Spike TV will feature The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s Ultimate Fighter 3 Finale on Saturday night. The event is live from the Hard Rock in Las Vegas. Two six-figure contracts will be awarded to the winners of the middleweight and light heavyweight fields.

The 13-week season of the reality show was filled with surprise winners, injuries and the entertaining battle outside the ring between coaches Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock. Ortiz and Shamrock fight at UFC 61 in Las Vegas on July 8th to officially wrap the season.



Four of their students have a shot at the big deal with UFC. At 205, Michael Bisping faces Josh Haynes. At 185, Ed Herman will fight Kendall Grove. The card is also filled seven others fights between fighters of various experience levels. Let’s take a look several fight with odds courtesy of the Hard Rock.


SAM STOUT v. KENNY FLORIAN, lightweight (155 lbs)
Florian is the much-maligned Boston-native from Season 1 of the Ultimate Fighter. He’s a bad body guy with a nice guy attitude. Florian does have an extensive Brazilian Jiu-jitsu background but people question his standup and grappling. Florian is 2-0 since the reality show. He dominated a very limited Muay Thai fighter, Kit Cope, back in November with a quick submission.

Florian was scheduled to fight Stout on the UFC 58 card in March. He pulled out five days before the event with a back injury. Stout then exploded onto the scene in that fight against fill-in Spencer Fisher winning a three round decision. The Canadian’s stand-up was dangerous and his energy was consistent throughout the three rounds. Florian may meet his match here unless he can get the fight to the ground.
PICK: STOUT -125


MICHAEL BISPING v. JOSH HAYNES, light heavyweight (205)
Haynes was presented as one of the feel good stories on the reality show. He cried repeatedly when thinking of his children before fights. He’s also a guy who’s dropped 100-plus pounds over the years to get to 205. That said, he’s very limited in terms of MMA skills. His power is solid and he is dangerous on the feet. Bisping is one of England’s better prospects at 11-0. His game is much more complete. Bisping (-550) should win but these odds are too much to handle. There’s always a chance Haynes lands a big shot.
PICK: NO PLAY


KENDALL GROVE v. ED HERMAN, middleweight (185)
Grove shocked folks in the semifinals with his win over the heavily favored Kalib Starnes. In a wicked stand-up throw down, Grove caught Starnes with a knee and dislocated a rib. Starnes gave a verbal tap out minutes later. Grove is an interesting prospect. At 6-foot-6, he comes from all angles and can be dangerous with his hands or feet. Herman is touted as the class of this field. He has great ground training coming from Team Quest (Randy Couture’s team) but he did tend to be a slow starter in his television matches. I have a question about Herman’s focus and aggressiveness. There’s value here if Grove can keep the fight off the ground.
PICK: GROVE +160


LUIGI FIORAVANTI v. SOLOMON HUTCHERSON, middleweight (185)
Hutcherson was a big talker on the show who exhibited very little when it came time to back it up in the ring. Hutcherson came off as street fighter with little stamina. This is a big step up against the experienced Fioravanti. Often called “Fat Luigi,” Fioravanti lost at Ultimate Fight Night 4 back in April to rising star Chris Leben.
Hutcherson is simply outclassed here.
PICK: FIORAVANTI -195