This is going to be very long, so be prepared for a lot of reading.

I personally do not find the current UFC Middleweight Division to be weak, but I hear arguments that attempt to prove that the division is indeed a weak division. I would like to examine some of these arguments and offer commentary about these arguments.

1. Most Top UFC Middleweights are Washouts from Light Heavyweight

There a couple issues with this argument. It is not uncommon especially in this day and age of weight cutting where fighters that start at a higher weight division tend to cut down to the lowest weight division that they can. The other thing is that fighters from higher weight divisions across all weight divisions cut down and become top fighters in their new and lighter weight division. In Light Heavyweight, Rashad Evans fought as a Heavyweight on The Ultimate Fighter and its Finale and is now a top Light Heavyweight. In Welterweight, Jon Fitch used to fight as high as Light Heavyweight and was for the longest time the consensus number two Welterweight. Martin Kampmann was also a Middleweight that is doing very well at Welterweight. Nate Marquardt is making the cut to Welterweight as well. Josh Koscheck has fought at Middleweight as well. In Lightweight, Sean Sherk fought as a Welterweight and became Lightweight Champion. Kenny Florian fought as high as Middleweight and also at Welterweight, but he found most of his success as a Lightweight. A couple top featherweights are former Lightweights. Jose Aldo, Dustin Poirier, Bart Palaszewski , Pat Curran, fought at Lightweight and cut to Featherweight. Mike Thomas Brown was a mid-tier Lightweight and became WEC Featherweight Champion. UFC Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz was a Featherweight. The other thing to look at is while there are former Light Heavyweights who cut to Middleweight and became top Middleweights, there are many such as Eric Schafer, Steve Cantwell, Tom Lawlor, Jason Lambert, and others who washed out in both weight divisions. It is not like every Light Heavyweight who cuts to Middleweight will be a top ten-to-fifteen Middleweight.

One other thing to look for as well is just the simple fact that certain fighters simply fight better at certain weight classes. Dan Henderson, for example, can cut to Middleweight, but he is seeing more success at Light Heavyweight. Fitness, speed, strength, and general comfort may be found in Middleweight rather than Light Heavyweight. From a physical standpoint, Tim Boetsch looks much more fit as a Middleweight than as a Light Heavyweight.

2. Mark Munoz

Mark Munoz has been strong evidence for many who argue that the Middleweight Division is a weak division. These MMA fans argue that the UFC Middleweight Division must be weak because a fighter who got head kicked KO'd by Matt Hamill, of all fighters, dropped down to Middleweight and is now a top ten fighter. The problem with the Munoz argument is simply that his loss to Hamill does not tell the whole story. When Munoz fought Hamill, Munoz’s record was 5-0. Matt Hamill's record was 6-2 with seven fights up to that point being in the UFC. So, Hamill had more fights in the UFC than Munoz had professional MMA bouts. Also, while Munoz is still a bit raw in his approach when fighting, he was extremely raw and green when he fought Matt Hamill. Hamill, while not a great fighter, was a pretty established mid-tier by that fight having fought fighters like Rich Franklin, Tim Boetsch, and Michael Bisping. For Munoz, it was also his first fight in the UFC, which could lead to "Octagon Jitters." He also just looks much more fit as a Middleweight than as a Light Heavyweight.

As a Middleweight, Munoz was brought up very well. While he is still rough around the edges in his fights, there is improvement with him. Also, his training has been getting much stronger with his gym, Reign MMA, and training with Black House fighters like Anderson Silva, the Nogueiras, and others.

