Metamoris Mega Match Forecast

Metamoris is a professional grappling organization which holds submission only matches on a square mat. Athletes are allowed to wear gi pants, full tights, wrestling shoes, knee pads and rashguards during the 20 minute round. Each event so far has had consisted of 6 bouts, consisting of BJJ superstars, current/former MMA stars and fantasy match-ups.

After seeing the mega-star match-ups of Eddie Bravo v. Royler Gracie, Andre Galvao v. Chael Sonnen and Dean Lister v. Josh Barnett, Metamoris 5 featured MMA pioneers Renzo Gracie and Kazushi Sakuraba. The pair were involved in an epic battle at Pride 10 which saw awesome scrambles for position with Sakuraba eventually latching on a fight ending kimura. The grappling match didn't quite prove to be as entertaining as it was nostalgic.


With many pioneers of MMA retired or retiring, Metamoris is an event to give them an outlet for competition while promoting grappling. Who are some of the other legendary former fighters and what match-ups are possible? I've conjured up a few interesting names below, ranked from most likely to least likely to compete:

Matt Hughes- the former UFC welterweight champ and UFC HOF'er is rumored to be grappling Renzo Gracie in ADCC in 2015. A former Eastern Illinois wrestler, Hughes placed 5th in the NCAA tournament in 1997. In the ADCC he has defeated Jeremy Horn and Ricardo Almeida, while losing in absolute matches to Tito Ortiz and Jeff Monson. He was known for power slams in MMA, slamming is illegal from the top position in Metamoris. Interesting bouts for Hughes would be against BJ Penn, Frank Trigg, Carlos Newton, Royce Gracie or GSP. Hughes compiled an MMA record of 45-9 with 18 submission victories.


Randy Couture- the former HW and LHW UFC champ and UFC HOF'er has been on the outs with Dana White since his decision to coach on Bellator's Fight Master reality show. Couture is a 2X runner-up NCAA champ, multiple time Greco Olympic alternate and won a Greco Pan Am Games Gold in 1991. Couture was awarded a black belt in Neil Melanson's No Gi submission wrestling system following his arm triangle of James Toney. Couture had an epic battle with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in 2009 and a rematch would make sense. It would be cool to see a rematch against Enson Inoue. The blockbuster would be a bout against former Pride superstar Fedor Emelienenko.


BJ Penn- the former LW and WW champ retired from MMA following his TKO loss to Frankie Edgar, but may still have a drive to compete. BJ was awarded his BJJ Black belt in 2000 by Andre Pederneiras. He won gold at the IBJFF World Championships in 2000, has won a World Jiu Jitsu Championship. There are several former MMA opponents that would lend themselves to huge match-ups, such as Matt Hughes, Rodrigo Gracie, Renzo Gracie and perhaps even GSP. The big X-factor would be whether or not BJ wants to train.


Masakatsu Funaki- The co-founder of Pancrase, Funaki began fighting in 1993, last fighting to a draw against Volk Han in 2012. A two time King of Pancrase winner, Funaki started off in professional wrestling and last took part in a 2013 Wrestle-1 show. While some of the early Pancrase fights were a little suspect, Funaki holds submission wins over Bas Rutten, Frank Shamrock, Guy Mezger and Yuki Kondo. Potential match-ups could include bouts with Sakuraba, Frank Shamrock, Minowaman and Bas Rutten.


Ricardo Arona- At 13-0 in ADCC competition including 3 tournament championships, Arona last competed in MMA in 2009 defeating Marvin Eastman via decision. Arona would win a Rings middleweight title and become a Pride superstar with his performance at the 2005 MW Grand Prix. He holds wins over Wanderlei Silva, Jeremy Horn, Dan Henderson, Sakuraba and Alistair Overeem. Match-ups could include an MMA rematch with Dean Lister or ADCC rematches against Ricardo Almeida or Babalu Sobral.


