This week saw the beginning of the quarterfinal match-ups with the two battles certain to ensue this hour being Jesse Taylor vs. Dante Rivera, as well as Amir Sadollah vs. Matt Brown. So yet again, we had two fights in one action packed hour of entertaining television.
At the top of the hour, Dana had Forrest choose which of his two teammates to corner, as every man facing off this week was from his side. Opting to flip a coin as opposed to picking favorites, it turned out that it would be Taylor and Sadollah having their very own coach in their corner, thanks to the luck of the toss. The remaining two combatants would have Rampage in theirs.
The house footage this time began with Jesse Taylor microwaving cheeseburgers and discussing his diet, as well as stating that he enjoys eating junk food even if there is the possibility of detriment to his cardiovascular health. Tim Credeur and others would also give their opinions on Taylor's diet, stating that he will eat anything and everything he gets hands on, still remain in shape and keep a better endurance level than everyone else in the house. Later on, Taylor could be seen chilling out in the hot tub, then ascending out of it, proceeding to urinate in his swimsuit before jumping back in; being followed in by his opponent Rivera who was none the wiser of his immature action. Also to cut weight, Taylor was observed donning the "plastics" or the jogging suits used to basically de-hydrate the body, thus cutting the weight needed to fight. But instead of sitting in the sauna for a spell, Taylor decided that it would be beneficial to play ping-pong to cut the weight needed, instead. Low and behold, it seemed to work out for the student of Team Quest, Temecula.
Next, the fight would begin on Ref. Rosenthal's command. It began with a missed left hook by Rivera, with Taylor following up with a take down into guard; soon passing to half. Taylor, grabbing for wrist control and attempting to open up Rivera's defense, would work on shots from there. Taylor then landed three solid shots to Rivera's face while still trying to maintain wrist control. Rivera though being dominated strength wise, would defend well and manage to control Taylor's posture off and on during the round, whilst on the bottom. Rivera made his way back to closed guard with Taylor posturing up but not doing any damage to Rivera before falling back into guard. Taylor would once again work on strikes before standing up, immediately jumping back into the guard of Rivera. Landing hammer-fists, Taylor would posture up yet again, attempting to land strikes before falling back into closed guard before the sound of the horn. Round 2 began with a "deja vu" if you will, of round 1. Rivera maintained a closed guard for a moment but then seemed to be looking for submissions, but with his corner's guidance Taylor would easily defend these with ease. Rivera would eat some shots for his troubles. Once again looking for the arm-bar, Rivera wouldn't manage to secure the submission before being stood up by the ref. Taylor would once again shoot for a takedown, once again succeeding to bore fans everywhere. Pushing towards the cage with Rivera controlling his posture, Taylor would execute some decent shots before passing to half-guard, which would not be kept for long as Rivera once again moved back into a closed guard, soon after. Taylor would work on shots before the horn and would gain the judges decision thereafter for his pure dominance, boring as it was.
We then heard the predictions by various members of the cast, as to what to expect in the upcoming fight between Sadollah and Brown. Matthew Riddle predicted that it would be a "bloodbath", with everyone else conveying the same basic opinion . Then we heard Brown and Sadollah, both claiming to be truly good friends due to the fact that they are roommates on the show. I myself could see an oncoming, explosive battle of epic proportions looming on the near horizon.
Round 1 began with Brown throwing fists as well as low kicks at Sadollah. Squaring off soon after in a stare down, both men pondered a plan of attack. Brown threw a knee that missed. Sadollah clinched with Brown, pushing him up against the cage and landing a solid knee to Brown's side that would greatly affect him, as we heard more about following the fight from the man's own lips. While being pushed against the cage by Sadollah, Brown secured momentary Thai clinch that seemed pretty useless from my vantage point, at that exact point in time. Although he would then use it to push off the cage, returning the favor to Sadollah, pushing him to the cage. Both men showing great take down defense they would step off to intensely exchange hands, once again. Sadollah connected with a leg kick, followed up with a body kick connection from Brown, who would follow up with a missed high kick. Brown would then cage clinch briefly, then squared off. Sadollah defended a take down attempt rather well, being pushed to the cage once again by Brown. Sadollah managed to escape, throwing an intense flurry that looked like it wobbled Brown a bit, and who covered his face immensely from the brutal barrage. Soon regaining his composure, Brown attempted another takedown, with Sadollah once again defending it tremendously well. The horn sounded bringing an end to this round, which had already far surpassed both rounds of the first fight as far as excitement was concerned. Round 2 began with as much action as the first, with Amir landing a body kick on Brown. After another heated hand swapping, Amir seemed to land a knee to Brown's face, which obviously didn't connect very well. Brown worked for a takedown, with Sadollah showing great defense, yet again. Soon after, it would be Amir getting the first takedown of the match. With Brown utilizing butterfly guard, Sadollah postured up, passing to mount with seemingly little effort. Landing elbows and body shots from mount, Sadollah continued to rigorously rain down blows to Brown's face. Brown using his feet to roll to the top, found himself inside of a triangle choke that forced him to submit, allowing Amir Sadollah's hand to be raised as the victor and recipient of a spot in the semi-finals to come.
Following the match, appearing on camera, Brown would show great class stating that he was glad that it was his friend who got the win but, as anyone would be, was disappointed at losing the fight. Next week, the quarterfinals continue on the Ultimate Fighter.
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