UFC 107 takes place in Memphis Saturday headlined by Fighters.com and UFC Lightweight Champion “Prodigy” BJ Penn (12-4-1) versus tenth-ranked “Nightmare” Diego Sanchez (19-2-0).  A fight we are not scheduled to see is undefeated Johny Hendricks (6-0) versus UFC newcomer Ricardo Funch (7-0) as it is slated for the prelims. This is robbery at it’s finest.

Johny Hendricks was brought into the UFC after the WEC eliminated the welterweight division. His first fight was the coming out party for The Ultimate Fighter 7 winner Amir Sadollah (2-1). Amir had dropped out of two previously scheduled fights due to a leg infection and a broken clavicle respectively. So at UFC 101 in Philadelphia August 8, Amir was set to make his post-TUF debut.

Enter Hendricks, who has been on my personal radar for some time now. He was a two-time NCAA Division 1 national champion wrestler at Oklahoma State University as well as being a two-time All American and three-time Big 12 Conference champion. His amazing wrestling worked for him when he worked to get a D’Arce choke against Richard Gamble (2-3) at Extreme Fighting League on HDNet.

Against Amir, wrestling would not play a part. It would be the hands of Johny that would spoil the return to the Octagon for Amir Sadollah. The fight would end in 29 seconds as Dan Miragliotta stopped the fight due to strikes. Many criticized the stoppage as you can see Amir start to get back up in the replay, but his words to Dan were the telltale sign. He asked Dan what happened and only a fighter that was rocked would ask that question.

Whether you believe the stoppage was correct or not, Hendricks came away with the win and in outstanding fashion. Amir lost and yet his next fight was on the main card of UFC 106 against “New York Badass” Phil Baroni (13-12).While Phil may not be an elite fighter, he has fought the best in the business and always puts on a show, even if it only lasts for one round. Yet, Hendricks, the man who crushed Amir, is stuck on the prelims against a UFC newcomer. Shouldn’t beating the TUF winner so decisively warrant a spot on the main card?

With that TKO of Amir, the UFC has all the ammunition it needs to promote Hendricks as a star in the welterweight division. This is a time when the UFC finds itself in a situation with marketable stars at a premium with fighters such as second-ranked, UFC heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar (3-1) out with illness indefinitely.

Some may wonder how he can be marketed with such a small body of work. His wrestling background is a start. We have seen the UFC market many fighters simply by touting their wrestling pedigree. Hendricks has proved to not be the prototypical wrestler though. Wrestlers take time to develop a striking game and yet Johny currently has four stoppages via (T)KO in 6 fights. All of this by a wrestler who most seem to expect to work for a take down and work ground and pound. He is becoming a complete fighter in short order and an exciting one at that. WEC footage of his “Fight of the Night”, the fast slaughter of a TUF champ and his wrestling background would make it easy to push him up the ranks. He is more than marketable and this fight makes no sense when they are looking to build new stars to fill what has recently been lackluster pay per views.

UFC President Dana White and UFC Matchmaker Joe Silva have done a fantastic job thus far when it comes to building stars. Usually I have no issues whatsoever with who they bring up through the ranks, but I see this as a misstep of epic proportions. A victory over Funch really adds nothing to his resume other than another “W”, while a loss cripples his chances at getting on the televised portion of a pay-per-view in the future. This is all risk and zero reward for the UFC as well as for Hendricks.

One must strike while the iron is hot so to speak and right now, Johny Hendricks is as hot as War Machine is wanted by the police.

Maybe I am not seeing the entire picture and somehow I have missed where Hendricks deserves to be on an under card against a fighter that is not equal to an Amir Sadollah in name recognition. Then again maybe I am right and Johny Henricks has been robbed of stardom thanks to Joe Silva and the UFC.

Topping the bill is the return of former UFC light heavyweight champion “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Tito Ortiz (15-6-1) as he is set to face former UFC light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin (16-4) in a rematch of the 2006 fight that was Griffin’s first loss in the UFC.

Although a winner of the inaugural Ultimate Fighter reality show, to many observers Griffin’s loss to the veteran Ortiz was the fight that catapulted the Xtreme Couture fighter into the deeper ranks of professional MMA. Now currently coming off a two fight losing streak, Griffin has a lot to win and a lot to lose when he faces Ortiz for the second time.

