10 - 10 Rounds, Yay or Nay?

To say judging in MMA is sub par would be like saying getting hit in the head with a bat "kinda hurts." Understatement personified. In any case, there is an ongoing argument by MMA pundits in regard to the use of scoring close rounds in MMA a 10 - 10 rather the standard 10 - 9. I can get on board with this scoring methodology as long as it is used accurately.

Too many times in fights we will have ultra close rounds that could be decided by a punch or a takedown be called a 10 - 9, when a more prudent and justified score of 10 - 10 would be much more accurate, but for the sake of trying to declare a winner, a 10 - 9 will be handed out. It would be much more prudent and fair to use the 10 - 10 rounds if rounds are that close.

In my fanboy opinion, this would produce less boring rounds as fighters would be pushed to actually win rounds and fight more aggressively to that end. Of course there are no guarantees, we'll always have our Jake O'Briens and Antonio McKee's of the MMA world, but if it were me and I wanted to win a fight, the thought of getting a draw would make me work that much harder.

UFC 103 Main Event =........

Chuck's taking a year off to heal his infamous mo-hawked dome, leaving UFC 103 without a main event as of now. His opponent was supposed to be Rich Franklin, who seems to be the de facto go to guy when they cannot pull a title fight onto a card. While not the most digestible of main eventers in the UFC's arsenal, using "Ace" in the top spot certainly does not hurt the UFC as Franklin is actually a bigger PPV draw than their middleweight champ and p4p juggernaut, Anderson Silva. If they are dead set on putting Franklin back into the top slot for 103, here are some ideas that could be intriguing if not meaningful within the light heavyweight ranks.

vs Keith Jardine:

A Jardine vs Franklin scrap would certainly be a fight that would have rankings ramifications and would help flesh out a possible contender. Jardine's jittery "I'm having a seizure" style against Franklin's loopy punch stand up would be, if nothing else, an interesting visual. While it's a close fight and either professional ass kicker could pull out a win, I would pick the perennially black eyed Franklin to win this fight. Franklin does not have the same oomph in his punches as Jardine, but Jardine has been known to be more inconsistent and way more chinny than the former middleweight champeen of dah worl'. Franklin has better footwork that would allow him to stay away from Jardine and seems to have a better ground game, not that we've seen Jardine on the ground, but the hyperbole the Jackson camp spits about how good he is on the ground is just that until he proves it. In either case, a win for either guy would help push a new contender forward in a division suddenly put on hold for another season of TUF.
***Note: (Just realized Jardine will be fighting Thiago Silva at 102, but I'm keeping the analysis because it's the UFC, who knows?)

vs Luis Cane

While not exactly a marquee fight if it happens, pitting "Banha" against Rich Franklin would definitely have rankings implications and would no doubt be an entertaining fight. Not a fight the UFC would necessarily be pushing real hard for, but if they need a main event for 103, they could certainly do worse than a fight between two top ten fighters in Cane and Franklin. If Franlkin can keep away from Cane's power and use his foot work to work his jab and kicks, I can see Franklin working towards a decision. I cannot see Franklin cracking Cane's nut though as both Sokodjou and Steve Cantwell landed flush and could not put him away. Franklin has a well rounded enough game to win an entertaining decision. However, if Rich gets clipped by one of "Banha's" power shots, it could be a short night for "Ace." Not a main event level fight, not really worth 45 bucks, but a very good fight regardless.

vs Wanderlei Silva

If push comes to shove and shove comes to sucker punch in the grill, I wouldn't put it pass Zuffa to put on an immediate rematch between these two for the sake of a main event. Obviously they would market it as the first fight being "hotly" contested and Wanderlei thought he won the fight. Okay by me as I am one in the few that had the school of thought that the first fight was fun to watch and fairly entertaining. As long as it was not a catch weight bout I'd be okay with this fight going down again. Would I rather see something else, sure. Would I jump Dana's sh$%# for letting Franklin/Silva 2 go down? No, not really. This fight would most likely go down the same way as the first one, unless Wanderlei went head hunting the entire fight. If that happened, I would put money on a finish one way or the other. As it stands though, Franklin by decision.

