UFC News: Roger Huerta vs. Joe Stevenson at UFC 95

Roger Huerta has re-upped with the UFC and is known to be returning in March.  It seems that Joe “Daddy” Stevenson is his likely opponent for UFC 95.  Interestingly, both fighters are coming off of losses to number one lightweight contender Kenny Florian. 

The UFC lightweight division is getting interesting as the space between Penn and the contenders is swelling.  Guys like Sherk, Stevenson, and Huerta are world class, but may have a hard time as long as Penn is champ.

Joe Stevenson		vs.	Roger Huerta
	Daddy	Nickname	El Matador
	4	MMA Blog Rank	5
	155 Lbs.	Weight Class	155 Lbs.
	29-9 (6-3 UFC)	Record	20-2-1( 6-1 UFC)

 

UFC News: Roger Huerta Re-Signs With the UFC

Be careful how you read the title of this post.  Roger Huerta did not resign from the UFC, but he did re-sign a contract with the UFC.  It was very public that Huerta was in a small feud with the UFC over a contract.  He wanted big bucks, I mean six figures per fight big.  He was very public in his criticism of the UFC.  However, it looks like that is resolved as MMAWeekly is reporting that Huerta has signed a new five fight deal with the UFC and may return to action in March. 

Huerta is a legit top ten lightweight, but I do not know if he can crack the top 5.  However, it is good to see him stick around.

Mid Year MMA Awards

Best Knockout

Honorable Mention: Luis Arthur Cane KO Jason Lambert, Shane Carwin KO Christian Wellish, Murilio Rua TKO Tony Bonello, Matt Wiman KO Thiago Tavares

5. Anthony Johnson KO Tommy Speer

4. Wilson Gouveia KO Jason Lambert

3. Brian Stann KO Doug Marshall

2. James Irvin KO Houston Alexander

1. Wanderlei Silva KO Keith Jardine

Best Submission

Honorable Mention: Antonio Nogueira submits Tim Sylvia by Guillotine, Yoshiyuki Yoshida submits Jon Koppenhaver by Anaconda choke, Nate Diaz submits Kurt Pellegrino, Cole Miller Submits Jorge Gurgel by Triangle Choke

5. Demian Mia Submits Ed Herman by Triangle Choke

4. Frank Mir Submits Brock Lesnar by Kneebar

3. Rousimar Palhares Submits Ivan Salaverry by Armbar

2. Dustin Hazelett Submits Josh Burkman by Armbar

1. Shinya Aoki Submits Katsuhiko Nagata by Aokiplata

Best Fight

Honorable Mention: Shinya Aoki vs. Gesias Calvancante, Cung Le vs. Frank Shamrock

5. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Tim Sylvia

4. Urijah Faber vs. Jens Pulver

3. Robbie Lawler vs. Scott Smith

2. Quinton Jackson vs. Forrest Griffin

1. Miguel Torres vs. Yoshiro Maeda

Best Fight Card

5. WEC 34: Faber vs. Pulver

4. UFC 80: Rapid Fire

3. UFC 81: Breaking Point

2. DREAM 4

1. UFC 84: Ill Will

Upset of The Year:

Honorable Mention: Jason Day over Alan Belcher,

5. Thiago Alves over Karo Parisyan

4. Kevin Burns over Roan Carneiro

3. Fabricio Werdum over Gabriel Gonzaga

2. Josh Thomson over Gilbert Melendez

1. Forrest Griffin over Quinton Jackson

Fighter Of The Year:

Honorable Mention: Anderson Silva, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Michael Bisping, Georges St. Pierre, Diego Sanchez

5. Miguel Torres

4. Forrest Griffin

3. Thiago Alves

2. Shinya Aoki

1. B.J. Penn (2 Impressive wins over Sean Sherk and Joe Stevenson)

Best UFC Newcomer:

Honorable Mention: Shane Carwin, Brock Lesnar

5. Rousimar Palhares

4. Dong Hyun Kim

3. Yoshiyuki Yoshida

2. Goran Reljic

1. Cain Velasquez

Worst Calls By A Ref. or Judges

5. Forrest Griffin over Quinton Jackson –  Not just that Forrest got the win, but that it was unanimous.  Many, including me scored the fight either a draw or to Jackson

4. Brandon Vera vs. Fabricio Werdum- Dan Miragliotta stopped the fight in round 1 when Werdum was mounted on Vera throwing down punches.  There was just 10 seconds remaining and Vera seemed to be defending himself well. 

