UFC 101-Declaration: Predictions and Previews Part 4

170 lbs-Amir Sadollah vs Johny Hendricks
This fight marks the long awaited return of Amir Sadollah. After winning The Ultimate Fighter 7: Griffin vs Jackson, he was sidle lined by an infection. Johny Hendricks is a former WEC fighter who will be making his octagon debut.

Amir Sadollah tried out for The Ultimate Fighter without having any professional mma experience. However, the lack of experience did not keep Dana White from choosing him to be on the show. This proved to be a move that Dana White would not regret. Amir made it onto the show by defeating Steve Byrnes by submission. He then went on Gerald Harris(TKO), Matt Brown(submission-triangle choke), and CB Dolloway(submission-arm bar). He then went on to fight CB Dolloway again at the Finale. He once again defeated him via arm bar. Since his stint on the Ultimate Fighter, Amir has not had much luck even stepping foot into the octagon. This will be his first fight since June 21st, 2008. He is a Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Sambo fighter who is currently training at Extreme Couture. We will finally get to see Amir step back into the octagon, as well as how much of a factor the time off will be.

Johny Hendricks is a wrestler with a spotless record of 5-0. 4 of those five wins have come by stoppage(3 KO's, 1 submission). His lone decision win was his most recent fight. Hendricks battled Alex Serdyukov to pick up a unanimous decision victory and win fight of the night honors at WEC 39. As a wrestler, Hendricks was a 4 time All American at Oklahoma State. He was also a three time Big 12 Conference Champion. He is a decorated wrestler and will be a tough test for Sadollah in his return to the octagon.

Prediction: Sadollah has defeated skilled wrestlers in Gerald Harris and CB Dolloway(twice). Although in the Dolloway fights he was in trouble before setting up slick submissions in both fights. Hendricks will look to take this fight to the ground and pound out a victory. Sadollah has the edge on his feet and has a very good ground game as we have seen in his past fights. I predict Sadollah will win via submission.