Where do the divisions stand now?
Welcome back again to another exciting installment of "Where do the divisions stand now?" As I said the last time I blogged I like doing this after each PPV or Fight Night just to get an idea of where we might be headed. It seems to always stir up a good debate to see what is going to happen next. UFC 83 featured our Welterweight main event but after that was largely invovling middleweights. Let's start with the Welterweights:
- We finally got the outcome from GSP-Serra we expected a while ago and things seem to be normal again. St. Pierre is looking untouchable at this point but his next match will be against Jon Fitch. I am a Jon Fitch fan but the only way I see Fitch winning this match is with a lucky punch, which he isn't known for anyways so I'd see St. Pierre walking through here. There interesting question is than what? Using MMAWeekly.com's top ten rankings as of 4/9, 8 of the top ten welterweights in the world are in the UFC. GSP will have beaten numbers 2, 3, 4 ,5 and 10. The only guys left are Diego Sanchez (who Fitch and Koscheck beat so realistically what chance does he have?) and Thiago Alves. Maybe after one more win from Alves that is where we can head but it might be about time to start looking for GSP to move weights. As for Serra. I think we can still get the Hughes-Serra match in but who knows where either of them go after that match. The only other WW match on the card was the Goulet vs. Hironaka match and despite getting "Fight of the Night" honors it is hardly word discussing here.
Moving on to the Middleweights:
- Our middleweight winners included: Franklin, Quarry, Bisbing, MacDonald, Day, and Maia. Franklin looked impressive vs. Lutter getting out of the near submission attempt and taking over the rest of the way but the issue obviously is where does he go from here. To me he is #2 o #3 middleweight (along with Hendo) and than you have a drop off. Quarry looked as good as he could with Starnes running and MacDonald got KO of the night but both men have lost decisively to Franklin. I think a match of Henderson vs. Franklin could be great to watch but than again if they win do either deserve a rematch vs Silva yet? Assuming Silva beats Okami, Silva has beaten all UFC fighters in MMAWeekly.com's rankings. From there to me you either have to give Hendo or Franklin another shot (which I would not really like to see) or he can jump weight classes himself for a challenge. As for Bisbing, Day, and Maia, Day got a big win in his debut and obviously has a lot more to prove (good story by Kevin Iole on Yahoo! in February if you have not read: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news?slug=ki-dayodysseys022008&prov=yhoo&typ...). Bisbing and Maia both looked impressive and would be good for UFC if they can sustain a winning streak of some kind to bolster there top of their MW division and give Silva someone else to beat (oops I mean fight).
Now the lightweights:
- The two winners for the night were "No Love" Clementi and TUF winner Mac Danzig. Clementi has been on a decent run since the start of 2007 going 4-1 with his only loss coming to Roan Carneiro. He's still got some room to go to get into the top ten but is a wiley veteran who could potentially give some of the young guns in the LW division a tough time. As for Mac Danzig, I have a good feeling about this guy. He took care of business on TUF as a small WW. Obviously he's got a long ways to go but if the UFC handles him similar to how they are handling Nick Diaz he can slowly climb the charts.
Finishing up with the Heavyweights:
- Our only winner is Cain Velasquez who is one of the young upcoming prospecs for the UFC. From what I've read it sounds like he was impressive in his UFC debut. For the sake of the division I hope he is good because they can use an influx of talent. Hopefully between this and the next TUF HW competition they can get some talent. Hopefully a small step up will be next with another big win.
The big conversation now is going to be the potential GSP vs. Anderson Silva match. I'm all for this match and think it would be great but the last thing I want to see is a "catch weight" of like 180 match. I would much rather see one of these guys step up and either cut or put on the weight. The "catch weight" match would simply help us determine who won that day. I think naturally Silva has a size advantage and since they are both extremely skilled, he would be the favorite. A GSP at 180lbs isn't th best GSP and to me wouldn't determine who is the best pound for pound. I think if someone moves the weight class and possibly goes and gets the belt from the champ that would be the amazing feat of holding 2 belts at the same time in the UFC.