3. Nate Marquardt vs. Thales Leites — Leites got the win, but lost the fight.  He lost the fight due to two points taken away from Marquardt.  One point was justified, but the other was due to elbow to the back of the ehad that wasn’t to the back of the head.  I will confess, that another point could have fairly been deducted for an illegal slam, but I hated to see Marquardt get a loss on his record that I feel he won

2. Phantom split decisions — How was Evan Tanner vs. Kendall Grove a split deicsion?  How was Heath Herring vs Cheick Kongo a split decision?  The right person got the decision, but how was it split?

1. Kimbo Slice vs. James Thompson – Dan Miragliotta stopped the fight in the 3rd round while Thompson was still standing and failed to stop it when Thompson was mounted on Kimbo raining down elbows

Josh Koscheck Wants B.J. Penn At 155

In an interview with Yahoo! Sports’ Kevin Iole, Josh Koscheck speaks of a fight he’d like to have.  Interestingly, Josh wants B.J. Penn…

I just want to be a world champion, whether it be at 155, 170, 185, wherever. I believe I have a lot of fights left in me. With my work ethic and the training partners I have and the coaches I have, I believe some day that dream is going to come true…. You never know [about possibly making the drop to 155]. If people would want to see me fight B.J. Penn at 155 for the title, because there is really nobody there for him to fight, I’d do it…. I know B.J. very well, but business is business. We’re friends, but at the end of the day, it’s about making money together. If the fans would want to see it, I’d suck it up and I’d live that life to where I’d do whatever I have to do to make 155…. What are you in this business for, to make money and to win a title. Usually, they go hand in hand. A fight with B.J. would be like a dream for me

He might not need to move to 155 to fight B.J. Penn for the title.  We could see B.J. fight the Fitch/St. Pierre winner by year’s end.  If that is the case Koscheck could keep contending and winning and could get a shot at a welterweight champ in B.J. Penn.  The problem for Koscheck is that he in not next in line.  At welterweight you have Thiago Alves and Diego Sanchez probably fighting for a title shot.  Koscheck could be next in line though with a win tonight over Lytle.  If B.J. Penn gets the next welterweight title shot, then we could see the Alves/Sanchez winner fight Koscheck for the number one contender spot.  At lightweight Koscheck would have to get in line behind the Huerta/Florian winner for a crack at Penn.  Needless to say I do not think Koscheck can beat B.J., sorry Kos.

UFC News: Heath Herring vs. Brock Lesnar

When the UFC announced Brock Lesnar’s next opponent as Mark Coleman, I thought it was the UFC’s attempt to get a win for Lesnar over a proven fighter, but one he could beat because he was past his prime.  Lesnar needs that win to earn the respect.  I think Brock will be a great fighter as he is a great athlete.  In my opinion, they put him in against a top guy to quickly.   He almost pulled out a win against Mir.  He needs a guy he can take down and ground and pound.  Coleman is out with a knee injury, so he was going to replace him?  I predicted it would be Justin McCully.  However, it looks to be Heath Herring.  There is good and bad to this math up.  The bad: Heath Herring is experienced and has fought the best of the best in his career, Herring is tough and can hang with top guys.  Herring nearly beat Nogueira and he beat Kongo.  We will see how Lesnar does taking a kick and a punch.  Herring seems to be renewed andlooked great against Kongo.  The good:  Herring is a good fighter and a win catapolts him into a state of being legit.  If he can get Herring down and get on him and beat him I think he will win.  This is interesting.  Brock needs a win here.  The other good is Brock will nearly always be much, much bigger than his opponent and will out wrestle anyone.  Good match up I think if it holds true. 

    This is shaping to be a good card.  I expect one more televised card worthy fight to be added.  That would mean we would have St. Pierre vs. Fitch.  Lesnar vs. Herring.  Huerta vs. Florian and one more good bout at least. 

MMAWeekly.com has confirmed that Heath Herring has agreed to fight Brock Lesnar at UFC 87 on Aug. 9 when the Ultimate Fighting Championship makes its debut in Minneapolis, Minn.

Lesnar was originally slated to face UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman in the main event of UFC 87. Coleman, however, suffered a torn medial collateral ligament in training, which will sideline him for at least six weeks. He was forced to withdraw from the bout with Lesnar due to the injury.

Herring has been on a roller coaster ride since his UFC debut in January of 2007. The former Pride heavyweight title contender has gone 2-2 in the Octagon, most recently defeating Cheick Kongo at UFC 82 in Columbus, Ohio.

I disagree with MMAweekly, where they said on their site that Lesnar had a “less than stellar performance against Mir”.  I think Lesnar looked great. he just got caught.  He was beating Mir badly and even through a loss showed he is for real.  With some more training he will be a force.  I think of him as one of the up and coming guys in the UFC Heavyweight divison.  The fight with Herring is important. 

