CONTACTABOUTFACEBOOKTWITTERPODCAST IPHONE APPANDROID APPAMAZON APPWINDOWS APPRSS
NEW FORUM

GOT THE MMATORCH APP YET?
iPhone & iPad
Android
Kindle Fire
Windows Phone
MMATORCH IPHONE APP

MMATORCH

All the MMA News • Plus Intelligent, Brilliant, Addictive Points of View!
Independently Covering MMA Since 1993 • No Big Corporate Bosses

Roundtables
ROUNDTABLE: Who should Anthony Johnson and Amir Sadollah fight next after UFC Fight Night 24 victories? Hansen, Hobaugh, Hyden, Bacior, Perez, Williams, Pelkey and Penick
Mar 31, 2011 - 10:50:18 PM
ROUNDTABLE: Who should Anthony Johnson and Amir Sadollah fight next after UFC Fight Night 24 victories? Hansen, Hobaugh, Hyden, Bacior, Perez, Williams, Pelkey and Penick
DISCUSS ALL THIS IN OUR NEW MMATORCH FORUM
...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!



LogoUFC_150_859.jpg
Who should be the next opponent for Anthony "Rumble" Johnson and Amir Sadollah following their wins in Seattle?

RICH HANSEN, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

Amir Sadollah looked better than he ever has looked, but it was against DaMarques Johnson.  Word on the street is that Brian Ebersole is next for him, and that makes sense to me.  Sadollah's not top 25, and would get drawn and quartered against someone like Carlos Condit.  As for Rumble, this guy is a contender.  I agree with the sentiment that he should fight Thiago Alves or Rick Story next.  Who wouldn't want to see Rumble vs. Alves?

ERIC HOBAUGH, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Both fighters are deserving and ready for tougher competition. Even though Johnson lost to Josh Koscheck in his last fight sixteen months ago, he is ready to compete against higher ranked opponents. If he were healthy the past sixteen months, he would have fought three or four times.

At this point, I like him against Carlos Condit.

Amir Sadollah would match nicely against Mick Swick or Matt Hughes.  I also think Sadollah and Johnson could fight each other. That would be a great fight.

FRANK HYDEN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Well, I know that Anthony Johnson needed a win, and did what he had to, but I just don't think he showed anything. What did he really prove? I think he's basically in the same position he was in before the fight. Yeah, he beat Dan Hardy with some average wrestling, but that won't work against the top guys in the division. If Johnson couldn't finish Hardy on the ground, how would he be able to beat Josh Koscheck or Georges St. Pierre on the ground?

I'm of the mindset that you should work to be better than you were in your last fight. I just don't think that's the case with Johnson here. I don't think he improved as a fighter. We all know Dan Hardy is weak in his ground game, but Johnson couldn't finish him. He never really even came that close to finishing him. Johnson wanted a safe win, and that's fine, but I don't think that kind of style allows you to grow as a fighter. Being safe doesn't push you to better yourself.

I really like Anthony Johnson, but he didn't show much in that fight. That being said, I'd put him up against Carlos Condit in his next fight. I think Johnson is a really good fighter, and he should be in there against high-level opponents.

As for Sadollah, I love his talking style and the way he fights. He also definitely deserves a step up in competition. I don't know if I'd put him up against Anthony Johnson, but that would be an interesting fight. Whoever Sadollah faces had better be careful, this guy is a dangerous fighter and if he can stay healthy he'll be a fixture in the Welterweight division for the next handful of years.

MIKE BACIOR, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

I feel like "Rumble" vs Condit could be a very exciting fight, and would push the winner into the upper echelon of the division. I think Rumble might try and work the same strategy he did against Hardy, and it would be very interesting to see if Condit could answer.
 
As for Sadollah, I think Sadollah-Kampmann would be a very technical stand-up battle. It could either push Amir towards the Top 10 or help Kampmann end his two fight slide. I like the matchup.