Carlos Newton- A legend of Canadian MMA, Newton is an IBJJF 3rd Degree Renzo Gracie Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt under coach Terry Riggs. While retiring from MMA following a decision loss to Brian Ebersole, Newton has remained active in running Warrior MMA. Newton versus Kazushi Sakuraba in Pride 3 remains one of the most thrilling grappling based MMA contests. Newton won the UFC championship with a bulldog choke submission over Pat Miletich at UFC 31, only to be controversially slam KO'd to lose the belt at UFC 34. Some maintain that Hughes was asleep for the slam. He had other career wins over Erik Paulsen, Daijiro Matsui, Jose Landi-Jons, Renzo Gracie and Pete Spratt. Interesting match-ups would include a rematches with Sakuraba, Paulsen(who probably has a weight advantage), Renzo Gracie or Matt Hughes.


Genki Sudo- With flair and charisma to spare, Sudo was one of the most entertaining and unorthodox fighters to ever enter an MMA arena. Sudo has career submission victories over Nate Marquardt, Mike Thomas Brown, Kazuyuki Miyata and Hiroyuki Takaya, and KO'd Royler Gracie. In 2010 he received his BJJ black belt from Naoyoshi Watanabe at Triforce Academy, and was lightening fast in transition. Re-matches with Mike Thomas Brown, Kid Yamamoto or Royler Gracie make sense.


Fedor Emelianenko- Perhaps the greatest fighter of all-time, Fedor retired from MMA in 2012 following a KO win over Pedro Rizzo. Fedor has taken part in many Combat Sambo tournaments over the years, winning multiple gold medals in the Russian and World championships. He also has a bronze medal in Russian Judo Championships. Fedor accumulated 16 submission victories among his 34 total victories, submitting Tim Sylvia, Matt Lindland, Mark Hunt, Mark Coleman and Kevin Randleman during his MMA career. Obvious roadblocks to his potential entrance include his fee, potential co-promoting with his old management team M-1 and whether or not he has interest. He is supposedly considering a return to MMA. Match-ups could include Randy Couture, Josh Barnett, Antonio Nogueira and Mark Coleman.


Royce Gracie- The face of the early UFC and one of the reasons the UFC exists today, Royce and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu revolutionized fighting as we know it today. Royce captured the UFC 1, 2 and 4 tournament titles notching submission wins over Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn and Kimo Leopoldo. He was TKO'd by Sakuraba at Pride GP 2000 and won a rematch via decision in 2007. For the 2007 fight, Royce was failed a drug test for Nandrolone. A 6th degree black belt, it appears that he will be content with running his California schools and teaching private lessons. A rematch with Matt Hughes or Sakuraba makes sense.



Rickson Gracie- An 8th degree red and black belt in Gracie Jiu Jitsu and sporting a 12-0 MMA record, Rickson claimed to be undefeated in over 400 bouts. He acheived much notierity for the documentery Choke, which followed him as he prepared for Vale Tudo Japan tournament. A son of the legendery Helio Gracie, his son Kron Gracie tapped out Shinya Aoki and Otavio Sousa at the first and second Metamoris events. Any competitor over fifty would be a good one for Rickson, such as Dan Severn, though the odds of him returning are slim to none.


*GSP was not included due to his knee ailments. Was on the fence with Mark Coleman, Ken Shamrock, Kevin Randleman, Shane Carwin and Mark Kerr, but they might be too injured to return to a competition like this. I'd also say Dan Severn, but he is 56 years old. Frank Mir and Antonio Nogueira each may retire following their rumored UFC match-up, this type of event would be perfect for them. Lesnar probably would want way more money than Metamoris could offer and this might not be the right type of event for him.

UFC 118 Preview - Penn v. Edgar

UFC 118 will feature of a well deserved immediate title rematch of Frank Edgar and BJ Penn which will no doubt be as entertaining as the first match. The co-main event harkens back to the roots of MMA, pitting a boxer, James Toney, against a grappler, Randy Couture, in the most interesting bouts of 2010.

