The Ultimate Fighter 3 Finale: Count on Victory

Michael Bisping (Photo: omnifeed.com)

TUF Season 3 Finale – Las Vegas, Nev. – Hard Rock Hotel & Casino – June 24, 2006

Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock led their troops into battle for the finale of The Ultimate Fighter Season 3.

Ortiz and Shamrock, the TUF 3 coaches, battled each other two weeks later in the main event of UFC 61: Bitter Rivals. Ortiz won by TKO in 78 seconds.

Michael “The Count” Bisping won the TUF 3 light heavyweight tournament over fellow Team Ortiz member Josh Haynes on a TKO late in the second round.

Kendall Grove, also from Team Ortiz, won the middleweight tournament by unanimous decision over Ed Herman of Team Shamrock.

Bisping was a top challenger for a several years before finally capturing the UFC middleweight title from Luke Rockhold in 2016.

Grove compiled a 7-6 UFC record over the ensuing five years. Herman was so impressive in defeat that he earned a job and was a mainstay in the Octagon over the next decade. 

In the lightweight main event, Kenny Florian beat Sam “Hands of Stone” Stout with a rear naked choke at 1:46.

“The Dean of Mean” Keith Jardine opened the Spike TV telecast with a unanimous decision win over Wilson Gouveia.

In a preliminary fight that aired on TV, Matt Hamill beat Jesse Forbes by TKO in 4:47.

Several other TUF 3 contestants were featured in the following preliminary fights:

• ·         Mike Nickels beat Wes Combs with a rear naked choke in 3:10;
• ·         Luigi Fioravanti knocked out Solomon Hutcherson in 4:15;
• ·         Kalib Starnes beat Danny Abbadi with a rear naked choke at 2:56; and
• ·         Rory Singer beat Ross Pointon with a triangle choke in 44 seconds.