Yesterday UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre’s head trainer, Firas Zahabi told Sherdog radio that St-Pierre could cut to 155 if he wanted to. Although St-Pierre is the current 170 lbs. champ, a jump to a new weight class would not be…
Yesterday UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre’s head trainer, Firas Zahabi told Sherdog radio that St-Pierre could cut to 155 if he wanted to.
Although St-Pierre is the current 170 lbs. champ, a jump to a new weight class would not be surprising.
St-Pierre has nearly cleaned out the division and has often said he would move up to 185 if he properly put the weight on.
If St-Pierre were to ever seriously consider a move to 155, there would be plenty of competition for him.
Here’s a list of some lightweight dream fights for St-Pierre.
Dana White’s video blogs, though sporadic, have taken an increasingly interesting turn in that they are now largely made up of post-fight footage from UFC events rather than the day-to-day extravagance that is “The Baldfather’s” life. As with his UFC 136 vlog, Dana gives us a brief introduction and wishes us a happy Halloween before throwing us behind the scenes of UFC 136 to witness the agony of defeat firsthand.
Particularly tough to watch is that of Melvin Guillard, who, after having his lightweight title aspirations choked out of him by Joe Lauzon, completely loses his shit backstage, throwing a chair across the room before breaking down on his hands and knees as the doctor’s try to attend to him. Even Joe Warren had to look away.
Join us after the jump for some other musings from this week’s vlog:
Dana White’s video blogs, though sporadic, have taken an increasingly interesting turn in that they are now largely made up of post-fight footage from UFC events rather than the day-to-day extravagance that is “The Baldfather’s” life. As with his UFC 136 vlog, Dana gives us a brief introduction and wishes us a happy Halloween before throwing us behind the scenes of UFC 136 to witness the agony of defeat firsthand.
Particularly tough to watch is that of Melvin Guillard, who, after having his lightweight title aspirations choked out of him by Joe Lauzon, completely loses his shit backstage, throwing a chair across the room before breaking down on his hands and knees as the doctor’s try to attend to him. Even Joe Warren had to look away.
Some notes:
–Nam Phan and Leonard Garcia are two of the coolest dudes in the sport, at least when around one another.
–Brian Stann sweats better interview answers than most fighters can dream up in their lives.
-It never gets any easier seeing that look on Ken-Flo’s face following a title fight.
–Anderson Silva wants a different belt for every time he defends it, because why not? He also is a follower of the Ron Swanson/Tiger Woods power outfit theory.
Lets face it, Potato Nation, the current face of MMA judging is nearly as bad as it’s original state of refereeing. And although some of the fault can be attributed to the judges themselves, there is no denying that the 10-point must system upon which nearly all of mixed martial arts competition is judged upon is in dire need of a change. How many decision’s have left us scratching our heads in this year alone? In fact, the very first fight card of the year, which took place on New Year’s Day mind you, ended in the controversial draw between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard. You can’t make this stuff up.
It’s easy to sit back and take pot shots at those in the spotlight, and let’s be honest, it’s kind of what we’re known for. But not today. Today we move from “identifying the problem” to “finding the solution” so that maybe in the future we can say we made even the smallest of differences in the world. (Take that, Wall Street protesters.)
(I’ll stop doing it when you stop laughing.)
Lets face it, Potato Nation, the current face of MMA judging is nearly as bad as it’s original state of refereeing. And although some of the fault can be attributed to the judges themselves, there is no denying that the 10-point must system upon which nearly all of mixed martial arts competition is judged upon is in dire need of a change. How many decision’s have left us scratching our heads in this year alone? In fact, the very first fight card of the year, which took place on New Year’s Day mind you, ended in the controversial draw between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard. You can’t make this stuff up.
It’s easy to sit back and take pot shots at those in the spotlight, and let’s be honest, it’s kind of what we’re known for. But not today. Today we move from “identifying the problem” to “finding the solution” so that maybe in the future we can say we made even the smallest of differences in the world. (Take that, Wall Street protesters.)
So after extensive research and idea-ball tossing, we have come up with a few options to help solve the judging riddle. If you think any of these ideas are better than the current system, you have a better option, or we should just leave well enough alone, be sure to let us know in the comment section, and vote in the new poll either here or on our homepage.
Option #1 – Pride Rules
Though Pride Fighting Championships was tainted by fixed fights and freak shows during its era, the scoring system upon which it was based certainly nullified most of the “lay-n-pray” strategy that the 10-point must system tends to reward. In the event of a decision, the three judges would decide the winner based on: effort made to finish the fight by KO/sub, damage given to the opponent, standing combinations and ground control, aggressiveness and weight differential. By adding the incentive to finish the fight and damage to the criteria, it emphasizes the notion put forth by the Fertitas that guys who WAR!!! are the ones we want to see fighting.