Just my thoughts,
-TheCaptain
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Comments
GSP is a HUGE 170 and
GSP is a HUGE 170 and Anderson Silva is not that large of a 185er - so it wouldnt be a stretch to see them fight at 185... or 177.5 - heh. I hope not though. GSP has 0 title defense wins right now. Fitch, T. Silva, Davis and many others deserve a shot at some point and I want to see GSP hold on to his top spot for a while before he move up to fight The Spider. Personally, assuming Penn wins, I would be more interested in seeing a Penn/GSP rematch more than Anderson Silva/GSP...
In the post-fight press
In the post-fight press conference (audio available on the headlines page of this site) Dana White seemed more open to GSP-Silva than GSP did.
I like the middleweight division now. I would say the heavyweight div is the weakest one in the promotion by far, especially with all the recent and potential defections and cuts...
Speaking of HWs... anyone
Speaking of HWs... anyone know the story on AA? Is he coming back to the UFC?
I honestly think unless
I honestly think unless Silva would cut GSP, The Canadian would win the fight.
EERS_1_Fan
Head of South East Tribe MMAFIA
MMABRAT, CaptnCrunch, and Michael are all going to start training in the devils MMA lol
Err... I said T. Silva but I
Err... I said T. Silva but I think I meant T. Alves... damn Brazillians I thought they were all named Silva... hehe.
See, I disagree with a
See, I disagree with a couple of comments.
1) GSP is actually admittedly too small to be a viable middleweight -- he's only 5'10" -- while Anderson Silva is actually pretty big for middleweight -- he's 6'2". So, I think the size advantage actually favors Silva.
2) Beyond that, I think Silva would win standing up and would hold is own on the ground.
GSP is perfect for the welterweight division. He's big for that division and with his athleticism he can dominate but I don't believe he has those advantages in the middlweight div...
Anthony "Rumble" Johnson is
Anthony "Rumble" Johnson is a WW, isn't he? I think if he gets a few more wins, he could be a force in the division. I just remember him looking so crisp and explosive against Tommy Speer. That's actually the only match I've seen with Johnson, and I recall him saying he was coming off a loss, but he looks like he's got the skills. Well, maybe not the skills to beat GSP, but good skills nonetheless. Anyhow, I guess GSP-Fitch is next in that weight class. GSP said he didn't want to move up because some of his teammates are shooting for a title shot against A. Silva.
i think anyone fighting
i think anyone fighting tommy spears will look crisp and explosive against that clunky guy.
Underboss MMAfia
Head of the West Coast Family
Ticker, I see what you are
Ticker, I see what you are saying, but I dont think size and height are the same thing. Wanderlei is only about 5'10/5'11... but he would be considered a HUGE MW if he moved down, while someoen like Nick Diaz is 6' and would be considered a smaller WW. I do agree that Silva would certainly have the range advantage in a stand-up war with GSP, and I dont think GSP has ever fought someone where he was not the bigger opponent, so it would be interesting to see how GSP deals with it. But, GSP's wrestling and ground-game would give him a great shot at winning the fight. Overall though, I want to see GSP have at least 3-4 title defenses before going up - and preferrably have a rematch with Penn.
Me too Sixtus. It's an
Me too Sixtus. It's an intriguing fight (Silva-GSP) because they would appear to be the best pound-for-pound fighters right now but GSP really needs to defend the title for a while before we consider that.
The MW division is funny. It's like everyone is jockeying to be number two -- who will be Silva's next sacrificial lamb?
The ease with which Silva defeated Henderson really put a damper on a lot of plans.
I have to be honest,
I have to be honest, although I give GSP a pretty big advantage, people was counting Serra in the fight, so Fitch should damn near be even lol. One thing Fitch has that others Gsp has faced don't is a incredible level change. I think it will play an important role in the fight.
EERS_1_Fan
Head of South East Tribe MMAFIA
MMABRAT, CaptnCrunch, and Michael are all going to start training in the devils MMA lol
Gsp has faced don't is a
Gsp has faced don't is a incredible level change. I think it will play an important role in the fight.
don't know what that means buddy.
