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By B.J. Koubaroulis
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
After his Ultimate Fight Night 20 decision victory over Brad
Blackburn on Monday night, welterweight
Amir Sadollah
stood at the center of the octagon with UFC television
commentator Joe Rogan holding a microphone to his face.
With his right eye bloodied and a knot swelling on the bridge of
his nose, Sadollah ignored Rogan's first question and looked to
the crowd, which erupted in approval.
"It was the first time in my life that I had a crowd chanting my
name," said Sadollah. "The crowd was unbelievable."
Sadollah,
a magnetic 29-year-old from Richmond who won the seventh season
of Spike TV's reality series "The Ultimate Fighter," added to
the fame that has come with his six-figure contract by burying a
series of third-round high-knees into a wobbly Blackburn's face.
The first UFC event in Virginia's history, the card drew 8,500
at Patriot Center in Fairfax.
For the first four minutes, Blackburn neutralized Sadollah's
muay thai by keeping him at bay with his strikes, but Sadollah
adapted and landed a flurry of punches that dropped Blackburn
with 40 seconds left in the first round. He also landed a
vicious straight kick that opened Blackburn's face. Midway
through the second round, Sadollah avoided Blackburn's tie-ups
and landed a solid elbow. He closed the round with a strong
uppercut before destroying Blackburn with the match-clinching
high-knees at the start of the third round. He closed out the
fight by riding Blackburn.
Sadollah entered the contest
with 22 fewer fights than Blackburn (15-10-1, 3-1 UFC) and was a
heavy underdog -- a trait that made the former surgical
technician a fan favorite both on the reality show and during
Monday night's fight.
The card was headlined by a rematch of lightweight Nate Diaz's
(8-0) TUF5 victory over "Bully" Gray Maynard (10-5). Diaz opened
Maynard's left eye early as the two traded both punches and
words in a tactical two-round stand-up before Maynard landed a
vicious knee that dropped Diaz and then a mean right hook that
sent him back-pedaling. Diaz had a strong third round, but it
wasn't enough to overcome the early damage that earned Maynard a
split decision and improved his record to 11-5.
UFC
President Dana White said he plans to bring a pay-per-view event
to the area in less than two years.
"I'm very happy with a sellout on a Monday night in this
economy," said White. "We'll come back. We came in and tested
the waters and it's very good."
According to the UFC, the event earned a $730,000 gate, which
organizers said is $50,000 more than any other event in Fight
Night history.
Because of the way the 10,000-seat Patriot Center was
configured, only 8,500 seats were available and the venue was
sold out well in advance of Monday night's card.
Even with a weeknight sellout, many believe that the area isn't
ready to embrace White's enterprise -- a booming sport that is
working to supplant boxing as the mainstream's choice of battle
sport.
Marcello Foran, a Maryland native and fight promoter who brought
several cards to Patriot Center over the past two years, helped
clear a path for MMA in Washington as his handful of cards built
the popularity of several Lloyd Irvin fighters like
Mike Easton
-- an Anacostia native who became Foran's main attraction.
But Foran left the area after he claimed the Virginia State
Athletic Commission botched the decision in Easton's victory
over former World Extreme Cagefighting star Chase Beebe. Foran
cited a lack of support from local MMA schools and media as
other reasons that his promotion wouldn't return to Virginia.
Luke Thomas, editor of a popular MMA Web site called
http://Bloodyelbow.com, believes that if the UFC can
"massage the audience here over time and return with regularity"
that UFC could catch part of the D.C. sports and entertainment
market and eventually draw a crowd that would fill Verizon
Center, a move that "would cement them as a viable sports
product and D.C. as fertile MMA soil."
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