Option #2 – The Fermat Scale
Taking it’s name from French mathematician Pierre de Fermat, this system is loosely based on the probability scale that Fermat’s contributions helped create. There are 5 distinct categories; Effective Strikes Landed/Damage, Takedowns Completed, Submission Attempts, Knockdowns, and Octagon Control/Aggression. The winner in the judge’s eyes of each category receives a score of 1, the loser, 0. Now, this is not to say that there cannot be a tie in a couple of these categories. For instance, if both fighters knocked the other down once, or twice for that matter, the score would be 1-1 for that category. But by definitively deciding on categories such as Octagon Control and Effective Strikes Landed, it provides a larger window to decide upon an actual winner rather than a single point per round. Rounds are not decided upon as a whole or as a combination of these techniques, but rather by a specific breakdown of how each technique was used and to what success. It emphaizes the “mixed” in “mixed martial arts” essentially.
Option #3 – Queensbury/Boxing Style Rules
This would basically be the same as the current 10-point must system, but with Queensbury rules, the knockdown would become as rewarded in MMA as it is in boxing. Each time a fighter is knocked down, he/she would lose a point. One knockdown would result in a 10-8, and so on. A takedown would not merit an automatic point reduction, but would still factor in to the overall score of the round. The significance of the knockdown would not only allow definitive evidence for justifying a 10-8 round and so on, but help the judges overcome the seemingly intense fear they have of labeling a round 10-8 in the first place. By these rules, Gray Maynard would’ve received much more credit for his first round dismantling of Edgar in their first match up. The tricky part here is, how do you effectively judge what a clear knockdown is in mixed martial arts? That is a tough question to answer, but that’s why we’ve made this a discussion.
Option #4 – Sakuraba/Gracie Rules
This one is simple. Fight until one of you gives up or is finished. Pay-per-views would surely suffer, but that’s just the cost of closure.
Option #5 – Stick With the 10-Point Must System
‘Nuff said.
So, what say you, Potato Nation? How can we fix this mess?
The highly anticipated UFC Undisputed 3 video game for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 is just a few shorts months away from being released. The video game will be headlined around UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, who will be featured on the f…
The highly anticipated UFC Undisputed 3 video game for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 is just a few shorts months away from being released.
The video game will be headlined around UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, who will be featured on the front cover.
And, while the fans will have to wait until January 3, 2012 to play UFC Undisputed 3, they can now get a sneak peak of the lightweight roster, which was recently revealed by ESPN.com.
Surprisingly, this year’s lightweight roster does not include Joe Lauzon, Kenny Florian or Nate Diaz.
The lightweight roster consists of 16 fighters (listed below).
Donald Cerrone
Evan Dunham
Frankie Edgar
Takanori Gomi Clay Guida Melvin Guillard Benson Henderson Gray Maynard Jim Miller Ross Pearson B.J. Penn Anthony Pettis Sean Sherk Dennis Siver George Sotiropoulos Joe Stevenson
Filed under: DREAM, UFC, Strikeforce, Bellator, RankingsNow that Frankie Edgar has finally beaten Gray Maynard, it’s time to break up the bottleneck at the top of the lightweight division.
Unfortunately, it’s not clear that we’re actually close to see…
Now that Frankie Edgar has finally beaten Gray Maynard, it’s time to break up the bottleneck at the top of the lightweight division.
Unfortunately, it’s not clear that we’re actually close to seeing that happen.
In 2010, the only lightweight title fights were Frankie Edgar vs. B.J. Penn, and in 2011, the only lightweight title fights have been Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard. Edgar will definitely fight someone new in 2012, but who? We’ll go over some of the options as we run through the list of the Top 10 lightweights in MMA below.
Top 10 Lightweights in MMA (Editor’s Note: The fighter’s rankings the last time we ranked the lightweights are in parentheses.)
1. Frankie Edgar (1): UFC President Dana White says Edgar would be even better at featherweight than he is at lightweight, but I disagree. I think part of Edgar’s greatness is his speed and stamina, and both of those advantages over his lightweight opponents would be diminished if he were fighting against faster opponents at featherweight, and weakening himself the day before the fight by cutting an additional 10 pounds. I think Edgar is fighting right where he belongs.
2. Gilbert Melendez (3): The Strikeforce lightweight champion would have a good chance of beating Edgar, but he’s not going to get that chance just yet. Up next for Melendez is Jorge Masvidal in December.
3. Gray Maynard (2): Maynard will get a long layoff after getting knocked out by Edgar, but when that layoff ends I’d like to see him take on the loser of the upcoming fight between Clay Guida and Ben Henderson, assuming the winner of that fight gets the next crack at Edgar.
4. Clay Guida (4): If he beats Ben Henderson at the upcoming UFC on Fox event, he’d have to be considered the favorite to get the next crack at Edgar. Guida is on a four-fight winning streak and is one of the UFC’s most popular lightweights, and it would be hard for the UFC brass to turn down the possibility of a very entertaining Edgar-Guida title fight.
