The Ultimate Fighter Season 7

The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rampage vs Team Forrest was the seventh season of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) produced reality television series The Ultimate Fighter, and premiered on April 2, 2008 on Spike TV, after UFC Fight Night 13. Unlike several other seasons which focused on two weight classes, season 7 featured only Middleweight fighters (171–185 lb).[1]

UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Quinton Jackson starred as a coach, opposite light heavyweight #1 contender Forrest Griffin, who coached the opposing team. The two fighters fought for the UFC light heavyweight title after the completion of the series at UFC 86 at which time Griffin won becoming the new Light Heavyweight Champion.

In a change from previous seasons, season 7 began with 32 fighters arriving at the UFC training center instead of the usual 16. UFC president Dana White told the fighters that over the previous six seasons, he had become fed up with contestants not training and competing as hard as they could, or complaining about various issues on the show. His solution was for the fighters to earn their way into the house by winning a fight before the show even started. The first two episodes were a compilation of the entry fights.

Cast

Coaches

Fighters

  • Fighters Eliminated in or before Entry Round:
    • David Baggett, Steve Byrnes, Erik Charles, John Clarke, Josh Hall, Mike Marrello, Prince McLean, Aaron Meisner, David Mewborn, Reggie Orr, Jeremiah Riggs, David Roberts, Nick Rossborough, Dan Simmler, John Wood

