Sadollah gains first-round win

Saturday night's bout between Amir Sadollah and C.B. Dollaway transpired much the same way their first fight did.

It just didn't take as long.

Sadollah submitted Dollaway with an armbar 3:01 into the first round at the Palms to earn the Season 7 title on the Ultimate Fighting Championship's reality show "The Ultimate Fighter."

The two had met in the semifinals of the show, which was taped in March. Dollaway controlled much of that bout, but was caught in an armbar in the third round and tapped out.

The rematch occurred after finalist Jesse Taylor was removed from the championship bout for his post-taping behavior at Palace Station and Dollaway won a second-chance bout.

Dollaway again controlled much of the first three minutes of Saturday's bout, but Sadollah again came up with an armbar from bottom position.

"Rematches are weird because you're pretty sure you know what's going to happen, but you can't be too sure," Sadollah said.

This time, Dollaway's tap was not as clear-cut.

Dollaway had his arm stuck in the hold, but appeared to have second thoughts before he tapped out. He barely tapped his hand once and pulled away.

"I was definitely thinking about tapping," he said. "I did hit it once, but I thought the rule was you had to do it (more than once). Just as I hit once, I felt that I was in a position where I could get my arm out."

As the referee stepped in and signaled an end to the fight, Dollaway reacted in disbelief.

For his part, Sadollah said he was oblivious to the perceived controversy.

"I had no idea until somebody said something about it," he said. "I didn't know that C.B. had that stunned look on his face until I saw the replay of it. I was just so happy to have won."

Two other former winners on the show scored impressive victories on the card.

Season 3 winner Kendall Grove scored a split-decision victory over former middleweight champion Evan Tanner.

Grove punished Tanner for most of the first two rounds, before slowing his pace in the third.

The victory snapped a two-fight losing streak for Grove and possibly signaled the end of the 37-year-old Tanner's career.

"He wasn't the middleweight champ for nothing. He was stronger than I thought," Grove said. "I just stuck to my game plan. I wouldn't have minded finishing him, but I'll take the result."

Diego Sanchez, the Season 1 champion, appeared headed for a decision victory, but he landed a left kick and followed it up with a running knee to stop Luigi Fioravanti in the final minute of their fight.

Matt Riddle and Spencer Fisher each picked up unanimous-decision victories.

On the undercard, Las Vegan Marvin Eastman was knocked out in the first round by Drew McFedries.

Dustin Hazelett submitted Josh Burkman with an innovative armbar in the second round of their middleweight bout, and Dean Lister choked out Jeremy Horn in a battle of submission specialists.

Matt Brown and Rob Kimmons both scored stoppage victories.

Tim Credeur and Cale Yarbrough, two cast members from this season of the reality show, were scheduled to fight on the card, but Credeur was forced off the card by the Nevada State Athletic Commission after a pre-fight drug test showed traces of the prescription drug Adderall in his system.