The case for Amir Sadollah

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source: espn.com

Frankly, the fact that Sadollah has even won six fights in the Octagon as little more than a rookie is amazing and speaks to his exceptional talent. Clearly however, his entire UFC experience has been a case of too much, too soon. Even the organization appears to at least tacitly understand this, as you now can’t apply to appear on “The Ultimate Fighter” without a handful of professional bouts on your résumé.

At a stage when most welterweights would just be finding their sea legs, Sadollah is competing in high-profile, televised “co-main event” fights against (theoretically, at least) UFC-caliber opponents. At a point where most 170-pounders would just be starting to think about getting noticed by one of the bigger organizations, he’s already made the transition from "up-and-comer" to “sturdy UFC veteran.”

Has it worked out for him? Maybe is some ways. Certainly he's attained more exposure and made far more money than he might have by taking a more conventional route to the UFC. Maybe that’s the most important thing.

In a case like Sadollah’s though, you have to wonder. You have to wonder what his career arc would have looked like if he’d had 6-8 pro fights before coming to the UFC. You have to wonder if taking a shortcut to the top by winning “The Ultimate Fighter” was the best thing to happen to him as a fighter, or the worst.

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5/18/12 7:50 PM by khaynes21

I read this earlier today. I am not sure what to make of it, besides the fact Sadollah is catching alot of flack.

5/18/12 7:47 PM by adamscheulen

You people are crazy! He got a co-main on a Tuesday night in his home state that's not that crazy and his UFC record is pretty good for it being his entire mma career and he is always in a battle so wtf is wrong? Please feel free to do better

5/18/12 6:48 PM by jdb2414

Seems like a nice guy, but I don't think he currently belongs in the UFC. If he was a freak athlete with unreal quickness and power, I'd understand a bit, but he's not someone that seems to have all of this potential.Just my opinion.

5/18/12 6:40 PM by jasonhightower

Me too, I love watching him fight as well as the fact he has successfully moved forward from TUF. Albeit a little slower progression than some, but fun to watch him anyway.

5/18/12 6:13 PM by KZTT_W85

I'll prob get hate but everytime I see him on the card I'm dissapointed.Not a fighter who I love to watch ( and that list is very small )

5/18/12 6:09 PM by JerodR

Amir has always kind of reminded me of Forrest Griffen. Very likeable guy. I guess the point of the article is that we may not be getting the best Amir at this point because he is so new to MMA. However, personally I think he is doing just fine. If he keeps at it he will be something to see in a few years for sure.

5/18/12 5:10 PM by OctagonJitters

I'm not even sure what exact point the author is trying to make here. He's saying Amir's UFC experience is somehow "clearly" a case of "too much, too soon" despite the fact that he's gone 6-3. Doesn't seem like a clear case of too much too soon to me. He's not even in the slightest danger of being cut. And he's on one hand says Amir has been thrown to the lions but at the same time disparaging his opponents saying they are "(theoretically at least) UFC-caliber opponents." It's not like Amir's the only guy in recent years to have his first pro fight be in the UFC (Mitrione comes to mind, and he seems to have done alright for himself). And as far as having 6 pro fights under his belt before came to the UFC goes... I don't really see much compelling evidence that he'd be all that much different. And it seems especially irrelevant now seeing as he's now had over six fights (and against better competition than he would have seen on local circuits), and he's still around and hasn't suffered any bad career altering knockouts or injuries along the way. So what's the difference? If Jon Jones didn't have those 6 fights over the course of 3 months before coming to the UFC I don't doubt that might have negatively impacted his UFC debut. But somehow I doubt that his career would have then ended up being something more like Amir's than the one he currently enjoys.I think you could make a better case for a "too much, too soon" for a guy like Edward Faaloloto who was just 2-0 and pretty much given to Anthony Njokuani as a gift in the WEC, when Anthony was on a 2 fight skid (but was 13-4 with 6 WEC fights). Njokuani stops him. Then he gets brought to the UFC to get stopped by Michael Johnson who needed an easy fight after losing the Ultimate Fighter Finale. Then he's given another fight so he can be a gift for Terry Etim who needed an easy fight after a long injury layoff (14-3 vs 2-2). Who knows, maybe Faaloloto wouldn't have amounted to much anyways, but seems like he got thrown at a bunch of guys with way more experience off the bat and suffered for it.

5/18/12 12:07 PM by UGCTT_Bispingstolemysn

I really like Amir. Remember... He was not supposed to Win TUF. Period. He was filling a slot. He won that on heart and grit. He beat CB 2 times! It is what it is, but i like that kid. Baboo baby!

5/18/12 11:55 AM by GSP24

Yeah but he beat some tough guys that season! Probably had one of the toughest roads to the finale, except maybe Rashad.

5/18/12 11:33 AM by Salokcin69

This. What the fuck is dude talking about??? Maybe if Amir was getting his ass handed to him every fight, I'd agree. But he's tearing shit up. I don't get it.

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