Despite a Recent Loss, the Resurgence of CB Dollaway has been Captivating

ufc-cb-dollaway-640x480-getty-images“The Doberman” has gone from being submitted by Amir Sadollah in The Ultimate Fighter Season Seven Finals seven years ago to being the #11 ranked middleweight on the UFC’s roster. It has been quite the journey for the 31-year old, who is scheduled to take on #9 ranked Michael Bisping at April’s UFC 186 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Dollaway was coming off back-to-back T/KO losses to Jared Hamman and Mark Munoz, respectively, and the future looked to be dim for the TUF 7 finalist. He was given an opportunity to return to the win column at UFC 146 against Jason “Mayhem” Miller, and he made the most of it, winning the bout via unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards. “Mayhem” was fighting on one-leg and was clearly sporting an injured knee. Despite the injury, he was able to rock Dollaway on the feet a number of times, but “The Doberman” kept managing to take the fight to the mat, where he spent enough time in top position to sway the judges at Octagon-side. Following the win over Miller, the 31-year old was sent to Brazil to take on Armenian-Brazilian Daniel Sarafian in what would be the first co-main event bout of Dollaway’s UFC career. After three competitive rounds of action, Dollaway took home a split decision win over Sarafian, as well as ‘Fight of the Night’ honors. In his next outing, “The Doberman” took on Tim “The Barbarian” Boetsch at UFC 166 and after three competitive rounds of action, lost the bout via split decision, though he has made it no secret that he considers that fight a win. After scoring upset wins as an underdog over Miller and Sarafian, it seemed as if Dollaway’s luck could be running out. That couldn’t be further from the truth, as in his next outing he again found himself playing the role of the underdog, when he traveled to Brazil for the second time to take on Brazil’s own Cezar “Mutante” Ferreira in his second UFC co-main event appearance. Being counted out by many, “The Doberman” shocked a lot of people with a quick first round T/KO of Ferreira. Six years into his UFC career, Dollaway had finally made some real noise in the middleweight division. The 31-year old took on French-Canadian Francis Carmont for his next fight at UFC Fight Night 41 in Germany, where he made his third UFC co-main event appearance. After three competitive rounds of action, Dollaway defeated Carmont via unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards and with it, took home ‘Performance of the Night’ honors. After three co-main event appearances, and having been victorious in all three of them, Dollaway was paired up against former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida in his first ever five round UFC main event match-up at UFC Fight Night 58. “The Doberman” made his third trip to Brazil with high hopes, but unfortunately for him, this night would not play out like the others. One minute and one body-kick was all “The Dragon” needed to dismantle “The Doberman” and put him away. Dollaway took a vicious shot that was heard all over the arena, and was momentarily paralyzed, allowing Machida to add a few punches for a TKO stoppage. Now back to the drawing board and eager to return to his winning ways, the 31-year old hopes to score another upset inside the Octagon when he takes on Bisping at UFC 186 in April. Following a second round guillotine choke submission loss to Luke Rockhold, the Brit will be looking to do just the same. Bisping vs Dollaway is going to be a fun fight between a couple of ranked 185-pounders looking to get their careers back on track, and it is one that could be a real sleeper for the evening’s ‘Fight of the Night’ bonus come April 25.

Written by Gabe Killian

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