Cagewriter - UFC

Phil Baroni made his return to the Octagon after four years away. He got a standing ovation at the completion of his battle against Amir Sadollah, but that was the only place he won the fight. Sadollah cruised to a unanimous decision victory 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28. Baroni, introducing himself to new set of UFC fans, was a bloody mess by the end of the fight.

It's the kind of fight fans love but it's hard to walk away thinking the "New York Bad Ass" belongs in the UFC at this stage of his career. His career-long bugaboo, conditioning, reared its ugly head early in the second round. Baroni (pictured) dropped his hands often throughout the final two rounds, proving to be target practice for Sadollah knees and kicks.

"I knew I'd have to weather the initial storm. The guy would not go down," said Sadollah. "My strategy was to set him up with body shots. It felt good to get back on the winning track."

It was a nice win but you also have to question Sadollah's finishing power. He nailed Baroni with at least 50 clean shots in 15 minutes. Maybe we should cut Sadollah a break, it was only his third professional fight.

Sadollah won as a minus-230 favorite. The season eight winner of "The Ultimate Fighter" got a total of $30,000 ($15,000 to show, $15,000 to win). Baroni (13-12, 3-6 UFC) got $25,000. They may both get a Fight of the Night bonus in the 60-65k range (bonus of 70k went to Josh Koscheck/Anthony Johnson instead). Baroni is a longtime favorite of UFC president Dana White.

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  1. Steve "The Hack" Cofield
    1. Posted by Steve "The Hack" Cofield Sat Nov 21, 2009 10:50 pm EST

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    Never mind the Unanimous decision, the fact a Judge is Blind enough to score that 29-28 shows how incompetent that some of them are. 30-27 at the least, maybe even 30-26.
    Baroni backing up with his hands by his side for 2 rounds.. what a disgrace. I was honestly waiting for the ref to just call it in the 3rd, he has absolutely 0 offense and was just taking shots. He was just waiting to be finished, Sadollah's ability to finish is questionable to say the least.
    So much for "The Best Fighters in the World". What a bum Baroni is. Less test and hgh and more cardio.
  2. johngenzale
    2. Posted by johngenzale Sat Nov 21, 2009 10:59 pm EST

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    I think we need to give Amir the benefit of the doubt for now. If this continues then I think we should start to question his finishing power.
  3. Richard L
    3. Posted by Richard L Sat Nov 21, 2009 11:04 pm EST

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    Baroni a Bad Ass? How bout just an ass! Hang em up Phyllis!!!
  4. crystal
    4. Posted by crystal Sat Nov 21, 2009 11:19 pm EST

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    A win is a win. GSP couldnt finish an exausted, beat up B.J. Penn in there second fight. I don't think anybody questions his ability to finish fights. Amir is not a striker and anybody who follows mma knows that. Call the fights as you see but don't pretend to be an expert when you are clearly not one.
  5. Hockey Addict
    5. Posted by Hockey Addict Sat Nov 21, 2009 11:22 pm EST

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    How can u compare GSP with amir lol
  6. Steve "The Hack" Cofield
    6. Posted by Steve "The Hack" Cofield Sat Nov 21, 2009 11:24 pm EST

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    You don't have to be a striker to knock out a guy who is dead on his feet. Baroni was Done. Finished.
    1 clean shot in the 3rd round would have put him Out.
    He didn't even have the stamina to raise his hands to attack or defend, let alone move and avoid shots. Not really impressed with either of them, practically anyone in that division could have won a decision against Baroni with him in that state, shouldn't have even been on the main card.
  7. Steve "The Hack" Cofield
    7. Posted by Steve "The Hack" Cofield Sat Nov 21, 2009 11:26 pm EST

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    Castor, BJ Quit in the 4th, remember? Retarded comparison.
  8. Chris
    8. Posted by Chris Sat Nov 21, 2009 11:27 pm EST

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    Yeah, everyone knows Baroni was signed, because he had name recognition and he would be an easy punching bag for Sadollah to get a win over a name opponent. All this proved is that Baroni is not "the best eva" and that a strikeforce reject didn't deserve a resigning in the first place
  9. crystal
    9. Posted by crystal Sat Nov 21, 2009 11:31 pm EST

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    When did I compare them? By the way GSP holds the belt to the weakest weight class.
  10. crystal
    10. Posted by crystal Sat Nov 21, 2009 11:35 pm EST

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    GSP couldnt finish the fight. Just like most of his fights. But we still call him one of the best.
  11. Peckerwood
    11. Posted by Peckerwood Sun Nov 22, 2009 12:18 am EST

