A few weeks ago I wrote "Light-Heavyweight – A Pending Crisis" that detailed how the UFC LHW division is aging rapidly, and there are not many young prospects emerging to fill the void. Now I want to focus a division that I feel is going to provide some of the most excitement over the next five to ten years, Featherweight.

Overall Depth:

Basically, "this ain't your Daddy's WEC", the Current UFC Featherweight division has over 50 fighters and is only behind Welterweight, and Lightweight when it comes to quantity of fighters. But it is not just the quantity, it is the young talent either in their prime, or quickly approaching it. Where the UFC Light-Heavyweight division only has five fighters under the age of 30 in the whole division, 8 of the top 10 Featherweights in UFC are under the age 30 (Aldo, Hioki, Mendes, TKZ, Poirier, Koch, Nunes, and Bartimus) and more talent is coming, but we will look at that in a minute.

Elite Champion:

The Champion Jose Aldo is 25 years old, and a dynamic force with an amazing highlight reel of finishes, and fights. He is listed in the top 5 of every Pound for Pound list, and does not seem to be slowing down. Despite his level of dominance, he is not going to run out of challengers anytime soon. There are the constant rumors that he will move up to Lightweight, and I would not be surprised if he does, but this division will still be just fine even if he moves.

Serious challengers:

There is currently a growing line for title shots, with Eirk Koch standing at the head of the line. He may have jumped over a few people to get the title shot, due to timing, but he will certainly put on an exciting fight while it last. Chan Sung Jung (The Korean Zombie) is next in line. He has made tremendous strides over his last three fights to put himself in this position, and his win over Dustin Poirier was a brilliant performance on the feet, and ground. Standing behind him is the man who actually turned down a title shot to get one more fight in, and long considered the second best Featherweight in the world, Hatsu Hioki.

Continue reading after the Jump...

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A few weeks ago as I saw Gilbert Melendez engaged in a much tougher fight than anyone expected (Ok, the 2 or 3 people that picked Thompson will now post their thoughts), I began to think, Is complacency for some of these great Champions unavoidable, and what is the role of the media and fans in generating this complacency.

Heading into his fight with Frankie Edgar at UFC112, BJ Penn was on top of the Lightweight world. In his last 5 LW fights he had stopped Jens Pulver, Joe Stevenson, Sean Sherk, Kenny Florian, and Diego Sanchez. In the middle of that was a loss to GSP at Welterweight, but that only lead to a dedicated BJ Penn turning to Marv Marinovich and showing up to the Florian, and Sanchez fights in the best shape of his career.

Frankie Edgar at the time was a legit top 10 fighter, but he was also most well known for being the undersized fighter who was dominated by Gray Maynard in a fight that was painful to watch for many fans. Edgar was coming off a stoppage win over Matt Veach... yeah, Matt Veach. Granted, Veach was a late replacement for Kurt Pelligrino, but that is not exactly the guy who is a springboard to greatness. Many fans felt that Gray Maynard, who was still undefeated at the time deserved the title shot well ahead of Edgar.

Reading the predictions for this fight, not only did the entire BloodyElbow staff pick BJ Penn (no surprise, I did too), but only one member of the team even though Edgar would make it to a decision. To quote Mike Fagan "Edgar has no path to victory. He better pray Penn's ACL explodes." The rest were not this brutal, but the consensus opinion was that Edgar was good, but BJ was great.

On fight night the first thing I saw when BJ stepped into the cage was that BJ was not in as good as shape as he had been for the Florian, and Sanchez fights. The muscles that had appeared while he was working with Marv Marinovich were no longer showing, and BJ was back to his pre-GSP II appearance. No reason to panic, this is still the great BJ Penn. Then the fight started, and to me it looked like BJ was lacking fire for the entire fight. I know there is a ton of controversy surrounding the decision, I've had the debate with some of my friends, and was actually surprised when I logged on and saw how many people thought that BJ won. I scored it for Edgar... I'm not here to debate a 2+ year old fight, I'm here to point out that this fight did not go the way anyone expected. BJ had changed up his training, and I think he had heard the voices of all the media, fans and drew his own conclusion on how big of a challenge Frank Edgar was. This fight was suppose to be a mis-match. All BJ had to do was show up and win, and then Edgar showed up and fought like he had nothing to lose executing a brilliant game plan to frustrate the champion.