Others

Episodes

Episode 1 – No Posers
  • Dana White introduces the coaches. All 32 fighters learn they have to fight to land a spot in the house.
  • Mike Dolce defeats Prince McLean by KO
  • Cale Yarbrough defeats John Clarke by TKO
  • Amir Sadollah defeats Steve Byrnes by armlock
  • C.B. Dollaway defeats David Baggett by TKO
  • Dante Rivera defeats John Wood by kimura
  • Nick Klein defeats David Mewborn by arm triangle choke
  • Paul Bradley defeats Reggie Orr by decision
  • Jeremy May defeats David Roberts by armlock
Episode 2 – No Losers Here
  • Matthew Riddle defeats Dan Simmler by KO. Simmler's jaw was broken and he was taken away in an ambulance.
  • Luke Zachrich defeats Patrick Schultz by rear naked choke
  • Tim Credeur defeats Erik Charles by armbar
  • Brandon Sene defeats Aaron Meisner by rear naked choke
  • Gerald Harris defeats Mike Marrello by decision
  • Dan Cramer defeats Jeremiah Riggs by unanimous decision
  • Jesse Taylor defeats Nick Rossborough by rear naked choke
  • Matt Brown defeats Josh Hall by TKO
Episode 3 – The Heebie-Jeebies
  • Teams are picked. Rampage wins the coin toss and chooses to pick the first fighter, giving Forrest the first fight selection.
  • Paul Bradley is removed from the house because of a contagious skin condition. Patrick Schultz is brought back as his replacement.
  • Team Forrest selects Jesse Taylor to fight Mike Dolce.
  • Jesse Taylor defeats Mike Dolce by Rear Naked Choke at 1:47 of Round 2.
  • Team Forrest retains control of the fight selections.
Episode 4 – Everything to Lose
  • Matt Riddle showed disrespect of Dante Rivera, saying that he'll put him into retirement if he beats him in a fight.
  • Team Forrest selects Tim Credeur to fight Matt Riddle
  • Tim Credeur defeats Matt Riddle by armbar at 4:06 of Round 2.
  • Team Forrest retains control of the fight selections.
Episode 5 – Chewbacle
  • Team Forrest selects Dante Rivera to fight Brandon Sene.
  • At the house, Jeremy May pours lime juice in Matt Brown's tobacco, and Matt becomes angry and wants to fight him.
  • Dante Rivera defeats Brandon Sene by decision after 3 rounds.
  • After the fight, Rampage loses his temper because him and Dana White thought that Brandon should've won the fight for doing more damage than Dante.
  • Team Forrest retains control of the fight selections, choosing Matt Brown to fight Jeremy May in the next episode.
Episode 6 – Piece of Meat
  • Matt Brown defeats Jeremy May by KO at 3:35 of Round 1. Dana calls it one of the coolest knockouts he had seen in the history of TUF. Members of both teams wanted Matt Brown to win due to Jeremy's behavior in the house.
  • Team Forrest selects Luke Zachrich to fight Dan Cramer.
  • Forrest's method of letting his members decide who will fight by flipping a coin frustrates Rampage.
  • Dan Cramer defeats Luke Zachrich by TKO at 1:49 of Round 2.
  • Team Rampage gains control of the fight selections.
Episode 7 – Under the Radar
  • Team Rampage picks Gerald Harris to fight Amir Sadollah.
  • Amir Sadollah defeats Gerald Harris by TKO in round 2.
  • Team Forrest regains control of the fight picks for the final two fights.
  • Team Forrest picks Cale Yarbrough to fight Patrick Schultz. This leaves Nick Klein to fight C.B. Dollaway.
  • Cale Yarbrough defeats Patrick Schultz by majority decision. There was controversy over the decision including demands from Rampage Jackson that the fight should go to a third round. This leads to a verbal argument between the coaches ending with Rampage saying he would bet his purse that his fight with Forrest would not go to decision.
Episode 8 – Mean and Nasty
  • C.B. Dolloway defeats Nick Klein by guillotine choke in the 2nd round of the final preliminary match.
  • Cale Yarbrough rubs CB Dollaway and Matt Riddle the wrong way by making fun of them, because they had the same sunglasses and calling them "douchebags" and girlfriends.
  • After the meetings, Dana reveals the quarter-final match-ups. They are:
    • Jesse Taylor (Team Forrest) vs. Dante Rivera (Team Forrest)
    • Amir Sadollah (Team Forrest) vs. Matt Brown (Team Forrest)
    • Dan Cramer (Team Rampage) vs. Tim Credeur (Team Forrest)
    • C.B. Dollaway (Team Rampage) vs. Cale Yarbrough (Team Forrest)
Episode 9 – Throwing Bombs
  • After flipping a coin, it is decided that Forrest will corner both Jesse and Amir, meaning that Team Forrest fighters Dante and Matt Brown will be cornered by Team Rampage.
  • Jesse Taylor defeats Dante Rivera by Unanimous Decision.
  • Amir Sadollah defeats Matt Brown by Triangle Choke in Round 2.
Episode 10 – Losers Go Home
  • Jeremy May causes more problems for himself by first challenging Matt Brown to a rematch right after his loss. Then he makes insulting and anti-Semitic comments to Jesse Taylor (who is part Jewish) in an attempt to goad Jesse into hitting him, which would result in Jesse being forced off the show and out of the tournament.
  • Tim Credeur defeats Dan Cramer in the first round with a heel hook.
  • The house gets destroyed by half of the fighters.
  • C.B. Dollaway defeats Cale Yarbrough in the first round by TKO.
  • Quinton is late to the meeting to decide the semi-final match-ups, so Forrest and Dana interview the fighters. Dana's choices are the exact opposite of what Forrest wants for his fighters. Forrest is upset about match-ups since he was "brown-nosing" Dana all season and was on time for the meeting.
  • Tim Credeur will fight Jesse Taylor in one semi-final match.
  • C.B. Dollaway will fight Amir Sadollah in the other semi-final match.
Episode 11 – Coco Is King
  • The coach's challenge is held between Forrest and Quinton. They play "Ultimate Fighter" Horse for $10,000.
  • The winning coach's fighters were originally to win $1,000 each. Dana challenges Quinton to make a three-point shot to double the fighter's payouts. Quinton, who claims to be very bad at basketball, makes the three-point shot. As a result, the winning coach's fighters will each receive $2,000.
  • Forrest, who played basketball in high school, shoots the ball "like Larry Bird in his prime", according to Gerald Harris. He wins the challenge, finishing with a one-handed slam dunk that Quinton says he won't even attempt.
  • Semi-final matches will be three five-minute rounds, as opposed to two five-minute rounds (with a third tie breaker if needed) in the previous matches of the season.
  • Jesse Taylor defeats Tim Credeur by unanimous decision (30–27, 30–26, 30–26) after three rounds.
Episode 12 – Toughest Decision Yet
  • Amir Sadollah fights C.B. Dollaway in the second semifinal bout. In the third round, C.B. taps out from an armbar, putting Amir in the final match of the tournament.
  • Following the taping of the show, Jesse and four other cast mates stay in Las Vegas an extra night. Dana is given security footage from the Palace Station Casino showing Jesse kicking out a limousine window. Dana is also told that Jesse went into the hotel bar and "terrorized" women there. When approached by security, Jesse became belligerent and was yelling that he was a UFC fighter.
  • Dana calls Forrest and Quinton to the training center to show them the video footage and explain the situation. Then Jesse is called in and told that he will be removed from the fight in the finale. Dana calls into question Jesse's maturity and worries about how he would act if he really were a UFC fighter. He advises Jesse to return home and "get your *expletive* life together, *expletive* call me in a few months."
  • C.B. and Tim are flown back to Las Vegas and arrive back at the training center, where they are told about the situation with Jesse. They are invited to fight each other for the chance to replace Jesse in the finale against Amir. They agree and are given three weeks to prepare.
  • C.B. Dolloway defeats Tim Credeur by unanimous decision after three rounds to move onto the finals and a rematch against Amir Sadollah.

