All 7 UFC Belts Could Be on the Line During Second Half of 2011

With the surge in the amount of UFC events over the last few years, one downside is that less and less PPV events are being anchored with a title fight. While the UFC usually does a good job putting together PPV cards worth the price of admission, many…

With the surge in the amount of UFC events over the last few years, one downside is that less and less PPV events are being anchored with a title fight. While the UFC usually does a good job putting together PPV cards worth the price of admission, many fans are feeling a bit slighted.

With that said, fans of title fights may be in store for an embarrassment or riches during the second half of 2011 where, if the stars all align, we could bear witness to all seven UFC belts being defended. Four title fights are already on the books, with one being tentatively booked, while three others are likely to happen as long as all the fighters in question heal from their respective injuries.

Lets take a look shall we.

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UFC 131: Race Between Maia’s Killer Subs and Munoz’ Lethal Ground-and-Pound?

With majority of their MMA triumphs gone the short route, Mark “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” Munoz or Demian Maia can notch another finish–at the expense of the other.The powerful ground-and-pound specialist Munoz (10-2 with five wi…

With majority of their MMA triumphs gone the short route, Mark “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” Munoz or Demian Maia can notch another finish–at the expense of the other.

The powerful ground-and-pound specialist Munoz (10-2 with five wins by KO and one by submission) is coming fresh from a first round KO victory over C.B Dolloway just last March 3.

On the other side, top-of-the-line Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu expert Maia (14-2 with eight wins via submissions and two by KO’s), with his last three conquests coming by unanimous decisions, is itching to tap somebody out inside the octagon again.

And he wants to scratch it badly with the decorated wrestler.

“That (winning by submission) is what I want to do for sure and that’s something I’m looking for,” said Maia, whose last submission win was over Chael Sonnen way, way back in February of 2009 (Demian Maia–Itching to Get the Tap Out Again Thomas Gerbasi, June 08, 2011).

So, should Munoz avoid the ground game like an allergen? Same as Anderson “The Spider” Silva who “effectively” showboated and danced way from Maia’s ground game invitation en route to retaining the UFC Middleweight Title?

On the contrary (if we are to give the former NCAA champion the benefit of the doubt), Munoz claims to “welcome the ground game as well…BUT (all caps mine) at the same time I’m going to fight where I want to fight, not where he wants to fight. And if I do get there I’m going to scramble back to where I want to be.” (The Beautiful Mind of Mark Munoz by Frank Curreri, June 09, 2011.)

I sense a contradiction here, and my interpretation of “where I want to be fight” and where Munoz is going to “scramble back to” is none other than the stand-up game.

His game plan apparently is to keep the fight standing and try to one-up his frequent training partner and UFC Middleweight King by knocking out Maia.

This is the same prognosis of Randy Couture who, favoring his Oklahoma State University co-wrestling alumni, sees his “brother” avoiding getting the fight to the ground as much as possible (Affliction’s Randy Couture Predicts UFC 131 Maia Vs Munoz, Youtube, Jun 6, 2011).

Again, will it be slick-and-sick submissions versus devastating ground-and-pound?

Well, looks like it’s shaping to be a jumping-to-guard versus sprawl-and-brawl affair for MMA fans.

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12 Bold MMA Predictions for the Summer of 2011

This year’s NBA Draft is pretty slim in talent; there isn’t a ton of depth or potential star-power to be had, past the top two picks (and, to be honest, both of those guys are pretty shoddy). However, there are some players projected to be late-fi…

This year’s NBA Draft is pretty slim in talent; there isn’t a ton of depth or potential star-power to be had, past the top two picks (and, to be honest, both of those guys are pretty shoddy). 

However, there are some players projected to be late-first round, early-second round draft picks that could become gems if the smartest teams select them. 

These are usually players that didn’t get a ton of props because, despite whatever success they may have had, didn’t play in a Division I school; Additionally, these are also players on deep teams in college which saw them as the second-best player despite being crafty as a leader. 

Whatever the case, there are always a handful of these dudes in each draft. 

Here are ten of them in 2011. 

Enjoy. Click away.

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MMA: Why Silva vs. St-Pierre Won’t Solve the Pound-for-Pound Debate

With Anderson Silva set to face off against Yushin Okami in August and Georges St-Pierre set to square off with Nick Diaz in October, the great pound-for-pound debate is set to rear its head again. The pound-for-pound rankings are one of the most excit…

With Anderson Silva set to face off against Yushin Okami in August and Georges St-Pierre set to square off with Nick Diaz in October, the great pound-for-pound debate is set to rear its head again. The pound-for-pound rankings are one of the most exciting and controversial debates within the MMA community.

There are many problems that exist within the debate, and these involve fighters that fight in different organizations, strength of competition and the ability of fighters to finish fights. However, the main problem with pound-for-pound rankings is that they are completely hypothetical.