In the first fight between BJ Penn and Frank Edgar (12-1, 7-1 UFC) at UFC 112, both fighters were content to stand and trade for five rounds, with Penn stuffing a couple Edgar takedown attempts.

On my scorecard, BJ narrowly took the first two rounds, Edgar narrowly took the last two rounds, and the 3rd round was a toss-up. The judges didn't quite see it that way, giving Edgar the win 50-45, 48-47 and 49-46 to become the new champ.  Look for Edgar to box, get in the clinch and attempt the occasional takedown in the rematch.

Frank Edgar's martial arts career started as a wrestler in high school then Clarion University in Pennsylvania where he qualified for the national tournament every year. He went 5-0 outside the UFC, defeating solid fighters Deividas Taurosevičius and Jim Miller before being invited to the UFC. While in the UFC, Edgar has defeated Tyson Griffin, Sean Sherk, Spencer Fisher and Hermes Franca.

BJ Penn (15-6, 11-5 UFC) is a dynamic BJJ blackbelt prodigy and solid striker. Penn famously began training BJJ at the age of 17, learning extremely fast, winning tournament after tournament before getting his black belt in 2000 and winning the world BJJ championship in Brazil.

(BJ Penn Pictured)

BJ went directly to the UFC in 2001, crushing Joey Gilbert, Din Thomas and Caol Uno before losing a very close decision to Jens Pulver. After winning additional fights against Matt Serra and Takanori Gomi, Penn came back to the UFC defeating Matt Hughes for the 170 pound title. After some time in K-1 Hero's, Penn came back to win the 155 pound title and defend 3 times. His other career wins have came against Kenny Florian, Diego Sanchez, Joe Stevenson and Renzo Gracie.

In the bout between James Toney and Randy Couture, expect things to end quickly with either James Toney tapping to a choke or Randy Couture seeing stars. Couture (18-10) surprisingly has only 3 submissions on his record, but his grappling ability is still second to none. The UFC Hall of Famer and former HW and LHW champion has beat an insane line-up of challengers including Tito Ortiz, Tim Sylvia, Vitor Belfort, Gabriel Gonzaga and Mark Coleman.

(Randy Couture Pictured)

What can you say about James "Lights Out" Toney? The current IBA and NABO heavyweight champ still has power in his punches and a decent skill set. However, Toney (72-6 in boxing) began his pro boxing career in 1990 and has put many miles on the tank, despite never being knocked out. Toney's signature win maybe when he TKO'd Evander Holyfield in 2003. From recent interviews it doesn't seem like Toney got in a real MMA camp or worked much on grappling in his preparation for the bout.

(James Toney Pictured)

Kenny Florian v. Gray Maynard- This fight will determine the number one contender in the lightweight division. Florian (13-4, 11-3 UFC) will look to use his excellent muay thai to work Maynards legs and keep distance. Florian has wins over Takanori Gomi, Clay Guida, Joe Stevenson and Joe Lauzon.

(Kenny Florian Pictured)

Maynard (9-0, 7-0 UFC) will likely look for the clinch and try to dirty box. If Maynard does try to use his wrestling offensively, he will run into a dangerous BJJ blackbelt off the ground. Florian also has solid elbows from the ground to damage Maynard. Maynard has career wins over Nate Diaz, Jim Miller, Roger Huerta and Frank Edgar.

(Gray Maynard punching Roger Huerta)

Demian Maia v. Mario Miranda- This battle of Brazilians will pit BJJ ace Demian Maia (12-2, 6-2 UFC) against solid wreslter Mario Miranda (10-1, 1-1 UFC). Maia will look to set up a takedown to get the fight to the ground where he has a distinct advantage. Look for Miranda to use his wrestling to defend takedowns and keep the fight standing.

