Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!
Blog Tools
Edit your Blog
Build a Blog
RSS Feed
View Profile
« October 2007 »
S M T W T F S
1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28 29 30 31
Entries by Topic
All topics  «
Team Website and Affiliated Sites
Team Jorge Gurgel
Rich Franklin Home
Jorge Gurgel Home
You are not logged in. Log in
Millhouse's MMA News and Rumors
Thursday, 11 October 2007

 What happens if Rich loses?

 

Good read...  about what happens if Silva wins. I've bolded the suggestions.

http://www.sprawl-n-brawl.com/2007/10/middleweight-muddle.html

Early last year, the UFC had three very strong divisions - the 205lb class, the 170lb division and the burgeoning155lb division as well - one division ruled by a dominant champion at middleweight and possibly the worst heavyweight division in the 15 + year history of the organization.

Flash forward to today, and two of the stronger divisions are still the driving force in the Octagon - the 155lbers and the 170lbers are consistently putting on great fights and are the backbone of many PPVs. The heavyweight division has been totally revamped and possibly features the most star power of any division right now. The light heavyweights are in a state of flux, but it is still a deep division with talented fighters.

And that leaves the middleweights. Rich Franklin ruled the division from the moment he dropped down to 185....until he was decimated by Anderson Silva. Silva was brought in to spruce up the division and provide a legit challenge to Franklin. He did that - and more. The UFC is now nearly back at square one, with a division featuring a dominant champ and no real contenders on the horizon.

If Franklin pulls out the win in the rematch, then some short term plans can be put in place. Silva can start the climb back to a rematch much the same as Franklin has been doing in 2007. Franklin won't have many challengers in the meantime, but at least we have a situation to build on and a rubber match to look forward too.

But what if Silva - as expected by many - goes to 2-0 against Franklin? Where does the division go then?

The top contenders in the division right now are veterans Jason MacDonald and Yushin Okami, both of whom are coming off losses to Franklin. They will fight on the undercard of Hostile Territory and the winner would most likely be the #1 contender. Of course, if Franklin wins, we get a rematch of either a mismatch against the game but outclassed Canadian, or of snoozer against the skilled but uninspired Okami. Not exactly PPV headliners there. Of course, if Silva wins, his #1 contender will be a fighter who lost to the man that Silva just beat.

Behind MacDonald and Okami, there is a bottle neck of fighters who simply aren't ready for a title shot for various reasons. Patrick Cote is coming of his first big win over Kendall Grove, but has a UFC record of 3-4 and will need to put a few more fights together before he gets a chance to see if his early promise can be met. Grove, for his part, was seen as a rising start before losing to Cote, and it will be interesting to see how he comes back from such a high profile loss. Other Ultimate Fighter alumni dot the middleweight landscape as well.

Nate Quarry just made a inspirational comeback from neck surgery and scored an exciting win over Pete Sell in a recent slug fest. If he is able to put a few wins together and knock off the ring rust, Quarry could be a viable contender, but one would have to question if the outcome of another title shot would be different from his first one. As for Sell is probably out of the UFC after losing his fourth straight fight inside the cage. He always has exciting fights though, so maybe he will be back, but to think of him as a legit contender at this point is laughable.

TUF participants Chris Leben and Ed Herman have had mixed results since appearing on the show, but both seem to be on the upswing right now. Leben is coming off a big, exciting win over Terry Martin that was probably his best showing in the UFC. Going up against Martin - who many were touting as the next real contender in the division - and scoring a KO win was huge for Leben. Of course, rumors persist that it was also his last UFC fight, which would be a shame as a maturing Leben could develop into a tough challenger sooner rather than later.

Herman's loss to MacDonald doesn't look so bad in hindsight as it did at the time to many, and he has scored two good wins since then. In November, he will be going up against a possible X factor in the division in the form of the returning David Terrell. If Herman wins his third straight fight, he might be ready to move up and take on some tougher competitors. If Terrell - who holds a first round KO win over Matt Lindland - returns from injury and regains the form he showed a few years ago, then he could be another title contender. That's a big if though, for someone who has as much downtime as he has.

Several other active middleweights will be in action over the coming months, as Alan Belcher will take on Kalib Starnes. Belcher needs a win to stay in the UFC, while Starnes is slowly rebuilding his record after losing to Okami. Rumors persist that Martin Kampmann could be returning from his knee injury soon, and Drew McFedries should be back from his staff infection as well. Both have shown some good skills in their UFC careers, but neither is a complete fighter at this point.

Outside of the middleweight division, there may be several fighters who could add an interesting dimension to it. Smaller light heavyweights such as Dan Henderson (the current PRIDE champion at this weight class) and Michael Bisping are often discussed as moving down a weight class and one would have to assume ZUFFA would love to have a big name star like them do so. Mike Swick could still be a factor, though it seems like if he isn't going to be fighting Chris Leben that he will drop to 170lbs. Ryo Chonan should be making his UFC debut in November, and he holds a tap out win over Silva, so he will be one to watch.

The short term of the division hinges on the outcome of next Saturday's fight, while the long term depends on a lot more than that.

 



Posted by millhouse340 at 1:24 PM EDT
Post Comment | Permalink | Share This Post

View Latest Entries