By Dwight Wakabayashi
As veteran Canadian UFC lightweight Sam Stout gets ready to face Caros Fodor at UFC 157 this weekend in Anaheim, it’s tough to remember that he is only 28 years old.
The London, Ont., native started his professional fighting career at the age of 18 and is quickly coming up on his 10-year anniversary as a professional in this tough and relatively young sport. Stout burst on the world scene at UFC 58 in 2006 with a win over Spencer Fisher in a war that spawned one of the most entertaining rivalries in the Octagon. The rivalry produced a trilogy of memorable fights that Stout put a stamp on by winning the rubber match in June of last year.
“I know; I forget that I’m only 28 sometimes,” Stout (18-8-1) said in a recent appearance on Full Contact Fighter Radio. “My body doesn’t feel like it all the time. I’ve been fighting for a really long time and I want to do it for as long as possible, but I definitely don’t see myself being a guy who fights close to 40.
“I love the sport, but I think guys have a shelf life,” Stout noted. “It’s not necessarily a certain age where you’re supposed to retire. I think it’s more of how long you’ve been doing it and how much you’ve put your body through. I think that kind of tells you how long you can do it. I’ve put my body through a lot and I’ve been in a lot of wars in my career.”
Stout dominated the regional Canadian circuit for three years before signing with the UFC in 2006 at the age of 22. “Hands of Stone” is one of Canada’s most popular fighters and has become known for his granite chin and an exciting striking style that has earned him five “Fight of the Night” bonuses in his 14 appearances in the UFC cage.
His overall UFC record is an even seven wins and seven losses, and despite his popularity and experience, he has been unable to put the string of wins together that would improve his ranking in the division. Inconsistency has plagued the Team Tompkins and Adrenaline Training Center fighter throughout his time in the UFC, with his latest two fights being a perfect example of the two sides of Sam Stout.
He looked refreshed, retooled and more diverse in his rubber-match win over Fisher at UFC on FX in June last year. In the beginning of the fight, Stout was a tiny step behind Fisher on the feet, but was able to turn the tide by switching up his gameplan and turned to his improved wrestling game to grind out the win. Stout had new cornerman Mark DellaGrotte on his side in that fight and seemed to turn a corner from the tragic loss of his coach Shawn Tompkins in 2011.
Confidence and momentum seemed to be on his side going in to his next fight against young fellow countryman John Makdessi at UFC 154 in Montreal in November. Unfortunately, he turned in a very one-dimensional and uninspired performance on his way to a unanimous-decision loss.
Stout has long been considered a better fighter than Makdessi and the loss was a bit of a surprise to many fans and media involved in the game. Stout moved straight ahead to engage Makdessi all fight long but was met by constant jabs to the face and was unable to have any success with his takedown attempts.
That brings Stout to this coming weekend and UFC 157 in Anaheim, where he will face Strikeforce import and fairly unknown fighter Caros Fodor in his debut bout in the UFC. It may be easy to look at this opponent and be critical that Stout isn’t fighting someone more established on the UFC roster — and he doesn’t necessarily disagree — but he certainly isn’t going to take anything for granted at this point in his career.
“I wasn’t too familiar with him; he’s only had nine pro fights so he wasn’t really someone who was on my radar,” Stout admitted. “When they offered me the fight I obviously looked into him and it seemed like a good fight. He’s no joke. I’ve taken this camp very seriously. The fact that he’s only 7-2, a lot of people might underestimate him because of that, but he’s fought some tough opponents. He’s very scrappy.”
Fodor’s most notable win to date is his 13-second knockout victory over Justin Wilcox in December 2011.
Fans love to watch Stout stand and trade and some people, including Stout himself, seemed frustrated with the elusive way that Makdessi fought in Montreal. Fodor brings a more straight-ahead style, which is why Stout chose to take this fight for the opportunity to bring the fans an exciting fight.
“I think his stand-up is no joke,” Stout added. “He’s very aggressive; he doesn’t move backwards very much, which is a similar style to me, so I think we’re going to come to the middle and really clash. It should be a very exciting fight for fans to watch. I think it’s going to come down to who has the better game plan and who implements it the best on that day.
“I don’t think I’m underestimating this opponent because he has a lot less experience than me. I know he’s coming in here with something to prove.”
Both men have something to prove going in to this fight, as a loss for Stout would be two in a row — for just the second time after dropping back-to-back bouts in 2008. That would possibly put him on very shaky ground in the UFC for the first time in his career. He needs an emphatic win to put those thoughts behind him and set himself up for a very big fight later this year.
Though Stout is only 28, he is considered an “old” 28 based on how long he has been in the sport and the wars he has fought in his career. Stout started fighting at almost the same time as close friend and training partner Mark (The Machine) Hominick, and Hominick just retired in December at 30 years of age. How much longer does Stout see himself performing his art in the cage?
“A goal I’ve kind of set for myself, and I’d be happy with, and anything on top of that would be like icing on the cake … but I would like to go for about another three years,” Stout said. “If I can go another three years that would be a full decade in the UFC, and I think I’d be able to walk away with my head held high after if I can say that.”
Dwight Wakabayashi is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report UFC and regular contributor to Sportsnet.ca’s UFC section. Follow him on Twitter @wakafightermma.