Iranians in Ultimate Fighting Championship game
Iranians can be tough and play rough! For proof look no further than yesterday's Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) games in Virginia which had two Iranians in the final match up: Kamal Shalorus (playing for Iran but based in Austin, Texas) and Amir Sadollah (playing for America). Amir Sadollah beat Jorge Lopez via split decision but Shalorus lost to Brazilian Rafael dos Anjos via rear-naked choke. But who are these tough guys?
Born in the city of Khalkhal in northern Iran, Shalorus who is also called Prince of Persia, began wrestling as a teenager in Iran before beginning training in Turkey and Russia. During his wrestling career, he was granted British citizenship and then moved to Austin, Texas in 2006 with his American girlfriend. Kamal is a partner in (and official grappling instructor for) the American Combat Association. He was the third Iranian fighter to ever compete for the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship); the first being Reza Nasri who fought at UFC 11 and the second being Amir Sadollah.
Shalorus is also a friend of Reza Madadi, a Swedish-Iranian mixed martial artist (MMA) who earned a victory in his UFC debut on April 14, 2012 and is the fourth Iranian in UFC. Shalorus has won several World Extreme Cagefighting titles but for his UFC debut, he fought at UFC 128. Kamal's style uses wrestling and Jiu-Jitsu. This superlean athlete proudly talks, with his Azeri accent, about his Iranian and muslim roots (see videos below).
The winner of Spike TV's Ultimate Fighter 7, Amir Ali Sadollah was born in Brooklyn, New York to an Iranian father and an Irish American mother. While attending College, Amir began mixed martial arts. Sadollah was one of the 52 successful candidates out of 250 applicants at the October 2007, International Fight League draft in Chicago. He went on to win the title of the Ultimate Fighter in Las Vegas which provided him with a six-figure UFC contract. Amir holds a black belt in Sambo under Rick McCoy, founder of MMA Institute and a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Diffley.
Critics of Ultimate Fights and other violent sports believe they promote the use of violence and harmful performance enhancement supplements among young people. The blows ultimate fighters endure may also result in long term and irrevesible injuries to brain and other organs.
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