UFC 106 Preview: Can Amir Sadollah Weather the Storm Against Phil Baroni?

The sport of mixed martial arts definitely takes some aspects of its inner workings from the pro wrestling world. Fighters playing the role of "heel" in the lead-up to fights, but then hugging each other after a three-round war is a frequent occurrence in this sport, and the back-and-forth jawing between competitors within the MMA community and through the media is always a way to create a little hype for an upcoming bout. One of the absolute best in the business in terms of showmanship and being able to trash-talk his way into relevance is PRIDE and UFC veteran Phil "The New York Badass" Baroni (13-11, 3-5 UFC). He'll get one more crack in the UFC as he's tapped to take on The Ultimate Fighter Season 7 winner Amir Sadollah (1-1, 1-1 UFC) in a welterweight match-up.

Baroni enters the contest following a loss to fellow UFC veteran Joe "Diesel" Riggs back in June at Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields. Riggs was able to easily outwork Baroni in the later rounds, and his stand-up skills were much more honed than that of "The New York Badass". Baroni did, however, show some slightly improved conditioning, and he may have potentially tipped off a slight change in his workout routine that could benefit him in this match-up.

Sadollah's second professional bout took place at UFC 101 against a beefy NCAA D-I wrestler in Johny Hendricks. Surprisingly, Hendricks showed quick, powerful striking to down Sadollah early and finish him off in only 0:29 seconds. It was a huge disappointment for Sadollah, but he's a rather green mixed martial arts fighter at this point with only two total professional bouts, both being on the biggest stage in MMA.

Stylistically, Sadollah has all the advantages with the exception of power punching. He holds a black belt in Sambo, which gives him some advanced submission capabilities, and he also has a white belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, a color that will probably increase quickly with his experience in Sambo. He trains at Xtreme Couture with some of the best athletes in the sport, and he should be the all-around better fighter.

There is a major difference between "should" and "is" the all-around better fighter though. While Sadollah displayed his submission prowess on The Ultimate Fighter, he showed a weakness against Johny Hendricks. An aggressive fury of punching can overwhelm him, and it just so happens that Phil Baroni is one of those fighters that will go for broke to knock the head off his opponent's shoulders. Hendricks came out at a quick pace, but Baroni could potentially flip the switch and come out at ten times the aggressiveness that Hendricks displayed at UFC 101.

A lot of fans look over Baroni's record as a laundry list of reasons why we should look past him as a legitimate threat. Losses to Evan Tanner, Matt Lindland, Pete Sell, Kazuo Misaki, Frank Shamrock, Kala Hose, Joey Villasenor, and even Ikuhisa Minowa litter Baroni's past, but fighters like Tanner, Lindland, and Misaki were fighting in their primes when Baroni came calling. Baroni also found himself is some difficult fights, not for his skills, but because he possessed the quintessential body type of a Greek God, something that even the average Joe is drawn to in today's sport.

Despite all of Baroni's major defeats in his career, he'll still bring the pace and pain in this fight. The ultimate problem with his style is that he isn't very technical, but Sadollah's inability to weather the storm against Johny Hendricks could set off another bombardment of punches from his newest opponent at UFC 106 in the early moments of this fight. Sadollah's positional control and submission ability will be his strength, and I can see Sadollah taking Baroni's back and choking him out quickly in the later rounds as he tires, but hopefully his training at American Kickboxing Academy has increased that conditioning level some more since his last fight.

Picking Phil Baroni is more wishful thinking than a calculated, meticulously thought out decision, but as most of you know -- there is a special place in my heart for fighters who throw caution into the wind and swing for the fences, sleep with the prom queen, or defy authority figures. Melvin Manhoef will move over for one night and one night only, and I'll go with Phil Baroni in this fight. The only real concern is whether Baroni will make weight as he was at 195 yesterday.

With that said, I'll leave you with this (Interview with Nerd Society)

NS: If you could fight any celebrity, past or present, who would it be and why?

PB: I don’t fucking know, I don’t give a shit.

NS: Besides pork fried rice, what else do you like to eat?

PB: Pussy

NS: Are you a nerd at heart, like play video games or read comics?

PB: Fuck no. I hate that shit with a passion. I think it’s gay as fuck and a waste of time.

Just makes you want to pick Phil Baroni, doesn't it?