The affable Amir Sadollah was the shining star of The Ultimtate Fighter 7 – Team Rampage vs. Team Forrest in the spring of 2008. On the show, he defeated Steve Byrnes (UFC veteran), Gerald Harris (IFL veteran), Matt Brown (GFC veteran), and C.B. Dollaway (HDNet Fights veteran) twice to win the entire show. The most impressive thing about his run on the show was the fact that he had had no professional MMA fights on his record entering the show, yet finished all of his opponents via TKO or submission.

After winning the seventh season of TUF, which featured 32 middleweight fighters competing to earn a spot in the house, Sadollah moved to Las Vegas to train full-time and his debut after the show was eagerly anticipated by fight fans worldwide. Unfortunately, two nagging injuries forced Sadollah out of his first two scheduled bouts and he will now make his long-awaited post-TUF UFC debut on Saturday night against two-time NCAA Division I wrestling champion and undefeated WEC veteran Johny Hendricks at UFC 101 – Declaration in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.




Bevois: Thanks for taking the time to talk with us, Amir. I guess I'll start with the question everyone has been dying to know. How are you feeling right now just a few days away from making your long-awaited return to action at UFC 101, since winning TUF 7 in June 2008?

Amir: Hungry. Literally and figuratively. But mostly literally.



Bevois: You were originally going to make your post-TUF UFC debut at UFC 91 in November against Nick Catone, but you got hospitalized with a bad staph infection. That bout was rescheduled for UFC Fight Night 17 in February, but you broke your clavicle. Catone is now 1-1 in the UFC and scheduled to fight Mark Muñoz at UFC 102, only three weeks after your fight with Johny Hendricks at UFC 101. Why do you think the UFC decided to give you a different opponent this time around?

Amir: Most likely because I'm in a different weight class now, I don't think Catone is going to 170.



Bevois: This will be your first fight as a welterweight, after both your bouts with Catone were scheduled to be at middleweight. What prompted you to cut down to welterweight, after you did so well against the middleweights on TUF 7?

Amir: It was something I wanted to do eventually anyway, but since I had a while before my next bout, I just decided now is as good a time as any, and the added challenge was appealing as well.



Bevois: Some fighters before TUF 7 have mentioned how they weren't picked at the TUF tryouts to be on the show, due to not having a professional MMA record. What do you think you did differently that got you on the show?

Amir: I'd like to think it's because I showed promise, charm, and good looks. But probably because I slipped the producers twenty bucks.



Bevois: Where in Richmond, Virginia were you training at the time you decided to tryout for TUF 7 and what did your friends and family think when you got invited to Las Vegas to be part of the show?

Amir: I was training at Combat Sports Center, and still do, when I'm in Richmond. I couldn't really tell anyone when I got on the show besides my Mom and Dad, but for sure I think everyone was very supportive when they found out.



Bevois: Some people look at your pro record and notice that you're 1-0. However, you had to win 5 fights to win TUF 7. Do you feel that experience has helped get you ready for what lies ahead in the UFC, more so than fighting on some smaller shows?

Amir: Absolutely it has helped, but there is experience and knowledge to be absorbed from any level of competition. I still learn as much from watching smaller shows as some UFC's.



Bevois: Going back to your fights on TUF 7, you have fought Gerald Harris (Cleveland State), C.B. Dollaway (Arizona State) twice, and now Johny Hendricks (Oklahoma State). Are you sort of getting used to the idea of fighting Division I wrestlers?

Amir: *laughs* ... I'm just getting used to taking the hard route, for sure. I'm grateful for it though, what doesn't kill me makes me stronger. Or gets me cut from the UFC.



Bevois: Many people compare Johny Hendricks to C.B. Dollaway, because of their collegiate wrestling background, but your jiu-jitsu coach Cameron Diffley recently pointed out how Hendricks is a 2-time national champion and their styles are actually much different: Dollaway is more of a physical wrestler, while Hendricks relies more on movement. Do you see Hendricks posing