Alves vs St Pierre: The Breakdown

Short and sweet, Georges St Pierre will dominate Thiago Alves.

Georges is just too good at this point to go down to a fighter like Alves. And that is not an indictment on Thiago Alves as much as it is a credit to how good GSP has become. Throw in the Greg Jackson game planning and I can say with a certain amount of confidence that Georges will not be beaten for some time. Many fans and pundits alike still hold the Matt Serra loss against him, but in my opinion, the streak he has gone on since has more than absolved him of any doubts. He absolutely overwhelmed his closest competion in Jon Fitch, and laid an "ultimate" beatdown on a guy that was widely considered by fans, "experts," and other fighters to be the best fighter in the world in BJ Penn. Anderson Silva stated as much prior to the Penn/St Pierre fight.

In terms of styles, I just don't see how Alves can beat St Pierre outside of landing a Matt Serra-like shot. Alves' most effective offense, the leg kick, will turn into the bane of his existence in this fight as St Pierre will use it to take him down. On the feet, there will not be as big of a striking disparity as many think there will be, and in my oh so not quite humble opinion, Thiago has a suspect chin. As good as Alves is at getting back to his feet and defending the takedown, St Pierre is just on another level in terms of takedown ability and top control. If GSP gets in top position, it may be a long night, or short for that matter, for Thiago Alves. Georges is just too fast, explosive, and most importantly, skilled, to get merked by anything Alves has to offer. The prediction........St Pierre, 2nd round TKO!

-R

Bellator

As up and coming promotions go, Bellator has been one of the better ones going. If not for star power, at least for redonkulous finishes to their fights. Between inverted arial triangle submissions and spinning backfist ko's, this new fight org is putting on some of the best quality fights in MMA by my guess-timation.

I am definitely looking forward to actually being able to watch the fights on tv as well, as the rumour of Bellator coming to ESPN 2 or possibly a basic cable network is looming. As of now, you can only view Bellator on either the Espanol version of ESPN, ESPN Deportes, or the interwebs. I don't get putting it on Deportes as MMA is not exactly a huge draw with the Hispanic community, but whatever. I get trying to market to the traditional boxing fans which latinos are a ginormic part of, but if you're launching a brand new promotion, why would you not aim it at the larger MMA market, the English speaking community. But I digress.....

I'm calling the upset of the month, Toby Imada will pull out the victory over Eddie Alvarez. I am not absolutely sure that this will happen, but to be interesting and bold, I am going with Imada. While Eddie is an overall better fighter, I can't shake that "feeling" that Imada has some more magic in him. If I'm wrong, wouldn't be the first time, sure as eff won't be the last. I'll also take Lombard over Hess by facial merking.

Here's hoping there will be some more "Holy Sh%$" moments tonight.

-R

*****NEWS*****

At UFC 98, it took Lyoto Machida less than two full rounds at UF C 98 to claim the UFC light heavyweight title from former champion, Rashad Evans. Machida won in convincing fashion with a dehabiliating left hook that floored Evans and put his lights out. With that win, Machida has cemented himself as the top 205 lber in the world.

Next Generation MMA Fighters You Can Bank On

As this generations top fighters begin to either deteriorate or stop evolving, there are new young fighters beginning to emerge that will take the stage as being the top fighters in their respective weight classes. Chuck Liddell is no longer the light heavyweight boogeyman, Matt Hughes' once indisputable dominance at welterweight ended with a Canadian head kick and a Brazilian knee, and the list goes on. Once mighty top ten stalwarts such as Mirko "Cro Cop"Filipovic or Wanderlei Silva have begun their descent into that much respected, yet double en tendered state of "Legendary" status. Becoming a legend is something to strive for, but when you are still fighting and people refer to you as a "legend," it is more than likely that you are no longer relevant in modern MMA. Unfortunate, yet inevitable.

