There has been a lot of commotion at 170 pounds as of late.UFC champ Georges St-Pierre remains sidelined due to injury, while interim titleholder Carlos Condit waits on the wings, debating whether or not he’ll wait out for the Canadian or opt to t…
There has been a lot of commotion at 170 pounds as of late.
UFC champ Georges St-Pierre remains sidelined due to injury, while interim titleholder Carlos Condit waits on the wings, debating whether or not he’ll wait out for the Canadian or opt to take up a fight in the meantime.
Several contenders have since emerged in the UFC, with guys like Martin Kampmann and Jake Ellenberger leading the pack of would-be challengers to the title.
Ellenberger in particular has been especially impressive as of late, though it remains to be seen just exactly what his future is inside the Octagon.
Here, we will take a look at the best of the rest of the welterweight class, see who’s new, on the rise or spiraling out of the top 10.
*These rankings are the combined effort of some of Bleacher Report MMA‘s best writers, as we continue to try to provide you with the best content on the web.*
It would come as a revelation to no one if I said Wanderlei Silva’s best days are behind him. It would warrant no gasps if I wrote that Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira is fighting past his prime. And it would come as no shock if you heard that Matt Hughes is …
It would come as a revelation to no one if I said Wanderlei Silva’s best days are behind him. It would warrant no gasps if I wrote that Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira is fighting past his prime. And it would come as no shock if you heard that Matt Hughes is on his last legs.
It is not my intention to construct a list full of fighters so obviously shells of their former selves that it makes MMA fans tear up recalling the glory days of heroes and legends passed.
Instead, this list will be populated by fighters that still rank as contenders; fighters still putting in competitive bouts with ranked opponents; fighters that may not so obviously be entering the twilight of their career.
As a note on the criteria for this list, no fighter with a lengthy losing streak, a la Kid Yamamoto or Yoshihiro Akiyama, will be included. Their recent records speak for themselves.
This list will only concern itself with fighters that may reasonably be considered threats within their respective divisions.
It is also necessary to explicate that this list is not meant to label fighters as “overrated.” Many of the inclusions are exceptional combatants that will continue to put on competitive and exciting fights for years to come.
More than anything else, this list is comprised of fighters that are currently, or were recently, considered title threats, but have seen their opportunities pass them by.
These fighters have risen to the zenith of their careers and will go no further.
After controlling the fight for 14 minutes, it seemed as if former UFC welterweight title challenger Thiago Alves was well on his way to victory against his always-tough Xtreme Couture opponent, Martin Kampmann. However, as “The Pitbull” won yet a…
After controlling the fight for 14 minutes, it seemed as if former UFC welterweight title challenger Thiago Alves was well on his way to victory against his always-tough Xtreme Couture opponent, Martin Kampmann.
However, as “The Pitbull” won yet another exchange on the feet, he went for an ill-advised takedown where Kampmann was able to latch on a guillotine, which he continued to secure from the mount position as the fight hit the ground.
Alves choices were clear: tap out or pass out, and the Brazilian chose the former.
While the massive 170-pounder is understandably looking for some redemption, he has thrown another interesting name into the mix: Diego Sanchez.
Early Sunday evening, Alves tweeted:
I’m thinking or a rematch or Diego Sanches. What u guys think? @ufc
While an immediate rematch with “The Hitman” is not impossible, after back-to-back wins over Rick Story and now Alves, it is likely Kampmann will get a top 10 opponent next.
Prior to working his way back into the win column, Kampmann suffered consecutive, albeit controversial, losses, to Jake Shields and Sanchez.
As for Alves, he is now just 2-3 since challenging UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre at UFC 100, losing to Jon Fitch, Story and now Kampmann during that time.
Diego Sanchez is one of the best fighters to ever come out of The Ultimate Fighter. Sanchez was featured on season one of The Ultimate Fighter, and he won the show in the middleweight division when he defeated Kenny Florian.Sanchez has beaten great fig…
Diego Sanchez is one of the best fighters to ever come out of The Ultimate Fighter. Sanchez was featured on season one of The Ultimate Fighter, and he won the show in the middleweight division when he defeated Kenny Florian.
