Tanner-Grove Loser Likely Out Of The UFC
The loser of tonight’s Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale main event between middleweights Kendall Grove and Evan Tanner will likely be sent packing from the UFC according to Yahoo Sports:
“[Tanner and Grove] have been told their UFC career is likely on the line.
Both fighters have essentially been told by UFC matchmaker Joe Silva that the loser is likely out of the UFC. It’s not a hard-and-fast edict, as if they have a great fight, the loser is likely to stay. And with injuries frequent and shows constantly being added to the schedule, both are still name fighters and could always get the call to come back.”
Tanner (32-7), a former UFC middleweight champion, has lost three of his last four including a TKO loss to Yushin Okami in March in his comeback bout.
Grove (8-5), the winner of The Ultimate Fighter 3 middleweight tournament, has lost back-to-back fights to Patrick Cote and Jorge Rivera after winning his first three UFC bouts.
MMAFrenzy.com will have live coverage of The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale tonight beginning at 7pm ET.
Tags: Evan Tanner, Kendall Grove
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The UFC is trying to reduce their roster but I don’t see a loss for either of these two resulting in their release.
Tanner just started a MMA blog on Spike. If he was in jeopardy of getting the boot why would the UFC allow Spike to do this? How can the UFC’s leading TV partner showcase a blog of a former UFC fghter? Retirement maybe, cut probably not…
Grove on the other hand was at one time expected to be a superstar in the sport. A loss to Tanner would be huge but I think they would give him another shot. He still has gas left in his UFC tank.
im a fan of both of these guys but i have to admit i want to see tanner win this one, and maybe get back to the old tanner. ide lke to see grove move down to 170 i feel hes to skinny to hang with the top 185 guys. i also dont see any of these 2 getting kicked out the ufc i no you cant just get buy on ur name but it does help and these 2 have made names for themselves, hopefully they can have a war and get people back on there sides
yea i dont think he would move down at all…hes freakin 6 foot 6! that cut would be too hard…anderson silva wont even cut down to 170 and hes a good 4 inches shorter
JohnBoy,
I think moving down would be a good option for Kendall too. Tanner is old and I would rather see him released. He has a great past but it may be his time to join the senior rankings of Affliction or Elite XC. I do not see Tanner serving a purpose in the UFC anymore. On that note I do not see Grove to doing much more than Tanner but he is still young and can move down. Kendall has time on his side.
6′6″ and 170 is a bit of a stretch
Yea, I am actually surprised at how many think Tanner will handily beat Grove.
why would they kick out evan tanner just looked at his wiki and hes badass as hell dude **** that faggot dana white what a ****
I would love to see a ground war between the two with Kendall showing some “Big man Jiu-Jitsu” well maybe “Tall Man Jiu-Jitsu”.
this is the WRONG way to hype up a fight… who wants to watch a fight when you are basically saying that the 2 fighters are on the “outer fringe” of the organization and a loss means they are not good enough to compete anymore..
I don’t think Kendall can stay in that division longterm.He needs at least a year to put on some muscle and come back as a strong 205 contender ala a prestrikeforce overeem.
Mrnice,
No one is hyping the fight saying the loser is out. That has nothing to do with hype, but it does have to do with the realistic picture that both of those as well as many of the fighters on the card haven’t done well in many of their last few fights and could be on the way out.
Tanner – Lost 3 of last 4
Grove – lost last 2
Sanchez – lost 2 of last 3
just to name a few, of those 3 it is no question that Diego has the largest up side, especially since training with Saulo.
D,
I agree. His hight puts him at a huge advantage but if he can’t use it and can’t win then he will have to do something. Unfortunately I don’t see him having the tools to push for a title and at best he will be a mid tier fighter at any weight class.
but I do see him beating Tanner.
Tanner is washed up, in my opinion. All he’s good for his standing there and trying to clinch. Thats it and i don’t really care what anyone else says. Kendell Grove might be back, he’s only going to get better training with bj in hawaii.