3. The UFC Middleweight Division has a History of being a Weak Division

I'm going to be honest, but I never found how this argument is pertinent or relevant to what the division is now. Yes, the first UFC Middleweight Champion is Dave Menne, and fighters that are not that good like Evan Tanner (bless his soul) held the Title, but I just do not see how that has any bearing to what the division is now. The UFC Middleweight Division has around 47 fighters. The top ten fighters of the division are Anderson Silva, Chael Sonnen, Yushin Okami, Mark Munoz, Vitor Belfort, Michael Bisping, Luke Rockhold, Chris Weidman, Brian Stann, and Hector Lombard. according to the most recent USA Today/SB Nation Consensus Rankings. Removing Rockhold and Lombard, and just going with UFC fighters, Demian Maia and Rousimar Palhares would be up there (Tim Boetsch is not ranked higher yet as this was made before the Okami fight).There are up-and-comers in the division such as Chris Weidman, Alan Belcher, Brian Stann and Rousimar Palhares. There are prospects in the division like Andrew Craig, Brad Tavares, Clifford Starks, Ronny Markes, and Costa Philippou. The division has a pretty established mid-and-lower tier of varying levels of ability and skill. Also, having around 47 fighters in the division shows that there is no shortage of quantity in the Middleweight Division either. While the division may have started out weak, it progressively became stronger and is now a seemingly solid weight division.

4. UFC Middleweights Who Fight for the Title do not Have Long Win Streaks

My problem with this argument is simply that this is not mutually exclusive to the UFC Middleweight Division, but it applies to every weight division in the UFC. The way that Title shots usually work is that a fighter gets a bit of a win streak, usually three or more consecutive victories, and in one or more of those victories is a top ten opponent. Middleweight follows that formula. For an example in another weight class, Benson Henderson at Lightweight defeated Mark Bocek, Jim Miller, and Clay Guida in a row to get a Title shot against Frankie Edgar. He lost to Anthony Pettis in the WEC before the win streak. Now in Middleweight, Chael Sonnen defeated Dan Miller, Yushin Okami, and Nate Marquardt to get a Title shot against Anderson Silva. Before that win streak, Sonnen lost to Demian Maia. Chael Sonnen did not do anything different to get a Title shot than what Benson Henderson did. While there are instances like Dan Henderson getting a Title shot coming off a loss to Rampage Jackson, or Demian Maia getting a Title shot filling in for Belfort but only beating Dan Miller and not having a real consecutive win streak, for the most part, most Middleweight Title contenders have a win streak before challenging for the Title. There are extraneous cases in other weight divisions as well, and not just Middleweight. Also, this argument does not look at level of competition for those fighters who did have a long win steak and fought for a Title. Jon Fitch, for example, in the UFC defeated Larson, Burkman, Alves, Hironaka, Fioravanti, Diego Sanchez, and Chris Wilson before fighting GSP. What stands out is that only one of those fighters was a top ten opponent during that time, Diego Sanchez (Alves was not ranked highly during that time). Granted, there are fighters like Jake Shields and Thiago Alves who beat multiple top ten opponents before getting a Title shot, but that is not always the case for Title challengers with long win streaks. I think that it is safe to say that if the UFC gave these top Middleweights consecutive mid-tier fighters (not up-and-comers or good prospects, but just established mid-tiers), that they could get an extended win streak as many of these top Middleweights have proven that they can consistently beat mid-level fighters.

5. The Challengers for Anderson Silva’s UFC Middleweight Championship were only Sub-Par Fighters

The obvious problem with this argument is that it is a complete blanket statement with no real evidence behind it. There is simply a lack of any real basis for this argument except for the argument that the Middleweight division is thin or weak, but that in itself is a blanket statement. I will try to challenge it nonetheless. Just looking at stylistic matchups and comparing Anderson Silva’s competition to GSP’s, I actually see many similarities in opposition from a stylistic standpoint. With strikers, GSP fought Dan Hardy and Thiago Alves. Hardy would be comparable to Patrick Cote. Alves would be comparable to Vitor Belfort just in being known as high level strikers, not necessarily in their style of striking. With wrestlers, GSP fought Josh Koscheck, Jon Fitch, and Matt Hughes. Dan Henderson is a strong wrestler with a powerful overhand right, so I would compare him to Koscheck. From an offensive standpoint, Sonnen and Fitch are comparable; it’s just that defensively they are not comparable. Matt Hughes is admittedly a bit tougher, but I would go with someone like Marquardt or Okami as someone comparable, but even I will admit that I’m stretching that. With BJJ practitioners, GSP fought Jake Shields and Matt Serra (even though Serra TKO’d him in their first bout). Maia would be comparable to Shields, and Lutter or Leites would be comparable to Serra (as far as BJJ goes). BJ Penn is probably the only fighter I cannot find a comparison for. The point is that I just do not see how Anderson Silva’s competition was sub-par. He is clearly fighting high level fighters with various stylistic challenges.