Sanchez has beaten great fighters, such as Jorge Santiago, Nick Diaz, Karo Parysian, Joe Stevenson, Clay Guida, Florian and more.
Sanchez had his first fight in the lightweight division on Feb. 21, 2009 at UFC 95, and he defeated Joe Stevenson by unanimous decision in a fight that earned Fight of the Night honors.
He followed that up with a split decision victory over Clay Guida in a bout that earned both Fight of the Night and Fight of the Year.
He then earned his shot at the UFC lightweight title and at “The Prodigy,” BJ Penn.
At the time, Penn had won four of his last five, all by finish, and the lone loss being to Georges St-Pierre at welterweight.
He was able to beat Sanchez badly, and at 2:37 of round five, the fight was called to a stop due to a cut suffered by Sanchez.
After that loss, Sanchez moved back up to the welterweight division and faced off against John Hathaway. He lost the fight to Hathaway, and has even said that he didn’t feel like he belonged in the cage for that fight.
Sanchez rebounded with two straight wins before finally dropping a unanimous decision to Jake Ellenberger.
Now that Sanchez has lost at welterweight to a top opponent, it’s time for him to move back down to lightweight.
BJ Penn remains the only person to have beaten Sanchez at lightweight, and Sanchez also has a win over a fighter—Clay Guida—who is considered by many to be a top five or six lightweight.
With BJ Penn out of the picture, the sky is the limit for what Diego could accomplish at 155.
He can make the weight, and he can make some noise in the division.
Yoshihiro Akiyama may have not come out on top at UFC 144 but it won’t be the last time we see “Sexyama” inside the UFC’s Octagon.
Akiyama impressed many fans in his welterweight debut by showcasing good takedown defense along with some improved condit…
Yoshihiro Akiyama may have not come out on top at UFC 144 but it won’t be the last time we see “Sexyama” inside the UFC’s Octagon.
Akiyama impressed many fans in his welterweight debut by showcasing good takedown defense along with some improved conditioning.
A match-up that would provide fans with an exciting show would be against Diego Sanchez. Both men are coming off decision losses and both men are known for their exciting, fan-friendly styles. So how do these two welterweight stars match up?
Before I get into my fantasy matchmaking (that sounds oddly kinky, doesn’t it?) I want to talk about a few things I’m thankful for coming off last week’s “UFC on Fuel”, since my original post-event article got destroyed by…
Before I get into my fantasy matchmaking (that sounds oddly kinky, doesn’t it?) I want to talk about a few things I’m thankful for coming off last week’s “UFC on Fuel”, since my original post-event article got destroyed by some intervention of the spiteful internet gods. In brief, and in no particular order:
1) I’m thankful no one seems to be getting too bent out of shape about the Sanchez/Ellenberger decision, and adopting a “both guys came off as winners” type of mentality. This is a refreshing change of pace, and hopefully an indicator of things to come. Basically, I’m thankful Diego Sanchez doesn’t have Nick Diaz’s fans. OH NO HE DIDN’T. Seriously though, good job everyone.
2) I’m thankful for Greg Jackson, who coached yet another fighter to a boring, points oriented gameplan that resulted in a dreadful fight that you’d NEVER want to see go all five. Oh wait, what I actually mean is the exact opposite of that.
3) And speaking of going all five, I’m thankful we finally got a firm commitment from the UFC that ALL main events will be five-rounders from here on out. This is great news for all future events on Fuel TV and elsewhere, and comes just late enough to avoid Jake Ellenberger’s cardio getting exposed by Diego Sanchez. OH NO HE DOES IT AGAIN! Yes I realize it’s lame to shout out your own trash talk, but I wasn’t working with much to begin with.
So with that out of the way, it’s time to look forward—to the future, the undiscovered country, the last, great, frontier of…oops, you caught me Shatner-ing. OK, enough with the preamble—let’s talk about what fights I would make if I were Joe Silva, matchmaker extraordinaire.
