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Lister vs. Horn added to TUF7 Finale

by MMAjunkie.com Staff on Apr 24, 2008 at 10:44 am ET nog

A middleweight bout between Dean Lister (10-5 MMA, 3-1 UFC) and Jeremy Horn (79-17-5 MMA, 7-5 UFC) has been added to the The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale fight card, the UFC announced late Wednesday.

The event, headlined by an Evan Tanner vs. Kendall Grove fight, takes place June 21 at The Palms Las Vegas and airs live on Spike TV.

The UFC also confirmed a few other bouts, bringing the total number of "non-TUF" fights to six for the show's live finale.

Although the UFC traditionally uses "TUF" cast members to fill out the undercard of the live finales, the organization has booked a total of six "non-TUF" main-card-worthy fights for the event. In addition to Tanner vs. Grove and Lister vs. Horn, the UFC has confirmed previously reported fights of Luigi Fioravanti vs. Diego Sanchez, Spencer Fisher vs. Jeremy Stephens, Josh Burkman vs. Dustin Hazelett, and Marvin Eastman vs. Drew McFedries.

As for Lister, he'll look to build upon his December victory over Jordan Radev to get back in the UFC's middleweight title picture. He had emerged as a potential contender after victories over Alessio Sakara and Yuki Sasaki but was dealt a blow when he suffered a lopsided (30-27, 30-25, 30-25) unanimous decision loss to Nate Marquardt at UFC Fight Night 8 in January 2007.

Horn, one of MMA's most experienced fighters, had left the UFC for nearly two years before he was signed as a late replacement to fight Marquardt at UFC 81. Horn suffered a second-round submission loss -- his third loss in his past four fights.

Fisher vs. Stephens on tap for TUF7 Finale

by Dann Stupp and Bruce "PhyteGuru" Huckfeldt on Apr 14, 2008 at 6:00 pm ET nog

Another solid addition has been confirmed for The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale, which takes place June 21 in Las Vegas.

UFC lightweights Spencer Fisher (20-4 MMA, 5-3 UFC) and Jeremy "Lil' Heathen" Stephens (13-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) have agreed to meet at the Spike TV-televised event, which caps off the current season of "The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rampage vs. Team Forrest."

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) has confirmed that the bout was presented to the two fighter last week. The Midwesterners, who are former training partners, had some hesitation about fighting each other, but the promise of potential TV time was enough to sway them into accepting the bout.

The lightweights agreed to the fight over the weekend, and bout agreements are expected to be signed shortly.

Fisher is a former roommate and best friend of stand-out Josh Neer, whom Stephens lists as his mentor. However, according to Stephens, a brief phone call with Fisher was all it took for the two fighters to hammer out an agreement that the fight would be strictly business and nothing personal.

Fisher, 31, most recently dropped a unanimous decision to Frankie Edgar at UFC 78 in November. It was his second loss in three fights and pushed his UFC record to 5-3. However, outside the UFC, Fisher remains a solid 15-1, which has included wins over notables such as Thiago Alves, Josh Neer and Aaron Riley.

Stephens, 21, will look to build upon January's victory over Cole Miller. In one of the night's top performances, Stephens took out "The Ultimate Fighter 5" stand-out with a second-round TKO. Prior to the fight, Stephens made his UFC debut with a tough-fought loss to Din Thomas in May 2007. He then took a fight outside the organization and defeated Nick Walker via first-round TKO before returning to the UFC for a unanimous decision victory over Diego Saraiva at UFC 76.

He was tentatively scheduled to fight Terry Etim at UFC 84, but Stephens had to pull out of the bout to deal with, what we're told, was a "minor legal situation." No charges were filed in the altercation.

Marvin Eastman vs. Drew McFedries at "TUF7" Finale

by MMAjunkie.com Staff on Apr 07, 2008 at 12:57 pm nog

Hard-hitting middleweights Marvin Eastman (15-7-1 MMA, 1-3 UFC) and Drew McFedries (6-3 MMA, 2-2 UFC) will meet at The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale, which takes place June 21 at The Palms Las Vegas.

Eastman broke news of the fight with a recent MySpace bulletin.

The fight will be the final one on his UFC contract, Eastman wrote. The contract was acquired when the UFC bought out the World Fighting Alliance in December 2006.

In his most recent fight, Eastman finally picked up his first career UFC victory after three unsuccessful attempts. He scored a unanimous-decision victory over Terry Martin at UFC 81. He's now 3-1-1 in his past five fights with the only loss coming to Quinton Jackson at UFC 67.

McFedries, meanwhile, will look to rebound from his first-round TKO loss to Patrick Cote in January. The highly touted Miletich fighter suffered a serious, "football-sized" staph infection prior to the fight. It was his second loss in three fights. Prior to a 33-second knockout of Jordan Radev, McFedries suffered a first-round submission loss to Martin Kampmann.

In addition to the finals of "The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rampage vs. Team Forrest," the live finale will feature Luigi Fioravanti vs. Diego Sanchez, Kendall Grove vs. Evan Tanner, and Josh Burkman vs. Dustin Hazelett.

Grove vs. Tanner at "TUF7" Finale

by Dann Stupp on Apr 07, 2008 at 9:24 am nog

Two UFC middleweights very much in need of a win will meet at The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale when Kendall Grove (8-5 MMA, 3-2 UFC) takes on veteran Evan Tanner (32-7 MMA, 11-5 UFC).

Grove posted the fight on his official website, though the bout hasn't officially been announced by the UFC.