Tournaments in the UFC

What if UFC had a 16 man tournament.  In other words a little bigegr version of what DREAM is doing with lightweights and middleweights.  A tournament would doa  lot of good things.  It would give an underdog the chance to win and fight the top dog.  You would have to have some type of ranking to do it and seed the guys like with the NCAA basketball tournament.  It would ease match making.  It would give exciting fights and intriguing possibilites.  Can you imagine all the possible scenarios of what could happen and who could fight one another?  I bet guys would fight passionatley.  There would be upsets.  So…I played around and came up with this…I took my 16 top guys in each class and made a bracket.  The fight one winner will fight the fight 2 winner and so on…

Lightweight:

Round One Match ups:

B.J. Penn vs. Rich Clementi

Clay Guida vs. Gray Maynard

Marcus Aurelio vs. Frank Edgar

Kenny Florian vs. Manny Gamburyan

Sean Sherk vs. Spencer Fisher

Nate Diaz vs. Joe Stevenson

Joe Lauzon vs. Tyson Griffin

Roger Huerta vs. Mac Danzig

Welterweight:

Georges St. Pierre vs. Chris Lytle

Thiago Alves vs. Mike Swick

Karo Parisyan vs. Matt Serra

Josh Koscheck vs. Ryo Chonan

Jon Fitch vs. Roan Carneiro

Diego Sanchez vs. Luigi Fiorvanti

Marcus Davis vs. Akihiro Gono

Matt Hughes vs. Chris Wilson

Middleweight:

Anderson Silva vs. Thales Leites

Martin Kampmann vs. Nate Quarry

Patrick Cote vs. Ricardo Almeida

Yushin Okami vs. Demian Maia

Rich Franklin vs. Evan Tanner

Nate Marquardt vs. Jason MacDonald

Chris Leben vs. Michael Bisping

Dan Henderson vs. Jorge Rivera

Light Heavyweight:

Quinton Jackson vs. Goran Reljic

Mauricio Shogun Rua vs. Matt Hammil

Wanderlei Silva vs. Sokoudjou

Chuck Liddell vs. Houston Alexander

Keith Jardine vs. Jame Irvin

Forrest Griffin vs. Wilson Gouveia

Thiago Silva vs. Rashad Evans

Lyoto Machida vs. Stephan Bonnar

Heavyweight:

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Dan Evenson

Cheick Kongo vs. Eddie Sanchez

Heath Herring vs. Cain Velasquez

Frank Mir vs. Christian Wellish

Fabricio Werdum vs. Antoni Hardonk

Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Shane Carwin

Brock Lesnar vs. Justin McCully

Brandon Vera vs. Neil Wain

 

This all could make some interesting match-ups.  What you would do would be take all five divisons and make 5 fight cards with 8 fights each.  You could split them up or have a “lightweight card”.  5 cards would finish round one.  Then you could have two 10 fight card and that would finish round two.  Then you could have another card that would do the semi-final match ups and another card for the championships.  Try making an un-televised undercard out of any of these fights.  That would be awesome.  Of course you could put more thought into match ups and potential second and third round “dream match up” in where you placed fighters, but it is a great idea.  The one flaw is that if the UFC had one card a month this tournament would take 9 months to finish and that would keep a lot of fighters from fighting in that time.  I guess you could break it up and have non-tournament fights mixed in there too.  Just food for thought…

UFC News: St. Pierre vs. Fitch at UFC 87

Georges St. Pierre will get his first title defense since reclaiming the title against Matt Serra.  This will take place at UFC 87: Seek and Destroy against number one contender Jon Fitch.  This should be an interesting fight and an interesting card as Lesnar will be given another opponent and there could be another main event caliber fight added.  Also, you have the super fight between Roger Huerta and Kenny Florian. 

Title Shots Is What I Want

The UFC is busy cutting their rosters because they have too many people under contract.  I can understand that.  However, what I cannot understand is why the belt are not being defended.  I don’t want to see a guy only defend their belt once a year.  I think title shots being delayed by the cotnender and champ coaching TUF has limited the fights. 

The Heavyweights…                                                                                                                                   Right now, Nogueira has the interim title, and won’t defend it until December.  That means there will be no heavyweight title fights until the end of the year.  I would imagine someone will be in line waiting for the next fight…probably the winner of the Vera vs. Werdum fight.  But that isn;t fair to them.  They will have to sit on the sidelines for 8-10 months until March or so of 2009 to get a shot.  That is crap. 

The Light Heavyweights…                                                                                                                  Rampage is one of the most marketable UFC fighters.  He is a good fighter and it is those things combined which got him the gig as a coach on TUF 7.  However, his last fight and title defense was his win over Dan Henderson in December.  He is slated to fight Forrest Griffin in July.  That is ten months between fights.  That is crap.  He better fight one more time this year.  I want the champs to defend their belts and I want contenders to have their shot.