One other thing that I noticed with MMA fans who argue that the Middleweight Division is thin or weak is that they act as if their arguments are exclusive to the Middleweight Division. I have pointed out that in all weight divisions, fighters from a higher weight division cut down and become top fighters in their new weight division, and some don’t. A lack of long and extended winning streaks to get a Title shot is not exclusive to the Middleweight Division, and even then, Middleweights in general do not do anything differently to get a Title shot than what other fighters do to get one in other weight divisions. I have heard arguments that top Middleweights have distinct weaknesses like Sonnen having bad BJJ defense, but this argument applies across the board, and not just with Middleweight.

I will concede that Middleweight is not as stacked or deep as Welterweight or Lightweight. Just because those two divisions, in my opinion, are stronger than Middleweight does not mean that Middleweight is a weak weight division. Going with definitions though, I would not say that Middleweight is “stacked” as Welterweight and Lightweight are defined as “stacked,” but it is not “weak” either. I would define it somewhere in the middle and call it “solid.” There is nothing about weighing 185 pounds that automatically makes a fighter a weaker fighter compared to fighters in other weight classes. Overall, I just do not see how Middleweight can be considered a thin or weak division, especially with the evidence provided.

Just wanted to pass this along for the MMA fans who have DISH Network and order UFC PPVs. It can save a couple bucks for guys like me who order every UFC PPV.

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I am having an argument/discussion with a friend about Gilbert Melendez and how he would do in the UFC, and I hope to hear the opinion of the BloodyElbow community to help me with this.

We started talking about Anthony Pettis losing to Clay Guida, and he said, " It was pretty much what I expect from Pettis. I expect the same thing to happen to Melendez when he comes to the UFC."

I argue that Melendez's skillset in both wrestling and striking and level of competition that he has beaten outside of the UFC is very high level, and he retorted, "How did Pettis beat Henderson and Roller but with wrestling? Maynard, Edgar, Miller and Guida would all destroy Melendez, because fighting outside the UFC means very little."

I feel that the mentality that "fighting outside the UFC means very little" is greatly undervaluing fighters outside of the UFC. I personally feel that it also shows that these people that feel that way have the inability to "see" skill. For example, someone like Patricio Pitbull Freire fights for Bellator, not the UFC. However, many that see him could tell that he has a high level skillset and would probably do well in the UFC. They can "see" that he is well rounded and puts his skills together very well especially for a prospect. The counterargument would be that since he doesn't fight in the UFC, he looks good because he is not fighting high level fighters.

I am curious to see how the BE community feels about fighters outside of the UFC. Please comment below and tell me what you think.

I'm not going to accuse anyone in Bellator fixing fights, but there are a good amount of MMA fans out there that truly believe that Bjorn Rebney or someone in Bellator is paying off judges or fixing fights in some way.

I personally blame terrible judging for some of the outcomes in Bellator, but other MMA fans see something else. These MMA fans saw that Zoila Frausto (now Zoila Gurgel) beat both Jessica Aguilar and Megumi Fujii by split decision when the consensus is that she should have lost both of those fights. With Jay Hieron, many felt that he lost to Brent Weedman, and he defeated Rick Hawn in the Welterweight Final even though most MMA fans felt that Hieron should have lost both fights. Recently, Bellator Featherweight Champion Joe Warren fought Marcos Galvao in a three round, non-title Superfight, and Joe Warren won the fight although the consensus was the Warren should have clearly lost.

So what does Bellator have to gain by having Zoila Gurgel, Jay Hieron, and Joe Warren win their fights? With Joe Warren, no champion has lost in these non-title Superfights, so it would look bad to see one of their champions lose a non-title fight, and lower the credibility of the champion who lost. With Zoila Gurgel, depending on who you ask, she is an attractive female fighter who speaks English and has personality. She is a relatively marketable female champion, which would help their newly made 115 pound Womens Division. Finally, with Jay Hieron, he is a former UFC, Strikeforce, and many other MMA organization fighter that has some name recognition. Hieron vs Askren is more marketable and recognizable than Hawn vs Askren.