Marcus Davis v. Nate Diaz- Hometown hero Marcus Davis (17-6, 9-4 UFC) will look to bring the fight to long and lanky TUF 5 winner Nate Diaz (12-5, 7-3 UFC). Davis, a former pro boxer himself, will look to close the distance and get inside on Diaz. Diaz meanwhile will look to stay on the outside peppering his jab from all angles. If Diaz gets the fight to the ground, expect him to transition to multiple submission attempts.

SPIKE PRELIM BOUTS

Joe Lauzon v. Gabe Ruediger
Nik Lentz v. Andre Winner

UNDERCARD - Quick bouts possibly air on delay

Dan Miller v. John Salter
Nick Osipczak v. Greg Soto
Amilcar Alves v. Mike Pierce

The below video features James Toney's boxing promoter Dan Goosen discussing James Toney v. Randy Couture.

UFC 102 Review

UFC 102 from Portland produced some excellent bouts with some under card fights making the main ppv telecast. UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture and Antonio Noguiera duked it out an in awesome main event fight.

Couture came up short, much to the dismay of the crowd. Look for Noguiera to possibly get a heavyweight title shot against the winner of Lesnar v. Carwin. Couture and Noguiera each won fight of the night bonuses.

Nate Marquardt made another step forward to getting make the top of the 185 pound ladder. He came out and steamrolled previously undefeated BJJ blackbelt Demian Maia in just 21 seconds. Marquardt is looking to either get a title shot with Anderson Silva, or a number one contenders match with Dan Henderson.

While Marquardt won the KO of the night bonus, he had some competition from undercard fighter Todd Duffee. Duffee, standing at a ripped 250 pounds, threw a hard left hand to the chin of 6'4, 260 pound behemouth Tim Hague. The punch sent Hague to the canvas and a few extra shots sealed his fate. The KO took just 7 seconds, claiming the fastest KO in UFC history.

NCAA Champ Jake Rosholt rebounded from his disappointing UFC debut winning the submission of the night bonus. He choked Chris Leben unconscious with an arm-triangle choke in the first round.

Another fighter rebounding was Thiago Silva, who knocked Keith Jardine unconscious with a left hook in the first round. Brandon Vera continued his climb up the 205 pound ladder with a decision win over Krzystof Soszynski, who was on a 3 fight win streak in the UFC.

Here is a list of results:

Antonio Nogueira def Randy Couture via unanimous dec
Thiago Silva def Keith Jardine via TKO (strikes) R1, 1:35
Jake Rosholt def Chris Leben via sub (arm triangle) R3, 1:30
Nate Marquardt def Demian Maia via KO (punch) R1, 0:21
Brandon Vera def Krzysztof Soszynski via unanimous dec
Aaron Simpson def Ed Herman via TKO (injury) R2, 0:17
Gabriel Gonzaga def Chris Tuchscherer via TKO (punches) R1, 4:27
Mike Russow def Justin McCully via unanimous dec
Todd Duffee def Tim Hague via KO (punches) R1, 0:07
Mark Munoz def Nick Catone via split dec
Evan Dunham def Marcus Aurelio via split dec


(Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira pictured)

UFC 102 Preview

UFC 102: Couture vs. Nogueira will take place this Saturday, Aug 29, 2009 in Portland, Oregon's Rose Garden. MMA legends Randy Couture and Antonio Nogueira will be looking for a victory to potentially push them into title contention. Meanwhile, Demian Maia and Nate Marquardt are looking to get a crack at the seemingly invincible Anderson Silva. The rest of the card is fairly stacked.

(Randy Couture inducted to the UFC Hall)

MAIN CARD

Randy Couture vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Keith Jardine vs. Thiago Silva
Chris Leben vs. Jake Rosholt
Demian Maia vs. Nate Marquardt
Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Brandon Vera

UNDER CARD

Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Chris Tuchscherer
Justin McCully vs. Mike Russow
Todd Duffee vs. Tim Hague
Nick Catone vs. Mark Munoz
Marcus Aurelio vs. Evan Dunham
Ed Herman vs. Aaron Simpson


(Demian Maia pictured)

UFC 91 Recap

The Brock Lesnar era has officially begun as the behemouth secured his first MMA title in the form of the UFC heavyweight title belt. The card scored a live gate of 4.8 million in a sold out MGM Grand in Las Vegas. I'll keep you posted on the ppv numbers, I believe it will probably break the mma record. I was happy each fight made it to air, as only one fight went to decision. UFC 91 turned out a very good card with exciting fights.