Underboss MMAfia
Head of the West Coast Family
Speaking of levels, Serra
Speaking of levels, Serra had no clue where GSP was going next the other night. GSP's gameplanning has been brilliant since he lost to Serra last year. Just fantastic. Apparently Greg Jackson came on board on a more permanent basis after that loss. It shows...
lmao mmkay, Serra knew GSP
lmao
mmkay, Serra knew GSP underestimated him the first time and he got a lucky win, just like everyone else in the world except King and Big Mac. Fitch will come in with his aggresive wrestling style. and mix it up with slide by's and level changes and end up putting GSP on his back with a few hard double legs .... do I think he will win?.....No....but....I would give him about a 40% chance as were I would have given Serra about a 25% chance.
EERS_1_Fan
Head of South East Tribe MMAFIA
MMABRAT, CaptnCrunch, and Michael are all going to start training in the devils MMA lol
I expected Serra to have a
I expected Serra to have a better gameplan... figuring that GSP would try to take him down, I was hoping to see Serra do the opposite and come out and try to take him down. I was counting on the fact that Serra has never been dominated even in his losses. Those knees looked brutal and honestly GSP looked unbeatable against a great BJJ guy. There was no problems for GSP in Serras guard, in fact it looked a bit amature-ish - which it is anything but an amature guard.
It's interesting, the first UFC event of the year, I was so impressed with the BJJ guys... Mir shocked a lot of people with his win and Nog showed why he is so highly regarded around the world with an awsome set up to guillotine. This UFC, the BJJ guys just got totally handled... Lutter and Serra just didnt live up.
got it. Underboss
got it.
Underboss MMAfia
Head of the West Coast Family
I told my wife that it
I told my wife that it looked like GSP was showing off against Serra. It looked like he could do absolutely anything he wanted to do.
Did Serra provide any resistance? And then on their feet, Serra looked slow. I don't think a rematch will be any different but I think it deserves to happen...
Well um duhh a grappler
Well um duhh a grappler can't match a wrestler! thats why Penn won't beat Sherk
EERS_1_Fan
Head of South East Tribe MMAFIA
MMABRAT, CaptnCrunch, and Michael are all going to start training in the devils MMA lol
i don't see why serra and
i don't see why serra and gsp should fight for the third time. doesn't make much sense to me.
Underboss MMAfia
Head of the West Coast Family
Note to self: Eers worships
Note to self: Eers worships wrestlers...
But come on! Sherk over Penn!! No way...
BTW, does Lev have the loser's avatar yet?
king is gonna tally up the
king is gonna tally up the points. i emailed everyones picks to him right now...
eers loves wrestlers for some reason...it's as if his whole family is a bunch of wrestlers too...just a hunch.
Underboss MMAfia
Head of the West Coast Family
Phoenix, Only because it's
Phoenix,
Only because it's 1-1 in their series. I'm sure GSP would love to say he won the series. Just for finality. I agree -- it won't be much different but for the history books I think it should be done...
if they do have the 3rd
if they do have the 3rd fight, it will be more of the same just like he did to hughes the last 2 fights.
Underboss MMAfia
Head of the West Coast Family
I do have Penn picked over
I do have Penn picked over Sherk to be honest....but lets not forget the two people who have wins over Sherk have beaten Penn, so Sherk is a badass. Sherk has more submission wins then Penn has totall wins....so he knows his BJJ....He is one of the best G-N-P LW ever so Penn better be carefull.
EERS_1_Fan
Head of South East Tribe MMAFIA
MMABRAT, CaptnCrunch, and Michael are all going to start training in the devils MMA lol
Cool. Thanks Phoenix. I was
Cool. Thanks Phoenix. I was actually referring to the Madness avatar that Lev has to sport from now until UFC 84 for losing to Eers in their GSP-Serra wager...
If Serra beats Hughes...
If Serra beats Hughes... then Fitch, then Davis, then Alves... I would go along with a GSP/Serra III - but not until then.
I agree that GSP just got
I agree that GSP just got the belt back and should defend it some but he has pretty handly beaten most of the top guys in the welterweight division. I think Alves really only has one note worthy win being Karo, and he hasn't looked good at all lately so who knows how good of a win it is? When Alves fought a quality wrestler in Fitch he got pretty easily handled. Davis has looked good too but also needs a few other wins of quality. Swick would be a start. I think I'd want to see how he can do vs. a quality wrestler first and how he works off his back.
