It wasn’t the stand-up war we expected, but Amir Sadollah and Jorge Lopez ended up giving the fans a close, grueling battle.
Lopez instigated the clinch almost immediately in all three rounds and worked to wear down Sadollah against the age, but Sadollah wasn’t going to make it easy on him.
Sadollah was able to land a few more shots and stop the ground game of Lopez for the majority of the bout to earn a very close decision win, but it was a much tougher fight than most people expected.
What we’ll remember about this fight:
Amir Sadollah may have stolen one.
This fight was ridiculously close headed to the judges, and it honestly could have gone either way.
In the end, Sadollah did just enough to earn the win and get back on track in the welterweight division.
What we learned about Jorge Lopez
Lopez isn’t a Wanderlei Silva clone.
Lopez was compared to his trainer a lot heading into this fight, but he was very patient on his feet and used his clinch game to try to wear down Sadollah, who has had problems with grapplers in the past.
Obviously Sadollah got the better of him this time, but Lopez showed up with a smart gameplan and executed it decently well.
What we learned about Amir Sadollah
Sadollah has been outmuscled by my opponents in the past, and it looks like he’s been working hard to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
Sadollah was constantly working to get off the cage and get into a dominant position, and when he was able to get some space his striking looked as good as ever.
What’s next for Lopez
Lopez is now 0-2 in an extremely deep welterweight division, but he obviously has the UFC’s faith since they gave him a co-main event spot in just his second fight in the Octagon.
A bout against Dan Stittgen, who lost his UFC debut earlier this year, would be a loser leaves the Octagon fight for both men.
What’s next for Sadollah
Sadollah needed this win to retain any sense of relevance in the welterweight division, and he barely pulled it off.
Sadollah is still an asset to the UFC, as both a fighter and a personality, so expect him to get another televised bout against another mid-tier fighter in his next one.
A fight between Sadollah and Yoshihiro Akiyama would be a really fun battle and would give both guys a decent name for their resume with a win.
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