of money coming in on him. I don’t like either line but I might be tempted to put a little bit on Grove.

* Josh Burkman (-210) vs. Dustin Hazelett (+175)

Hazelett is really underrated and I picked him to win in CBSSports.com’s Head-2-Head poll. It only makes sense that I put down a couple of bucks on him to win at the Sportsbook.

* Diego Sanchez (-500) vs. Luigi Fioravanti (+400)

I like Sanchez in this fight but at -500? No way. That’s too cost prohibitive. This is MMA where anything can happen. If Vegas wants me to take money out of my pocket and place it on Sanchez, I need a better rate of return. Fioravanti is tough and with that kind of payout, I might put $20 on him for a few laughs.

* Jeremy Horn (-130) vs. Dean Lister (+110)

Horn is favored!? Huh!? He’s been subbed in each of his last two fights and Lister is one of the best grapplers in all of MMA. I like Lister all the way here.

* Drew McFedries (-135) vs. Marvin Eastman (+115)

I like McFedries in this one. I think this line is just about right but McFedries is inconsistent so I wouldn’t bet more than a couple of bucks on him.

* Spencer Fisher (-210) vs. Jeremy Stephens (+175)

-210 means you need to put up $210 in order to win $100. Fisher is the better fighter, but not so much that you should have to put up that much money in order to win $100. That’s bad value. The problem is, Stephens doesn’t really offer good enough value to play the underdog.

BTW, as of 9:00 am PT there was no line for the middleweight final between Amir Sadollah and C.B. Dalloway. As soon as I see the line, I will post something.

On one hand, I think Jesse Taylor is the biggest idiot in the world for blowing the biggest opportunity in his life over something as trivial as alcohol.

On the other hand, I think Taylor is a good person whose punishment might not necessarily fit the crime.

Taylor clearly deserved a reprimand of some kind for his post-TUF 7 celebration that, according to UFC President Dana White, involved kicking out the window of a limousine on Station Casinos property and then verbally accosting several of the casino’s female patrons.

White was one hundred percent correct in his assertion that Taylor’s behavior was unbecoming of a UFC fighter. And Taylor’s decision to commit such infractions on casino owned by the owners of the UFC clearly shows he lacks basic judgment abilities.

That said, I can’t help but wonder though if his decision to remove Taylor from the TUF 7 live finale and out of the UFC entirely was too much.

Taylor is neither the first fighter in the history of the UFC to get caught up in what industry insiders refer to as “the MMA lifestyle” and he’s not the first member of a TUF cast to ever destroy property.

Chuck Liddell has been depicted several times on video as being someone who might like to party a little too much. There have also been eyewitness accounts of him carousing in Las Vegas the night of/morning of a big fight. And when Liddell did his infamous Nyquil interview last year with a local television station, White felt compelled to go out to California and have a talk with his marquee star.

Not to mention, was it just several weeks ago where TUF 7 fighters were depicted causing tens of thousands of dollars in damage to the TUF Mansion simply because they were bored?

I realize the analogies aren’t perfect. For one, there are different conduct standards that apply to stars of the UFC in comparison to the fighters trying to break into the promotion. In this scenario, the UFC is no different than any other major sports organization when it comes to applying a double-standard.

I also realize the fighters caused their damage inside of the house as opposed to in public. So, since it was inside, the incident was only seen by million of television viewers as opposed to a few hundred patrons at a casino.

Oh wait, that doesn’t make much sense, does it?

Kind of like how it doesn’t make sense that Jon “War Machine” Koppenhaver was never formally disciplined for his arrest in San Diego for assault or the fact that Rob Emerson was welcomed back to the UFC with open arms even after his pre-UFC past as a suburban gangster in the “Lords of South County” (or is it “Lordz” with a “Z”?) was brought to light.

Does the decision to boot Taylor while Emerson and Koppenhaver are gainfully employed send the message that it’s okay to strike a person on property that is not owned by Frank or Lorenzo Fertitta but it’s not okay to kick a window out at a casino owned by the Fertittas?

I’m not sure what message it sends because I’m really confused. I’m not saying Koppenhaver or Emerson shouldn’t be in the UFC, merely that if they weren’t publicly reprimanded, why was Taylor? Unless there are some things Taylor did that are being covered up, the decision to remove him from the finale was too harsh.

White made the point that “these are guys that aren’t in the UFC, they are trying to be UFC fighters.” While I understand his point that they need to make the right decisions when trying to get hired by the UFC, I would counter that they are already in the UFC. Every fighter that appears on TUF signs a contract that gives Zuffa to the option to pick up their contract at the conclusion of taping.