There is an obvious counterargument to this, and that is Roger Huerta. He lost to Pat Curran by unanimous decision, and Huerta is much more well-known and marketable than Curran. Oddly enough though, Pat Curran ended up winning a split decision against Toby Imada even though many MMA fans felt that Imada should have won the decision.

I want to point out once again that I do not feel that fight fixing is involved in these decision victories. However, these terrible judging decisions are only bringing down the credibility of Bellator. These decisions combined with who ends up winning simply puts a negative label and stigma with Bellator, which is something that a relatively young MMA organization does not need.

Here are just some of my immediate thoughts after UFC on Versus 3.

I felt that Diego Sanchez winning against Martin Kampmann was a close fight. However, I do feel that there are some issues presented from the fight. One, the definition of knees to a grounded opponent has to change. During the fight, Sanchez would put his hand down on the mat because it would be illegal for Kampmann to knee him in the head while his hand was on the mat. There is no safety issue with this, and I feel that it should be amended. The other issue is similar to a Leonard Garcia fight. When Sanchez was winging punches mid-cage and mainly hitting air, Kampmann was countering him and did outstrike him, but the judges gave the round to Sanchez. I do not feel that it was a robbery though.

Munoz is a very strong Middleweight. Beating Dollaway was a good win, but I still have a difficult time seeing him get farther than mid-tier in the UFC Middleweight DIvision. His striking, while working with some great trainers, still needs much work. Coming off wins over Simpson and Dollaway, it looks like Munoz will probably get an upper echelon Middleweight next. As far as Dollaway goes, he is in mid-tier purgatory. He looks to be improving but is very inconsistent.

Weidman is a prospect to watch out for, and considering that he took the fight on short notice, he looked good against Sakara. From the fifteen minutes that I saw, Weidman does not look like a prospect in the same vein of Jon Jones or Phil Davis in my opinion, but he definitely has potential. His striking needs a lot of work, and the fact that many of his takedowns were getting stuffed shows me that he needs to mix his wrestling better with his striking. Of course, he only has five professional MMA fights, so I should not have expected to see him be absolutely amazing in his first fight in the UFC. I thought that Sakara wiping his blood on the ref was cool, but as far as where he goes, he looks to be stuck as a mid-level UFC Middleweight.

I want to see Brian Bowles against some of the upper-tier of the UFC Bantamweight Division after this performance. He mixed his game up very well against Damacio Page, and he weathered the early storm against him. Everything that Bowles did looked very slick from the transitions that he did to the guillotine. With two losses in a row both by guillotine, Page is either getting cut by the UFC, or he'll get one more fight. Honestly though, I can see him getting cut.

I don't know what to make of Shane Roller. His striking did not look that good despite getting the KO on Thiago Tavares. The KO shows that he has power, but his overall technique is pretty sloppy. This is a strong win for Roller, but I have a hard time seeing him get that far in the UFC Lightweight Division even with his wrestling pedigree. Tavares, if possible, should cut down to Featherweight. He has been stuck in the same place at Lightweight for so long that I think a change in weight class can do him some good. He has the skill and is very well-rounded, but for some reason, he just can't get that far in the Lightweight Division.

Despite an impressive win, Igor Pokrajac comes off as a lower-level UFC Light Heavyweight. Good for him to call out Tito Ortiz as getting a fight against Tito would be the biggest and most marque fight of his career, but I do not thnk that the UFC will give him that fight. Todd Brown is probably going to get cut from the UFC.

Joe "Daddy" Stevenson is done being a UFC fighter. I don't know if he needs to take some time off from fighting or cut down a weight class, but with all the losses that he has had recently, he just isn't UFC caliber anymore. I always liked him, but three straight losses to opposition that is progressively down the ladder shows that he just can't cut it anymore. Good win for Danny Castillo, and it seems that Team Alpha Male is doing very well after the UFC/WEC merger.

Steve "The Robot" Cantwell, like Joe Stevenson, is done being a UFC fighter as this is his third loss in a row. He's still young and doesn't have that many fights (7-4 record), so he can still improve. I find it interesting that Cyrille Diabate has managed to stick around in the UFC. I have picked against him in every one of his fights, but he has a UFC record of 2-1. 

