Sherdog.com's Guide to TUF 7
Scott Holmes May 15, 2008
Last week Quinton
Jackson (Pictures)'s team got their first win,
finally giving Rampage what he wanted: control of the matchup
selection.
Saying he didn't want to chance it, this week Rampage decides to sic one of his big dogs on Griffin's team and picks Gerald Harris (Pictures) to face Amir Sadollah. Rampage is very confident with his choice, calling it a classic wrestler versus striker matchup.
Sadollah knows what he is up against in Harris. "Lucky me," he says
wryly.
"I slam the sh-- out of people," Harris says with a laugh. "I pick them up and throw them down as hard as I can."
Forrest isn't nearly as confident in his fighter. He questions if Sadollah's head is really in it and offers to shave half of his own head if his fighter wins.
They waste no time getting to the fight. Both men enter the Octagon at roughly the same size, but with the experience going to Harris. Harris shoots in immediately and puts Sadollah on his back against the fence. Harris remains patient, rising up occasionally to drop a hard elbow or punch.
Sadollah walks his way up the fence only to have Harris drop under and elevate him above his head for a heavy-duty slam. Sadollah knows his way out now, and again he uses the fence to stand up only to have Harris repeat the slamming process.
Harris lands in Sadollah's half guard, but Amir kicks him off and quickly stands up and lands a decent kick to the bent-over Harris. Harris snags a leg and holds on for dear life to end the first round.
In the second round, Sadollah comes alive by landing a few leg kicks before getting shoved back against the fence. Looking at his corner, he once again shoves Harris' head down and stands back up by using the fence and connecting with a flying knee during an exchange. Harris drops back down for a double leg, but this time Sadollah pushes away and spins out. Harris quickly comes in with a flurry to set up another takedown and works the two back against the fence.
Once again, Sadollah stands back up, but this time his high knee hits its mark, rocking Harris' head back violently. Harris lands on all fours and stays there while Sadollah peppers him with punches until the fight is stopped. Harris complains he isn't out but knows he didn't improve his position.
Sadollah is impressed with Harris's slams, saying that some of Harris' ground-and-pound hurt him while smiling and pointing to a shiner on his eye. Rampage doesn't get the win he was looking for, and once again loses control of the fight matchups.
"Biggest thing I won today was a little respect," says Sadollah, enjoying his win with his elated team. Harris is very upset with the loss and has a hard time dealing with the upset.
Griffin decides to go with Cale Yarbrough versus Patrick Schultz for the next fight.
"Cale has no concept that MMA involves this ground stuff. He's not cool with that," says Griffin after asking Yarbrough if he was going to ask Schultz for a "jiu-jitsu truce."
"I know what fans like to see, and that's knockouts," says Yarbrough, who is excited about the opportunity of fighting Schultz.
Schultz also explains that he would like to stand and bang away: "I'm hoping that Cale has the same idea I have."
The truce is on.
What ensues is one of those fights in which you almost wish that the guys were wearing bigger gloves. Both men swing wildly at times and connect with big thuds. Schultz gets things started off by catching a leg kick and shoving Yarbrough back, causing him to fall. Schultz uses an effective left jab to feel out Yarbrough and then drops him with a hard right hand to the chin.
Yarbrough is more knocked down than knocked out, and he quickly recovers before landing some leg kicks. Schultz scores multiple times with push kicks to the midsection and plenty of hard rights to the same region. After abandoning the jab, Schultz begins to just load up for wild bombs that connect. In the interim, though, he leaves his hands too low, which allows Yarbrough to get some good punches in as well.
In the second round the two men start by answering each other shot for shot. Schultz lands a bomb followed by a hard kick from Yarbrough. This continues for a spell until Yarbrough decides that maybe fighting on the ground isn't just witchcraft, and he puts Schultz on his back and begins to work some good ground-and-pound.
Like a professor handing out a syllabus to freshmen, Griffin's cornermen calmly walk Yarbrough through half mount 101.
"If you want to, you can go for the full mount," one coach tells Yarbrough as he continues to beat on Schultz with elbows and punches. Schultz's ground defense is so poor that Yarbrough starts to look like vintage Tito Ortiz (Pictures), just mauling him through the entire second half of the round.
The judges give Yarbrough the win, sending Rampage into a tizzy as he storms away and warns Forrest that there won't be a decision in their fight. Next week these two coaches will collide, and the final preliminary matchup will take place between the last two fighters, C.B. Dollaway and Nick Klein.