Where Gilbert Melendez fits in after the jump -

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Watching the inaugural Invicta all women's MMA show a few weeks ago, I was very entertained by a quality production, entertaining fights, and the enthusiasm from everyone involved to make Invicta succeed. This week I saw that they started announcing several new fights for their second show in July, but I was also wondering, Where does Invicta go from here?

I personally think that Invicta should establish a strong working relationship with Strikeforce. Right now Strikeforce is not running enough shows to develop the depth that it needs to maintain female divisions. The pull of UFC over the last year has taken some of the bigger stars that Strikeforce had on the roster, and now the organization needs to find it's nitch to captivate the casual, and curious audience. It is well know that Strikeforce has a few top 20 fighters on their roster (Melendez, Rockhold, Jacare, Mousasi, Cavalcante), but for the most part these fighters are not names that can draw a ton of attention. Strikeforce can benefit from this relationship by having access to a deeper roster of the best female fighters in the world across multiple weight classes. Invicta will give the female fighters under contract with Strikeforce a better chance to stay active and develop their skills.

Right now Strikeforce is just not busy enough to maintain a deep roster of female fighters, but it does have two things that Invicta should be running to. The first is a TV contract with Showtime that can help women's MMA develop and market stars. They have also had success already with the Gina Carano, Cyborg, and now Ronda Rousey. The Second thing that Strikeforce has is the most dynamic female fighter in the world, when it comes to a combination of talent, attitude, and marketability, Ronda Rousey. If she is not already, by the end of the year Ronda will be the most well known female fighter in the world. Being able to attach her star power to Invicta would be an amazing opportunity for women's MMA.

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"There are nine million people who see me in the ring and hate my guts, Most of them are white. That's okay. Just spell my name right." - Mike Tyson

Something came to me today as I was sitting at work, wishing I wasn't at work. Jon Jones the man who has worked so hard to portray his GSP like squeaky clean image just threw several years of good behavior out the window with a bad decision to drink and drive. Right now there are two ways that Jon can go... he can listen to the little angle on his shoulder and spend the next 12-24 months on good behavior trying to get all the mainstream sponsorship deals that he was oh so close to landing... or he channel his inner Floyd Mayweather, Mike Tyson, Tito Ortiz, or Brock Lesnar and embrace the dark side.

Make sure to point out that you wrecked your Bentley... because only people with a ton of money drive Bentley's

Let everyone know that you are still so much better than everyone that you are going to tap out Hendo in the second round, and then do it. When you are done with Hendo look in the camera and ask "Who's next!" Be arrogant, you are good enough to get away with it. When they tell you that Gustafsson is next, just laugh, and ask "who is that"

Have some fun with Hendo and his TRT usage leading up to the fight... Didn't Hendo get divorced recently... there has to be a low testosterone joke in there somewhere.

Let the stories out about how you have multiple children out of wedlock... not a crime, but still can draw a reaction from a certain parts of society.

Where was your smoking hot fiancée (yeah we saw her during UFC Primetime) and kids that night when you were out drinking alone and cruising with your $200K car? Even if you really were just hanging with the boys... thrown out the insinuation that something more was going on. Let people think that you are "young, black, rich and can do whatever you want."

Just start being a dick, watch old Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, current Floyd Mayweather interviews. Check out the stuff Tito used to say to Ken Shamrock, when he single handedly drove that fight. Flip off a camera, and then make sure they roll your highlight reel.

Floyd sells PPVs like nobody's business, except Tyson. Floyd just got 1.5 million people to watch him pick apart Miguel Cotto... oh, and Floyd had a jail sentence put on hold so he could fight the fight. Floyd also got 2.4 million people to watch him beat down an over the hill Oscar de la Hoya... why because Oscar is the golden boy, and Floyd is an A-hole. UFC has enough good guy Champions, be something different. Of all the Champions out there right now there is not one that will speak his mind without a filter.

