UFC 130: Kendall Grove Welcomes Tim Boetsch to Middleweight

via i132.photobucket.com

Few obscure UFC gifs are as beloved as Tim "The Barbarian" Boetsch's Octagon debut against David Heath.  At the tail end of the first round, Boetsch unceremoniously chucked Heath into the cage and unloaded, conjuring permutations such as "redneck judo" to describe the maneuver.  While Boetsch had made impact in his debut, he struggled afterward, going 1-2 before being released from his UFC contract.  Upon returning to the regional circuit, Boetsch won three straight, earning an opportunity to return to the UFC at UFC 117, where he handed Todd Brown his first loss in over three years.  Boetsch was then placed against Phil Davis, who showed off his size and wrestling advantages en route to victory via "Wonderbar".

Kendall Grove's UFC career is similarly inconsistent.  After winning three straight to mark his ascension from TUF, Grove lost back-to-back bouts to future title contender Patrick Cote and the hard-hitting Jorge Rivera.  Since then, Grove is 3-3 (making for a career 7-5 UFC record) and coming off of a unanimous decision loss to Demian Maia in December.  While Grove remains the tallest fighter at middleweight (and, outside of heavyweight, perhaps the tallest fighter in the UFC), he's proven unable to deal with opponents that have large leads over him in any one specific avenue, be it grappling, striking or sheer size and power.

This won't be Grove's first time battling a fallen light heavyweight in the 185 division - largely buried beneath the two unsatisfying championship bout decisions that headlined the card, UFC 112's FOTY featured Mark Munoz recovering from a brutal first round to win via TKO in the second.  While Boetsch doesn't have even the minimal track record that Munoz had at 185, his primary flaw in losses to Matt Hamill and Jason Brilz appeared to be his size - at 185, Boetsch will be much more competitive on a body size/strength basis.  Grove's problems in his losses are harder to identify - he's sure not going to make the cut to 170 anytime soon, and he's been beaten by UD, KO and TKO (let me take this opportunity to give Grove credit for going 15 minutes with Demian Maia without being submitted) since joining the UFC.  Some nights, he looks like he has it all together, and on other nights, it looks like brute strength and aggression are all that's required to beat him.

Will redneck judo make a comeback, or does Kendall continue his epic, winding march toward the top of the division?  Vote in the poll and defend yourself in the comments - HKL's predictions will be up after the weigh-ins!