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A Brief Treatise on the UFC divisions

1K views 19 replies 18 participants last post by  Tenacious Cole 
#1 · (Edited)
So I have totally been MIA for awhile and wanted to ramble about the UFC Divisions. I suppose that is why we are all here eh?

HW: Upcoming - Lesnar vs. Velasquez

If his fight with Shane Carwin proved nothing else, it is this: Lesnar can take a pounding.

In my mind I see this next fight being a similar affair. The difference is that Cain has a much more methodical approach with a similar plan of attack and much better cardio than Carwin. He will put Lesnar in the same position, but will not punch himself out and will not deviate from the game plan. Lesnar will be beaten for 25 straight minutes or TKO'ed. Ladies and Gentlemen, prepare yourselves for the Velasquez era.

LHW - Upcoming Rampage vs. Machida; Jones vs. Griffin

Lyoto is a bad matchup on paper for Rampage. That being said, the straight punches and left hook with bad intentions that Quinton brings to the table should not be taken lightly. Tough one to call, but I have Machida going back to his conservative roots; keeping a distance and controlling the exchanges,taking a UD.

Jones puts Forrest on his back and takes this by TKO. My boy Forrest just cannot seem to catch a break. Jones moves to top 5 status and has one more test before a title push.

Middleweight - What..?!

Sonnen put it best: "Anderson is the champion, but I am the best" For 23 minutes he was. At this point, I'm rapidly losing interest in a Belfort vs. Silva matchup. I would much rather see a rematch with Sonnen just to see how Anderson and Sonnen adapt. Epic fight first time around. I'll spend $50 to see how #2 plays out, happily.

Welterweight - Upcoming Kos vs Rush 2

Meh. This plays out the way #1 did. Kos has the power to finish this, but George's wrestling truly defines the MMA application of wrestling. Short of a flash KO by Kos, George stiffles Kos's wrestling and takes this by another dominate UD in his title run. A middleweight run should not be placed on the back burner for much longer. Does anyone really see a threat to George at this point?

Lightwieght - Upcoming Penn vs Edgar 2

From my PoV, Penn took the first fight handidly. He finishes Edgar this time around. He may not have the foot speed of Edgar, but his striking and guard will seal the deal.(I'll take sig bets on this one :p )

An aside, how bout' Evan Dunham. I'd kill to see him against a big test like Kenflo. Lets see this kid fight the upper echelon. He has all the right stuff :D.

Bored? Wanna argue/chat/flame? Hit it up!
 
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#3 ·
Yeah I think it's a little premature to be talking about the Valasquez era. Obviously he has a shot at winning, but while he certainly has better cardio, he doesn't have the power Carwin had. You're right, if he got Lesnar in the position Carwin did, he would do better with it, but I'm not so sure he can get there. I hope he does, but I'm not sure I'd bet on it.

I think you're a bit off on Machida-Rampage, I think this is the easiest win ever for Machida. Jackson is a shadow of himself, and even at his best he probably couldn't catch Machida. I think Machida shreds him and KO's him the same way he did Evans, quickly and easily.

Sonnen showed some of what we already knew, namely that he is extremely vulnerable to submissions. Even with his excellent performance, I am not ready to call someone with that big a hole in their game the best. If Sonnen can't plug the leaks, he will never be champ.

I agree about a rematch, I really want to see it, I want to know if Silva is that open to takedowns, or if the injury really did affect him.

LW and WW are both pretty straightforward, time for GSP to move on, and time, AGAIN, for Penn to quit screwing around and focus, which he seems incapable of doing. For a guy who keeps talking about wanting to be one of the best ever, he doesn't seem to care anywhere near enough. Even assuming he got robbed a bit with that decision, which he did, that is still nowhere near his best. You have to bring it every night to be the best, and Penn simply does not.
 
#4 ·
Agree on Dunham. Could definitley see he and Sotirpolous fight it out for a title shot if they get through their next fights with W's. Should be big tests for both of them too, Dunham's stepping in with Sherk at 119 and it's rumoured that George is fighting at 124 against Takanori Gomi. Both should be excellent fights, and I'd love to see George and Dunham go at it.
 
#5 ·
I agree with the breakdown except the Silva sonnen one.
I am one of the guys that believe that Silva came in with a broken rib and if that had not been the case, Sonnen would have been submitted in 2nd round. So i think the rematch will be worse for Sonnen. But other than that i do agree that Vitor has nothing to offer so a Sonnen rematch would be more exciting. All the other fights is pretty much as i believe it will go down as well.
Good breakdown!
 
#9 ·
Regarding the OP, while I welcome some of your speculations, as they are certainly valid, I have to disagree with a few.

First, let's look at the Lesnar Valasquez fight. I'm going to at least say that Valasquez will be able to defend the TD. Carwin did, and Carwin isn't the wrestler Lesnar or Valasquez is. You also mentioned the power of Lesnar, and I think for Lesnar to win he'll really have to use that to his advantage. Perhaps work some dirty boxing. If he tries to get into a stand up war with Valasquez, I think his night might be over pretty quick. Valasquez received a lot of criticism for his lack of KO power, but we can't forget the thunderbolt that hit Nogueira. I think the match is much closer than you're implying, and even if he does win.. I think Valasquez has a worse stylistic match up against JDS than he does against Lesnar. Valasquez era? Too soon to call. If he gets past Lesnar and JDS, I'd buy it.

