UFC 106 Picks - Amir Sadollah (-175) vs. Phil "The New York Badass" Baroni

While Amir Sadollah got the bad end of an early stoppage in his UFC debut against Johny Hendricks, that still doesn’t excuse the fact that he never should have been in that situation to begin with.

Hendricks, a tough wrestler from the WEC, took a few crisp shots from Sadollah including some kicks and superman punch before Sadollah got overconfident and let the shorter, more powerful Hendricks inside of his defenses where he clocked him with a massive shot that knocked Sadollah to the ground.

Sadollah seemed okay after a few extra shots from Hendricks, and a couple seemed to hit the back of Sadollah’s head, but the ref ended up stopping the fight anyway.

Now, UFC fans will get a chance to see if the former Ultimate Fighter can rebound in his second fight and, more importantly, learn from his mistakes. Because standing across from Sadollah in the Octagon on Saturday night will be Phil “The New York Badass” Baroni, one of the most compact, powerful boxers in the UFC.

The odds on this one have Sadollah listed as a -175 to +145 favorite going in against the underdog Baroni, but Sadollah will need to fight smarter in this one to come out with his first true UFC win in the welterweight division.

As for Baroni, one of the most colorful and brash personalities the sport has ever seen, a former boxer and bodybuilder, the key for him will be to follow the blueprint Hendricks created and get inside of Sadollah to overpower him.

The UFC basically signed him to add more drama and personality to the division and to keep him away from Strikeforce because of his promotable persona, but Baroni is still a dangerous fighter despite his weaknesses.

His biggest weakness, however, his lack of a ground game due to poor flexibility, is ripe to be exposed by Sadollah. Sadollah should be even or maybe even slightly better and definitely more versatile than Baroni on the feet as he is a well-trained kickbxoer who’s worked in Holland with top-notch strikers, but the ground is where he holds a big advantage. Sadollah is one of the better young submission artists in the division as justified by his tapping out of CB Dollaway in back-to-back fights with armbars during his TUF run.

It will be hard for Sadollah to get Baroni to the ground, but once he does, it could be lights out for “The New York Badass.”

The pick: Amir Sadollah (-175) by submission in the second round.