The true meaning of the rankings is to objectively look at each fighter’s skill set and try to determine who would win if both fighters were the same size. Trying to determine these rankings is easy in certain cases.

If Brock Lesnar weighed 155 pounds, would he be able to beat Jose Aldo? The answer to that question would be a resounding no. However, in some cases the lines are somewhat blurry and a deeper analysis is called for.

We begin to take a closer look at each fighter’s record as well as who they have  beaten and how. Sometimes, we are even lucky enough to have two fighters that are only one weight class apart, and the opportunity arises to put together a dream fight.

This brings us to Anderson Silva and GSP. While it is up for debate who is the clear cut No. 1, there is almost no debating that these two men are the consensus No. 1 and No. 2 fighters in the world.

Personally, I believe the nod goes to GSP. While I understand that he hasn’t shown the ability to finish anyone since UFC 94 when BJ Penn’s corner threw in the towel after the fourth round, I still believe he has been the more dominant fighter, and his skill set is the one that has given Silva the most trouble over the years.

While Silva has had plenty of highlight-reel finishes, he has also looked very human at times in his tenure in the UFC. He was taken down and controlled by Travis Lutter, Dan Henderson and was also on the receiving end of a brutal beating by Chael Sonnen.

On the other hand, ever since being stopped by Matt Serra at UFC 69, St-Pierre has dominated everyone that he has fought, and the outcomes of his fights have never been in question. While finishes are important, thoroughly dominating someone for a full 15 or 25 minutes leaves no doubt as to who the better fighter is.

A potential showdown between the world’s two best fighters has been mentioned by fans for several years now. The goal of that fight would be to determine who the world’s true No. 1 fighter is.

However, that logic is flawed, and that fight would only determine who the No. 1 fighter would be if St-Pierre were to emerge victorious. While both men would weigh in at 185 lbs, Anderson is the only one out of those two men to be a true 185-pounder. St-Pierre noted that before his fight with Jake Shields that he was walking around at 194 lbs while Anderson usually cuts to 185 from 215.

This is a 20-pound difference between the two, and if Silva were to win it would leave the door open for people to argue that when two very talented men square off, the bigger fighter will win.

This same scenario was present when St-Pierre fought BJ Penn. Both men are tremendously talented, but when BJ weighed in at 166 lbs, that was his actual weight, and he did not have to cut weight. This weight advantage was clearly evident when St-Pierre was able to repeatedly take BJ down and not let him get up.

While I do believe that St-Pierre is the better fighter, it would have been a much more interesting and maybe even more competitive fight had the two men weighed the same.

Pound-for-pound rankings will always be a hot button topic in MMA and a fun thing to talk about. Everyone has their own opinions, and it’s interesting to hear different points of view on who people believe is the world’s best fighter.

However, pound-for-pound rankings remain problematic because it’s purely speculation. We also need to be wary in certain situations when fighters from different weight classes square off. If the smaller fighter wins then they can claim to be the better pound for pound fighter, but when the larger man beats the smaller man, it does not necessarily prove anything.

Just like BJ Penn vs. Georges St-Pierre did not determine who the better pound-for-pound fighter is, neither will St-Pierre vs. Silva.

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MMA News: UFC Middleweight Contender Chael Sonnen Calls out Lyoto Machida

According to his post on Twitter, UFC middleweight title contender, Chael Sonnen has officially called out Brazilian UFC light heavyweight title contender, Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida. “Hey Anderson, stick to what your country doe…

According to his post on Twitter, UFC middleweight title contender, Chael Sonnen has officially called out Brazilian UFC light heavyweight title contender, Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida.

“Hey Anderson, stick to what your country does best; like soccer or harboring infectious disease. Oh, and tell Lyoto that I’M CALLING HIM OUT,” said Sonnen via his Twitter account.

With legal issues preventing the sanctioning of Sonnen by the California State Athletic Commission, time will only tell when he will be seen back in action.

Should Sonnen get his wish to face Machida, UFC fans will no doubt be excited for this potential matchup.

Sonnen is known for his outspoken and downright hilarious commentary outside of the cage, along with his brutal, non-stop blend of wrestling, boxing and sheer dominance inside the cage.

With a professional record of 25 wins and 11 losses, Sonnen is the only man to beat UFC middleweight champion, Anderson “The Spider” Silva for all five championship rounds on all three judges’ scorecards, until he got caught in a triangle choke at the end of Round Five and was forced to tap.

He also is the only fighter to drop Silva to the canvas, if even for a moment.

Sonnen by definition is a true fighter through and through and is notorious for being willing to fight anyone at any time, as he’s thrown verbal hand jabs at just about every UFC champion in every weight class above lightweight.

Regardless of whether he will get his wish to face Machida or not, you can be sure that whoever he fights next will be in for the fight of their life.

You can follow Sonnen on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/#!/sonnench

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