Middleweights…                                                                                                                                    Anderson Silva is the man.  He is the best pound for pound fighter in the world.  He is a beast who has stomped his competiton and tore throught he UFC middleweight divison.  His last fight was his win over Dan Henderson in March.  The UFC has not announced his next fight, but you figure that since the main event cards are set up through August, the best case scenario is that he fights in September probably against Yushin Okami. I’m guessing October or November though, as I suspect the UFC is trying to find someone else besides Okami, but it is going to have to be Okami.  Anderson would then be done for the year.  That isn’t quite as bad as some other divisons, but isn;t what I’d like to see.

Welterweights…                                                                                                                                        Georges St. Pierre just fought, and we have no idea when his next fight is although it will be Jon Fitch.  Again it will be sometimes in the latter part of the year.  That would make two title defenses in 2008 and would not include his December fight with Hughes.  I want to see the best in the UFC fight more, they used to fight every other card.

Lightweights…                                                                                                                                              B.J. Penn has said he would like to fight a few times a year at best, but he has done fairly well as of late.  He beat Joe Stevenson and will fight Sherk on the 24th.  In August Huerta and Florian will fight to determine who gets the next title shot.  I would suspect that the Penn/Sherk winner would fight the Florian/Huerta winner in December or maybe January.  I still want to see more. 

My Solutions…                                                                                                                                                         

1. Have a rankings system.  An objective ranking system not just for MMA, but for the UFC would make clear who the number one cotnender.  A lot of time is taken waiting to see who will get the next shot and sometimes two guys fight for the next title shot.  Those fights to get the title shot could be spaced out not as far from the last title defense so both guys can be ready sooner and one guy isn’t sitting around waiting for a guy to be fresh.                 

2. Change the Ultimate Fighter format.  Right now each season of TUF is being coached by a title holder and the supposed number one contender.  Those guys will coach opposite each other and then fight for the title following the show.  The problem with that is you sit those guys on the sidelines for a while.  For example right now Frank Mir and Minatauro Nogueira know they are coaching TUF 8.  The season will start taping this summer and will begin to air in September.  The show will air through December while everyone waits.  Both fought early this year and neither fought again so as not to mess up the TUF coaching drama of going for the title.  Rather than having a title shot in the drama of TUF, why not have two great fighters with nothing to do with the title.  They could have used Florian and Huerta and built the drama of the winner getting a title shot.  They could have done Dan Henderson and Rich Franklin.  I’d love to see some of those guys on TUF or a guy like Wanderlei Silva. 

Dana needs to take my adivce on this one.  The fans want to see more than anything the title holders defending their belts and they ought to fight 3 times a year. 

                                                                                                                                  

UFC’s Best Divison

I went to HDnet’s fighter rankings and based this on which UFC weight divisons had the most top 20 fighters.  I know there are other ways to judge the best, but this is interesting…

1. Light Heavyweights –  They are stacked in the UFC.  This is where the light heavyweight competition lies.  They have the top 11 (Jackson, Henderson, Griffin, Liddell, Jardine, Machida, Wanderlei, Evans, Thiago Silva, and Sokodjou) guys in the world and 20 of the top 25 guys.  This is a great divison, full of star power.

2. Welterweights – They have 10 of the top 20 (St. Pierre, Fitch, Hughes, Serra, Koscheck, Sanchez, Alves, Parisyan, Davis and Gono), but 8 of the world’s top ten.  They have a near top ten monopoly only missing out on Shields and Condit.  I feel that there are other UFC guys to mention in top 20 talk (Chris Wilson and Chris Lytle), but the divison is strong and has the top tier welterweights in the world.

3. Lightweights – In most rankings the UFC gets cheated in the lightweight divison.  The system I used ranked 8 of their guys as top 20 in the world (Penn, Sherk, Huerta, Stevenson, Florian, Guida, Tyson Griffin, and Gray Maynard).  I know some of those other guys are good, but they are overrated.  Gomi can’t beat UFC guys.  Nick Diaz, B.J. Penn and Marcus Aurelo all beat him.  Aoki, Melendez, Calvancanti and bunch are unproven in my opinion against top guys.  Plus I feel some guys unfairly got left out of rankings.  Where is Marcu Aurelio?  FranK Edgar?  or Joe Lauzon?  or even Nate Diaz?  You mean to tell me Edgar is not a top 20?  This divison is stacked and has more contenders than any UFC divison.  DREAM does have some great lightweights.  I’d love to see a fight card of UFC’s top lightweights against DREAM’s top lightweights.  I think UFC would win easily.