ANWAR PEREZ, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

For Anthony Johnson, possibly a rematch against Josh Koscheck, or maybe Chris Lytle.  Sadollah is a different story.  I still think he needs to work on his overall game, and could use some improvement before testing the waters in the top 10. One more fight for either outside of the top 10 would help before diving in head first, and coming out the same way.

ALEX WILLIAMS, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

I might put Anthony Johnson against Jake Ellenberger and would have put Amir Sadollah against Ricardo Almeida had Almeida not retired. But someone on that level works next for Sadollah.

MATT PELKEY, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

Rumble made weight (hooray!) and beat an opponent above him in the division, so he's due for another name brand opponent. It looks like he wants Jon Howard, but Martin Kampmann or Diego Sanchez would also be perfectly appropriate opponents as well. As for Amir, he looked good beating up on a late-notice replacement, but he needs a stiffer test. He'll probably get another mid-level veteran for his next opponent, but fights with Chris Lytle or the loser of the Rory MacDonald-Nate Diaz fight at UFC 129 would be sick.

JAMIE PENICK, MMATORCH EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Johnson fought an extremely smart fight against Dan Hardy, and now it's time for him to take on another top contender in the division. He's bordering on a top ten placement himself, but in order to really break into contention he needs to get a big win. I like him against the winner of Thiago Alves vs. Rick Story for his next fight, and we'll see just where Johnson's at in the division.

As for Sadollah, he looked fantastic against Johnson, but he's not anywhere close to being in the upper end of the division. There are plenty of fantastic matchups to make in the welterweight division, and Sadollah could play a part in a lot of them. A rematch against Johny Hendricks could be a good chance for him to show how far he's come since their first meeting, which was only his second career fight. A bout with Brian Ebersole that has been tossed out there makes sense as well. Really, anyone the UFC wants to pit him against outside of the top ten but in the top 20-25 would work for him right now.


DON'T GO YET... WE SUGGEST THESE MMATORCH ARTICLES, TOO!
ROUNDTABLE: Reactions to Benson Henderson leaving UFC for Bellator MMA
ROUNDTABLE: Who should get the next shot at Robbie Lawler and the UFC Welterweight Championship?
ROUNDTABLE: Who should Nick Diaz fight next now that he's been cleared for August UFC return?

comments powered by Disqus
HERE ARE EVEN MORE ARTICLES THAT MIGHT INTEREST YOU

SELECT ARTICLES BY CATEGORY
SEARCH MMATORCH BY KEYWORD


MMATORCH CALENDAR OF EVENTS
CLICK HERE FOR LIST OF UPCOMING MMA EVENTS
CLICK TO SEE A UFC VIDEO BELOW

ARTICLES OF INTEREST ELSEWHERE
MMATORCH POLL - VOTE NOW!

Will T.J. Dillashaw and Urijah Faber eventually fight?
 
pollcode.com free polls

Do you think Daniel Cormier will defeat returning Jon Jones to legitimize UFC Light Heavyweight Title reign?
 
pollcode.com free polls

VOTE IN OR SEE RESULTS OF PREVIOUS POLLS

MMATORCH WEEKLY LIVECAST
Listen to the weekly MMATORCH LIVECAST on Blog Talk Radio


MMATORCH STAFF

EDITORS:

Wade Keller, supervising editor
(mmatorch@gmail.com)

Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)

STAFF COLUMNISTS:

Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey


Interested in joining MMATorch's writing team? Send idea for a theme to your column (for Specialist section) or area of interest (i.e. TV Reporter) along with a sample of writing to mmatorch@gmail.com.

MORE MMA SITES
CONTACTABOUTFACEBOOKTWITTERPODCAST IPHONE APPANDROID APPAMAZON APPWINDOWS APPRSS
THE TORCH: #1 IN COMBAT ENTERTAINMENT COVERAGE | © 1999-2013 TDH Communications Inc. • All rights reserved -- PRIVACY POLICY