C. B. Dollaway

Early life

Dollaway graduated from Northmor High School near Galion, Ohio where he was a state champion wrestler in the 171 lb weight class. After high school Dollaway attended Colby Community College in Colby, Kansas. While at Colby, Dollaway won the JUCO National Championships. Soon after, Dollaway moved to Tempe, Arizona to attend Arizona State University where he earned a bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary studies with a concentration in sociology and justice studies. Wrestling since the age of five, Dollaway continued the sport at Arizona State University, earning All-American status in 2006, taking 5th place in the 184 lb. bracket as a tenth seed.

Dollaway left Arizona Combat Sports to train at Power MMA and Fitness with The Ultimate Fighter 8 Light Heavyweight winner Ryan Bader.

The Ultimate Fighter

Dollaway appeared on the seventh season of the reality television series, The Ultimate Fighter. He earned a spot on the show when he defeated David Baggett by TKO. Rampage Jackson won the initial coin toss and decided to pick the first fighter, Dollaway. Dollaway did not have his first fight until the last preliminary fight, going up against Nick Klein. Dollaway defeated Klein by guillotine choke in the second round. Dollaway then went on to fight Cale Yarbrough in the quarter-finals. Dollaway won the fight by TKO in the first round. Dollaway's next opponent was the future winner of the show Amir Sadollah, Sadollah won by an armbar submission in the third round. After Jesse Taylor was forced out of the show, Dana White needed someone to fight Sadollah in the finale. Dollaway and Tim Credeur fought to see who would be in the finale. After three rounds, Dollaway won by unanimous decision. Sadollah defeated Dollaway for the second time by armbar to win the show. Although it appeared that Dollaway had tapped, shortly after the fight he proclaimed he did not in fact tap, which Joe Rogan disputed.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Following up on his loss at The Ultimate Finale, where he was runner-up, he was offered a fight against fighter Jesse Taylor at UFC Fight Night: Silva vs. Irvin where he won by Peruvian necktie in the first round. This was the first time in UFC history this submission was successfully used and earned Dollaway Submission of the Night honors.

At UFC 92, Dollaway returned to action, for his eighth fight of 2008, against Mike Massenzio, a fighter who he had formerly defeated in his Junior College wrestling career. Dollaway defeated Massenzio by TKO due to punches at 3:01 of the first round. After being stunned by a Massenzio punch and nearly being caught in a guillotine choke, Dollaway secured top position, took Massenzio's back and pounded his opponent with punches until the referee halted the bout. After the stoppage Dollaway celebrated with a howl similar to that of his coach on The Ultimate Fighter, Quinton Jackson. Massenzio later stated that Dollaway tapped out during their match.

Dollaway had his fourth fight for the UFC taking on Tom Lawlor at UFC 100 on the preliminary card. In the beginning of the bout, Dollaway shot in for a takedown but was quickly ensnared in a guillotine choke. Lawlor tightly locked the hold, and moments later Lawlor looked up to the ref stating Dollaway had lost consciousness, ending the bout 55 seconds into the first round.

He was scheduled to fight Dan Miller on September 16, 2009 at UFC Fight Night 19. However, Miller got an infection and had to withdraw. Newcomer Jay Silva was named as his replacement. Dollaway outwrestled Silva for three rounds, winning a unanimous decision.

Dollaway next faced Goran Reljic on February 21, 2010 at UFC 110. Dollaway was able to win via unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring the bout 29–28.

Dollaway faced Joe Doerksen on September 25, 2010 at UFC 119. Dollaway defeated Doerksen by modified guillotine choke at 2:47 of the opening frame. In this bout, Dollaway showed exceptional grappling skills, locking on to an arm in guillotine and trying to submit his opponent. Then a scrambled ensued, with Dollaway switching to a Peruvian Necktie choke from the mount and forcing Doerksen to tap. He was awarded his second Submission of the Night award for this victory.

Dollaway faced Mark Muñoz on March 3, 2011 at UFC Live: Sanchez vs. Kampmann and lost by KO for the first time in his career at only 54 seconds of the first round.

Dollaway was defeated via second round TKO by Jared Hamman on August 14, 2011 at UFC on Versus 5.

Dollaway faced Jason Miller on May 26, 2012 at UFC 146. He weathered the striking of Miller at the beginning of each round and used his wrestling and ground and pound to control the latter part of the rounds, en route to a unanimous decision victory. In a post-fight interview, with Ariel Helwani, Dollaway stated that he was happy with his performance, and that the win was big for his career. However, many fans were disappointed with Dollaway for having held Mayhem down for almost the entirety of the fight without having mounted much offense.

Dollaway defeated Daniel Sarafian on January 19, 2013 at UFC on FX: Belfort vs. Bisping. The exciting three round affair earned both fighters the 'Fight of the Night' bonus.

Dollaway was expected to face Cezar Ferreira on May 18, 2013 at UFC on FX 8. However, Dollaway pulled out of the bout citing an injury and was replaced by Chris Camozzi.

Dollaway faced Tim Boetsch on October 19, 2013 at UFC 166, replacing an injured Luke Rockhold. While Dollaway seemingly controlled the action for the majority of the bout, he was docked a point for multiple eye pokes to Boetsch and lost the fight via split decision.

A bout with Cezar Ferreira eventually took place on March 23, 2014 at UFC Fight Night 38. Dollaway won the fight via KO in the first round.

Dollaway faced Francis Carmont on May 31, 2014 at UFC Fight Night 41. He won the fight by unanimous decision. The win also earned Dollaway his first Performance of the Night bonus award. This also marks the first time the UFC promotion has given a Performance of the Night bonus to a fighter who won their fight by decision.

Dollaway faced Lyoto Machida on December 20, 2014 at UFC Fight Night 58. He lost via TKO in the first round.

Dollaway faced Michael Bisping on April 25, 2015 at UFC 186. Despite dropping Bisping in the first round, Dollaway lost the fight by unanimous decision.

Dollaway next faced Nate Marquardt on December 19, 2015 at UFC on Fox 17. After a back-and-forth first round, Dollaway lost the fight via knockout in the second round.

Dollaway was expected to face Francimar Barroso in a light heavyweight bout on September 10, 2016 at UFC 203. On the day of the event, Dollaway suffered a back injury at his hotel due to a malfunctioning elevator and was unable to participate. As a result, Barroso was also removed from the event.

Amateur wrestling

Mixed martial arts