Zuffa holds an option to use the fighter but the fighter doesn’t hold the option to fight for another promotion if his option is picked up. So in my eyes, Taylor was already property of the UFC and if the promotion has shown a willingness to offer second chances to other fighters on its roster, why not Taylor?

In the end, Taylor has nobody to blame but himself. I felt he came across as a good person on the show that simply had some maturity issues to work on. Hopefully he learned his lesson and will make changes in his lifestyle and hopefully the UFC gives him a second chance.

Based on some of the comments made by White when he was dismissing Taylor and Taylor’s video interview that was made available immediately after the show on Spike TV, I feel odds are good that he will indeed be given another shot. I just believe he should have been given that shot and allowed to compete in Saturday’s middleweight final.

Tim had a bunch of thoughts regarding the fight itself, the show in general, his upcoming fight at the TUF finale show on June 21, and the upcoming fight between coaches Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Forrest Griffin.

Paul Balsom: After waiting a long time, you finally got to see last night’s episode. What are some of your thoughts?

Tim Credeur: I thought the fight was… a lot better than I thought it was. I think from my vantage point in the fight, on the bottom eating elbows for fifteen minutes, that fight was pretty difficult and I thought it was a lot more one-sided. When I was watching the fight, I feel like I did a lot better than I thought I did. I threw pretty much every submission I knew, but it was tough. Training with a guy like Jesse, who’s big and strong, for six weeks, he knew a lot of my game by then. It was just tough to catch him in anything. I think the fight, all in all, was pretty exciting, and the show was pretty exciting. I think America got to get a firm understanding of Jesse Taylor and his intensity. But yeah, I enjoyed the whole time I was on the show; it was unbelievable. So, all in all, I think the season went much better than I thought it would.

PB:There was one scene in the show last night where you were telling Jesse how to defend the triangle, and you got a little bit of flack for that. After fighting him, would you take that back, or do you stand by what you did?

TC: Jesse is my friend, and I’m probably a better instructor than I am a fighter. If I see a friend of mine doing something wrong, I’m going to let him know. I’m going to give him my best advice on how to help him. It may be that that did backfire on me during the fight, but I don’t care. If I’m going to beat a guy, I want to beat a guy doing his best. I don’t want to beat a guy that keeps doing the same stupid stuff in practice everything then catch him with it. It sounds stupid because it is a six-figure contract with the UFC on the line, but my integrity can’t be bought. I’m going to be the guy I am regardless of any of that other stuff. I was friends with Jesse before, and I’m going be friends with Jesse for the rest of my life. So no, I don’t take it back. I didn’t really think about what I was saying, or what I was telling him at the time, but that’s just the kind of guy and the kind of coach that I am. I definitely don’t regret it, and I don’t take it back. During the fight, he did get out of a lot and he did manage to get out of a couple triangles, so maybe it backfired on me, but I don’t really care.

PB: If you had to fight him a second time, how would you change your strategy?

TC: I don’t really know. No one was really able to keep Jesse off of them. Jesse’s takedowns are amazing. He’s pretty short and stocky, so for that weight class, when he shoots on you it’s pretty tough. He took Dolce down a couple of times, who is a really good wrestler, and Dante’s another good grappler that Jesse took down over and over. So I’m not really sure that I could stop the takedowns.

My corner was saying a lot of great things during the fight… to keep my butterfly guard, try to get over-hooks, and continue to work the sweep, all of which I did in the second round. Sometimes I’m a little too aggressive, and I just continue to go for the submissions regardless of the bad positions he put me in. I did that in the second round and lost that top position. I probably should have just stayed on top and beat on him for the rest of that round and hopefully taken some out of him.
I probably could have stopped that takedown in the third, but I had kind of a shoulder injury going into that fight from the Dan Cramer fight. I wasn’t really able to separate myself from Jesse to get my under-hooks in, so it was kind of tough having issues with that shoulder. I think I would work a little more on sweeps, and if I did get on top, I’d stay on top and make him pay for giving me the sweep. I wanted to try and lull Jesse into standing with me during the fight, but he knew how he had to win the fight.

All in all, I can’t say that the fight didn’t go according to my plan, other than none of the submissions I threw didn’t stick. If one of those submissions ended up landing… you know, you’d be talking to Jesse right now instead of me. But that’s how it goes I guess. It was disappointing, but I knew that any second I could have caught him. Some of my injuries caught up with me at that time, and I was having a tough time doing the things I normally do. I think the fight would be a little different if we did it again.