Mike Tyson was an unstoppable force in his weight class, and people loved to watch the path of destruction that was left in his wake... but his life was a train wreck... and people loved to watch the violence. After he spent 3 years in jail for RAPE, He came out in 1995 and sold 1.55 million PPVs against McNeeley, 1.37 million against Bruno, 1.59 million against Holyfield, 1.99 million in the Holyfield rematch, and 1.97 million against Lennox Lewis. Tyson said what was on his mind, and did not care. He came out swinging, and people wanted to see what happened next. Jon Jones can unleash that level of crazy violence on people, and if he un-checks his emotions then he tap into that segment of society that wants to see the crazy guy.

The mainstream endorsements are gone Jon... The next best way to make money is to be the loudest mouth on the block, and sell more PPVs. Say things that would make Chael Sonnen blush. Go hang out with Ronda Rousey and make fun of your upcoming opponents together. About half the fans out there seem to think that the good guy act is a sham anyway, so just say what is on your mind, and let it all out.

Seriously, I feel like the evil dude from star wars trying to convince Anakin Skywalker to become Darth Vader.

The writer does not endorse Drunk Driving (Jones), Battery (Mayweather), or Rape (Tyson). I'm not even sure I endorse the position that I took in the post... but it is just something that came to mind.

This post has nothing to do with Jon Jones's DWI

For years the Light-heavyweight division has been the showcase division for UFC. All the biggest names, Tito, Chuck, Randy, Rampage, Shogun, and now Jon Jones have been stars while ruling LHW. But when I look closely at the division, I see a division that is facing a pending crisis despite having a dynamic young champion who will likely rule the division for years to come. The UFC Light-Heavyweight division currently has 30 Fighters – Less than every weight class except Flyweight, and Heavyweight(Unless you count Cormier, and Barnett on the UFC roster, then there are 31 HWs).

The UFC website list 36 fighters, but they list Chuck, Randy, Hamill (all retired), Luis Cane, and Caio Magalhaes (both have their next fight at MW), and Aaron Rosa (Next fight outside of UFC in June).

What we see when we look closer is an aging weight class with very few high end prospects moving up the division.

Two have announced that their next fight will be their last (Tito, Rampage)

Three others are over the age of 40 (Hendo, Matyushenko, Perosh)

Seven are over age 34 (Bonnar (35), Nog (35), Diabate (38), Kruth (38), Soszynski (34), Vera (34), Griggs (34).

Thirteen fighters are between 30-34 – Evans (32), Shogun (30), Machida (33), Griffin (32), Kingsbury (30), Pokrajac (33), Nedkov (30), Te Huna (30), Teixeira(30), Penner (32), DeBlass (30), Maldonado (32), Jimmo (30).

I’m not saying that someone from this group cannot emerge as a title challenger age 28-32 is widely considered to be the physical prime for most athletes so I’m not saying someone at age 30 is washed up.

I am very excited to see Glover Teixeira in the UFC, and I think that James Te Huna could make a run if he can stay healthy and consistent, but time is not on the side of these fighters and they are coming close to an age range where many fighters start to slow down, and they are still a long way from the top of the division. None of the other prospects from this 30-34 group really have shown that they can make a sustained run to the top of the division.

- Machida (1-3 in his last four fights) and Shogun (2-3 in his last five fights) are in their primes age wise but with their recent records put them out of title contention for the near future. I think there is also considerable concern about how long Shogun will be able to remain in the top 10, as his body has been through numerous knee injuries, and he has been involved in two brutal fights (Jones, Hendo) in his last 3 fights.

- Forrest Griffin has openly admitted that get punched in the face is not as much fun now that he is financially secure, and has a family. I think it is safe to say that he is done as a title contender at this point in his career.

This all means that in the whole UFC Light Heavyweight division there are five fighters under the age of 30 – Jones (24), Bader (28), Gustafsson (25), Davis (27), and Silva (29). A closer look at this group shows that the Champion Jon Jones already holds a win over Ryan Bader, while Phil Davis, and Thiago Silva are coming off of losses, and not in the title mix at the moment. Silva has also battled numerous injuries and suspension over the last few years. Alexander Gustafsson will likely be in line for a title shot around the end of the 2012, or early 2013 with one more win.

