I want to take a minute to look over the current UFC landscape and the title holders at each weightclass. Every weightclass will have one more title fight before the end of 2007 (with the probably exception of the lightweight division due to the Sherk steroid suspension appeal). Which current UFC champions will hold their belts come January 1, 2008 and which belts will change hands? Sean Sherk and Anderson Silva were the only two UFC champions who held a title entering 2007 that still hold their titles as of now (although Sean Sherk most likely will be stripped of his belt if his suspension is not overturned).
Heavyweight
Current Champion: Randy Couture
Next Fight: UFC 74 vs Gabriel Gonzaga
Randy Couture stunned the MMA world when he came back out of retirement at UFC 68 and took Tim Sylvia to school in a five round dominating performace to capture the heavyweight belt. “The Natural” is one of those rare-breed of fighters who truly embody what it means to be a champion. Legend is a term that can be thrown around rather losely, but in the case of Couture, it is a title that truly fits.
Gabriel Gonzaga woke MMA fans up with his victory over Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic at UFC 70 in England. Cro Cop was expected to take the victory against Gonzaga rather easily and gather take his shot at the heavyweight belt. Gonzaga had other plans and now looks to become a champion. Randy Couture is one of the few people not from Ludlow, MA to pick Gonzaga to win the fight against Crop Cop, so don’t expect Randy to be anything but completely prepared for his fight with Gonzaga.
Does Gonzaga have what it takes to defeat a veteran like Couture? While I think Gonzaga definitely has the skills needed, I think Couture’s knowledge and experience allow him to keep the belt untill 2008.
Light Heavyweight
Current Champion: Quinton Jackson
Next Fight: UFC 75 vs Henderson
Quinton Jackson entered the UFC fold after Zuffa, LLC purchased the WFA and Jackson’s contract. It didn’t take long for Jackson to make his mark as he knocked off long time champion and UFC posterboy Chuck Liddell at UFC 71. Jackson has fought and beaten some of the best fighters in the world and now as champion he will only face the cream of the crop that 205lb division can offer.
First up for Jackson will be PrideFC welterweight and middleweight champion, Dan Henderson. Henderson’s victory over then PrideFC champion Wanderlei Silva threw yet another monkey-wrench into the long awaited Wanderlei Silva vs Chuck Liddell matchup. Henderson is a fighter that, in my opinion, is cut from the same cloth as Randy Couture. Henderson has the skills, experience, and determination to be a champion for a long time. The Jackson vs Henderson matchup will be a great fight and will most likely setup another great matchup with the victor taking on Mauricio Shogun Rua (assuming Shogun defeats Forrest Griffin at UFC 76).
I think Dan Henderson wins this fight by decision after a long, hard-fought battle, with Jackson getting either a quick title shot or a third fight with Liddell
Middleweight
Current Champion: Anderson Silva
Next Fight: UFC 77 vs Rich Franklin
Anderson Silva has been nothing short of dynamic and explosive since making his UFC debut against Chris Leben at UFC Fight Night 5. Silva went on to win the middleweight belt at UFC 64 after rearranging then-champion Rich Franklin’s face with his Muay Thai clinch. Next up were title defenses against Travis Lutter and Nate Marquardt and now a rematch with Rich Franklin.
Rich Franklin took his pathetic performance against Silva in stride, and after having a surgeon straighten his nose back out got back on the winning path with victories over Jason MacDonald and Yushin Okami. Now Franklin has the unenviable task of taking a “do-or-die” fight against the man who stripped him of his belt in the first place. If Franklin loses again to Silva, it will be a long hard grind for him in the middleweight division.
I don’t see Franklin coming into the fight with anything new that will allow him to get past Silva. This is Anderson Silva’s belt to lose for a long time.
Welterweight
Current Champion: Matt Serra
Next Fight: UFC 79 vs Matt Hughes
The UFC is trying all they can to build hype for the Matt Serra vs Matt Hughes title fight in December and the upcoming sixth season of The Ultimate Fighter. The supposed “bad blood” term that pretty much pops up for at least one fight on each UFC PPV is again being used to hype the Serra vs Hughes fight. While I have no doubt that Matt Serra genuinely dislikes Matt Hughes, I don’t see there being quite the long running hatred between the two fighters that the UFC will try and portray.
Matt Serra received his title shot after winning season 4 of The Ultimate Fighter and won the Welterweight belt in April after upsetting George St. Pierre at UFC 69. Matt Hughes hasn’t fought since UFC 68 in March when he defeated Chris Lytle. So, both fighters are enjoying one of the longest layoffs the UFC has had between title defenses and neither will have an excuse not to be prepared.
Matt Hughes has been a champion before for quite a while and knows what a it takes to win a title. Matt Serra is a newly crowned champion who has that never say die attitude that allowed him to upset GSP. For me, this fight doesn’t hold much interest and I can’t really pick a winner so I’m declaring this one a draw. I don’t have an opinion either way; I’m just waiting for St. Pierre to come back and claim the title in early 2008.