For Ortiz, UFC 106 will be a triumphant return to the promotion following over a year of bad blood with the organization. His last appearance in the Octagon was a losing effort at the hands of current UFC light heavyweight champion “Dragon” Lyoto Machida (13-0) at UFC 84 in May, 2008.

UFC 106 will also feature two heavy-handed welterweights as Josh Koscheck (13-4) is set to clash against “Rumble” Anthony Johnson (8-2) in the co-main-event. Johnson is recently coming off a devastating win over “Zenko” Yoshiyuki Yoshida (10-3) in 41 seconds of a catchweight bout at UFC 104.

The fight card is rounded out by a series of bouts that set a theme of old versus new when veteran of the UFC and PRIDE Fighting Championship “New York Bad Ass” Phil Baroni (13-11) returns to the Octagon for the first time since UFC 51 in 2005 to face off against The Ultimate Fighter 7 champ Amir Sadollah (1-1).

Fighters.com seventh-ranked light heavyweight “Banha” Luis Arthur Cane (8-1) and fellow Brazilian ”Minotoro” Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (12-3) continue the theme of veteran versus up-and-comer. Nogueira makes his UFC debut following a near decade-long career worldwide.

Remaining main card bouts for UFC 106 include UFC veteran and Judo superstar “The Heat” Karo Parisyan (18-5) as he meets Dustin Hazelett (11-4). “Irish Hand Grenade” Marcus Davis (14-4) is set to fight American Top Team’s “KIlla B” Ben Saunders (5-0-2 ). And the Ultimate Fighter 3 winner, “Da Spyder” Kendall Grove (9-6) will take on wrestler and WEC alumnus Jake Rosholt (6-1).

UFC 106 is rounded out by Paulo Thiago (7-1) versus Jacob Volkmann (9-0), Brock Larson (27-3) versus Brian Foster (9-12), Caol Uno (25-11-4) versus Fabricio Camoes (6-0), and George Sotiropoulos (10-2) versus Jason Dent (29-9).

UFC champ and Fighters.com’s second-ranked heavyweight Brock Lesnar (4-1) will defend his title versus sixth-ranked Shane Carwin (10-0) in the UFC 106 main event.

Also on the card, light heavyweights “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Tito Ortiz (15-6-1) and “Hammer” Mark Coleman (16-9) will fight in a battle of UFC legends.

Inside Fights reports the matchup will be at UFC 106 in Las Vegas 21 November.

Baroni was released by Strikeforce 14 August before signing to return to the Octagon for the first time since going to sleep in a guillotine by “Drago” Pete Sell (8-5) at UFC 51 in Las Vegas in February 2005. Baroni called his UFC contract “an offer I couldn’t refuse.”

In an unusual press release, Strikeforce stated in explanation: “The 33-year-old Baroni has lost four of his last seven bouts. In his last appearance, a welterweight matchup with “Diesel” Joe Riggs (30-11) [in St. Louis 6 June], Baroni sustained a one-sided defeat by way of unanimous judges’ decision.”

“I did not get a phone call or even a letter [from Strikeforce]. My agent, Ken Pavia, told me [I was cut],” Baroni told Fighters.com Thursday. “I dont know why a show would send out a press release they cut somebody. Bush league and really shitty in my opinion.”

Sadollah will return after a 29-second TKO loss to John Hendricks (6-0) at UFC 101 in Philadelphia 8 August, a controversial referee stoppage that really wasn’t.

Miragliotta emphasized, “You know me and have spoken with me about other fights, my job is to protect the fighters and I try and do my best to do that.”

Sadollah began the fight lunging forward in a 1-2 combination, but ate a Hendricks straight left that backed Sadollah up stunned. Hendricks smelled blood in the Octagon and followed Sadollah landing a series of uppercuts.

Miragliotta said, “What made me stop the fight was the fact that, after the multiple uppercuts by Hendricks, I felt that Sadollah was out and went limp. He fell down to his hands and knees and just stayed there. From where I was, I could not see his eyes to see if he was out, but I felt that he was not defending himself and, after several more punches that went unanswered, I stopped the fight.”

The skyrocketing popularity of MMA combined with former WWE professional wrestler and Fighters.com’s second-ranked heavyweight Brock Lesnar’s (4-1) rapid ascension to the UFC title has brought hundreds of thousands of new fans to the sport, many of whom aren’t familiar with combat sports and the rules of MMA. Fighters.com ruled the stoppage appropriate immediately after the fight based on Sadollah’s lack of intelligent defense as Hendricks wailed on his head, which is the standard used by MMA referees to ensure the safety of fighters. It’s the responsibility of the fighter to intelligently defend themselves, not the responsibility of the referee to risk the fighter taking permanent damage as the ref tries to verify the fighter’s state of conciousness.