4. Middleweights – They have 7 of the top 20 fighters in the world at this divison (Anderson Silva, Rich Franklin, Dan Hemderson, Marquardt, Okami, Bisping and Leites.  I put this above heavyweights first of all because I believe there are some guys that could be in the top 20 mix (Quarry, MacDonald, Leben, Cote, Kampmann and Almeida). It still is weak, not because it isn’t deep, but because they can’t find anyone to compete with Anderson Silva.  Anderson Silva is the second reason I put this divison above Heavyweights…enough said.

5. Heavyweights –  They also have 7 of the top 20 fighters in the world at Heavyweight  (Nogueira, Werdum, Gonzaga, Kongo, Vera, Mir and Herring).  Only 3 of those guys are top ten in the world.  All this assumed Arlovski signs with Affiction.  If that happens Affliction will have 6 of the top ten (Fedor, Sylvia, Barnett, Rothwell, Arlovski and Aleksander Emelianenko) plus Pedro Rizzo.  This is a weak divison for the UFC, but they do have some good prospects in Carwin, Lesnar and Velasquez.  This divison was once strong, but since has lost Couture, Cro Cop, Sylvia, Arlovski, and O’Brien.

The Stars of the UFC

There is a recent shift in stars of the UFC.  Those stars are the great investments, the money makers. The stars are not necessarily your best fighters, but they are well liked by the fans and they draw a crowd.  The stars are the people that the UFC will market and set up to be successful.  The stars get the most money and the best fights.  The stars have a louder voice with the UFC brass.  Some of those stars have been discontent like Randy Couture, Tim Sylvia, Andrei Arlovski and Tito Ortiz.  Those guys leaving hurts the UFC.  The guys the UFC recognizes as their stars are the ones they need to cater to more.  The stars are prized in all MMA organizations.  The WEC has Filho, Faber, Condit, and Stann.  PRIDE had Fedor, Cro Cop, Barnett, Wanderlai, Dan Henderson, Gomi, Arona, Shogun and the Nogueira brothers.  EliteXC has Lawler, Kimbo, Frank Shamrock, and Carano.  Strikeforce has Gilbert Melendez and Cung Le.  The stars are not always the champs, but they may be.  In the UFC there is a shift.  The old guard is moving on.  They are still there, and still draw a crowd and are still good PPV fights, but in a few years will be gone.  The old guard consisted of Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture, Ken Shamrock, Tito Ortiz and Matt Hughes.  There is a star level, then there is a second tier level of guys you want to hold onto at all costs, who have a following, and then there is the emerging star tier. Then you have your great fighters who perform in the octagon are respected, but may not have the charisma to be the face of the organization.  These guys can win and hold belts, but they won’t be the Chuck Liddell’s.  This system explains why the UFC gives a title shot and coaches spot to Forrest Griffin, who i no way has earned the title of number 1 contender.  He is good, but not that good.  He may eventually earn that, but this is premature.  Why did he get it?  Because he is popular.  He will sell PPVs and people will watch TUF because of him.  Personality will carry a guy a long way, just look at the Houston Alexander bandwagon. A lack of personality will hurt a guy, just ask Yushin Okami and Nate Marquardt, who if they had the charisma would be stars because they have the ability.  These guys can move up and down these different levels, but some guys have already been crowed as stars and can do little to harm that.  Your stars are the guys you hold on to at all costs.  Your second tier you want to keep because they are your contenders and can become stars.  Your third tier you be careful with because they can become stars if you play your cards right.  Your fourth tier are some of the best fighters, they put on good fights, they win fight night bonuses and they should be signed and kep in the organization if you can.  The effect of a star leaving the UFC is much greater than when someone else does.  The UFC is hurt by loosing their four biggest heavyweight stars Couture, Cro Cop, Arlovski and Sylvia.  The UFC is not so much hurt by loosing Jake O’Brien.  It would be nice to keep O’Brien, but if you can’t you move on.  Also, you sign MMA free agents based on this tier.  I and many others consider Fedor for example a star level guy, an instant smash hit and a great investment.  You pay him well, but he will make you money.  Dana White apparently considered him second tier, and didn’t sign him.  My opinion you give the Fedors and the Couture and the Liddells whatever they want.  My system looks like this:

UFC’s Stars:

• Anderson Silva
• Georges St. Pierre
• B.J. Penn
• Rich Franklin
• Chuck Liddell
• Quinton “Rampage” Jackson
• Forrest Griffin
• Tito Ortiz
• Matt Hughes
• Wanderlai Silva

Second Level: UFC’s Near Stars:

• Brandon Vera
• Matt Serra
• Jon Fitch
• Diego Sanchez
• Dan Henderson
• Josh Koscheck
• Sean Sherk
• Kenny Florian
• Mauricio “Shogun” Rua
• Rashad Evans
• Michael Bisping
• Joe Stevenson
• Gabriel Gonzaga
• Chris Leben
• Karo Parisyan
• Clay Guida

Third Level: The UFC’s Emerging Stars:

• Brock Lesnar
• Roger Huerta
• Mac Danzig
• Joe Lauzon
• Cain Velasquez

Fourth Level: UFC’s Stud Fighters, but Not Stars:

• Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
• Fabricio Werdum
• Keith Jardine
• Frank Mir
• Thiago Silva
• Heath Herring
• Lyoto Machida
• Marcus Aurelio
• Yushin Okami
• Marcus Davis
• Patrick Cote
• Evan Tanner
• Stephan Bonnar
• Martin Kampmann
• Marvin Eastman
• Ricardo Almeida
• Mike Swick
• Thiago Tavares
• Nate Quarry
• Wilson Gouveia
• Nate Marquardt
• Kauhiro Nakamura
• Jason MacDonald
• Demian Maia
• Thiago Alves
• Thales Leites
• Frank Edgar
• Matt Hammil
• Nate Diaz
• Akihiro Gono
• Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou
• Gray Maynard
• Hermes Franca
• Cheick Kongo
• Din Thomas
• Spencer Fisher
• Tyson Griffin

Note: The reality show really helped some of these fighters draw a fan base, because people saw them on TUF they root for them to suceed in their careers

Who will hold the UFC Titles at the End of ’08?

Heavyweight

 (Click Above to Vote)

The UFC’s Heavyweight divison is hurting for contenders.  Coming up Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Tim Sylvia are fighting for what is being called the “interim title”.  Randy Couture will probably be offered to fight the winner and I suspect will turn it down, though beating up on Tim Sylvia again could be a temptation.  I doubt Randy will be the guy unless somehow the Fedor fight works out.  I voted for Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, but that vote could be blown in one week from now.  If he beats Sylvia I think he will have the title at year’s end.  Reportedly the winner of the Sylvia/Nogueira fight will get Fabricio Werdum, who would be a tough match up either way.  I just don’t know how many guys will even geta  title shot in 2008.  There are some good fighters, but most still have some work to do to get to number one contender status.  Arlovski may be out of the UFC.  Gonzaga has lost two in a row and just had a title shot which he lost to Randy.  Kongo has won a few, but is fight Herring, which won’t put him next in line.  Cro Cop is yet to do well, but could turn it around, but not by year’s end.  Crop Cop’s career may help him get quickly up the ladder though and his losses overlooked.   Frank Mir or Brock Lesnar won’t be on 2008 best case scenario.  Brandon Vera has to beat a few big names.  The winner of the Sylvia fight may have to defend twice in 2008.  Once to Werdum in the summer I imagine, and one more fight to someone else in the latter part of 2008.

Light Heavyweight

 (Click Above to Vote) 

This divison is the most complicated with the most talented fighters who are top contenders.  I believe there are up to 8-10 guys who are near deserving a shot.  However, they will fight among each other for the shot.  Right now Forrest Griffin will fight Rampage, but I can’t imagine him winning and even if he does I don’t see him holding the title in year’s end.  The question is who will get the title shots.  It seems that Machida and Silva are destined for a shot at the title or maybe will square off some time with the winner getting a title shot.  However, both have fights lined up for this spring.  I would guess Jardine and Liddell could fight with the winner getting a title shot.  Maybe even if Forrest beat Rampage, Jardine could earn a re-match with Griffin.  I would say more likely than that Shogun could earn a re-match with Forrest if he wins, if he can win one fight prior.  I really don’t think Rampage will hold the title at year’s end for some reason.  I have an eerie feeling that we haven’t see all of Shogun.  He is young and good.  He will hold the title some day, the question is will it be in 2008.  I picked Shogun, but it may be a long shot, because a lot has to happen for him to get a shot.

Middleweight

 (Click Above to Vote)

It sure is hard to pick against Anderson Silva for this, isn’t it?  My prediction is simple, the winner of the Henderson vs. Silva match will have the title at the end of the year.  I have a feeling that the Okami vs. Tanner winner could get a shot at the Silva vs. Henderson winner.  Rich Franklin could get a shot if he beats Lutter and if Henderson wins.  He won’t get a third shot against Anderson.  I picked Dan Henderson because I think he stands a great chance against Silva with his great clinch and strong jaw.  There could be a sleeper in this class as well, someone like Matt Lindland or Paulo Filho who is yet to sign with the UFC, they may get a instant shot.