(Brock Lesnar pictured)

Matt Brown def Ryan Thomas via Submission (Armbar), R2 0:57 - Ryan Thomas was consistently able to get takedowns on Matt Brown throughout the fight. However, Brown was able to continue to work his submission game and eventually got Ryan Thomas to over commit on the ground. Thomas ended up in a tight armbar, and was unable to slam his way out of it.

Mark Bocek def Alvin Robinson via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), R3 3:16- Bocek out grappled Robinson throughout the fight, keeping Robinson in bad positions. Bocek landed hard punches throughout the fight and it was only a matter of time before he locked up the choke after being extremely calm while having Robinson's back.

Jeremy Stephens def Rafael dos Anjos via KO (uppercut), R3 0:39- This was an awesome fight as Stephens came back from after losing the first two rounds. Dos Anjos had Stephens in near submissions. In the third round, Stephens loaded up a massive uppercut that found its mark directly to dos Anjos jaw droppin gthe fighter to the ground.
*Given KO of the night fight bonus.

Aaron Riley def Jorge Gurgel via Decision (Unanimous)- This fight was shown after the Lesnar v. Couture fight. The fight boiled down to a kickboxing match and both fighters were content to stand and trade. Riley was a little more crisp with his punches, many of which found their mark. Gurgel scored consistently with body and leg kicks. Riley had a couple takedowns and controlled the fight more than Gurgel. All three judges scored the fight 29-28 for Riley.
*Both fighters awarded fight of the night bonuses.

Demian Maia def Nate Quarry via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), R1 2:13- Maia put on yet another awesome display of ju-jitsu against the hard hitting Nate Quarry. Maia pulled guard, executed a sweep and then eventually got Quarry's back. From there it was only a matter of time before Maia secured the rear naked choke. Maia now has 4 straight submission wins in the UFC and is 9-0 overall. Maia is rumored to be a possible coach for the next TUF reality show.

Gabriel Gonzaga def Josh Hendricks via KO (Punches), R1 1:01- Gonzaga was just too much for Hendricks in this heavyweight clash. Hendricks and Gonzaga clinched before Gonzaga landed a hook and then put a perfect right straigt to Hendricks to drop him. Gonzaga put a couple more punches before the fight was called. Gonzaga has two straight quick victories since his back to back defeats to Couture and Werdum.

Dustin Hazelett def Tamdan McCrory via Submission (Reverse Armbar), R1 3:59- Hazelett withstood an early McCrory flurry to throw a nice high kick that partially connected. When the fight went to the mat, Hazelett looked slick. Hazelett transitioned from an omaplata to a reverse armbar for the finish. Hazelett stated he wanted to be the top BJJ guy in the 170 pound division. That was Hazelett's second win in a row since a loss to Josh Koscheck. Both came via submission.
*Hazelett awarded submission of the night.

Kenny Florian def Joe Stevenson via Submission (Rear-naked choke), R1 4:03- Florian continued on his dominant run imposing his will on Joe Stevenson. Landing some strikes, Florian was taken down, but got back up. Once up, Florian got his own takedown before delivering a nasty right hand. He next mounted Stevenson and eventually got the rear naked choke. With the victory, Florian has set himself up for a title shot against BJ Penn. Florian now has 6 wins straight in the UFC since a title loss to Sean Sherk. All wins have come via submission or TKO.