To bring in the new, younger depth I think that Zuffa needs to make the call to dissolve the Strikeforce LHW division, and merge it into the UFC just how they did with the Heavyweight division. There are six fighters on the Strikeforce LHW roster that could come over to UFC right now - Gegard Mousasi (26), Ovince St. Preux (29), Rafael Cavalcante (31), Gian Villante (27), Guto Inocente (25), Mike Kyle (32).

Out of this group, Mousasi, and Cavalcante are automatically top 15 guys who could be 1 or 2 fights from a title shot.

OSP, Villante, and Inocente are prospects who could work their way into the top 15 and maybe higher.

Kyle is a solid veteran, who at times can put on some good fights.

If you have ever been to Cooperstown, NY then you know that there is not much reason to go there unless you are visiting the Baseball HOF, same with Canton, OH, and to some extent true for Springfield, MA home of the NFL, and NBA HOF's respectively. Yet each year around 350,000 people go to the Baseball HOF, and 190,000 to NFL HOF to pay homage to the hero's of the sport and celebrate the great moments that define each generations memories of the sport.

I think the time is right for UFC to establish a home for the UFC Hall of Fame that fans can visit. I say this in part, because I feel that the entire Hall of Fame week could be a massive event for the UFC, and give them a great opportunity to showcase the sport.

When I speak of establishing a physical Hall of Fame building, that is just part of it, there is also the event that goes around the induction of the legendary fighters to be inducted. First I will talk about the HOF, then I will talk about the events to surround the induction.

How to pick fighters -

- Fighters must be out of UFC for at least 3 years. I say that they only must be out of UFC, because guys like Dan Severn are still fighting in regional shows, even though it is clear that he is not coming back to UFC anytime soon. Baseball has a similar rule that guys can be playing in an independent league, but as long as they are out of the Major Leagues for 5 years then they can be inducted.

- Establish a Panel of Media, and current UFC HOF members to do the voting. Dana, Lorenzo, Joe Silva, and Frank can also get votes

o I know this would be a hard sell to get by Dana White because it would go against his use of the Hall of Fame to market fights, but media members like Kevin Iole, Luke Thomas, etc, and even Joe Rogan, and Goldie would be a great source to give credibility to the process.

o Current HOF members could also be given a vote. These are guys who understand greatness, and what it takes to join their elite group. I think they should have a vote

- Fighters from both UFC, and PRIDE would be eligible.

o UFC owns the video library for PRIDE, so they might as well acknowledge that the greatest fighters of the late 1990's and early 2000's deserve some credit.

o Yes, I am saying that Fedor would be eligible for induction... but also guys like Sakuraba could be inducted.

o PRIDE consideration would also help guys like Wandy, Cro Cop, Big Nog, and Shogun who have had good UFC runs, but their PRIDE accomplishments would put them over the top for a spot in the HOF.

- Establish rooms in the HOF that would pay homage to all the martial arts pioneers from each discipline. There could easily be rooms for BJJ, Wrestling, Muay Thai, K1, Judo, TKD, Sambo, and Karate. Legends from each sport could be inducted into their wing of the UFC HOF.

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I starting thinking about writing this post when I saw the poster for the impending disaster of a show (from a PPV buy perspective) that is UFC 147 (Belfort v Silva). I'm on the record saying that I will be stunned if this card does over 150K PPV buys.

This was followed by the news that now UFC 150 in Denver has lost it's headlining fight because Frank Edgar has a broken nose and he will not be ready until September. 150 is one of those milestone numbers that I would think UFC would be trying to make a major card out of, but it looks like they will be scrambling to just book a headliner to lock in the hardcore fans. The answer for who will headline this card is not an easy one, because most of the champs are booked (JDS 146, Silva 148, Aldo 149, Jones 151, Bendo Sept), or injured (Cruz, GSP). As much of a Frank Edgar fan that I am, I would have told him... sorry you can't fight in August, you can get the winner of Bendo/Diaz sometime in November. I have no doubt if UFC called Nate Diaz today that he would be ready to go. Diaz is coming off a great performance, and if he were to get in the cage with Bendo I think it would be a fight of the year candidate. It will be interesting to see what UFC tries to do with this card.