-The Captain
If Serra beats Hughes I will
If Serra beats Hughes I will never buy another UFC event again. There is no possible way he can beat him unless a freak cut or Hughes gets a shit crap or something.
EERS_1_Fan
Head of South East Tribe MMAFIA
MMABRAT, CaptnCrunch, and Michael are all going to start training in the devils MMA lol
Sherk is a BEAST and one of
Sherk is a BEAST and one of the most under-appreciated fighters in the UFC. If Penn does nto come in totally 100% prepared, he will lose this fight because Sherk is coming in with A LOT to prove.
BTW - did anyone see the payouts for KO of the Night/Sub of the night and Fight of the night? I heard somewhere that they were $75,000/ea? Thats CRAZY good! The UFC is finally starting to come around...
It was indeed $75K for
It was indeed $75K for honors. Very nice loot.
Agreed Sixtus, Sherk has a tremendous workrate but he was in trouble a couple of times against Franca and I think Penn's ground game is slicker than Franca's...
As you say, Penn's mental game and conditioning may decide the fight...
Speaking of wrestling the
Speaking of wrestling the Nations largest 1 day Tourney is coming up on the 26th! 3600 kids double elimination. My team is sending a few but my son's leg is hurting to bad and Sammy is just not ready. We do however have an 8 year old who has a decent chance at placing in the top 8 in the country.
EERS_1_Fan
Head of South East Tribe MMAFIA
MMABRAT, CaptnCrunch, and Michael are all going to start training in the devils MMA lol
Hahhahahaahh dude that's
Hahhahahaahh dude that's quite the list brother! How about we settle on Hughes and Fitch. Which he won't. Jon Fitch will dominate all those guys. He might even stomp GSP...we will see. INDIANA REPRESENT! Except no Colts or Pacers fans....eghhhhh
"Sometimes you're flush and sometimes you're bust, and when you're up, it's never as good as it seems, and when you're down, you never think you'll be up again, but life goes on."
75,000 for bonuses is great.
75,000 for bonuses is great. Keep spreading the love Dana! I really does hope he cuts the roster from 200 to 140. He needs to. Bye bye, Starnes, McCarthy, and Lutter. Hello Wanderlei, Shogun, and Kimbo!....oh wait....
"Sometimes you're flush and sometimes you're bust, and when you're up, it's never as good as it seems, and when you're down, you never think you'll be up again, but life goes on."
LMAO....You are silly how
LMAO....You are silly how bout hello Tara, Gina,Felice, sue, bunches of other girl names lol
EERS_1_Fan
Head of South East Tribe MMAFIA
MMABRAT, CaptnCrunch, and Michael are all going to start training in the devils MMA lol
Eers - what tourney is that?
Eers - what tourney is that? I would love to have been able to go to something that large when I was a kid. Of course, I cannot imagine going in thinking I could actually have a shot of placing in the top 8 in the country (I couldnt even place in the top 10 in the state of California!!) - that is FREAKING AWSOME.
Captain, you're the man. But
Captain, you're the man. But Kevin Iole has never written a good MMA article. I don't want to start beef w/ the guy, he should just stick to boxing. A few year ago he said internet journalism was "fake journalism" or something and sites like "us" wouldn't survive. When in reality we made MMA what it is today. From 99-04 who cared about MMA? Did Kevin Iole? NO. He represented boxing and dogged MMA like a mini Jim Lampley. Whatever though, I've met him and he's a very nice man. Very kind and more than willing to talk. Problem is, I question his knowledge of the fight game every time he opens his mouth. But at least he's come around now...Sorry got me fired up for a minute.
"Sometimes you're flush and sometimes you're bust, and when you're up, it's never as good as it seems, and when you're down, you never think you'll be up again, but life goes on."
http://www.ohiotofc.com/ It
http://www.ohiotofc.com/
It is about a 2 1/2 hour drive from me so at least I don't have a really long trip. I don't know for sure if I will go but we might. 3 of our kids wrestling in it are combined for like 100-20 or something like that so they may do pretty good.
EERS_1_Fan
Head of South East Tribe MMAFIA
MMABRAT, CaptnCrunch, and Michael are all going to start training in the devils MMA lol
Thats awsome. Freestyle was
Thats awsome. Freestyle was always a tougher style for me than collegient (sp?). How do you think a guy like Dan Gable would have done in his prime if he devoted his energy to MMA?