I was hoping that they would show Rousimar Palhares leglocking Dave Branch. Not all BJJ Black Belts are created equal, it looks like. Branch has had some pretty boring fights in the fights that he won, so I have to wonder if the UFC wants to keep him. Palhares has beaten a good amount of lower-to-mid-tier Middleweights as most of the fighters that he has wins over in the UFC aren't with the UFC anymore, but he has failed against the upper echelon. I can see him getting a mid-tier Middleweight next.  

We got two fights on Facebook, and the telecast broadcasted six fights. Overall, it was a fun night of fights. 

I was looking online and found that the preliminary bouts for the Strikeforce: Diaz vs Cyborg card and Strikeforce and M-1 Global: Fedor vs Silva card have a couple fights and fighters to look out for.

The Strikeforce: Diaz vs Cyborg card has these preliminary bouts:

Nate Coy vs. Nate Moore

Isaiah Hill vs. Bobby Stack

Ron Keslar vs. Eric Lawson

Germaine de Randamie vs. Stephanie Webber

Lucas Gamaza vs. James Terry

Jenna Castillo vs. Charlene Gellner

Anthony Dariano vs. Alan Perez

Niko Jackson vs. Ricky Jackson

Sam Bracamonte vs. Armin Safiari

There are two Womens MMA bouts on these prelims, but one to look out for is Germaine de Randamie vs. Stephanie Webber. Considering the dearth of female talent out there, any additional female fighters with potential is welcome. Germaine de Randamie had a kickboxing record of 48-0 before making the transition to MMA where she has a 1-1 MMA record, and Stephanie Webber trains under UFC Welterweight Dennis Hallman. Nathan Coy vs Nate Moore is also intriguing. Nathan Coy is a Team Quest fighter who did very well against Welterweight prospect Tyron Woodley, and he has notable wins over UFC Welterweights Mike Pierce and Rick Story. Nate Moore is a prospect who beat Louis Taylor on the Strikeforce: Fedor vs Rogers card and fights out of AKA.

For the Fedor vs Silva card, these prelim fights are rumored so far:

Marc Stevens vs. John Cholish

Josh LaBerge vs. Anthony Leone

Jason McLean vs. Kevin Roddy

Marc Stevens is the TUF alum who kept getting guillotined on TUF 12. Anthony Leone has fought in the WEC and Bellator, and Josh LaBerge fought in Bellator as well. McLean is a prospect who has notable wins over Ken Stone and Jimmie Rivera, and Roddy trains in Kurt Pellegrino's fight team.

From a business and financial standpoint, I understand that airing the prelims even if there is extra time for them don't really help Strikeforce very much, if at all. Also, there are local fighters and even amateur bouts that will probably look sloppy. However, there are legitimate prospects in these prelim bouts (and those are the only ones that I'd like to see), and for me personally, I would like to see what these prospects bring to the table.    

Brock Lesnar will coach opposite of Junior “Cigano” Dos Santos on the thirteenth season of The Ultimate Fighter.

This is surprising considering that Lesnar is an extremely private person outside of the Octagon, and it has been reported that he does not enjoy being away from his home for long periods of time. This is exemplified in the fact that his training camp was built next to his home, and he brought in trainers and training partners instead of him going to a camp.

Also, many critics and pundits felt that Lesnar was done with the UFC and MMA in general after getting dominated by UFC Champion Cain Velasquez. Junior Dos Santos was the number one contender to fight Cain Velasquez until Velasquez had a shoulder injury and had to opt out of their potential fight.

Not only is Lesnar coming back to the UFC, but also he will be fighting one of the best MMA Heavyweights in the world in Junior Dos Santos sometime in June. Lesnar has holes in his striking game as shown in his fights against Shane Carwin and Cain Velasquez, and Dos Santos is arguably the best striker in the UFC Heavyweight Division.

Brock Lesnar does not need this exposure in that he is the most popular UFC fighter and figure in MMA. This puts the spotlight on Junior Dos Santos and does a favor for the UFC considering that Lesnar does not need to coach a season of The Ultimate Fighter.

The fight itself is interesting in that it will test Junior Dos Santos against a wrestler while it test Brock Lesnar’s standup. It is also a comeback story with Lesnar while this could be a breakthrough win for Dos Santos.