Throw into this mix a dramatic drop in ratings on the latest UFC on FOX event that did not have the strongest names to headline it, and from my prospective it looks like UFC has over-extended itself. I know that this show had some serious NBA/NHL playoff competition, but if UFC wants to be one of the big boys it should be able to hold its own. They are doing more shows than ever before these days, and have not developed the headlining names to bring in the casual fans. The next UFC on FOX is scheduled in early August and as of right now has Brian Stann v Hector Lombard as the main event. Do not get me wrong this an awesome fight, and no hardcore fan is going to miss it, but does the casual fan even know enough about Hector Lombard to watch when it is free? Is their memory of Brian Stann as the War hero smashing people, or the guy who got owned by Chael Sonnen? You can’t make future stars if nobody is watching.

UFC needs more headliners, and they need them now. I sit here still stunned that they are going to let Carlos Condit sit on the sidelines and wait until November while there are challengers (Hendricks, Ellenberger, Kampmann) that they could match him with to help bolster upcoming cards. I was also surprised to see that UFC did not learn the lessons of the SF HW grand prix, and institute a reserve bout for their Flyweight mini-tourney. UFC thought it had taken the steps to prevent a draw, but what if one of the winners had broken his hand like Daniel Cormier, or blows out a knee. If the Johnson/McCall winner cannot fight in August on either UFC 150, or UFC on FOX 4, then UFC should match Benavidez with John Dodson for the title. Benavidez has many of the makings of a star. He is fun to watch, can draw in the Hispanic demographic, and while not the greatest, he is comfortable in front of a microphone and camera from his time in WEC and UFC. Even with a Condit, or Benavidez fight on these cards it will not secure the Casual viewing public, but at a minimum it will make sure the Hardcore, and semi-Hardcore base is satisfied to keep the ratings from bottoming out too low fan

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Has Dana White finally reached his breaking point where attention to detail starts to slip through the cracks and cost UFC? We all know that Dana White is one of the busiest men out there, by his own count he has flown more miles this year than the average NBA team does in a season, and that was just in early April. Even his harshest critics will acknowledge that the man is not lazy. But in the first half of 2012, UFC has seen two PPVs messed up by things that a little more forward planning could have taken care of.

UFC 145 - Montreal - 24 March - The event was announced, and the card was being filled with Canadian fighters (Bocek, MacDonald, Hominick, Makdessi), the only problem was that none of UFC's big draws were available for the Main Event. I fully believe that UFC had Jon Jones/Rashad Evans in mind, but they caused a problem when they put Evans on the 28 January FOX show against Phil Davis. They also tied up another potential Headliner for the card when they booked Urijah Faber, and Dominick Cruz to coach the Ultimate fighter. I really cannot blame them for booking Faber and Cruz on TUF, Cruz has been having a hard time catching on with the general public, and TUF is a good tool to help him become a draw. In the end, UFC was forced to cancel the event in Montreal which lead to all the fights being pushed back to the new UFC 145 in Atlanta a month later. Fans were treated to a very long gap between UFC shows, going from 2 March - UFC on FX2, to 14 April - UFC on Fuel 2 (I've enjoyed TUF this season, but it isn't even close to a full up UFC show).

That brings us to UFC 147, an event that Dana said would be one of "the biggest sporting events in the World thing year." An outdoor Stadium in Sau Paulo was targeted, and a crowd of at least 60K, with a huge PPV audience to witness the whole thing. Of course that was based around the Anderson Silva/Chael Sonnen re-match that everyone has wanted to see for close to 2 years now. But once again, a small detail got in the way. Sau Paulo has a late night noise ordinance that would come into play because the show would start so late in order to accommodate the American PPV audience (Brazil is 1 hour ahead of EST). After some attempts to get a waiver to the noise ordinance, UFC decided to move the event Rio. I just happened to be in Brazil in early March on business, and everyone we met talked about 4 big things that the country was getting ready for, The Pope's visit in 2013, The World Cup in 2014, the Olympics in 2016, and the Rio+20 conference in June. These were big marks on the wall for the country, so how a company that was supposed to be coordinating these things missed it as a potential conflict is beyond me. This put UFC's back up against a wall, the event will still go on, in another city in a smaller arena, but the big attraction has been moved to Las Vegas, several weeks later. UFC is now in a bad position less than two months out from this event. He is currently sitting on a PPV that will be lucky to draw 200K buys, and I wouldn't be surprised if the number is closer to 100K, which would be the lowest numbers UFC has seen in a long time.