PB: Overall, how was the experience of living in the Ultimate Fighter house for you personally?

TC: There are two sides to that question. For my career, it was a phenomenal experience. For exposure for me and for my future in the sport, it is an opportunity that you can’t purchase. It definitely has changed my life.

Now, in terms of what the experience was like for me personally while I was there, it was a nightmare. You are living in a very small isolated environment with 15 other people that all want to kill you, so it is a pretty difficult and volatile situation. The training situation was really tough as well. Training with people, like Jesse, who you are going to fight is hard, because by the time you get to the fight, they know a lot of your game plans and your little tricks, and it’s tough to beat them. It was very tough being away from my wife and my family. For me, as a fighter, that is where I draw a lot of my support, so it was hard for me in that sense.

The training we got on the show with Forrest and the rest of the team was amazing. For my career, you can’t buy something like that. It was tough though, and it definitely an exercise in mental fortitude. I don’t think a lot of the fighters are ready for it going in, but it was really tough mentally.

PB: Building off of that, you mentioned your training with Forrest and all of the resources you had on the show. There have been some rumblings out there saying that maybe Forrest over-trained his fighters, or Forrest trained you too aggressively. What are your thoughts on that?

TC: I disagree. In my opinion, Forrest looks at it as his job. He took the job as being a coach on The Ultimate Fighter as a job. He’s not there to be on camera or to be cool. He took it as his responsibility to provide an environment for some up and coming fighters to get better. He made it so we had a couple sessions or two or three hours per day to train. There were many times I sat out of practice for a variety of reasons: my shoulder hurt, my back hurt, I felt over-trained, or just like I was tired and needed to rest more. I had no problem telling Forrest or any of the coaches that I wasn’t going to train for that session. At no time did any of them make fun of you or belittle you if you felt the need to rest. The jobs of the coaches were to provide the environment where there was some real training. You needed to take the responsibility to train if you wanted to. Being a veteran and knowing my own body and knowing how fighting goes, I don’t know if I had a bigger advantage because I was willing to say that I wasn’t training that day or what, but I had no problem telling them. I realized that at the end of the day, I’m on this show to win. I’m not on this show to be a training all-star… I’m here to win the show. If that means that I need to rest my body to heal, then that’s what it means, and I have no problem telling Forrest Griffin or Dana White or anybody else what I feel my body needs.

Maybe some other guys were intimidated or they didn’t want to seem like punks or whatever. So they did all of the training, and it was too much for them to handle. So I’ll chalk that one up to experience. I’m an experienced fighter, and I know what my body feels like and I know what it does, and what it is and isn’t supposed to do. So, I don’t think Forrest over-trained anybody, I think those people probably just over-trained themselves.

PB: Going back to the beginning of the season, what were your immediate thoughts when you found out that you were going to have to fight to get onto the show?

TC: My immediate thought was… “If I show back up in Browbridge after three days, my wife is going to leave me!” I really did think that! We actually got a memo that said we had to get off the plane at 190. Again, I don’t know if it’s my experience, or maybe my sharp intellect, I don’t know, but that tells me that I’m fighting pretty soon. I don’t know what that tells other guys, but for me, if the UFC tells me to get off the plane at four or five pounds above my weight class, I know that means that they’re going to expect me to be at 186 pretty soon. So my training camp going into The Ultimate Fighter was about eight weeks before the show and I was ready to fight when I got off of the plane. I was absolutely sure that they were taking me directly from the airport to an Octagon to fight someone… I mean, I just knew it. I had talked to some other guys that had been on the show, and showing up five pounds above the weight class was never something they had done with anybody before. So, I knew something was amiss.

So, it didn’t really surprise me. The guy that I ended up fighting first ended up being probably one of the most experienced guys of the whole 32-person cast. Eric Charles was 10-5 I think. He is an ex-boxer, kick-boxer from the Boston-area. He had great stand up, but a really suspect ground-game. That’s not necessarily a good thing when you’re fighting me, so I did what I had to do. I took him to the ground and tapped him. But like I said before, I expected to be fighting, I knew it was going to happen, I knew I was going on a fighting show, so when the time came, I wasn’t really too surprised.

PB: It seemed though, on that first episode, like it was a huge shock to some of the guys. Were there a lot who just didn’t pick that up, like you did?

TC: Yeah, there were a lot of people who were completely blown away. They were confused, had no idea, some had quit their jobs thinking they were already on the show. Not that I didn’t think I wasn’t already on the show, but I didn’t think that there was a possibility that I could be headed home after three days. I would say that was shocking, but the fact of me fighting quickly, I knew that would happen.

