With a nickname like "Da Spyder" you’d think fighters would be afraid to go anywhere near Kendall Grove. But that hadn’t been the case in some recent fights against the likes of Jorge Rivera and Ricardo Almeida. Once those fights got into clinch situations, Grove was manhandled and easy to takedown. Last night at UFC 106, it looked like Grove turned the corner. In the opening minutes, he was being thrown around like a rag doll and taken down often by Jake Rosholt. The difference this time? Grove was actively looking to stand right back up and making Rosholt work hard to maintain position.
"I just gotta work with it. I can’t freak out when I’m down there," Grove told Cagewriter shortly after the win.
Rosholt, a three-time national champion wrestler at Oklahoma State, is still learning the nuances of submission defense. Grove is pretty slick with his triangle and d’arce choke…
