Fight Preview: Phil Baroni vs. Amir Saddollah

It would now seem that the struggle to sign MMA fighter Phil Baroni is over. The fight between the UFC and Strikeforce to sign Baroni had been reported on nearly every MMA related website around. While Baroni isn’t the most talented fighter around, he was more like the average piece of meat both the UFC and Strikeforce wanted for the sole reason of angering each other. The UFC would eventually win this battle, getting Baroni to sign a contract with them over their competitor Strikeforce. Much like Tito Ortiz, Baroni is a fighter who’s prime is well behind him but is looking to make a comeback in the sport. This move could come back to bite the UFC if Baroni doesn’t perform well in his first fight, which could very well end in the termination of his contract.

Baroni is set to take on The Ultimate Fighter winnier Amir Saddollah at UFC 106. Saddollah lost his most recent fight, his professional debut for the UFC against Johny Hendricks in an extremely controversial TKO stoppage. The fight between the two could be very costly for either fighter, both men are coming off of losses. Saddollah has yet to prove himself to the UFC as a legitimate contender, but the fact that he won the reality show and signed a contract for a certain number of fights, he could arguably lose every fight he fought in the UFC and not get cut from his original contract just because he won the show and it would be in bad taste for him to be cut with so much time invested in him. Whereas for Baroni things aren’t so convenient, Baroni lost his last fight to tough former UFC fighter, Joe Riggs in a fight which saw Baroni completely exhausted and struggling to stay standing let alone fighting. Baroni was merely a pawn in the games of UFC, who literally just wanted to give the middle finger to Strikeforce rather than actually getting Baroni for his ability or pulling power. So if Baroni is to lose, there is a much greater chance that Baroni will be tossed aside once he fights his first fight.

The fight itself is really against Phil Baroni. Saddollah doesn’t have the most powerful strikes but he is an extremely technical striker and his ground game is a league above Baroni’s. All that Baroni has going for him is the first 3 minutes of the fight, he has the chance of catching Saddollah with a big power punch that could knock Amir clean out but that is just 3 minutes of the scheduled 15 minutes. Baroni has notoriously bad cardio, which makes his chances of winning the fight by anyway other than an early knockout almost impossible. Saddollah should be able to see his punches coming, avoid them and counter with his own.

Saddollah wins either by submission or decision.