This will be a very interesting season of The Ultimate Fighter. There is not any real rivalry between the two unlike Frank Mir and Brock Lesnar. However, Lesnar has a personality that makes for great television, and Dos Santos will get the chance to show and sell himself to the casual public.

With Alistair Overeem fighting Fabricio Werdum and Fedor fighting Antonio SIlva on the same side of the brackets of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Tournament, I thought that I should give a little hype to the other side of the brackets.

The semi-final that I personally want to see on the other side of the brackets is Andrei Arlovski vs Josh Barnett. Both are former UFC Champions, and both are around the same skill level but are stylistically very different fighters. Barnett tends to take fights to the ground while Arlovski tends to keep fights standing up. Also, Barnett is on a six fight win streak against sub-par competition while Arlovski is on a three fight losing streak losing to solid-to-top Heavyweights. Despite Arlovski's losses, he still remains a fan favorite while Barnett is loathed by many MMA fans.

If Brett Rogers gets past Barnett and Arlovski gets past Kharitonov, then there is a potential rematch between Brett Rogers and Andrei Arlovski. In their first encounter, Rogers knocked out Arlovski in 22 seconds of the first round, but some saw it as a bit of a fluke. A rematch between the two would prove by a win for Rogers whether that knockout was a fluke, but it would give Arlovski if he wins a chance to regain his confidence and avenge a crushing loss.

Sergei Kharitonov is not favored to get too far in the tournament, but there is a bit of a story with him as well. Kharitonov is the last person to defeat current Strikeforce Champion Alistair Overeem back in 2007 at K-1 HERO's. Also, he defeated Fabricio Werdum back in 2005 at PRIDE 30. Should Sergei make it to the Finals, he could fight fresh matchups with Antonio SIlva or Fedor, but he could also have rematches with Werdum and Overeem, and those two could potentially avenge their losses.

My money is for Josh Barnett to make it to the Finals. If Fedor should win on his side of the brackets, then they could create the fight that was supposed to be the main event of a third Affliction Pay-Per-View. If Fedor does not win on his side of the brackets, then all the other Heavyweights on that side will be fresh matchups against Barnett.

Gray "The Bully" Maynard vs Kenny "KenFlo" Florian is one of few MMA fights where I felt that North America should adopt the Yellow Card policy.

Now, I am not advocating that MMA in North America should adopt the Yellow Card policy, but I do feel that this fight accentuates the fact that completing a takedown and not predicating it with any offense or very little offense is worth at times a whole round.

What Gray Maynard utilized on Kenny Florian was what most would consider "lay n prey." Maynard would take Florian down and end up in Florian's full guard, use his weight to hold him down, not attempt to pass guard, and utilize little to no ground n pound. There was a point in the fight where Maynard would take Florian down, hold him down for what seemed like a minute, and then the ref would threaten to stand the fight up due to inactivity. With that warning, Maynard would attempt some (very little) ground n pound, and then he would go back to holding Florian down.

I must admit that this strategy is not to my taste, and I feel that it is in a way "Playing the Game." It's "Playing the Game" in that the fighter who initiates the takedown knows that being on top is seen as being dominant in the judge's eyes especially in North America. Also, by not being active or having very little activity except for pinning the opponent down, it allows time on the clock to be wasted. In the case of Maynard vs Florian, it also seemed like Maynard had absolutely no intention of even trying to finish the fight or cause much damage at all. In the last seconds of his fight against Florian, he was backpedaling so as not to get hit at all. In my opinion, it felt as if Maynard won the fight because of loopholes in the judging system of MMA.  

I am not against wrestling in MMA, but I am not fond of taking an opponent down and not following it up with offense, guard passing or using very little offense. Demian Maia took down Mario Miranda and passed guard to dominant positions while throwing ground n pound, and so did Joe Lauzon against Gabe Ruediger. Chael Sonnen stayed constantly busy against Anderson Silva after taking him down. More often than not, I see takedowns followed by some sort of activeness such as ground n pound or guard passing from the top from most MMA fighters, and I have no problem with it.

Granted, it is also the job of the opponent to utilize takedown defense in order not to get taken down or work from the bottom to get up, try to submit from the bottom, or cause damage from the bottom. With the way that Maynard was holding Florian down, it is much easier said than done.

