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Who Really Deserves the UFC WW Title Shot: Hendricks, Kampmann or Ellenberger?

The welterweight division is quickly becoming one of the deepest pools of talent in the UFC. Just a year ago, there were talks of Georges St-Pierre having cleaned out the division, and just one year later, he has challengers lining up to take a s…

Obviously, because of that injury, Carlos Condit has claimed a piece of the title in the form of an interim belt. With GSP not scheduled to compete till late this year at best, many agree that Condit should offer a challenger a shot at the belt in the meantime. This would cut down on the traffic jam at the top of the division and give fight fans the welterweight title fight that we crave.

The three top contenders in the division are pretty unanimous: Martin Kampmann, Johny Hendricks and Jake Ellenberger. But if we are making a hypothetical interim title fight, who gets the first shot? Who really deserves it?

The best way to determine who has the best resume is to look at them side by side. By taking a look at their last five fights, we should come to a reasonable conclusion on who should be the No. 1 contender. So let’s take Martin Kampmann first.

Martin Kampmann is 3-2 in his last five fights. He has defeated a former No. 1 contender, Thiago Alves, and former up-and-comer, Rick Story. You’ll find that Rick Story plays an important part in how we see things. Story has had the unenviable task of having fought all three of these men. Actually, he went 2-1 against them, but the one guy he didn’t beat was Martin Kampmann.

Another jewel in Kampmann’s resume is the fact that he is the only loss on Carlos Condit’s UFC resume. With all that, it still seems that Kampmann would come up short in a debate of being No. 1 contender because of his two losses in his last four fights.

Next is Jake Ellenberger. Jake Ellenberger is 5-0 in his last five fights, with notable wins over Diego Sanchez and Jake Shields. Ellenberger has also fought Condit, but he lost a close split decision. The X-factor of Rick Story doesn’t seem to apply here, though Story did defeat Ellenberger in their pre-UFC days.

With Ellenberger’s lone loss having come by way of Condit, along with the pending outcome of his fight with the aforementioned Kampmann at The Ultimate Fighter finale in June, it just seems that both fighters are a fight away from a title shot.

Johny Hendricks is 4-1 in his last five fights, with his lone loss coming from (you guessed it) Rick Story. Hendricks just defeated BFF’s Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch in consecutive bouts, and that alone should be enough to put him in the driver’s seat.

The only problem is Condit and GSP. If Condit does in fact wait until GSP returns from injury, then it forces Hendricks to fight the winner of Kampmann vs. Ellenberger. Not so bad for us fans. What would make it more enticing is if they put that fight on the same card as the GSP vs. Condit fight and have a ring face off.

But if they do allow Condit to defend his title, Johny “Bigg Rigg” Hendricks should be the guy to get the shot.

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UFC 145 Results: 5 Things We Learned About Rashad Evans

Rashad Evans faced his toughest obstacle in Jon Jones on Saturday night and didn’t leave with a passing grade. He was able to endure to the end and that is to be commended, but he didn’t do enough to even garner a close decision. Perhaps pu…

Perhaps pundits made too much of the fact that he was a former friend and training partner. Either way, Jones left Evans icing his forehead and picking up the pieces of his championship aspirations.

Here’s what we took away from his performance:

Taking Emotions Out of the Equation

Jones was applauded for his ability to take his emotions out of the fight and do things according to plan. Rashad deserves a little credit also. Even though he lost the fight, he was able to keep his emotions in check throughout the fight. There was the occasional showmanship, but that’s just the “Suga” peeking through. For the most part, Evans stayed level headed.

Inability To Close the Distance

This fight provided a blueprint to future opponents of Evans. If an opponent has a reach advantage, Evans has a difficult time getting inside. During the duration of the fight, Evans failed to get inside Jones arm and leg reach. This inability rendered him offense-less.

Add to that his inability to muster a take-down, and he couldn’t do much damage to the champion

Toughest opponent for Jones

Though Jones obtained an easy decision over Evans, Rashad was his toughest opponent to date. Jones wasn’t able to put him away and had him in slight trouble, but nothing detrimental. Evans made Jones think on his feet and not rely solely on his athleticism.

This fact coupled with the psychological warfare that Evans threw Jones way, made him Jones’ biggest obstacle to date, but he cleared it.

Very Small Likelihood To Win a LHW Title

With Jones firmly entrenched in the light heavyweight driver seat, the likelihood that Evans ascends to another title shot is very slim. Jones has dispatched four other former champions and now Evans has to go to the back of the line. Maybe he has a better shot in another division.

Middleweight Is an Option

Ah, yes. The classic “lost to the champion, lines too long to get back so I’ll drop to a lower division and become a top contender” scenario. In theory, it’s an option for him, but can he endure the weight cut.

Remember that Rashad won The Ultimate Fighter as a heavyweight, so going down to middleweight will be quite a challenge. With that being the case, his current position in the LHW division may cause him to consider the move.

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When Will MMA Have a Muhammad Ali?