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    All I know is that I hate seeing that Yahoo has given such an important job to you, Cofield. I like to compare your writing ability to various types of animal and human sh!t thrown against a wall and called "art". That is like your writing. Except it's sh!t spewing from your fingers and brain vs. on canvas. Equally worthless. Remember the "Brown Pride" article you wrote? Yeah, that's the one. You sir are a dirtbag and I truly hope you have an accident with a very large knife or an electric saw of some kind and lose the ability to type. Would it be too much to ask if a crow were to pluck out your tongue as well?
    If you were just a guy on the street spouting crap, I don't care. Just another whackjob and I can walk away, but in this business, writing, your opinion has value. No, not because of your deductive reasoning and logic, nosir, but because there are 1000's if not millions of people that read these articles that are complete morons and refuse to think for themselves that will parrot or accept as fact that crap that spews forth from thy mouth oh anti-noble Cofield. Objectivity instead of assumption is the true art of journalism. PULL YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR ANUS.
    Didn't hate this article by the way. You're still a ball sucker though.
  12. Going Postal
    12. Posted by Going Postal Sun Nov 22, 2009 12:58 am EST

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    Amir has no power. I cant believe Baroni finished the fight. All Baroni did was walk back and forth for the entire third round and get hit, what a joke. I paid to watch this and I see Amir get an easy fight, yeah I know Baroni has KO power in the first 30 to 60 seconds of a fight but then its all over. I agree with the posts that say Baroni shouldn't be in the UFC anymore. Amir has a lot of work to do. Also, I think Amir needs to stop acting like Forrest in the post fight interviews, its getting annoying.
  13. juzcawz23
    13. Posted by juzcawz23 Sun Nov 22, 2009 1:45 am EST

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    "They may both get a Fight of the Night bonus"...... What were you smoking while watching that fight.....There is no way that fight deserves Fight of the Night
  14. Clint
    14. Posted by Clint Sun Nov 22, 2009 2:04 am EST

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    Juzcawz - Fight of the night will go to one of the headliners....it always does!
    What was the judge thinking who scored it 29-28??
    Amir looked good but he has a long way to go with his defense and striking.
  15. BigB
    15. Posted by BigB Sun Nov 22, 2009 2:47 am EST

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    Amir had 0 pro fights before going into the house. He came with little experience. He lucked out in a couple of his fights in the house. He has come a long way from his first fight in the house. He is also coming off an injury. I was impressed with his kicks and elbows. Baroni probably made them look better than they were but they were still good.
    Dont you people think we need a few "jobbers" in the UFC? Guys who are there that will never be champs but stepping stones? Boxing has them. Why not UFC. I mean Baroni does have a chin so it can make fights look better than they really are. Its also fun as a spectator to watch a guy get beaten down and keep standing.
    Amir will improve and get better.
  16. Sandman
    16. Posted by Sandman Sun Nov 22, 2009 4:18 am EST

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    The "New York" Bad Azz belongs in Japan, along with all of the fake fighters. What a retard. Stupid WWE getup; dead by the end of he first round. What a joke!!!!!!! We say a card of jokers with one excellent figher: Little Nog.
    Amir / sucks
    Titto/ sucks
    Forest/ sucks
    Marcus Sucks
    The key word is sucks: Jokers, Japan material, the stuf Fedor is made of. And what is with a card made of TUF rejects? Everyone in the house gets a contract, so WTF is the point of the show?
    Here would be some real fights:
    GSP V Anderson
    Anderson V Machida
    Anderson V Rua
    Rua V Evans
    Vitor V Anyone
    Aldo V Penn
    Etim V a name LW
    Carwin V Cain
    Cain V Dos Santos
    Kos V Fitch
    Jones V Anyone good
    This is just a short list
    Rampage V Evans (should have went down)
    Little Nog V Evans, Rampage, Thiago, Machida, Rua, Johnson
    Nutcracker V Allen
    Hendo V Vitor / Anderson / Bisping (who needs to shut up again)
    ......etc............
  17. jayyolf1
    17. Posted by jayyolf1 Sun Nov 22, 2009 7:33 am EST

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    This was a dope, entertaining fight, fkkkk everybody!!!!!! Amir is a great striker; he mixes it up with all kinds of goodies - standing elbows, front face kicks, double flying knees!!!!! THAT IS THE TYPE OF FIGHTER I WANT TO SEE PPL!!!!!!!! FTW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (btw FTW = FKKKK THE WORLD!!!!!) Very entertaining fight IMO, and besides the Lil'Nog fight, the Amir v. Baroni fight was the best, most entertaining fight of the night!!! Fkkkk ALL y'all!!!
    Fkkkk Everybody!!!!! That WAS the FOTN - Fight of the Night!!!!!
  18. jojohn1958
    18. Posted by jojohn1958 Sun Nov 22, 2009 8:54 am EST

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    Boloney has been over the hill a long time ago! He still gets fights because of his mouth jijaba, and his willing to fight. but the skills are gone. Sorry Baloney, call it a nite and career B4 U get hurt. And please change UR moniker from "BAd Ass" to "Wooped Ass". Believe it or not I like the brash guy. LOL
  19. Inspector Dave
    19. Posted by Inspector Dave Sun Nov 22, 2009 1:26 pm EST

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    Baroni needs to take his badass store bought muscles home to retire because Amir destroyed him! I thought I was watching wwe when that db entered the arena.....the sunglasses at the end of the fight said it all.
  20. lonniew
    20. Posted by lonniew Fri Nov 27, 2009 9:00 pm EST

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    Phil Baloni... the New York Fat Ass. That wop ate too much pasta.

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