Lightweight
Current Champion: Sean Sherk
Next Fight: TBD
The Lightweight division really is in a state of flux. Sean Sherk is only the second person to every hold the UFC lightweight title, and as of now it appears he will be unceremoniously stipped of his title due to testing positive for a banned substance. Will the UFC have an interim lightweight title fight before the end of the year? If they do, who will fight for the title? These are questions we are all waiting for answers on.
What are your thoughts. Which current champions will be champion entering 2008 and which current contenders will become champion?
richard
Jason
bvrasp
Michael Hatamoto
Amir
Ya Kang is in the top 3 for sure, the problem is, hes riddled with injuries. Everyone gets injured now and then, but it seem like he gets injured in every fight, he was out of action for a while with that bicep tear after the last pride grand prix. Now just recently in his fight with Chae Jung Kyu he broke his hand. Hate to see this happen to a star like kang..
Franklin is an A level fighter. He’s a solid, smart guy. He knows to stay out of the Thai clinch with Anderson, and he’ll have a gameplan for the rematch. Silva will have the edge in the fight, but no one should count Rich out.
fred
my friend he might want to stay out of the clinch{and he better}but he wont be able to ,how is he possibly going to be able to get in on anderson ,im pertty sure he has a shorter reach than him ,meaning hes going to have to go inside.Once inside anderson will grasp the back of his neck and knee the sh*it out of him.
Richard, trust me.. He knows how to escape the clinch.. if its such an amazing technique like your saying, thats all anyone would ever do, since its impossible to avoid or counter.. Thats not the case though.. the fact is, Franklin has always dominated EVERYONE without exception in the clinch and he thought he would again. He was wrong, by the time he realized it, it was too late and he was beaten up to the body, then it was all on Silva to finish him, and he didnt hesitate for a second, he moved in for the kill.
IT WAS JUST ONE FIGHT GUYS!!!!
bvrasp
if he could escape i think he would have i really do its not a perfect technique at all and if franklin would of respected silva in the first place and watched some of his videos he would of know to avoid the clinch
@ Richard
i dont think Franklins problem was not being able to break the clinch i think it was that he thought he owned the clinch game (he said it himself) it was just a good fighter with a bad game plan. i think in the rematch if Silva trys for the collar tie the fight will end up the ground quick, at least thats how i would go about it. like i said befor Franklins best chance is to take the fight to the ground and try to tire him out. Silva would probably do well to just try to kickbox with Franklin i think Silva has more power and better accuracy and if he can just stand and strike he will win.
Guys
I agree with RJ. I think rich got stuck in the clinch. If BVRASP is right about how easy it is to get out of the clinch and rich didn’t, that means he wasn’t thinking. That is even worse than not able to get out of the clinch and lost. If u watch the fight again, silva hardly throw any punches. He went straight for the clinch with rich. He wasn’t even worried about strikes from rich. Rich only chance is to bring the fight to the ground. On the ground, at least rich won’t get submitted easily and he has a hope of grinding out a 5 round decision. Otherwise, I hope he got a muay thai instructor to teach him a few lesson on the clinches, how to break it or defend it. RJ has a point on taking silva to the ground once clinched by silva.
yea i hear you guys, thing is, silva is Very dangerous from his back with triangle/armbar transitions. Id like to see Franklin stand with him, cuz theyre both good strikers. Silva is just a little bit better than Franklin in every aspect of the game. I think Rich is a litte bigger and stronger than Silva even though Anderson has a slight reach advantage. I think Franklin cuts more weight and is able to back on more weight. In the striking game anything can happen, rich has been known to have heavy hands and hes got great movement. Ofcourse stay out of the clinch.
Its easy to avoid the clinch if your expecting it before it happens. After the clinch is in, its still possible to escape or even counter with a takedown like RJ said. At the same time, it depends on skill level too, im sure i couldnt escape Silvas clinch lol! then again im not a professional fighter and rich franklin is.
Heres a good example, Tanner is great in the clinch, but Rich dominated there. Hes never met someone who could beat him in the clinch until Anderson.. thats all that happened, his gameplan was probably to fight in the clinch! lol. Then 2 things happened, his gameplan fell apart and his ribs were battered both at the same time. Then you will notice he did break the clinch, but he was hurt and Anderson clinched him up again.. then finished him.
no doubt Franklin has heavy hands and good thai boxing/boxing and while i think he could hang with Silva there is no real good reason to strike with the better striker. i think if Rich can get the fight to the ground and get to side mount and drop elbow after elbow it would serve him will. like BV said Rich is bigger that Silva, much bigger and on the ground hes going to be hard to move around. Rich is a very smart fighter and i think he will come prepared so i dont know if Anderson will catch Rich in a sub from his back without Rich passing his guard.
Yea RJ, either way, its going to be a dangerous fight for either guy, unless Silva gets the top position on the ground.. Rich is not known for fighting off his back, and Silva is a finisher! I just dont agree with people who think Rich will get destroyed again. Its gonna be a great fight this time around! Cuz like Dr. J said.. its pretty much Do or Die for Franklin, if he loses again its gonna be a long road back tot he title. Especially if Hendo drops down to 185, I dont think anyone can touch him in the UFC.