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First of all, I give a ton of credit to Amir Sadollah. Going into this season of The Ultimate Fighter, he had a professional record of 0-0 in his MMA. That's right - no pro fights. Sure, he had been a kickboxer for a while and had some amateur fights. There were many people that were upset to see someone without any pro experience get invited onto the TV show.
In the end, Sadollah proved that he belonged on the show. He showed that he was very tough and very crafty in his fights. Plus, he quickly developed his ground skills which he most notably put on display in his two wins over C.B. Dalloway.
Dalloway was a very good wrestler at Arizona State and was easily the favorite to win the show and a UFC contract. But Sadollah was simply better. There were no fluke wins - he was simply the better man.
As for his future in the UFC, he will definitely have to step up his game even more to compete on that level. If he trains with a good camp, I think he can make the strides to be a good fighter. He will probably need to drop down to the 170 lb. division because at 185, I think he could get gobbled up by the bigger, stronger middleweights.
Sadollah is no joke and with his personality and improved skills, he can prove to be a true star.
- Evan Tanner looks old and it's not just his beard. The 37-year-old looked slow and outmatched in his fight against the younger and more energetic Kendall Grove. I have all the respect in the world for Tanner but the newer crop of fighters are simply quicker, faster and have better all-around skills.
I hates watch the UFC legend take a beating at the hands at Grove. At least he was able to last all three rounds and had a bit of a comeback in the third and final round. But Tanner just didn't have it and you have to wonder if he can get it back.
- Speaking of the fight between Grove and Tanner, who was the judge that scored it 29-28 in favor of Tanner? The other two judges had the same score as I did which was 30-26 for Grove with a 10-8 for the second round. I have no idea what the judge was thinking in giving Tanner the victory who was clearly beaten.
Judges like that hurt the sport and make people question their ability to be in that spot. I almost wonder if MMA judges need to go to a special course on what to look for and how to score fights, especially since many of them are coming from boxing. MMA is a totally different game where you have to look at takedowns, submission attempts, grappling and boxing to truly score the fight.
- Diego Sanchez looked very impressive in his win over Luigi Fioravanti. Sanchez looked overwhelmed last year with back-to-back losses to Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch. Earlier this year, he scored a first round win over David Bielkheden which had to boost his confidence.
Against Fioravanti, he showed that he is much more than just a wrestler with great ground and pound skills as he put his boxing on display, picking him apart with his fists. When he gets the chance, Sanchez will pounce on his opponent which he did here, putting Fioravanti on his heels with a big punch followed by a flying knee to the head.
Sanchez refused to move down in weight to lightweight and still believes he is a top contender in the packed welterweight division. It will be interesting to see who he is matched up against next. My guess would be a third fight against his nemesis Koscheck who he desperately wants to redeem himself against.
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