Saying he didn't want to chance it, this week Rampage decides to sic one of his big dogs on Griffin's team and picks Gerald Harris (Pictures) to face Amir Sadollah. Rampage is very confident with his choice, calling it a classic wrestler versus striker matchup.
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"I slam the sh-- out of people," Harris says with a laugh. "I pick them up and throw them down as hard as I can."
A montage of Harris manhandling guys is shown while Rampage
explains that he feels confident since Harris is a miniature
version of himself with one caveat: "My breath smells better."
Forrest isn't nearly as confident in his fighter. He questions if Sadollah's head is really in it and offers to shave half of his own head if his fighter wins.
They waste no time getting to the fight. Both men enter the Octagon at roughly the same size, but with the experience going to Harris. Harris shoots in immediately and puts Sadollah on his back against the fence. Harris remains patient, rising up occasionally to drop a hard elbow or punch.
Sadollah walks his way up the fence only to have Harris drop under and elevate him above his head for a heavy-duty slam. Sadollah knows his way out now, and again he uses the fence to stand up only to have Harris repeat the slamming process.
Harris lands in Sadollah's half guard, but Amir kicks him off and quickly stands up and lands a decent kick to the bent-over Harris. Harris snags a leg and holds on for dear life to end the first round.
In the second round, Sadollah comes alive by landing a few leg kicks before getting shoved back against the fence. Looking at his corner, he once again shoves Harris' head down and stands back up by using the fence and connecting with a flying knee during an exchange. Harris drops back down for a double leg, but this time Sadollah pushes away and spins out. Harris quickly comes in with a flurry to set up another takedown and works the two back against the fence.
Once again, Sadollah stands back up, but this time his high knee hits its mark, rocking Harris' head back violently. Harris lands on all fours and stays there while Sadollah peppers him with punches until the fight is stopped. Harris complains he isn't out but knows he didn't improve his position.
Sadollah is impressed with Harris's slams, saying that some of Harris' ground-and-pound hurt him while smiling and pointing to a shiner on his eye. Rampage doesn't get the win he was looking for, and once again loses control of the fight matchups.
"Biggest thing I won today was a little respect," says Sadollah, enjoying his win with his elated team. Harris is very upset with the loss and has a hard time dealing with the upset.
Griffin decides to go with Cale Yarbrough versus Patrick Schultz for the next fight.
"Cale has no concept that MMA involves this ground stuff. He's not cool with that," says Griffin after asking Yarbrough if he was going to ask Schultz for a "jiu-jitsu truce."
"I know what fans like to see, and that's knockouts," says Yarbrough, who is excited about the opportunity of fighting Schultz.
Schultz also explains that he would like to stand and bang away: "I'm hoping that Cale has the same idea I have."
The truce is on.
What ensues is one of those fights in which you almost wish that the guys were wearing bigger gloves. Both men swing wildly at times and connect with big thuds. Schultz gets things started off by catching a leg kick and shoving Yarbrough back, causing him to fall. Schultz uses an effective left jab to feel out Yarbrough and then drops him with a hard right hand to the chin.
Yarbrough is more knocked down than knocked out, and he quickly recovers before landing some leg kicks. Schultz scores multiple times with push kicks to the midsection and plenty of hard rights to the same region. After abandoning the jab, Schultz begins to just load up for wild bombs that connect. In the interim, though, he leaves his hands too low, which allows Yarbrough to get some good punches in as well.
In the second round the two men start by answering each other shot for shot. Schultz lands a bomb followed by a hard kick from Yarbrough. This continues for a spell until Yarbrough decides that maybe fighting on the ground isn't just witchcraft, and he puts Schultz on his back and begins to work some good ground-and-pound.
Like a professor handing out a syllabus to freshmen, Griffin's cornermen calmly walk Yarbrough through half mount 101.
"If you want to, you can go for the full mount," one coach tells Yarbrough as he continues to beat on Schultz with elbows and punches. Schultz's ground defense is so poor that Yarbrough starts to look like vintage Tito Ortiz (Pictures), just mauling him through the entire second half of the round.
The judges give Yarbrough the win, sending Rampage into a tizzy as he storms away and warns Forrest that there won't be a decision in their fight. Next week these two coaches will collide, and the final preliminary matchup will take place between the last two fighters, C.B. Dollaway and Nick Klein.
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