Fight fans are looking forward to this Saturday’s finals for UFC’s “The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rampage vs. Team Forrest“. Amir Sadollah and C.B. Dollaway will square off in the championship match at The Pearl in Las Vegas; Dollaway is the favorite at –160, although he’s lucky even to be in Saturday’s fight. Sadollah upset Dollaway in the semis, but Jesse Taylor lost his spot in the finals after getting drunk and disorderly outside the Palace Station.

UFC will serve up Evan Tanner vs. Kendall Grove in the main event. Tanner is a heavy –200 chalk even though he hasn’t won a fight since 2006. The former Middleweight champion came out of semi-retirement to sign a four-bout deal with UFC; his return in March was a losing proposition at the hands (and knees) of Yushin Okami. Grove is also trying to get back into the win column after consecutive losses to Patrick Cote and Jorge Rivera.

Being named a coach on The Ultimate Fighter is a sure sign you’ve made it in the UFC. It’s also a great way to sell some pay-per-views.

Season 8 of the ongoing reality series has been announced, and decorated heavyweight fighters Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Frank Mir will be the coaches. This will be the third year in a row that the coaches are the selling point right up front - this season is called Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir.

Conveniently enough, Nogueira and Mir will fight for the Heavyweight title following the conclusion of the series. Nogueira is the “Interim” champion after defeating Tim Sylvia via submission at UFC 81. Mir is the former champion who spoiled Brock Lesnar’s UFC debut at the same show with a first-round kneebar submission. Both Nogueira and Mir were getting pummeled before trapping their opponents, and the crowd was against them. It’s true: Red means green.

If you’re looking for highlight videos of UFC 78, the best moments to look for were in the preliminary fights and the Silva vs. Alexander matchup. Everyone expected the Alexander / Silva fight to end with a KO, and the boys didn’t disappoint when Silva got Alexander in full mount and KO’d him with strikes to the head in the first round.

But the stoppage of the night goes to Ed Herman for his win over veteran Canadian Joe Doerksen. Herman got the KO after the bell saved him in the previous round when Doerksen had Herman locked into an arm bar.

The most impressive video features Joe Lauzon’s win over Jason Reinhardt. Lauzon looked very sharp finishing Reinhardt with a rear naked choke in just over one minute of the first round. Lauzon has come a long way since the Ultimate Fighter series and will be one to watch for.

I’ll leave you with a video clip of the boring Silva/Alexander fight at UFC 78. Enjoy.

UFC 78 was not as anticipated as most UFC events, but it turned out to be a pretty good card of fights.

The main event will not be up for fight of the year. Bisping and Evans had an even fight with Evans gaining a small edge with some great takedowns. Bisping got the best of the stand-up fight but lost a split decision to the Ultimate Fighter 1 winner.

The Houston Alexander / Thiago Silva fight was a bit of a surprise. Alexander was exposed as the one-dimensional fighter that he is when Thiago quickly took him to the ground and gained full mount. Then Silva ground and pounded him to a first-round KO.

In the other fights Frank Edgar won a unanimous decision over Spencer Fisher. Ed Herman KO’d Joe Doerksen in Round 3, and Karo Parisyan won a unanimous decision over Ryo Chonan.

Everything was Camelot for the UFC. The Ultimate Fighter was a success, Chuck Liddell had mainstream appeal, and MMA was taking over the sports page where boxing used to be. Then Liddell lost to Quinton Jackson in May, and now Randy Couture wants to leave, presumably because Fedor Emelianenko wouldn’t sign with UFC.

Chalk it up to growing pains. And make no mistake, UFC president Dana White is making money hand over fist. According to a Time article this past July, the company is worth $1 billion. Not a lot of that money is being paid back out to the fighters – Tim Sylvia, for example, made $200,000 for beating Brandon Vera at UFC 77. Eight of the fighters on the card made four figures.

As for the UFC’s public image, expect more mainstream attention in the run-up to Liddell’s bout with Wanderlei Silva on Dec. 29 at UFC 79. The beat goes on.

The Ultimate Fighter makes for good TV for a couple of reasons. Beyond the fact that there’s a fight every episode, we also get a look into how the fighters train.

Putting all these guys into one house with the knowledge that they have to beat each other to win the prize is sure to create some fireworks. Let’s face it; a couple of these guys have been idiots, regardless of their fighting ability. Put a couple of idiots in a room full of fighters and you’ve got the Ultimate Fighter.

It’s also cool to get to know the MMA stars that are coaching the teams. The coverage gives the fan a great look at the personality behind the brawlers; an unprecedented way to present both the sport’s current best and the most promising up-and-comers at the same time. The show creates UFC heroes before they even step into the Octagon.