A proud professional, Miragliotta verified his call immediately after the stoppage: “When I stopped the fight and got between Sadollah and Hendricks, Sadollah still looked glassy eyed and asked me what happened. I feel that he was still a little out of it while standing there talking to me.” And, when Fighters.com spoke to Miragliotta, he had just finished watching the fight again to examine his work.

The frightening effects of head injuries are well-documented. The father of former wrestler Chris Benoit blamed the severe brain abnormalities caused by multiple concussions for Benoit’s murder of his wife and child and subsequent suicide. Last March, actress Natasha Richardson passed on after what she considered a mild head bump after a tumble while skiing.

Sadollah is a 28-year old promising martial artist who’ll return from his first loss to win many fights. There was no reason to risk the potential head injury that could’ve been caused by allowing Sadollah to absorb more punishment from Hendricks while Sadollah didn’t defend himself.

Miragliotta made the correct call at UFC 101.

Sadollah lunged forward with a sharp 1-2, but Hendricks weaved a straight left inside Sadollah’s guard. Sadollah backpeddaled and Hendricks stalked with another left that dropped Sadollah. After several undefended left hooks to Sadollah’s head, referee Dan Miragliota ended the fight.

The fight card from Philadelphia includes:

“Prodigy” B.J. Penn (13-5-1) v “KenFlo” Kenny Florian (11-3) for the UFC lightweight strap

Fighters.com’s third-ranked light heavyweight Forrest Griffin (16-5) v UFC middleweight champ ““Spider” Anderson Silva (24-4) in 205-pound matchup

The Ultimate Fighter 7 champ Amir Sadollah (1-0) v John Hendricks (5-0)

“Cacharrao” Ricardo Almeida (10-3) v The Ultimate Fighter 3 champ “Spyder” Kendall Grove (10-5)

“Batman” Kurt Pellegrino (14-4) v “Dentist” Josh Neer (25-7-1)

Aaron Riley (27-11-1) v Shane Nelson (11-3)

“Doomsday” John Howard (11-3) v “Barn Cat” Tamdan McCrory (11-2)

Thales Leites (14-2) v “Legionarius” Alessio Sakara (13-7)

Dan Cramer (3-0) v Matt Riddle (2-0)

George Sotiropoulos (9-2) v George Roop (9-2)

“Indio” Danillo Villefort (7-2) v “Ox” Jesse Lennox (13-1)

Danzig announced his fight via MySpace and Catone confirmed the bout to iguillotine.

Catone and Sadollah were originally scheduled to fight at UFC 91 in November, but Sadollah was forced to withdraw days before the bout due to a leg infection.

Danzig will look to rebound from a unanimous decision loss to “Carpenter” Clay Guida (24-9) at Fight Night 15 in September.

Neer also lost his last fight at the same event via split decision to Nathan Diaz (10-2).

Catone, who will be making his UFC debut, won his last three fights via first-round TKO.  Most recently he defeated Eric Tavares (5-9) in June.

Sadollah last fought in June, submitting “Doberman” CB Dollaway (7-1) with an armbar to become the winner of TUF 7.

Sadollah was scheduled to face UFC newcomer Nick Catone (6-0) Saturday in Las Vegas.

The UFC was unable to secure a replacement, so the middleweight match has been cancelled.  Instead, the welterweight match-up between “McLovin” Dustin Hazelett (12-4) and “Barn Cat” Tamdan McCrory (10-1) has been bumped up to the main card on pay-per-view.

Hazelett submitted “People’s Warrior” Josh Burkman via armbar in round two at the TUF 7 finale in June.

McCrory won a unanimous decision over Luke Cummo (6-6) at UFC 87 in August.

Sadollah submitted “Doberman” CB Dollaway (7-1) via first-round armbar in June to win the previous season of The Ultimate Fighter.

Catone, who will make his UFC debut, finished his last four fights in the first round, most recently TKO’ing Eric Tavares (5-9) in June.

Stephens dropped a unanimous decision to “King” Spencer Fisher (21-4) in June at the TUF finale.

UFC newcomer dos Anjos is riding a nine-fight win streak, most recently winning a split decision over Takafumi Otsuka (6-3-1).