(Pictured Kenny Florian)

Brock Lesnar def Randy Couture via TKO (Punches), R2 3:07- This fight lived up to the hype as it had everyone in the bar I was at on their feet. Lesnar, an NCAA champion in wrestling, has legitimized his status of an elite mixed martial artist with the win. Lesnar used his size to his advantage in the first round, as it appeared Couture was using more energy in the first. Lesnar and Couture each threw knee's from the clinch, but Lesnar landed them more effectively. Couture punched well in the clinch, sneaking a couple in to Lesnar's face.

In the second, Lesnar landed a punch and elbow in the clinch dazing Couture. From there he threw a massive overhand right that hit Couture near the back of the head. Lesnar followed Couture to the ground and unleased about 10 or more hammerfists to the face before the ref stopped the fight. Lesnar captures the UFC HW belt. "I can't believe it" proclaimed the new champ.

*Lesnar will face the winner of Frank Mir v. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira next.
*I still can't believe that people don't arrive till the 3rd or 4th fight in Vegas.

Video's of the Day - Couture v. Lesnar

Randy Couture

Brock Lesnar

UFC 91 Preview

UFC 91 will be held in Las Vegas on November 15, 2008. I'll probably be watching at a local watering hole here in Chicago. With the drawing power of Lesnar and Couture, the ppv buy record for an MMA broadcast will probably be shattered. All fighters made weight with Randy Couture tipping the scales at 220 pounds. Brock Lesnar weighed the max at 265. In the other HW clash, Gabriel Gonzaga came in at 256 while Josh Hendricks came in at 238.

Randy Couture (16-8, 13-5 UFC) vs. Brock Lesnar (2-1, 1-1 UFC)- This is the main event for the UFC Heavyweight title. Couture has been absent from the cage for 14 months while involved in a contract dispute. It is still unclear what Couture will do after this fight as he wants a fight with Fedor.

Couture beat Tim Sylvia to win the HW belt and defeated Gabriel Gonzaga in his title defense. Prior to that fight Couture had lost to Chuck Liddell at 205 pounds in 2006. Couture has been fighting since 1997, winning a four man tournament at UFC 13 in his debut. Couture's big wins have been against Vitor Belfort, Tito Ortiz, Pedro Rizzo, Kevin Randleman, Maurice Smith and one victory over Chuck Liddell (2 losses to Liddell).


Lesnar is a NCAA HW Champion wrestler at the University of Minnesota and placed second in his junior year. Lesnar destroyed Min Soo Kim in his debut with K-1 Hero's(now Dream) with a takedown and ground and pound. He lost his UFC debut to Frank Mir, despite laying a beating on Mir for the first 1:15 of the fight. Unfortunately, Brock got a little overconfident and lost via kneebar. In his last fight he dominated veteran fighter Heath Herring in a decision.

Both fighters are legit wrestlers with power. Couture has a big advantage in terms of experience, but on the flipside is 45 year old and not getting any younger. Couture will look to use dirty boxing in the clinch to win. He will also have to be ready to fight off his back as Lesnar has excellent takedowns.

Lesnar will look to use his speed to get a takedown. From there he has to make his punches count and defend submissions against the cagey veteran. Lesnar will come in with a sizable weight advantage, probably 40+ pounds. Lesnar is also deceptively quick and athletic for his size.


Kenny Florian (10-3) vs. Joe Stevenson (29-8)- This fight will be for a shot at BJ Penn's 155 pound crown. Expect Florian to try to keep the fight standing where he has been improving his Muay Thai game. Expect Stevenson to attempt to get the fight to the ground where he can try to utilize his ground game. Stevenson received his BJJ black belt recently.

Florian is on quite a roll in his UFC career since his loss to Sean Sherk for the 155 pound title. He has beaten Dokonjonosuke Mishima, Alvin Robinson, Din Thomas, Joe Lauzon and Roger Huerta. Stevenson recently defeated Gleison Tibau via guillotine choke. Stevenson also holds wins over Yves Edwards, Kurt Pellegrino and Melvin Guillard and Luke Cummo in the UFC.