What about Karelin in his prime? I think he would have owned the HW division.
BAM -
BAM - CUT!
http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/mma_experts/post/UFC-cuts-Starnes-after...
Got hand it to Dana, when something needs to happen, he does it.
Who knows what was going on with Starnes, perhaps he was hurt early, but Qarry hit on the head - its better to get KOd than run backwards for a 3 round decision loss.
Damn Dana! You rendered the
Damn Dana! You rendered the Fight Ticker poll irrelevant after just 3 hours! Time to think of another one...
maybe dana white saw the
maybe dana white saw the poll and took action!
Underboss MMAfia
Head of the West Coast Family
Thanks for the tip Sixtus.
Thanks for the tip Sixtus. It's up here now:
http://fightticker.com/story_042108_ufc_cuts_kalib_starnes
Big Mac, thanks for the
Big Mac, thanks for the compliment, much appreciated. I'm with you with Iole, I just thought the story of Day was a nice one, so he at least told the story well.
As for Starnes, I agree with the UFC. If you remember after his last match with Alan Belcher when they called the fight because he had a nasty cut he threw a massive hissy fit and was just acting like an ass. Get rid of the trash.
-The Captain
sixtus...about your first
sixtus...about your first post about how GSP is a huge WW. i've always thought the same thing but i remember a while ago (maybe 2-3 fights ago) GSP said that he doesn't know why everyone thinks that and that he actually doesn't cut too much weight to make WW.
i don't know if i believe him totally...but i guess he would know better than anyone right?
I don't see what all the
I don't see what all the fuss is about Fitch, I look at him as a poor man's Matt Hughes when Hughes was in his prime. GSP will outwrestle him just as he did Hughes & Gaycheck. Fitch did absolutely nothing in his win over Sanchez, he didn't look good against Chris Wilson and he doesn't have the tools to hang with GSP, I am a firm believer that the WW division will become like the MW division, a dominant champion and guys who are being sent out to slaughter. I think GSP could have fought Fitch immediately after his fight with Serra and whipped his ass too.
Godfather and all-around Mafia Aficionado
Co-Founder of The MMAFIA
Live Blogger for Fightticker.Com
eventhough KOS is kinda a
eventhough KOS is kinda a local wrester, I think Jon Fitch has a better style for MMA. He is more aggresive and will not back away from GSP. Not that I think it will work, but I think he could beat KOS.
CapnCrunch
I once knocked a kid out, he was a division above me so I was kind of proud!
crunch, you are sooo wrong.
crunch, you are sooo wrong. jk.
i've never been overly impressed with fitchs performances and seeing how he did against wilson and kos KOing the dude i'll take KOS...his striking did look a lot better.
Underboss MMAfia
Head of the West Coast Family
As much as I hate Koshcheck
As much as I hate Koshcheck he was very impressive against a guy who has a bright future in mma. Hazlett will be a name in a year or two, he's only 21, back to the point that was the best I have ever seen Koshcheck look on his feet.
Godfather and all-around Mafia Aficionado
Co-Founder of The MMAFIA
Live Blogger for Fightticker.Com
I feel like there is a lot
I feel like there is a lot of hate out there for Fitch and I'm unsure why. I guess he can be a little boring sometimes but most the wrestlers are that way in the UFC. I've tried to follow him as much as possible because a good friend of mine is also a Purdue grad. I mean he's 8-0 in the UFC, finishing 4 of them. The last two were a little week but Sanchez is a tough fight, and Wilson was a late sub in, and was in his UFC debut so I'm sure there wasn't much knowledge on him but once he felt him out in round 1 he took over the rest of the way.
Granted I don't see Fitch beating GSP but he is a very solid fighter.
-The Captain
who is the captain? fitch
who is the captain?
fitch isn't exciting. it's not like i hate all the wrestlers...just with fitch, i'm not anxious to see his next fight. and if i am it will only because he's fighting GSP and i want to see GSP beat the hell out of him...
Underboss MMAfia
Head of the West Coast Family
ULTIMATE CHALLENGE CHAMPION UFC 83