Last week we witnessed the career resurgence of UFC and Pancrase veteran Nate Marquardt when he managed to win the Strikeforce Welterweight title against the very tough Tyron Woodley. By doing so, “The Great” was able to silence all doubters …
Last week we witnessed the career resurgence of UFC and Pancrase veteran Nate Marquardt when he managed to win the Strikeforce Welterweight title against the very tough Tyron Woodley. By doing so, “The Great” was able to silence all doubters and prove that he has made the right decision of moving down one weight class from his original division.
Crossing from one weight class to another is not a rare occurrence in MMA nowadays. Although difficult weight cut is an ideal reason, there are those who, like Marquardt, consider dropping or climbing a weight class for a golden opportunity of winning a world title.
This article lists the top six fighters who are likely to move up or down in weight class and have a good chance of winning the belt at another division.
Most MMA fans and pundits were surprised when the UFC announced Brandon Vera as the replacement for Brian Stann, who was supposed to fight Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC on Fox 4 in August. Although a great majority of people in the MMA co…
Most MMA fans and pundits were surprised when the UFC announced Brandon Vera as the replacement for Brian Stann, who was supposed to fight Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC on Fox 4 in August.
Although a great majority of people in the MMA community think that Vera is a bad choice, the possibility that the UFC is building up a future contender/superstar in “The Truth” is still very viable.
Making him fight Rua already is a great testament to this argument, for a win against the former light heavyweight champion will surely propel him up the rankings.
Vera’s record aside, here are three factors that the UFC might have seen in him to give him this golden opportunity.
UFC 144 is just days away, and fans can’t wait to watch one of the greatest fight cards in the UFC’s history. And with Frankie Edgar headlining the card, you can’t really think of enough reasons for them not to be excited. Why? Because fans antici…
UFC 144 is just days away, and fans can’t wait to watch one of the greatest fight cards in the UFC’s history. And with Frankie Edgar headlining the card, you can’t really think of enough reasons for them not to be excited.
Why? Because fans anticipate another “Rocky Balboa” performance from the champion—just like what he exhibited in his two previous fights against the “Bully” Gray Maynard, where he came back from adversity to notch a draw in the first match and a victory in the rematch.
But what excites me the most about UFC 144 is the fact that we may actually see the crowning of Edgar as the greatest UFC lightweight fighter ever.
His opponent, Benson Henderson, is actually considered by some pundits as a fighter who has all the tools to give Edgar enough problems. If he manages to defeat Henderson, Edgar may have actually eliminated the greatest threat to his belt.
Although many may make the case that he hasn’t fought Anthony Pettis and Gilbert Melendez yet, two fighters he previously defeated (BJ Penn and Gray Maynard) would certainly be favorites if matched-up against those two.
Just defeating Penn two times says a lot for the skill level that Edgar has, and knocking out Maynard is enough to make every fighter in the lightweight division fear him.
Defeating Henderson this weekend in Japan might mean that he may have also eliminated two top fighters the former Strikeforce Champion has beaten in Clay Guida and Jim Miller, and might actually close the debate on who’s the greatest fighter of all time in the lightweight division.
Rashad Evans and Phil Davis are set to fight this Saturday on UFC on Fox 2, with the winner gaining the right to face reigning UFC Light Heavyweight-champion, Jon Jones. Leading to the fight, many are debating which fighter has the greater chance …
Rashad Evans and Phil Davis are set to fight this Saturday on UFC on Fox 2, with the winner gaining the right to face reigning UFC Light Heavyweight-champion, Jon Jones.
Leading to the fight, many are debating which fighter has the greater chance to top Jones.
Let’s analyze the three in terms of these four MMA skills.
“With great power comes great responsibility.” This line from the movie Spider Man was proven true last weekend at UFC 139 when we saw fan-favorite Stephan Bonnar booed by UFC fans for the first time. Bonnar managed to notch a one-sided …
“With great power comes great responsibility.” This line from the movie Spider Man was proven true last weekend at UFC 139 when we saw fan-favorite Stephan Bonnar booed by UFC fans for the first time.
Bonnar managed to notch a one-sided victory over The Ultimate Fighter cast member Kyle Kingsbury. But although the fight ended in a one-sided fashion in favor of Bonnar, the audience still seem to dislike the way the fight unfolded, as the majority of the battle occurred on the ground.
Even though Bonnar, who is also a former cast member of the reality show The Ultimate Fighter, showcased a lot of skills on the ground, the fans seem to prefer to see him banging on the feet because of his past performance against Forrest Griffin.
The question after the fight: Do fans expect too much from Bonnar?
Luckily, he’s not alone. Here are my list of fighters who seem to have a responsibility to please the audience.
UFC 139 is just a day away and after the fight between former champions Shogun Rua and Dan Henderson, a new challenger to the light heavyweight belt owned by Jon Jones will be determined.As much as I want to believe that either Henderson or Rua has the…
UFC 139 is just a day away and after the fight between former champions Shogun Rua and Dan Henderson, a new challenger to the light heavyweight belt owned by Jon Jones will be determined.
As much as I want to believe that either Henderson or Rua has the chance to defeat the champion, the reality is there is none in the division who can match the skills of Jones—not even Loyoto Machida whom he will be fighting at UFC 140.
So, the only way I think “Bones” will be defeated is to construct an imaginary fighter that would be able to match his skills. If I can only combine the skills of the four light heavyweight fighter I picked and put them into an imaginary fighter, I think we can have someone to match Jones or even defeat him.