Gabriel Gonzaga (9-3) vs. Josh Hendricks (15-4)- Gonzaga is coming off a kimura win over Justin McCulley after back to back TKO losses to Randy Couture and Fabricio Werdum. Gonzaga is 5-2 in the UFC with wins over Cro Cop, Carmelo Marrero and Fabiano Scherner. Hendricks is a two-time All American wrestler who has won his past 10 fights. His best wins have come against Todd Brown (4-1) and Steve Conkel (13-4).

Demian Maia (8-0) vs. Nate Quarry (10-2)- This is the classic grappler v. striker match-up. Maia has some of the best BJJ on the planet. He has submission wins over Jason MacDonald, Ed Herman, and Ryan Jensen inside the UFC. Look for Maia to do everything in his power to get the fight to the ground.

Quarry on the other hand will look to keep the fight standing. Quarry is coming off a lackluster win over Kalib Starnes and a KO of Pete Sell. Quarry also has wins over Lodune Sincaid and Shonie Carter on his resume.

Dustin Hazelett (11-4) vs. Tamdan McCrory (9-1)- I'd really like to see this bout make the televised portion of the event. Hazelett is a BJJ black belt who is a master on the ground. He has submissions over Josh Burkman, Steven Lynch and Jonathan Goulet in the UFC. McCrory is a young up and comer, having beat Pete Spratt and Luke Cummo in the UFC.

Undercard

Jorge Gurgel vs. Aaron Riley
Jeremy Stephens vs. Rafael dos Anjos
Mark Bocek vs. Alvin Robinson
Matt Brown vs. Ryan Thomas

Nick Catone (5-0) vs. Amir Sadollah (1-0)- Unfortunately, this bout was scratched as Amir Sadollah has a leg infection.

UFC Title Picture

With UFC 89 and 90 taking place within a span of seven days, here is the current breakdown of the UFC Title picture.

LW- BJ Penn(Champ)- BJ will fight GSP at 170 before returning to 155. The bout will take place on January 31st at UFC 94.

Contenders- Kenny Florian v. Joe Stevenson- rumored to be the fight for number one contender. The fight takes place at UFC 91.
Sean Sherk- recent victory over Tyson Griffin at UFC 90 moves him closer to another shot at reclaiming the title.
Nate Diaz- has put together 5 straight victories in the UFC, recently against Josh Neer. A rumored bout with Clay Guida has been scratched as Guida injured his foot.
Gray Maynard- has 4 straight victories, momentarily crushing Rich Clementi and Frank Edgar's title hopes.
Roger Huerta- shot at a title dashed by Kenny Florian.


WW- Georges St. Pierre(Champ) v. BJ Penn- The fight will take place at UFC 94.

Contenders- Thiago Alves- With dominating performances over Josh Kosheck at UFC 90, Matt Hughes at UFC 85 and Karo Parisyan at UFN 13, Alves is next in line for a title shot.
Jon Fitch- Recently lost a five round fight with St. Pierre, probably needs a win or two to get another shot.
Diego Sanchez- has two wins in a row since back to back decision losses to Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch.
Josh Koscheck- Title hopes put on hold after loss to Alves.
Jake Shields- I'd like to see the Elite XC champ come to the UFC and fight a top tier opponent or two before a title shot.


MW- Anderson Silva(Champ)- Anderson is sitting pretty on top of the division with his latest victory over Patrick Cote. Anderson could turn up at 205 before another fight at 185, but we will see. Anderson was not pleased with his performance at UFC 90 and would like to jump back in the UFC as soon as possible.