MMA is part sport and part entertainment. For many, Maynard's way of fighting is not entertaining. However, in the end of the day, he won the fight and has been winning MMA fights with this style. It generally goes against the entertainment aspect of MMA in many fans' eyes, but it is within the rules of the sport to fight in this way.

Some feel that something should be done so as not to encourage the "lay n prey" style of fighting such as penalizing a fighter who is stalling the fight on top position, and others feel that this is just a part of MMA as striking or Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is. Some find all the fault lies in the fighter who allows himself to get taken down and allows himself to be the recipient of "lay n prey." This fight in my opinion is not the norm, and while fighters like Gray Maynard and Jon Fitch are utilizing this wet blanket style of fighting, many others who have a wrestling base are not doing this.   

Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida received his first loss and first KO in MMA from Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.

Many (myself included) believed that Machida would be a dominant champion with a long Title run in the light heavyweight division. The Machida Era, however, consisted of a Title defense that was marred in controversy and a rematch that had him losing in the first round by knockout. He had an "elusive" style that no one could figure out, and he received little damage in his MMA fights in the UFC until he fought Shogun. While I believe that stylistically, Machida would be favored over most in the UFC light heavyweight division, I do feel that Shogun has his number. However, I feel that he could easily make a run at the UFC light heavyweight Title again.

From what I have read and my own opinions, many MMA fans are hopeful that Shogun will be a dominant champion with a long Title reign, but I don't get the feeling that many actually believe that he will be a dominant champion in the same vein as Anderson Silva or George St. Pierre (and the reasons for that are enough for another FanPosts). If Machida makes a run for the Title and is the next contender for it but faces Shogun, then Machida will probably lose. However, there is a good chance that someone else could be champion by the time Machida is back as a potential contender. Of course, there is the possibility that he could start losing fights and not even be in the Title mix, but I personally feel that Machida will get another crack at the UFC light heavyweight Title.

Many MMA fans will say that the Machida puzzle has been figured out by Shogun, and that Machida's next opponents will use the blueprints from Shogun to beat Machida. I personally feel that many fighters in the UFC light heavyweight division simply don't have the tools to do what Shogun did to Machida. Fighters such as Rampage or Rashad Evans don't utilize too many leg or body kicks, and they are not as quick with them as Shogun when they do use those kicks. To use an example, GSP pushed BJ Penn in their second fight against the cage, tired Penn out, and completed the takedown from there. When Kenny Florian tried a similar tactic (even though he denies trying to use GSP's second fight with Penn as a blueprint), it did not work on Penn. Also, Diego Sanchez pushed Penn against the cage similar to Florian, and he could not complete the takedown as well or tire him out.

Also, there are some out there that will claim that it is proven that Muay Thai beats Karate because of this fight. However, I just see it as Shogun beating Machida, not Muay Thai beating Karate. By this logic, Thiago Silva should have beaten Lyoto Machida, but that didn't happen.

Another point that was made is that Machida should  consider cutting to Middleweight. I personally feel that he does not need to. He lost to one of the very best of the light heavyweight division in Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, but he has beaten some top light heavyweights in dominant fashion like Rashad Evans and Thiago Silva. Despite losing to Shogun, Machida has shown above average takedown defense, great accuracy and quickness in his strikes, good footwork, and a fighting style that works outside the pocket. In my opinion, whether it is Muay Thai, Boxing, Kickboxing, or whatever fighting style, these are simply good tools to have and would be trouble for most opponents.

As far as a next opponent is concerned, I have read that many MMA fans would like to see Lyoto Machida vs Forrest Griffin. Other potential matchups for Machida could be the loser of Jackson vs Evans, Rogerio Nogueira if he (somehow) loses to Jason Brilz, and the winner of Luiz Cane vs Cyrille Diabate. I honestly would not want to see Machida fight Rashad Evans again though.

The Machida Era is over even though it hardly even began. I do not feel that Machida is in any way done at light heavyweight, and I feel that he could get another Title shot in the near future. I think that he would still give problems to many top fighters in the UFC light heavyweight divison. While there are many habits in Machida's fighting style that are now ingrained and probably cannot be changed, I hope that he improves upon what he can and makes another run at the UFC light heavyweight Title.