Here is the PPV as it stands right now with less than 2 months to go -

Vitor Belfort v Wanderlei Silva

Fabricio Werdum v Mike Russow

Felipe Arantes v Milton Vieira

Brazil TUF finals (MW, FW)

I assume the undercard would be filled out with the remaining fighters from TUF.

Jose Aldo turned down a chance to headline this card because he needs more time to get ready, and will fight in July instead. UFC's other Brazilian champion JDS will fight on May 26th, so he is not available. Dana White, and UFC still have some time to pull a rabbit out of the hat... maybe add Lil' Nog v Gustafsson, and Machida v Bader to at least get the hard core fans... or they could even make the Interim WW Champ defend his belt (Kampmann, Ellenberger, MacDonald, Hendricks/Kos winner), but right now UFC 147 is set up to be the worst PPV in a long time, and it could be a sign that Dana White needs a little help.

Despite the change to the live format have made TUF a much better product than ever before, this season has seen record low ratings, even dipping below 1 million viewers for the first time. Part of the problem stems from the change in networks. Another reason is that it is now on Friday nights, traditionally a terrible night for ratings. But in my opinion the real reason that ratings are at their lowest levels ever is that UFC has trained people that TUF equal mediocrity. Many of the fighters winning TUF since the end of season 5 are at best middle of the road fighters.

Kendall Grove (3), Mac Danzig (6), Amir Sadollah (7), Efrain Escudero, (8), James Wilks (9), Ross Pearson(9) and Court McGee (11) are all TUF Champions that have not panned out to be even top 10 fighters.

Pearson, Jonathon Brookings (12), and Tony Fergusen (13) may have a chance to make the top 10 at their current weight classes but I honestly don't see that happening. Meanwhile, over the years UFC rejected Eddie Alvarez (Season 2), Frank Edgar (Season 5), Tyron Woodley and Ben Henderson (Season 9) when they tried out for TUF. Who knows if these current MMA stars would have won their season, but I still think their careers would have taken off just the same in UFC, and given more credibility to TUF as a producer of great talent.

Throughout the years UFC gravitated more towards the personalities, and farther away from gathering the best fighters for TUF. As more MMA programing became available (Bellator, HDnet shows, YouTube channels, and more UFC shows) the MMA fan has had to make harder choices as to who is going to get their time and attention. UFC trained us as fans that it is OK to miss TUF because the reality is that these guys will never be relevant fighters. UFC was turned down by Brandon Vera (for either season 1 or 2), and Jake Rosholt for season 8. This should have been a clue to the brass that they needed to sweeten the pot to get the better talent and prospects in there. Instead they went against the aggressive nature that has defined the UFC under Zuffa's leadership, and settled for the status quo. I can only speak for myself when I say that I'd never miss an episode of TUF if I really thought that 2-3 guys from each season were top 10 guys down the road. Instead a lot of times the TUF roster was full of guys who just are not good enough, and only looking for their 15 minutes of fame.

Here are a few examples where I think UFC really blew it by not focusing on the talent that was available to build a season of TUF.

- Fall 2008 - Heavyweights - This has a realtively successful season of Light-Heavyweights, so naturally it made sense to pair the LHWs with Light-weights. Ryan Bader, Kyle Kingsbury, Krzysztof Soszynski, Eliot Marshall, and Tom Lawlor are some of the guys who were able to stick in UFC coming off the show. Of the lightweights on season 8, only Efrain Escudero, and George Roop remain in UFC, and they are both barely holding on at this point. The choice to pick Lightweights to go with the LHWs makes even less sense when you look at the rush of young Heavyweight talent that came into UFC, or was on the market in late 2008.

o Feb 2008 - Brock Lesnar makes UFC Debut

o April 2008 - Cain Velasquez makes UFC Debut (2-0) record

o May 2008 - Shane Carwin makes UFC Debut

o October 2008 - Junior Dos Santos makes UFC Debut

o December 2008 - Pat Barry makes UFC Debut

o Early 2009 - Stefan Struve makes UFC Debut

o Late 2008 - EliteXC bought out by Strikeforce - 14-0 Dave Herman does not move to Strikeforce, but starts fighting in Japan. 5-0 Shane Del Rosario starts fighting for M-1.