Contenders- Yushin Okami v. Dean Lister- A win by Okami at UFC 92 could thrust him into the number one spot. Okami won over Silva via disqualification in January of 2006 for a an upkick that KO'd Okami while he was still on his knees.
Dan Henderson v. Rich Franklin v. Michael Bisping- The word on the street is that the winner of Dan Henderson and Rich Franklin at UFC 93 will coach TUF 9 opposite Michael Bisping. The overall winner could get a shot at Silva.
Thales Leites- five victories in a row since his loss to Martin Kampmann. That includes a controversial win over Nate Marquardt at UFC 85.
Nate Marquardt- recently won in dominant fashion over Martin Kampmann after the Leites loss. Needs another victory to get a rematch with Anderson Silva.
Robbie Lawler- could get into the UFC sooner rather than later. Lawler is 8-1 since leaving the UFC capturing the Elite XC belt.
Cung Le- the movie star and Strikeforce MW champ presents an interesting stand-up match-up for Anderson Silva.


LHW- Forrest Griffin(Champ) v. Rashad Evans- This match for the light heavyweight title will take place on the stacked UFC 92 card.

Contenders- Lyoto Machida- has won five straight including a victory over Tito Ortiz.
Rampage Jackson v. Wanderlei Silva- the winner of this UFC 92 bout could be setting himself up for a title shot.
Keith Jardine- Recent win over Brandon Vera, but before that was knocked out cold by Wanderlei Silva.
Chuck Liddell- recently lost to Rashad Evans.
Rich Franklin- recently won over Matt Hamill in his recent fight at 205. Has an upcoming match with Dan Henderson at UFC 93.


HW- Randy Couture(HW Champ) v. Brock Lesnar- This match will be for the heavyweight title at UFC 91 on November 15th. Winner to face the victor below in their next bout to unify the title:

HW(I)- Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira(HW Champ Interim) v. Frank Mir- After Couture's brief second retirement, the UFC decided to put an interim belt HW belt on the line which Nogueira beat Tim Sylvia for.

*This is basically a four man tournament for the unified belt. Both matches should be very entertaining and are highly anticipated.

Other contenders- Fabricio Werdum's potential title hopes were shot down in his loss to Junior dos Santos. Cain Valesquez and Shane Carwin have looked impressive with each capturing first round TKO's in their first two victories. Cheick Kongo hasn't been able to put three straight victories together in a row. Heath Herring alternates wins and losses.

Video of the Day - Brock Lesnar on E:60

Brock Lesnar is slated to face Randy Couture at UFC 91 in Las Vegas on November 15th for the Heavyweight Title.

Couture v. Lesnar at UFC 91

Randy Couture and Brock Lesnar will fight at UFC 91. Reportedly, the winner will face the winner of Frank Mir and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira who are coaches on TUF 8. This fight will be preceded by the biggest UFC hype fest we've ever seen. Lesnar proved he was an animal in his victory over Heath Herring. However, he basically has one submission loss and one decision victory in the UFC.

Meanwhile, Fabrico Werdum has two TKO victories in a row over Brandon Vera and Gabriel Gonzaga since his loss to Andrei Arlovski. He may have to wait for the Lesnar/Couture v. Mir/Nogeria fights work themselves out. Werdum is slated to face Junior dos Santos at UFC 90 in October 25th.

UFC HL

This is a random UFC highlight video I found on Youtube. Cool song, and appearances by Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture, Tito and Georges St. Pierre.

Randy Will Return, Just Wait

Fortunetelling by the MMA Blaster

I never believed for a second that Randy would walk away from his contract with the UFC. Randy likes to make money, but he also wants to fight. He is just one of those guys who truly enjoys fighting. While it is a job to him he would still be in the game regardless. If there was no MMA game I could see him making peanuts as a wrestling coach.

Getting back to the press conference, Randy Couture (16-8) basically made his case for a raise. When Dana and Randy meet to talk it out, Dana better have an extra 500K to spend on a bonus to get him to fight Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (30-4). The UFC needs to have big title fights to sell ppv's and grow in popularity. (Sorry, Bisping v. Evans is not exactly a big name fight)

So pony up Dana, give Randy "face of the UFC" Couture some extra cash and some extra love, and get him in the cage to fight the Brazilian legend known as Minotauro. Randy has to know that this is the biggest HW fight that can currently happen outside a potential Fedor v. Barnett fight.

photos from Sherdog pictures

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