5. Anthony Pettis (5): Pettis is a lot of fun to watch, but I got the sense during his UFC 136 victory over Jeremy Stephens that he had decided to fight with a more cautious, deliberate style, perhaps burned by his last fight, a unanimous decision loss to Guida. What makes Pettis special is his unique, exciting style. I hope he doesn’t lose that.
6. Ben Henderson (6): After losing his WEC title to Pettis, Henderson has bounced back in a big way by beating Mark Bocek and Jim Miller in the UFC. If he beats Guida to move to 3-0 in 2011, he’d likely get a title shot in his first fight of 2012.
7. Shinya Aoki (7): Aoki likes to stay active, and he’s won six fights since his loss to Melendez a year and a half ago. The problem is that as long as he’s fighting in Dream, there aren’t many big fights available to him. A Top 10 lightweight should be fighting better opposition than Rob McCullough, whom Aoki beat at Dream.17.
8. Jim Miller (8): Miller had a title shot within his reach before he lost to Henderson. His 20-3 career record is impressive, but the three losses were to Edgar, Maynard and Henderson — the only three times he’s fought truly elite competition.
9. Eddie Alvarez (10): An injury forced Alvarez to delay his Bellator lightweight title fight with Michael Chandler until November 19. Alvarez is Bellator’s top fighter and biggest draw, and an inexperienced prospect like Chandler probably won’t give him much of a challenge. There’s talk of an Alvarez-Aoki rematch in Bellator in 2012, which could be the biggest non-UFC fight of the year.
10. Dennis Siver (NR): With Melvin Guillard dropping out of the Top 10, Siver moves back in. Siver will attempt to run his winning streak to five straight fights when he takes on Donald Cerrone at UFC 137.
Despite being Strikeforce champion, Gilbert Melendez remains on the outside looking into the lightweight division.The Cesar Gracie student is slated to lock horns with Jorge Masvidal on the December 17 Strikeforce card.While Masvidal poses a legitimate…
Despite being Strikeforce champion, Gilbert Melendez remains on the outside looking into the lightweight division.
The Cesar Gracie student is slated to lock horns with Jorge Masvidal on the December 17 Strikeforce card.
While Masvidal poses a legitimate threat, Melendez understands the importance of facing and defeating UFC caliber opposition to climb the MMA ranks.
“That’s the goal, at the end of the day, to be number one in the world,” Melendez told MMAWeekly.
“The long-term goal––No. 1 in the world. The only way you’re going to be No. 1 in this game—completely, undoubtedly—is if you’re fighting on that big stage and you have that UFC crown. I have beat the Dream champ. I beat the Strikeforce champ. I’ve beat every other thing out there. Now, it’s one more title to get.”
Melendez is currently riding a five-fight win streak and coming off back-to-back successful title defenses over Shinya Aoki and Tatsuya Kawajiri.
Despite being overshadowed in the spotlight by top UFC lightweights Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard, “El Nino” has been around the sport much longer. Whether at 145 pounds or 155 pounds, Melendez has long been considered one of the best fighters in the world.
At the post-fight press conference for UFC 136, UFC President Dana White stated that he believed Edgar was the No. 2 pound-for-pound fighter in the world behind Anderson Silva.
Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker respectfully disagreed in an interview with MMAWeekly. He believes Melendez is the best lightweight in the world, and when given the opportunity, the Strikeforce champion will prove it.
“It’s definitely debatable. I was the number one 145-pounder in the world a long time ago, before a lot of people even knew about it. I went up to 155, and I’ve become top three in the world there, debatably number one,” said Melendez.
“I’m up there pound-for-pound as well, and Frankie is very well deserving of being a pound-for-pound guy, but until he goes to 145 pounds and takes care of business, I don’t know how he’s going to be a pound-for-pound. I’ve done it in two weight classes. I’m on my second weight class.”
The primary reasoning behind Edgar skyrocketing up the pound-for-pound ranks is due to him being undersized at lightweight. In an interview with ESPN, Mark Henry, Edgar’s boxing coach, stated that UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz typically outweighs Edgar on fight night.
Still, Melendez has actually competed in multiple weight classes in his career, while Edgar has remained at 155 pounds.
A case could easily be made for both fighters. Melendez has the argument for multiple weight classes, but Edgar has defeated the higher quality opposition.
“I think I am No. 1, but I’m sick of saying it. I just want to prove it. I don’t want to say it no more. I just want to prove it, but Frankie is amazing dude. If someone has Frankie as number one and says ‘Gilbert, you’re crazy,’ then I got no room to debate,” Melendez said.
If given the opportunity to face Edgar for the UFC title, would “El Nino” have an answer for the champ?
“I’m not going to blow the whistle on myself right now, but my whole goal would be to force Frankie to fight me in the pocket, force anyone to fight me in the pocket. I love fighting in the pocket. The fans love it, and it’s the real part of fighting,” said Melendez.
The highly anticipated UFC Undisputed 3 video game for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 is just a few shorts months away from being released.
Now that Frankie Edgar has finally beaten