Boetsch Wants Dollaway, More TUF Fighters Next

Tim Boetsch (Pictured) is ready to make a run in the UFC middleweight division.

After dropping from light heavyweight and earning an impressive decision over “The Ultimate Fighter 3” winner Kendall Grove at UFC 130, Boetsch now has his sights set on more alums of the reality show.

“There are so many guys in this weight class that I’d absolutely love to beat up and that I think I can put on a good show against,” Boetsch said recently during a “Savage Dog Show” interview on the Sherdog Radio Network. “A lot of them happen to be ‘Ultimate Fighter’ show guys. I don’t know if I can maybe get a streak going where I beat up guys from the ‘Ultimate Fighter’ show. We’ll see what happens and who they throw me next, but certainly C.B. Dollaway would be on the hit list.”

Dollaway is scheduled to fight Jared Hamman at the Aug. 14 UFC Live 5 card, but Boetsch has other opponents in mind as well. Namely, TUF 3 light heavyweight winner Michael Bisping.

“I always wanted to fight Bisping, but I know obviously he’s a little bit higher up the ladder than I am right now,” Boetsch said. “I wanted to take a shot at him when he was at light heavyweight. So now we’re back in the same weight class again, and hopefully we’ll get a chance to cross paths in the Octagon at some point.”

Boetsch made the move to 185 pounds after his November 2010 loss to Phil Davis. If he hadn’t lost that fight, he said he’d probably still be a light heavyweight. The submission defeat opened his eyes, however.

“I knew it wasn’t the training that I was missing because I went into that Phil Davis fight in great shape,” Boetsch said. “The fact that he submitted me with that freaky, behind-the-back arm crank, I’d never been tapped with that even in practice. It really made me go back to the drawing board and think what could I have changed to make the outcome of that fight different. Really it just came down to I needed to be able to get back to my roots as a fighter. Part of who I am as a fighter is certainly being stronger and throwing my weight around a little bit more in the Octagon. Making the move down to middleweight was the only thing that really made sense for us to do, and it was the right choice.”

Boetsch was dominant against Grove. He scored takedowns at will and pounded on Grove from the top position, never tiring despite cutting to middleweight for the first time.

“Once I got in on the legs and felt how easily I could take him down, I certainly wasn’t going to forget that,” Boetsch said. “I went back to it a bunch of times and I was able to control him on the ground. Overall I was very happy with my performance. It was good to make the weight and perform in the cage for the first time. I was actually happy to be able to fight three rounds hard. Now I know that I can do the weight cut and then fight for 15 minutes hard if I have to.”

Boetsch also knows he’s a powerful middleweight. He called his strength advantage a “nice change” from his days at light heavyweight.

“For the first time in a long time, [I was] able to overpower my opponent,” Boetsch said. “Which in the lower levels of fighting on my way up through, I was able to do that. When I got in the UFC, things kind of changed. It’s kind of hard to push people around the way I was able to in the smaller leagues. This was the first time I’ve felt a significant strength advantage over my opponent. As you saw, I was able to take advantage of that through clinch work, taking him down and grinding him out on the ground. That aspect certainly felt easier than I expected, but Kendall came ready to fight.”

Listen to the full interview (beginning at 1:29:38).