So now we have our new crop of top stars that are fulfilling their once ballyhooed potential. Heavyweight has Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin. 2 grizzly bears posing as men. The light heavyweight division offers a crop of fighters like no other with the likes of Rashad Evans, Forrest Griffin, Lyoto Machida, and Rampage Jackson just to touch on a few. Middleweight, the once bastard stepchild of the light heavyweight division, contains, albeit barely, the p4p top fighter in the world, Anderson Silva. Welterweight and lightweight have a bevy of fighters that could lay claim to being the top fighters in their division, if not for the excellent Georges St Pierre and the incomparable BJ Penn, respectively. Fedor Emelianko may truly be the last emperor of his generation of top fighters.

That being said, who are tomorrow's top MMA fighters? Who will stand tall as the best MMA has to offer 3, 4, 5 years from now? Below you'll find my OPINION on a few guys that I think will be tomorrow's top stars. I could be completely off my rocking horse, but based on what these fighters have shown this early in their careers, I can safely guess that these guys will produce in spades.

Cain Velasquez

This American Kickboxin Academy fighter has the goods to become the next big force at the plus 205 weight class. A spectacular wrestling pedigree coupled with a heavy hand striking style make Velasquez a top contender in the heavyweight class already. If his improvement continues in all aspects of the game as it appears it has been, Fedor WILL have some competition as the undisputed top dog of this weight class.

Jon Jones

Maybe the greenest of the fighters on this list, Jones has shown that he has what it takes to be the next big thing at light heavyweight, or MMA in general for that matter. His beatdown of Andre Gusmao was impressive, but his thrashing of the uber tough Stephen Bonnar drew eye balls to this man child. Jones unorthodox fighting style makes him an exciting fighter to watch, even better, his style is successful in the octagon. His ability to throw guys around like rag dolls and his frenetic striking style make for someone that fans will want to watch. If the UFC brings him along and makes the right matches for him to develop properly, the sky's the limit for the "Martian Man Hunter."


Anthony "Rumble" Johnson

I have serious doubts that anyone outside of Thiago Alves at welterweight hits as hard as Anthony Johnson. Even then I might go with Johnson. The guy has obvious physical gifts that have allowed him to be successful in the octagon against tough competition. While he may not be the most complete fighter yet, he has potential flying out his ears. Working with Cung Le and Josh Thomson does not hurt either in terms of his development. Johnson reminds me of a young Quentin Jackson. Jackson was very similar to Johnson in his early career, a gifted athlete with very good wrestling and powerful striking ability. If Quentin Jackson is any indicator, Johnson can only go up. As long as Johnson continues to develop his overall game, not only will he be successful at welterweight, but at 6'2 and built like a tank, he could be successful at 170 lbs and up.

-R

Grease-Gate, Final Thoughts

By now, every fan of MMA has heard, and is probably sick to death of, the whole grease-gate scandal involving BJ Penn and his fight against defending welterweight champion, Georges St Pierre. The whole situation came off as highly accidental, though after 4 or 5 of St Pierre's prior opponents have stated in the past that he felt really slippery and greasy, it leads me to believe that George is a chronic greaser. That sounds worse than it is as far as a judgment. So he greased himself prior to fights, so what? Many fighters do. It is a way to gain an advantage over your opponent, so a lot of fighters do it.Doesn't make it right, but it does not mean it is not done. It is only now being brought out as a highly questionable act because St Pierre's corner men did it blatantly in front of UFC brass, the commission, fans, and other fighters. So now we have a spotlight on the grease thing. Now every time George comes out to fight, at least for his next couple fights, people are going to be wondering if he is all greased up.

While it doesn't necessarily put a black eye on the fight, it will still be a pretty big foot note and/or asterisk next to this fight. However, people need to chill out about it already. BJ has done his due diligence to get an understanding of the situation by asking for an investigation into the incident, and he admits he got his ass handed to him. Despite the grease, GSP would have taken that fight regardless. If you don't believe that then you are either living on Mars or in Hawaii. Ultimately, should BJ stay focused, he will dominate the lightweight division against all comers. As of now, who is really going to push him?

-R