With Georges St. Pierre out indefinitely and many questions surrounding his return, the welterweight division is now as up in the air as any.UFC 143 will go a long way in clearing up the title picture with a pair of important fights at 170.While Carlos…
With Georges St. Pierre out indefinitely and many questions surrounding his return, the welterweight division is now as up in the air as any.
UFC 143 will go a long way in clearing up the title picture with a pair of important fights at 170.
While Carlos Condit vs. Nick Diaz is sure to get plenty of hype as the main event and the interim title on the line, Josh Koscheck‘s bout with Mike Pierce will also play a role in the current landscape of the division.
Koscheck, a name everyone is familiar with, looks to get his second victory on the comeback trail after being thoroughly battered by Georges St. Pierre.
Pierce, a highly underrated opponent, looks to finally get some of the recognition he deserves and make a case of his own that he is a threat in the welterweight division.
With so much on the line and the interesting clash of styles that exists, Koscheck-Pierce is sure to be an interesting fight.
After a great year of fights, 2011 will end with one of the most anticipated matchups of the year, Brock Lesnar-Alistair Overeem. Questions surround the bout and the fight should really show if either of these guys can truly contend in the heavyweight …
After a great year of fights, 2011 will end with one of the most anticipated matchups of the year, Brock Lesnar-Alistair Overeem. Questions surround the bout and the fight should really show if either of these guys can truly contend in the heavyweight division.
With Lesnar’s health concerns and questionable chin and Overeem’s organizational debut, each of these guys certainly come into the fight with many questions to answer.
While it is hard to tell what will happen in this fight it is very clear who the UFC should be rooting for: Brock Lesnar.
As 2012 begins, the UFC is in a better position than ever to break into the mainstream.
With the new partnership between FOX and the UFC the organization will have more exposure than ever before. Along with that exposure is the need for marketable stars who can become household names.
For many reasons Brock Lesnar is the perfect candidate to be the UFC’s poster boy.
UFC 141 is sure to be a great night of fights, and while the collision of titans Brock Lesnar and Alistair Overeem is the main attraction, there are plenty of potentially entertaining fights for fans on December 30th.Among those fights is the light hea…
UFC 141 is sure to be a great night of fights, and while the collision of titans Brock Lesnar and Alistair Overeem is the main attraction, there are plenty of potentially entertaining fights for fans on December 30th.
Among those fights is the light heavyweight fight between grizzled veteran Vladimir Matyushenko and promising prospect Alexander Gustafsson. At the very least, it will have the most syllables of any matchup at UFC 141.
Matyushenko comes into this fight with an impressive 4-1 streak in his last five fights (the one loss was to Jon Jones). A win for him would surely take him higher than he has ever been in the UFC, and potentially set him up with a big-name opponent.
Gustafsson, one of the most intriguing prospects in the UFC, looks to continue his dominance by improving on his 12-1 record, and move one step closer to being considered a serious contender for Jon Jones’ belt.
Much like Jones, Gustafsson brings a freakish frame to the table. Standing at 6’5″ and sporting a 76.5″ reach, it will be interesting to see how the 6’1″ Matyushenko handles Gustaffson’s length.
On a card stacked with important matchups, Michael Bisping-Demian Maia may be the most interesting matchup of the evening when the UFC holds its second event on FOX.The controversial Bisping has been on a roll of late, dispatching of Dan Miller, Yoshih…
On a card stacked with important matchups, Michael Bisping-Demian Maia may be the most interesting matchup of the evening when the UFC holds its second event on FOX.
The controversial Bisping has been on a roll of late, dispatching of Dan Miller, Yoshihiro Akiyama, Jorge Rivera and Jason “Mayhem” Miller en route to a four-fight win streak that has Bisping in title contention talks.
The most impressive of those wins was his demolition of Mayhem Miller. A fight that many thought would give the controversial Brit a hard time.
There is no doubt of Bisping’s skill as a fighter in the stand-up department. Bisping’s mix of quickness and technical boxing are difficult for any fighter to handle. The question for Bisping has always been how he can handle high-level ground fighters.
Many expected Miller to be the one that could test Bisping on the ground and see if he is truly worthy of his contender status. That wasn’t the case.
Bisping was able to batter Miller, never really being tested on the ground and earning a third-round stoppage victory.
At UFC on Fox 2, Bisping may finally be tested on the ground because Maia has some of the best Jiu Jitsu in all of MMA.
A 2007 ADCC champion, Maia is a third-degree Jiu Jitsu black belt with smooth transitions and the ability to completely control opponents on the ground. Over half of Maia’s wins in his MMA career have come by way of submission.
Maia’s Jiu Jitsu goes far beyond just submissions though, and that is why he poses a huge threat to Bisping’s run at the title. Once opponents hit the mat with Maia, it is almost guaranteed they are going to be out-grappled.