Welterweight

(Click Above to Vote)

The contenders are minimal here.  I was tempted to just put three guys as options (St. Pierre, Serra and Fitch).   I think St. Pierre will beat Serra.  I also think that if Fitch gets by Chris Wilson he will earn a title shot.  However, I would not be totally shocked if regardless of the outcome of the St. Pierre vs. Serra fight if Matt Hughes got Matt Serra.  If Serra somehow beats St. Pierre again, Hughes could get a shot at the title again, but not likely.  I think Fitch has earned it, and supposidly Parisyan is in line for a title shot as well, but I do not know if anyone of those guys will beat St. Pierre.  Marcus Davis is climbing, but he still needs to beat one of the top five in the divison before he can be talked about.  I also put B.J. Penn on the list because he still says he wants to take the welterweight title, but I doubt it will be in 2008. 

Lightweight

(Click Above to Vote)

I am sorry with the way B.J. Penn looked I couldn’t vote against him.  He is good.  He destroyed Joe Stevenson.  He looks determined and I do not know who can beat a focused and fit B.J. Penn.  He could become legendary if he wants to.  I believe he is in a league of his own.  Sean Sherk will be a tough fight, but I suspect B.J. to beat Sherk.  In the title mix you really just have Huerta, Florian and Edgar.  I would imagine each has to win one more fight before they earn a title shot and that win has to be over a quality guy.  Florian is lined up with Joe Lauzon already.  Edgar is expected to fight soon.  Huerta may get the next shot if he holds out until the summer.  I wouldn’t underestimate the second tier in this divison either (Tyson Griffin, Joe Lauzon, Clay Guida, and other up and comers like Danzig) but not in 2008.  One possibility is that Takanori Gomi signs with the UFC and will get the winner of B.J. Penn vs. Sean Sherk.  That is a good possiblity and he could very well hold the UFC title, but I would still pick B.J.

Interested to hear what your votes are, let me know and discuss it below!

What to expect in MMA in ’08

• I expect to see new title holders in every division but one and that is the middleweight.  All though Anderson could be challenged by Dan Henderson.  My picks for the title holders: Nogueira, Not sure about lightheavyweight, Anderson Silva, St. Pierre, and B.J. Penn.
• I expect to see a few more fighters signed to UFC contracts.  Highlighting the list: Matt Lindland, Gilbert Melendez, Jake Shields, and some other big name surprise
• I expect TUF to be a disappointment with Rampage Jackson getting a lot of camera time saying his crazy off the wall things
• I expect the middleweight division to get tougher
• I expect a few UFC stars to retire (Matt Hughes and Rich Franklin)
• I expect Sean Sherk to get another title shot, but B.J. Penn to beat him badly
• I expect the light heavyweight division to get crazier with guys like Machdia, Thiago Silva, Rashad Evans, and Shogun in the title mix.
• I expect Chuck Liddell to avenge his loss to Keith Jardine by summer
• I expect that Shogun is still only one fight away from a title shot, I think that my top ten in the lightheavyweight at the top ten at light heavyweight, perhaps not in that order.
• I expect Dan Henderson to try Anderson Silva like he hasn’t been tried in a while
• I expect Jon Fitch, Kenny Florian, Sean Sherk, Roger Huerta, Matt Lindland, and either Arlovski or Cro Cop to get a title shot. 
• I expect the former PRIDE guys to turn it around in the octagon
• I expect another solid fight from Wanderlai Silva, can you say rematch?
• I expect the Fedor vs. Randy fight to happen
• I expect other organizations to become more of a competition to the UFC
• I expect Dana White to say many more expletives on national television
• I expect TUF alums to suceed this year even more
• I expect Diego Sanchez to drop to lightweight
• I expect Brock Lesnar to be a middle of the road fighter
• I expect Brandon Vera to drop to lightheavyweight
• I expect Bisping to cry when he gets beat in middleweight
• I expect Tito to loose in the Apprentice

Best Possible Fights In the UFC…

What fights can we expect to happen or want to happen.  I’ll break it down by weight class…If UFC gets a Shields, Filho or Melendez type guy they would come close to getting a title shot right away.

Heavyweights:

• The winner of the Sylvia vs. Vera fight VS. the winner of the Nog. vs. Kongo fight for the Heavyweight title.  Perhaps in February or March. 
• Perhaps they could take the loosers of the above fights and match them together
• I expect to see Arlovski and Cro Cop in action soon perhaps against each other
• I’d like to see a Werdum vs. Gonzaga
• Maybe Jake O’brien will be in the mix as well soon

Light Heavyweights:

• Wanderlai vs. Chuck (not what it was, but both are coming off of back to back losses)
• The winner of the Evans vs. Bisping fight vs. Rampage
• I still want Tito vs. Rashad II and Hamil vs. Bisping II
• Could we see a Forrest Griffin vs. Keith Jardine II
• Shogun vs. Machida !!

