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By: Jason Bent, MMATorch Columnist The third bout on the card features the most recent winner of "The Ultimate Fighter" making his big time PPV debut in Sadollah, taking on another promising upstart in Nick Catone who is simply making his UFC debut. Sadollah sports a 1-0 record with his one win being a submission victory over C.B. Dollaway at "The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale," and this should prove to be a more than adequate test for him in his second time out.
For both of these men this fight stands as a major one as Sadollah is hoping to continue his success since winning the "six figure contract" and Catone is hoping to make a huge splash in his first UFC fight and when you have two young and hungry fighters who are trying to make their way in this sport it means that this one could prove to be a highly entertaining one to watch.
Amir Sadollah became known to fans of MMA by appearing on and winning the season of "The Ultimate Fighter 7" by defeating the highly regarded C.B. Dollaway not once, but two times in a row, with both wins coming by way of submission due to an arm bar. Sadollah entered into "TUF" without any professional MMA experience and only four amateur fights under his belt and it was truly impressive that he went as far as he did by winning the entire thing when the odds seemed to be so against him doing so.
Sadollah endeared himself to fans by displaying a great deal of heart along with a very pleasing personality and seems ready to take it to the next level. In fighting Catone, Sadollah can take a big step forward and begin to try and establish himself on the scene and begin to climb the middleweight ranks.
Nick Catone was a highly decorated collegiate wrestler who was simply one of the best in the ranks of the NCAA Division I while attending Rider University. Catone was a four year letterman at Rider and had 100 wins over the course of his career. He began training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in 2005 and currently holds the rank of purple belt.
Catone's career in MMA began in May of 2007 and his record currently stands at 6-0 with 3 of those coming by way of TKO; 2 by submission and 1 by unanimous decision. Nick was the USKBA Middleweight Champion and a fighter for the Ring of Combat promotion before signing with the UFC and this fight it his chance to make his arrival known by defeating a fighter with a modicum of name recognition in Sadollah.
For Amir Sadollah to win this fight it is going to take every ounce of his heart and desire coupled with improvements to his game which surely must have come since becoming a member of Xtreme Couture. In facing C.B. Dollaway twice, Amir has already been in there with a very skilled and top flight collegiate wrestler who was physically superior to him in many ways.
Sadollah is a very calm and efficient fighter who was able to capitalize on Dollaway's mistakes. This was not a matter of getting lucky but rather the results of a very cerebral fighter who is always thinking ahead rather than just simply reacting. Sadollah should be reserved going into this fight, but he should realize that Catone is going to be a house on fire with the determination to make a name for himself at Amir's expense. This shall be a good test of how far Sadollah has come at this point. It is a given that Catone should be able to take Sadollah down but this fight is Amir's to win if Catone brings nothing more than rudimentary submission defense skills into this fight.
If Nick Catone is going to come out victorious it is going to be because he out willed and outworked Sadollah and was able to use his size advantage to the fullest to wear down Amir. There is no doubt in my mind that Catone can take this one to the ground whenever he wants and he does have a chance to pull this one off by way of ground and pound but this one comes down to how sharp he is in defending the submission attempts of Sadollah.
Experience goes to Catone overall but in terms of doing it front of the bright lights and the big crowds, you have to give the nod to Sadollah as he has the advantage of already fighting in the octagon on his resume. Catone's nerves could be his undoing and it is very important that he comes into this fight at least half as calm as Sadollah will be as he can ill afford to make a mistake against such a foe. Catone is going to have to use his size and physicality to bully Sadollah and hope that he can stay out of harms way for long enough to pound out a stoppage or take it to the scorecards.
Bent's prediction: Sadly, this fight is not going to happen as Sadollah has been forced to withdraw due to a leg infection. I predict we shall get to see this fight at a later date and I sincerely hope I am correct as this would be the right fight for both fighters. I felt that this one was going to go to the scorecard and my gut prediction was to be that Sadollah would have done just enough to eke this one out. Hopefully the two lock them up in the near future and I can get the chance to see how this one would have played out.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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