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The following is a recap of episode one of The Ultimate Fighter 7 from UFC.com:
The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rampage vs Team Forrest - Episode One Recap By Thomas Gerbasi
CAUTION: SPOILERS INCLUDED - Not content with the status quo, UFC President Dana White decided to shake things up a bit for the seventh season of The Ultimate Fighter reality series, which premiered Wednesday night on Spike TV.
With coaches Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, and top contender Forrest Griffin in tow, White announced to the 32 man middleweight field ��" yes, 32 ��" that just showing up to Vegas didn’t ensure automatic entry onto the show. This season, all competitors will have to fight their way on the show, with this week’s episode filling eight slots in the TUF house, and next week’s filling the remaining eight.
That means no evaluations, just fights, with Jackson and Griffin taking notes on each bout for later reference when teams are chosen from the 16 finalists. All fighters had 48 hours to prepare for their bouts and make weight, and admirably, everyone made weight, including John Clarke, who was forced to shed 17 pounds to hit the middleweight limit.
In the opening bout of the competition, New Jersey’s Mike Dolce earned a spot in the TUF house with a first round stoppage of Cincinnati’s Prince McLean, who was sent down and out with a right hand.
A buddy of Griffin’s from Athens, Georgia, 21-year old Cale Yarbrough, was up next against New Haven, Connecticut’s Clarke, who dominated the early action and seemed to be on the verge of victory when he locked in an armbar. But after Yarbrough escaped, Clarke ��" drained by the weight loss of the previous 48 hours ��" was out of gas and the youngster capitalized, reigning down punches until the bout was halted late in the opening round.
The third elimination bout saw unheralded Amir Sadollah upset UFC veteran Steve Byrnes via second round submission in a back and forth battle that saw plenty of twists and turns before Sadollah locked in a fight ending armbar on an exhausted Byrne.
Highlights were shown of four other bouts in the first round of cuts, with CB Dollaway taking out David Baggett in the opening round, Dante Rivera submitting John Wood with a kimura in the first round, Nick Klein scoring an opening round submission win over David Newborn with a head / arm triangle, and Paul Bradley taking a two round decision over Reggie Orr in a bout that didn’t exactly thrill White or the two coaches due to its lack of action.
In the final bout of this week’s episode, Jackson’s high school wrestling teammate Dave Roberts looked to fight his way onto the show against Ocala, Florida’s Jeremy May, but it was not to be as May hurt Roberts with a left hand less than a minute into the bout and then finished off the Californian with an armbar.
After one week of action, the following fighters have earned a spot in the Ultimate Fighter house for this season:
Mike Dolce Cale Yarbrough Amir Sadollah CB Dollaway Dante Rivera Nick Klein Paul Bradley Jeremy May