LHW division, I have to agree with you on the Forrest fight. This is just a terrible match up for him. If Forrest does fight Bones, I feel bad for Forrest. He's going to get dropped. Bones isn't the slow clumsy fighter Quinton was back when Forrest won his LHW title. Bones won't be picked apart by something as mundane as leg kicks. At the very least, this fight will tell us where Jones really is. I think he already belongs in the top 5. Personally, I'd much rather see Bones vs Machida than Machida vs Rampage, and Forrest vs Bones. Switch the match up around. I'd really like to see Bones deal with the elusiveness that is Machida. As for Rampage, he's literally walking into a gun fight with a knife. His style is the perfect match for someone like Machida. Forrest showed us Rampage's weakness, and that was when Rampage was still in his prime. I would bet lots that Rampage won't even lay a hand on Machida. He's far too slow.

MW division. As a big Anderson fan myself, I have to admit he was only a couple of minutes away from losing. Whether or not he had a rib injury, Sonnen's wrestling was a huge problem for him. That being said, I don't really think there's a reason for an immediate rematch. There are other fights I'd rather see than a potential 5 round wrestling clinic. From the perspective of someone wanting to be entertained, I'd rather see Anderson vs Vitor, or perhaps another visit to LHW.

As for Welter Weight. I think after Silva/Sonnen, GSP will be more motivated to move up in weight. I think Silva will have lost that invincible feel he had to a lot of strong wrestlers, and after that fight I think GSP will be less concerned about fighting Silva. I now also think that GSP would beat Silva. GSP has perhaps more explosive take downs than Sonnen, but also has ridiculous control on the ground.

Lightweight, I see BJ winning the rematch and dominating again. I hate to use such an overused phrase like inconsistent, but that's all I can really call it.
 
#10 ·
Regarding the OP, while I welcome some of your speculations, as they are certainly valid, I have to disagree with a few.

First, let's look at the Lesnar Valasquez fight. I'm going to at least say that Valasquez will be able to defend the TD. Carwin did, and Carwin isn't the wrestler Lesnar or Valasquez is. You also mentioned the power of Lesnar, and I think for Lesnar to win he'll really have to use that to his advantage. Perhaps work some dirty boxing. If he tries to get into a stand up war with Valasquez, I think his night might be over pretty quick. Valasquez received a lot of criticism for his lack of KO power, but we can't forget the thunderbolt that hit Nogueira. I think the match is much closer than you're implying, and even if he does win.. I think Valasquez has a worse stylistic match up against JDS than he does against Lesnar. Valasquez era? Too soon to call. If he gets past Lesnar and JDS, I'd buy it.
To be fair a weak fart could probably KO Nog so in my eyes he hasn't proved much. He clipped nog twice then finished with GNP so it wasn't one punch power either. I think too many people are riding the Kain train and it's about to be de-railed. Hes good no doubt, but once lesnar gets on top its over and that will be in the 2nd round.
 
#13 ·

In my mind I see this next fight being a similar affair. The difference is that Cain has a much more methodical approach with a similar plan of attack and much better cardio than Carwin. He will put Lesnar in the same position, but will not punch himself out and will not deviate from the game plan. Lesnar will be beaten for 25 straight minutes or TKO'ed. Ladies and Gentlemen, prepare yourselves for the Velasquez era.
I lol'd. I can't believe people are actually giving Velasquez a chance, not only that but they're acting as though it's going to be one sided. Hilarious.
 
#17 ·
I actually see this as a bad matchup for Machida. Rampage has tagged every single fighter he has fought in the UFC at least once. And i am not sure Machida is going to be any different. With Rampage it isnt if you are going to get tagged it is when. And i dont think Machida's chin is up to the task. We will see though.
 
#18 ·
I wouldnt be so quick to say Rampage is going to lose. What Shogun proved is that if you press Machida you can knock him out and the last think Machida wants is a bobbing Rampage inside the clinch throwing those fights with bombs attached. All Rampage has to do is touch his chin and Machida will fall.
 
#20 ·
Lesnar-Velasquez

Definitely Lesnar. Carwin coudn't put him away and it seems to be forgotten or not mentioned that Lesnar just came off of a long and serious lay-off, was lighter than usual, looked weaker, was timid round 1, and had ring rust.

Machida-Ramapge. Machida will be in a different mindset after being KO'd; and i still think Rampage's counter boxing will work well against Machida's in and out approach, even if I'm not sure Rampage will win. At the least this will go the distance to a decision for Machida, and if Ramapge lays off the energy drinks and focuses on training he might stun Machida with a hook.

Kos GSP will not unfold like their last fight. At a minimum this will be much harder for GSP. While Kos has become hungrier and has progressed, GSP has been playing it safe and he will be very surprised at Kos's improved game. This match will be much better to watch than their last one and if GSP can't smother for 5 rounds could be FotN.

Agree:

Penn will get his title back.

Jones will win.

Silva will stay Champ.
 
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