Maia’s controlling and smothering style of Jiu-Jitsu allows him to win on the scorecards, too. While most submission artists do most of their work from the bottom in full guard and often lose decisions for lack of top control, Maia’s Jiu Jitsu works much like a wrestler’s ground game.
Many have discredited Maia as a legitimate contender after his lop-sided decision loss to champion Anderson Silva, but the truth is Maia has vastly improved since their meeting in April 2010. Most notable is the improvement in Maia’s striking game.
Should this fight hit the mat Maia should be able to dominate, despite Bisping’s impressive size and strength for a middleweight. Maia’s Jiu Jitsu is that good.
The question will be just how improved Maia’s striking is. Can he strike with Bisping enough to take the fight to the ground? Mayhem couldn’t.
If Maia can, Bisping’s road to a title shot could come to a screeching halt.
With 2011 coming to a close, it’s very clear who the fighter of the year is—Jon Jones.Jones began the year with an impressive victory over fellow prospect Ryan Bader then parlayed that momentum into a title shot against Shogun Rua in which he bat…
With 2011 coming to a close, it’s very clear who the fighter of the year is—Jon Jones.
Jones began the year with an impressive victory over fellow prospect Ryan Bader then parlayed that momentum into a title shot against Shogun Rua in which he battered the champ for two rounds before earning the belt with a third-round TKO stoppage.
Jones’ continued his impressive year by easily dispatching of one of the biggest names in the division—Rampage Jackson.
Then came the most pivotal win of the year for Jones—an impressive victory over Lyoto Machida in which we saw Jones rally from the most trouble he’s ever been in—which wasn’t much.
With Jones’ meteoric rise to the top, the question now comes up: Where does Jon Jones belong among the top pound-for-pound fighters in the sport?
Pound-for-pound rankings are always a point of contention and debate, however, they serve as a great way to compare fighters across weight divisions and get an idea of who the best fighters are regardless of weight.
For the longest time, Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre have battled for the top spot on the pound-for-pound lists across the sport.
With 2011 now coming to a close, it’s now time to put Jon Jones firmly ahead of the welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre.
At this point Silva tops most lists—and with good reason. However, Jones has done enough to take GSP’s spot in the pound-for-pound rankings for a couple reasons…
With Dana White’s recent announcement of the newly added 125-pound flyweight division and its subsequent four-man tournament to crown a champion. The MMA world is now buzzing over the excitement that the division will potentially bring to the organizat…
With Dana White‘s recent announcement of the newly added 125-pound flyweight division and its subsequent four-man tournament to crown a champion. The MMA world is now buzzing over the excitement that the division will potentially bring to the organization.
The excitement is understandable. The recently added 135- and 145-pound weight classes have been a welcome addition, giving us some of the best fights of the year.
Presumably the new 125-pound flyweight division will do the same.
But is it the right move for the UFC?
One thing that has separated MMA from the almost-dead sport of boxing is that with only the limited amount of weight classes, there aren’t as many champions—so being a champion actually means something.
Including the new flyweight division, there are now four weight division that are only separated by 10 pounds a piece. Does the UFC really need this many divisions for the lower-weight fighters.
White and the UFC have got to where they are today by being great innovators within the industry, why not blaze their own trail when it comes to weight classes?
A better solution would have been to combine the bantamweight and flyweight divisions by creating a 130-pound weight class. This would force the larger 135ers to compete at 145 and still allow the smaller 135ers to compete at a better weight class for them.
If the UFC wants to create yet another weight class, why not add a cruiserweight division?
After Jon Jones’ UFC 140 victory over Lyoto Machida. Critics have claimed that he only wins due to his incredible size advantage over most light heavyweights. While Jones doesn’t actually cut that much weight to get into his weight division as some fighters, weight cutting has always been a controversial issue in the sport.
Fighters such as Anthony “Rumble” Johnson can walk around at weights of up to 50 pounds above their weight division. While Johnson recently moved to middleweight—a more natural weight class for him—he may have made that move earlier if there was a cruiserweight division.
A cruiserweight division would likely be around 225. Twenty pounds above the 205 division and 40 pounds below the 265-pound weight limit for heavyweight.
The immediate drawback would be the already-thin heavyweight division losing fighters, but this move would allow the heavyweight limit to be raised to something like 280—allowing larger athletes who may not be able to make 265 a chance to make it to the sport’s largest promotion.
If these changes were to occur, the weight classes would look like this:
Bantamweights: 130
Featherweights: 145
Lightweights: 155
Welterweights: 170
Middleweights: 185
Light Heavyweights: 205
Cruiserweights: 225
Heavyweights: 280
Eight different weight division that could be competitively filled. The addition of the cruiserweight division could create a trickle-down effect that would allow fighters to fight at a more natural weight without fear of running into much larger opponents.
As the sport of MMA grows, more athletes of all sizes and builds will begin to pick up the sport. The UFC would be doing themselves a favor by creating weight classes that reflects the future of the sport.
On a card stacked with important matchups,