The whole point is that the UFC are trying to find fighters that are capable of dealing with some of these adversities. Now in the UFC, guys have to fight pretty regularly on short notice, and you have to fight all over the world and in all of these strange environments. That can be very taxing mentally. So TUF is kind of like a microcosm of that. There are a lot of different variables, and a lot of different scenarios that they get you ready for. It seems like the people that can handle some of situations on TUF are the type of people that can handle being in the UFC. Those are the things that guys don’t really pay attention to before they come onto the show. People get really worried about their jiu-jitsu and their boxing, but that mental game is huge. So the first fight was just one in a series of mental tests in The Ultimate Fighter, you know? Some people could handle it; they got in there and beat their guy and moved on, and some guys didn’t. The UFC is looking for people who can deal with it when things don’t go according to their perfect plans. Things don’t go like that, and that’s not how life works. The mental aspect of the show wasn’t too hard for me though. That’s probably where I’m best. Mentally I am probably better than I am physically. So I think it was a good opportunity for me to flourish in that type of environment.

PB: Are you going to be fighting for the UFC in the future? How was your correspondence been with them since the show?

TC: I’m fighting in the finale on June 21. I am definitely on the card, but I can’t say who I am fighting yet. At this point in my career, I plan on fighting for the UFC and staying with them for as long as I can. If for whatever reason I lose that contract and I’m no longer fighting for the UFC, it’s going to be really tough to go back to little small local shows. I like the UFC, I’ve always wanted to fight for the UFC, and it’s where I want to finish up my career. So, right now, I’m definitely contracted with them and I don’t plan on going anywhere.

PB: So, the preview of next week’s episode has left a bunch of people wondering about who gets the boot from the show. Can you tell me, for sure, that Jesse Taylor is going to be fighting in the finale?

TC: (Pause) It’s taken me about… 10 years… to make it… to the UFC. So, I am not going to risk that for your web site! (Laughs) So no, I cannot tell you… anything… nothing… but good question though.

PB: I didn’t think so, but I do what I can. So, you got to spend a lot of time with Forrest and Rampage during the taping of the show, and you got to know them and train with them a little bit. Now that their fight is right around the corner, what are your thoughts on the fight, and how do you see it finishing?

TC: Well I’m actually out in Vegas, training with Forrest and he’s helping me, and I’m… his training dummy. He just beats on me and throws me around all day. Obviously that helps me for my fight too. I’d be remised if I didn’t say that I was somewhat biased toward Forrest in this fight. He’s a personal friend and my training partner, so I definitely want the best for him. This fight is definitely the case of an athlete versus a hard worker. Forrest and I are a lot alike. He works really really hard. He’s not the greatest athlete, or he’s not this super-genetic freak, he’s just in the gym all the time training and training and training. It’s very similar to my style. For me, I have to believe that that style can win, that that style can be triumphant. So, of course I’m going with Forrest.

I have trained with Rampage in the past, though. Far before The Ultimate Fighter. This is back when Rampage was first starting his career, and I was living in southern California. The both of us trained together at Team Punishment, and he was an amazing athlete and an amazing fighter then. He has only gotten a whole lot better since.

So who’s going to win this fight? That’s a hard call. These fighters are two completely opposite sides of the spectrum. I think the later the fight goes, the better Forrest has a chance to win, with his mental preparation and endurance. Like we saw in the Chuck Liddell fight though, we always know that Rampage can finish you off quick. I think it’s going to be a great fight, but I’m pulling for Forrest, for sure.

PB: Are you planning on making the move to Vegas for good, or is it going to be just for this fight?

TC: I don’t think I’m making the move to Vegas just yet. My wife and I have not completely decided. I love Louisiana and I love back home where I’m at. There are some great fighters down there: Alan Belcher, Rich Clementi, Kyle Bradley. I don’t think that I necessarily need to be in Vegas to be competitive. It is up in the air though, so we’ll see.

PB: Did you buy Matt Riddle the XBOX?

TC: Yeah, of course I bought Riddle the XBOX. I mailed it to him down in Arizona where he’s training now. He loves it and plays it a lot, I’m sure.

Riddle, a Team Rampage member, beat a talented jiu jitsu guy in Dan Simmler, knocking him out and breaking his jaw in the opening bouts. That victory got him into the house but then he lost in a spirited affair to Tim Credeur in the prelims, a performance which earned him an XBox 360.