Tournament Bracket

  Eliminations First Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
                                               
 Jesse Taylor    
 Nick Rossborough    
        Jesse Taylor    
        Mike Dolce    
 Prince McLean  
 Mike Dolce    
        Jesse Taylor    
        Dante Rivera    
 Dante Rivera    
 John Wood    
        Dante Rivera  
        Brandon Sene    
 Brandon Sene  
 Aaron Meisner    
        Jesse Taylor    
        Tim Credeur    
 Luke Zachrich    
 Patrick Schultz    
        Luke Zachrich  
        Daniel Cramer    
 Daniel Cramer  
 Jeremiah Riggs    
        Daniel Cramer  
        Tim Credeur    
 Tim Credeur    
 Erik Charles    
        Tim Credeur  
        Matthew Riddle    
 Matthew Riddle  
 Dan Simmler    
      *C.B. Dollaway  
      Amir Sadollah  
 Amir Sadollah    
 Steve Byrnes    
        Amir Sadollah    
        Gerald Harris    
 Gerald Harris  
 Mike Marrello    
        Amir Sadollah    
        Matt Brown    
 Matt Brown    
 Josh Hall    
        Matt Brown  
        Jeremy May    
 Jeremy May  
 David Roberts    
        Amir Sadollah  
        C.B. Dollaway    
 Nick Klein    
 David Mewborn    
        Nick Klein  
        C.B. Dollaway    
 C.B. Dollaway  
 David Baggett    
        C.B. Dollaway  
        Cale Yarbrough    
 Cale Yarbrough    
 John Clarke    
        Cale Yarbrough  
        *Patrick Schultz    
 Paul Bradley  
 Reggie Orr    
  • Patrick Schultz replaced Paul Bradley who was removed from the house because of a contagious skin condition.
  • C.B. Dollaway won a fight against Tim Credeur to replace Jesse Taylor after Jesse was removed from the finale.
  • Team Forrest in Brown
  • Team Rampage in Blue


Finale

In the finale, C.B. Dollaway and Amir Sadollah met to determine who would be the winner of the tournament and the title "The Ultimate Fighter." Sadollah defeated Dollaway in the first round with an armbar.

References

  1. ^ Stupp, Dann (2008-01-08). "UFC Fight Night 13 Targeted For April 2 in Colorado". MMAJunkie.com. http://www.mmajunkie.com/2008/01/ufc-fight-night-13-targeted-for-april-2-in-colorado/. Retrieved 2008-06-23.