As MMA starts to eclipse boxing as the premier combat sport, comparisons are being discussed between boxing legends and up and coming MMA stars. One recent comparison was made between Jon Jones and Muhammad Ali. Noted photographer, Michael Muller stated that Jon Jones was the “21st century Muhammad Ali”. I think he was swayed by the photo shoot he was doing, but now the question has been posed, “when will MMA have a Muhammad Ali”.

The short answer to this question is probably never, but why not? Jon Jones has become champion at the tender age of 23 while Ali became champion at 22. Ali used speed and distance to overwhelm opponents, Jones uses a similar combination of the same attributes to win fights. Jones has been described as articulate, brash and cocky. Ali was the definition of cocky and his poetic predictions before fights are legendary. You can easily see where the comparisons come in.

However to compare the two, you have to look at what Muhammad Ali meant on a social level. Sure Muhammad Ali started as Cassius Clay, a boxing phenom and became a pioneer in the area of hyping fights with his use of the press. He became a pioneer in psychological warfare. He won fights before he got into the ring by getting into his opponents heads and getting them out of their game. Clay/Ali fought and defeated the best while the best were in their prime.

Cassius Clay transformed into Muhammad Ali, an other-worldly figure that transcended the sport by what he meant socially and to popular culture. Ali was stripped of his title for taking a stand against the Vietnam war. He was prohibited from obtaining a boxing license for three years because of this. This coupled with the public opposition to the war made Ali the “People’s Champion”.

Ali has become one of the most famous people, not boxers, in the world. Ali lit the flame at the 1996 Olympics, attempted to negotiate the release of hostages with Saddam Hussein, and even received a Presidential Medal of Freedom. Those are extremely large shoes to fill.

The likelihood of anyone in MMA having the social impact on the consciences of the United States the way Muhammad Ali did during that time period is very, very slim. Sorry Jon Jones. Nice picture, but there’s only one Muhammad Ali, and any comparison is likely an insult.

To Jon Jones’ credit, he embraces the history, but he appears to want to create his own legacy. He wants to leave a mark on the sport similar to the one Muhammad Ali left, but in his own way. If he can get past his own Joe Frazier-ish opponent in Rashad Evans, he’ll be on his way to legendary status.

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UFC 143 Results: Carlos Condit Needs to Defend His Belt Before He Fights GSP

Though Carlos Condit won the fight Saturday night against Nick Diaz, there seems to be a doubt that he deserves the belt. Many feel that his fight strategy caused him to look a little lackluster in his win. So, perhaps another fight before …

There’s a couple of fights that may interest the UFC in the event that Georges St. Pierre’s rehab doesn’t go as well as he hopes.

Josh Koscheck would be an interesting fight for Carlos Condit, considering that Koscheck wouldn’t even sniff a title shot if GSP was healthy. Josh Koscheck has put together an impressive resume with wins in five of his last six fights with his only loss coming from GSP. The only issue is if Koshcheck wins, we would have to see a rematch of him and GSP.

Not that exciting.

Another interesting bout would be Condit versus the Jake Ellenberger/Diego Sanchez winner. Ellenberger would be able to avenge the loss he suffered at UFC Fight Night 19, while Diego Sanchez would have the opportunity to engage in his second title fight

The last option is no fight. I think this is the safest route for Condit to go.

Assuming there’s no setbacks in GSP’s rehab, the two men will clash later this year. That is a strong assumption, seeing how often injuries occur in training camps, but this seems like the option the UFC and Condit will go with and play things by ear from Saturday forward.

Who knows what will happen, but the UFC is good at thinking on its toes.

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UFC 143 Results: What’s Next for Fabricio Werdum?

Fabricio Werdum made a triumphant re-entrance into the octagon Saturday night at UFC 143. Werdum is a veteran of the sport and is widely known as one of it’s best grapplers. The Fedor conqueror also conquered “Big Country” Roy Nelson with a barrage of …

Though Nelson was game and came for a full night’s work, Werdum continued to apply pressure with his striking and was easily awarded the decision victory on what was the fight of the night.

So, what’s next for Werdum?

With the influx of Strikeforce talent filtering into the heavyweight division, every fighter should be taking fights to position themselves for a title shot after the Junior Dos Santos versus Alistair Overeem fight takes place. Werdum has the unique advantage of fighting both men, so he is looking to exact some revenge from whomever wins.

With that being the case, the perfect fight to get him marching toward the title is a fight with Frank Mir. If Werdum were to conquer Mir, it would clearly have matchmakers talking title shot. It’s almost a de facto No. 1 contender fight.

Mir presents a slightly different challenge to Werdum, especially in the fact that Mir is not scared to go to the ground with anyone, as evidenced in his fight against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Obviously, Werdum’s ground game is his specialty, so if these two were to clash then it would be a clinic for the fans.

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MMA’s Best Fighters from 2011

2011. Like every year that preceded it, the world of mixed martial arts just grew and captivated us more. A lot of fighters went from OK to good, and a few went from good to great. Before we go too far into 2012, let’s look back at the year …

2011. Like every year that preceded it, the world of mixed martial arts just grew and captivated us more. A lot of fighters went from OK to good, and a few went from good to great.

Before we go too far into 2012, let’s look back at the year that was and and recognize the fighters that gave us a show (no particular order).

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