Rivera beat John Wood via kimura in the first round of the opening bouts to win his way into the house. He then went on to beat Brandon Sene via decision in the prelims but suffered a loss at the hands of Jesse Taylor during the quarterfinals.

According to the site, middleweight Rob Kimmons has been signed to a UFC contract and will make his debut in place of Sakara during the June 21 event vs. Yundt.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com has also learned that top-rated middleweight prospect Jake Rosholt was approached as potential opponent for Yundt, however, a deal between Rosholt and the UFC was not agreed upon.

The finale is scheduled to take place at the Pearl at the Palms in Las Vegas and will feature headlining matches between Evan Tanner vs. Kendall Grove and Diego Sanchez vs. Luigi Fioravanti in addition to the finals of the TUF middleweight tournament.

It’s another battle of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) contestants as season six alumnus Matt “No Regard” Arroyo (3-1) is scheduled to face season seven’s Matt Brown (6-6) on The Ultimate Fighter 7 finale at The Pearl Concert Theater at Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Saturday, June 21, 2008, at 9 p.m. ET on SpikeTV.

MMAmania.com exclusively learned of the welterweight bout earlier this evening.

A lot of the TUF 7 castmembers are no longer with the UFC but it looks like Matt Brown showed that he had what it takes to at least have one fight on the big show. This will be a rematch of an earlier fight in these two fighters’ careers. Brown holds a previous second round TKO victory over Arroyo so these two have a past history.

Sakara is currently 3-4 in the UFC, with one no contest. He has mild success in the light heavyweight division in the UFC, with most of his bouts ending inside the first round. He has recently dropped to the middleweight division, and most recently lost at the hands of TUF 1 veteran Chris Leben.

Yundt celebrated an undefeated career in Alaska Fighting Championship before he made the transition to the UFC’s middleweight division. His most recent bout resulted in a losing effort at UFC 81 against Ricardo Almeida.

The final episode for “The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rampage vs. Team Forrest” will feature Kendall Grove and Evan Tanner in another middleweight collision.

Log on to Five Ounces of Pain for more Ultimate Figher 7 coverage!

• Spencer Fisher vs Jeremy Stephens
• Jeremy Horn vs Dean Lister
• Drew McFedries vs Marvin Eastman
• Josh Burkman vs Dustin Hazelett

It should be noted that outside of Fisher vs Stephens the other three fights will be on the undercard that evening.  Of course a couple of these fights had previously been rumored back as far as three weeks ago but Horn vs Lister is new to me.  Many figured after losing three of his last four fights that Jeremy Horn was about to call it a career and turn to training but he’s accepted another dangerous challenge considering Lister’s pedigree and the fact Horn has been submitted in his previous two fights.

Eastman vs McFedries was originally an anticipated bout for last October’s UFC 77 card but McFedries had to pull out with a staph infection.

• UFC Fight Club members – buy tickets 4/17 @ 1pm EST.
• Newsletter members – buy tickets 4/18 @ 1pm EST.
  Presale Code: middleweight
• General Public – buy tickets 4/19 @ 3pm EST.

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Fisher (20-4) comes to this fight after pulling out of a fight with Marcus Aurelio at UFC Fight Night 13 due to injury. His last actual fight was at UFC 78 where he suffered a unanimous decision loss to Frankie Edgar. In that fight Fisher was unable to defend Edgar’s takedowns and spent the majority of the fight on his back. If everything goes as expected, Fisher shouldn’t have to worry about working off his back against Stephens, who is very much stand-up oriented.

Stephens (13-2) also comes to this fight after pulling out of a previously scheduled match-up. Stephens had agreed to face Terry Etim on the undercard of the upcoming, UFC 84  but had to pull out due to a “minor legal situation”. Stephens differs to Fisher in that the last time he stepped inside the caged walls of the UFC Octagon, he tasted victory. He impressively dispatched TUF 5′s Cole Miller via a 2nd round TKO earlier this year.

This fight is the 5th “non-TUF” fight to be scheduled for the TUF 7 finale which is in stark contrast to last year’s TUF 6 Finale which, except for the main event and Jonathan Goulet, was entirely made up of fighters that participated in that season of the Ultimate Fighter.

The event will be headlined by a welterweight clash between Diego Sanchez and Luigi Fioravanti. Other bouts on the card include, Drew McFedries vs. Marvin Eastman, Evan Tanner vs. Kendall Grove and Josh Burkman vs. Dustin Hazelett.

Read more TUF 7 Finale content on FiveOuncesOfPain.com.