<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>At this past weekend's "The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rampage vs. Team Forrest" live finale, MMA newcomer Matt Riddle (1-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) surprised many with a dominant decision victory over his more experienced opponent, Dante Rivera (10-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC). Prior to the bout, Rivera had promised to retire if he lost. Riddle, confident in victory, went ahead and commissioned a retirement plaque. But he never presented the hardware to Rivera after the victory. "I have his retirement plaque hanging on my wall right now," Riddle said. "I brought it to the weigh-ins, but Dante threatened to break it if I gave it to him after the fight." The friendly rivalry ultimately ended with a broken promise; despite the loss, Rivera says he has no plans to retire. Riddle won his elimination bout on "The Ultimate Fighter" in stunning fashion, delivering a brutal knockout to Dan Simmler to earn his way into the "TUF" house. Once there, however, Riddle suffered a submission defeat to Tim Credeur and was eliminated. That didn't keep the 22-year-old from enjoying the experience. "I loved it," Riddle said of his time on the show. "I was one of the guys that lost early, so I just hung out by the pool, drank and ate as much as I could. ... The only thing that sucks is that there are no girls. When I first got out, all I wanted to do was talk to girls." Riddle said if he could change one aspect of his experience, it would be the coaching he received as a member of Team Rampage while on the show. "I like Rampage (Jackson) as a person," Riddle explained. "Do I think Rampage is the best coach? No. I mean, everyone was losing on our team until there was like two left, and he kind of lost focus. We still had good corners. We still had Juanito (Ibarra) and Zack (Light), but (even) with Rampage there was only two people." On second thought, there may have been one other thing Riddle would have changed. If it were up to him, he wouldn't have shared a house with Jeremy May, who could go down as the most detested cast member in "TUF" history. Although May riled just about every one of his roommates while on the show, he created a beef with Riddle only recently. According to Riddle, May has taken to the MMA forums and accused him of being a marijuana user. "I hate that kid; I don't like [Jeremy] at all," Riddle said. "He's a loser. [Expletive] him. If anything, it looks like he smokes pot because the [expletive] can't throw punches for more than a minute without getting exhausted and getting punched in the face." While May was certainly this season's villain, and Riddle may have been more remembered for his antics than his skills had he not won Saturday night, this season of "The Ultimate Fighter" will always be remembered for the shocking, post-filming problems surrounding eliminated finalist Jesse Taylor. Riddle shared his recollections of Taylor's costly final nights in Las Vegas. "I was in the limo when [Taylor kicked out the window], and it wasn't just the window," Riddle said. "The night before, he got kicked out of another club for wrestling around all in the bathroom, out of control. "Then the following night, we went out with Rampage to PURE (nightclub), and the security didn't want to kick Jesse out because he is so big and a fighter, and the last thing they needed was this guy going crazy. So they asked me ... and a bunch of guys from the show to escort him out. When we told [Taylor] he got kicked out, he flipped out in Caesars Palace. "We were all dragging [Taylor] through the casino and trying to get him out the front door, and security was threatening to hit him up with pepper spray and Tazers because he was out of control. We finally got to the front door, and we literally couldn't find a taxi, so I had to pay for a limo. "In the limo, we are still holding him down because he was so pissed off and going crazy. Eventually, about 10 minutes into the ride, he calms down, and we get back to the Palace Station. Now, Zuffa (the UFC's parent company) owns the Palace Station, so that's why they have all the video footage. So what does JT do the second we park? (He) lies down on his back and kicks out the biggest window in the limo." The rest of the story was told on "The Ultimate Fighter," and Taylor's actions cost him a spot in the finals. Riddle agreed that the behavior had to be reprimanded. "I mean, we can smash the house, but that is a controlled environment," Riddle said. "When you are out in the real world, you can't be kicking windows out -- especially when you are in the finals and you are going to be representing the sport. You can't be getting wasted and breaking things in public." In the season finale of the show, UFC President Dana White did leave a possible opening for Taylor's return to the UFC. Taylor has since stated that he's cleaned up his life by cutting out alcohol, which can only help the cause. Riddle hinted that he believes that Taylor's invitation may be quickly fulfilled. "From what I hear, JT is going to be back really soon."</div> I like Riddle and he looked pretty good on the finale. This kid could end up being pretty solid. JT has a looooooooooooooooong way to go to mature though.. what's to say once he gains some success in the UFC he won't become the same obnoxious drunk he was before?
if this rumor is true, looks like Dana thinks JT grew up fast.. that or they really need some more drawing power to draw viewers away from Affliction's first PPV event <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>When Dana White kicked Jesse Taylor off “The Ultimate Fighter” Finale for being a drunken knucklehead, he also told Taylor to call him when he matured and got his act together. Apparently that only takes a few months, because Fight Hype is reporting that Taylor will be added to the July 19 event on Spike TV, and guess who he may be up against: "Despite being kicked out of The Ultimate Fighter Finale, it appears that Jesse Taylor is set to make his return to the UFC. Sources close to the situation have informed us that, less than one month after he was supposed to face Amir Sadollah in the finale, Taylor will be entering the Octagon on the July 19th card headlined by Anderson Silva vs. James Irvin. Although an opponent has yet to be named, it’s rumored that CB Dolloway, who replaced Taylor in the finale and ultimately lost a second time to Sadollah via first round submission, could be the frontrunner to land the fight." Well isn’t this a twisted little scenario. At least we know Dollaway is relatively unscathed after his fight with Sadollah, and probably also pretty eager to get back in the Octagon to erase the painful memory of his one-tap defeat. It just goes to show that opportunity knocks more often for everyone when the UFC has a competitor they need to crush.</div>