The finale, which caps off the current season of "The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rampage vs. Team Forrest," takes place June 21 at The Palms Las Vegas. Luigi Fioravanti and Diego Sanchez are expected to meet in the night's main event.

Tanner returned from a two-year absence and suffered a second-round knockout to Yushin Okami at UFC 82 last month. Soon after the loss, Tanner wrote a blog entry about overcoming alcohol addiction so he could return to the UFC. He said he was both thankful and relieved that the defeat didn't cause him to relapse.

Grove, the middleweight winner of "The Ultimate Fighter 3," began his UFC career with three consecutive vitories. However, he's since posted back-to-back losses -- both of which were first-round knockouts -- to Patrick Cote and Jorge Rivera.

The middleweight bout, which features 37-year-old Tanner and 25-year-old Grove, will likely take place on the night's televised main card.

Dustin Hazelett vs. Josh Burkman in Works for TUF7 Finale

by Dann Stupp and Bruce "PhyteGuru" Huckfeldt on Mar 25, 2008 at 8:57 am nog

UFC welterweight Dustin Hazelett (10-4 MMA, 3-2 UFC), fresh off an impressive but unsuccessful fight with Josh Koscheck, will fight "The Ultimate Fighter 2" stand-out Josh Burkman (9-5 MMA, 5-3 UFC) at The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale.

Sources close to both fighters tell MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that the fight has been accepted and will be made official soon.

The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale, which reportedly will feature a main event between Diego Sanchez and Luigi Fioravanti, takes place June 21 at The Palms Las Vegas. The event airs on Spike TV.

Hazelett, a 21-year-old Team Jorge Gurgel fighter, won the first round during a UFC 82 fight with Koscheck earlier this month. Hazelett nearly choked out his opponent and stunned Koscheck with a few well-laced strikes. However, Koshceck ultimately cracked the youngster with a head kick and finished it via strikes in the second round.

The loss snapped Hazelett's three-fight win streak (all in the UFC) and was just his second loss in his past nine fights.

He'll now take on Burkman, who last competed at UFC Fight Night 13, where he lost a close majority decision to Mike Swick at UFC Fight Night 13. With a loss to Karo Parisyan at UFC 71, he's lost two of his past three fights.

Burkman had begun his UFC career by winning four of five fights with the loss coming to top contender Jon Fitch. Although once regarded as one of the division's most exciting fighters, thanks to remarkable slams, the 27-year-old hasn't finished a fight since a first-round submission of Drew Fickett more than two years ago.

Diego Sanchez vs. Luigi Fioravanti to Headline TUF7 Finale

by Dann Stupp on Mar 24, 2008 at 4:28 pm nog

"The Ultimate Fighter 1" winner Diego Sanchez (18-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) and UFC welterweight Luigi Fioravanti (12-3 MMA, 3-3 UFC) will meet at The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale in June.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) confirmed the bout with sources close to both fighters. Sherdog.com was the first to announce the fight last week and reported that it will serve as the night's main event.

The live finale, which caps off the upcoming seventh season of the UFC's reality series, takes place June 21 at The Palms Las Vegas. The event, which airs live on Spike TV, will also crown a champion from the reality series (the show debuts April 2).

Sanchez, who won the middleweight division of "The Ultimate Fighter 1," later dropped to welterweight, where he emerged as a top contender. However, back-to-back losses to Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch killed his shot at the title. Sanchez, though, rebounded for an impressive first-round stoppage of David Bielkheden at UFC 82 earlier this month.

Although he considered dropping to lightweight, Sanchez confirmed after the bout that he plans to stay at 170 lbs.

He'll now take Fioravanti, who's undefeated outside the UFC. Inside the octagon, he's lost to Chris Leben, Fitch and Forrest Petz while defeating Solomon Hutcherson, Dave Menne and most recently, Luke Cummo at UFC 82. The 27-year-old American Top Team member and former U.S. Marine has finished four of his past five victories via knockout.

"Rampage" and Griffin Officially Set to Coach "TUF 7," Fight for Title

by Eric Foster on Dec 10, 2007 at 12:41 pm nog

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Forrest Griffin will officially coach the seventh season of "The Ultimate Fighter" reality show and will face off sometime in 2008 with the UFC's light heavyweight championship title on the line, according to UFC president Dana White.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) previously reported that Jackson and Griffin would be named the coaches for the series (see: "Rampage and Griffin Are TUF 7 Coaches?"), however official confirmation wasn't in place until formal announcements were made by Dana White over the weekend.

White announced Griffin as a coach during Saturdayâ??s Ultimate Fighter finale, but made the official announcement of Jackson as the second coach -- and the critical confirmation that the two would be facing each other in 2008 for the 205-pound title -- during the broadcast of Spike TV's "2007 Video Game Awards" on Sunday night.

Griffin's status as #1 contender for the 205-pound title was apparently secured with his recent victory over the fighter who had last defeated Jackson. After dropping two of three fights (to Tito Ortiz and Keith Jardine), Griffin rebounded with a unanimous decision victory over Hector Ramirez at UFC 72 and a shocking upset of PRIDE standout Mauricio â??Shogunâ?_ Rua in September at UFC 76. Rua had handed Jackson his most recent loss, at PRIDE Total Elimination in April 2005.

"The Ultimate Fighter 7," the seventh installment of the UFC's popular reality series that debuted in January 2005, begins taping in January. The season debut is set for April and should conclude in July. With the added delay of the reality series, it will be a minimum of 10 months between title defenses for Jackson, who hasn't fought since defending his title against Dan Henderson in September 2007 at UFC 75.