Middleweights:

• Okami vs. McDonald winner vs. Franklin vs. Silva winner
• I’d love to see Dan Henderson drop and fight here, he would get an immediate title shot

Welterweights:

• Winner of Hughes vs. Serra vs Georges St. Pierre
• Looser of the Highes vs. Serra vs Jon Fitch
• Marcus Davis vs. Diego Sanchez

Lightweights:

• B.J. Penn vs. Joe Stevenson
• Kenny Florian vs. the winner of Huerta vs. Guida with the winner getting a title shot

UFC Fighter Rankings

Where do fighters rank in the UFC?  I’ve seen all sorts of thoughts on rankings, so I will chime in and give my rankings, which of course are the best and most accurate.  I am using a few guidelines.

• This is strictly UFC, not including fighters not yet signed in UFC from Pride.  For example, Fedor would be on or near the top of the Heavyweight rankings, but he is yet to sign so he is not included
• This is based not on popularity or even record, but purely on who I perceive to be the best fighters
• I am putting the title holders at number one in each weight class, even though they might not be the best in that class, for example, I would not have Matt Serra as the best fighter in his class, but he is the belt holder.
• Some fighters are rising quickly and others are falling quickly (i.e. Tito and Cro Cop)

HEAVYWEIGHTS

1. Randy “The Natural” Couture

2. Andrei “The Pitbull” Arlovski

3. Gabriel Gonzaga

4. Cheick Kongo

5. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

6. Tim Sylvia

7. Mirko “Cro Cop”

8. Brandon Vera

9. Frank Mir

10. Jeff Monson 

11. Heath Herring

12. Fabricio Werdum

13. Assuerio Silva

(Note: Fedor, Josh Barnett, and even Aleksander Emelianko may have made the list had they signed. )

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHTS

1. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson

2. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua

3. Dan Henderson

4. Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell

5. Wandelai Silva

6. Rashad Evans

7. Houston Alexander

8. Tito Ortiz

9. Keith “The Dean of Mean” Jardine

10. Forrest Griffin

11. Rogerio “Minotoro” Nogueira

12. Matt “The Hammer” Hamill

13. Micael Bisping

14. Ryoto Machida

15. Jason Lambert

16. Stephan Bonnar

17. Renato “Babalu” Sorbal

18. Wilson Gouveia

19. Marvin Eastman

(Note: I put Hamill above Bisping because I believe he beat Bisping in their fight.  Even though Bisping got the win, Hammil looked better.)

MIDDLEWEIGHT:

1. Anderson Silva

2. Rich Franklin

3. Yushim Okami

4. Terry Martin

5. Nate Marquardt

6. Dan Henderson

7. Jason MacDonald

8. Patrick Cote 

9. Kalib Starnes

10. Chris Leben

11. Martin Kampmann

12. Thales Leites

13. Ivan Salaverry

14. Nate “Rock” Quarry

15. Evan Tanner

16. Kendall Grove

17. Ed Herman

18. Travis Lutter

19. Dean Lister

20. Alessio Sakara

WELTERWEIGHT:

1. Matt Serra

2. Georges St. Pierre

3. Matt Hughes

4. Diego Sanchez

5. Karo Parisyan

6. Josh Koschek

7. Jon Fitch

8. B.J. Penn

9. Marcus Davis

10. Mike Swick

11. Thiago Alves

12. Josh Burkman

13. Luigi Fioravanti

14. Nick Diaz

15. Chris Lytle

16. Edilberto “Crocota” de Oliveira

17. Jonathan Goulet

LIGHTWEIGHT:

1.  Sean Sherk

2. B.J. Penn

3. Joe “Daddy” Stevenson

4. Roger Huerta

5. Kenny Florian

6. Hermes Franca

7. Nick Diaz

8. Joe Lauzon

9.  Din Thomas

10. Marcus Davis

11. Clay Guida

12. Spencer Fisher

13. Frank Edgar

14. Melvin Guillard

15. Drew Fickett

16. Kurt Pellegrino

17. Terry Etim

18. Tyson Griffin

19. Marcus Aurelio

20. Sam Stout

21. Tiago Tavares

22. Nate Diaz

(Note: I listed to 22 because there are so many quality fighters and the last 12-15 of these guys are not far from one another in ranking,  Some rankings have my number 19 Marcus Aurelio much higher, but come on, whose he gonna bump down?)

 Let the disputing begin.  I’d love to hear comments.  Perhaps I left someone off included someone I shouldn’t have.  Perhaps I have someone overrated or another underrated.  Let me know what you think.