- I'm not saying UFC could have convinced all of these fighters to go live in the TUF house. Lesnar due to his popularity and price tag would have been unlikely. Carwin was working a full time job, and convincing him to leave that and his family would also have been a hard sell. I think that UFC with a little influence ($), and maybe some foresight could easily have landed Velasquez, Dos Santos, Barry, and Struve in a TUF house for a big shot at UFC. Now two of these fighters have been UFC Champs, Struve is an established fighter, who wins more than he loses, Barry is exciting with a great personality and Herman at the time was showing some impressive flashes that would have helped add credibility to the show. This would only have been about 1 year prior to TUF 10, so some of the same names we saw on that version of the TUF could have filled out the roster here.

- I know some people will say that JDS, and Struve would make terrible choices due to the language barrier, but this is reality TV... you can't tell me that their an angle where they bring in an English teacher, or a sponsorship deal with Rosetta Stone would not work. It would also be gold to let these guys learn English from the guys in the house over the course of 8 weeks.

(Realistic potential roster - Cain, JDS, Barry, Struve)

- Spring 2009 Light-Heavyweight - Instead of Season 9 (WW/LW) UK v US (Ross Pearson, James Wilks, DaMarques Johnson, and Che Mills (Lost in Elimination round) are the only fighters still in UFC)

o Mo Lawal, and Phil Davis were both 4-0 prospects that spring and hadn't signed with a major organization yet.

o Jon Jones was 7-0 with one UFC win. Made UFC Debut on short notice in August 2008. (Joe Lauzon was on the show after a UFC win... over the guy who ended up being his coach, why not Jones)

o Mark Munoz - Last WEC Fight December 2008

o Steve Cantwell - Last WEC fight August 2008 - WEC LHW Champ

o Brian Stann - Last WEC Fight August 2008

- Both Lawal and Davis were pegged as future stars from the moment they stepped into a MMA gym. Lawal a decorated international wrestler who turned to MMA right after being upset in the 2008 Olympic trials, and Davis was a 2008 NCAA D1 Champion. Lawal also has one of the bigger personalities in the sport from his first fight and would have been great on the show. He was making good money though, so it would have taken a little bit of a signing bonus to get him on the show, but it would have been well worth it. Now 3 years later, Mo and Phil are in the top 10 of the world, and would have helped to show that TUF was a must see for every MMA fan.

- Jones showed the talent to get signed by UFC after training MMA for less than a year, and only 6 pro fights. His first win in UFC should have convinced Joe Silva, and Dana White that they had a legit prospect on their hands. Sliding him into a season of TUF would have elevated his star and helped the show maintain it's legitimacy as the top producer of top 10 talent.

- Cantwell was the last WEC LHW champ, so it would have been a little messed up to ask him to be on TUF. Not to mention, at the time he was considered one of the top young fighters in the sport... oops.

- Stann, and Munoz are now top MW contenders, but at the time they were LHWs, and would have added some more quality depth to this show.

Realistic Potential roster (Mo, Davis, Jones, Munoz, Stann)

- Fall 2009 Welterweights - Instead of Season 10 the HWs (Roy Nelson, Brendan Schaub, Matt Mitrione, Kimbo Slice)

o Johny Hendricks - 2-0 in WEC - UFC Debut Mar 2009

o Rick Story - UFC Debut Jun 2009

o John Hathaway - UFC Debut Jan 2009

o Jake Ellenberger - UFC Debut Sep 2009

o Mike Pierce - UFC Debut Sep 2009

o Rory MacDonald - UFC Debut Jan 2010

o John Howard - UFC Debut Jun 2009

o Tarec Saffiedine - Dream Debut Oct 2009

o Tyron Woodley - SF Debut Jun 2009

o Ben Askren - Aug 2009 - 3-0; Bellator Debut Apr 2010

o Lyman Good - Bellator debut Apr 2009

- This timeframe and weight class had the potential to be the best TUF roster ever. I know none of these guys have fought for the title yet, but I honestly think that at least 3 of them will (Hendricks, Ellenberger, MacDonald), and Story has already been in and out of the top 10. Once again it comes down to the UFC's commitment to making TUF a true platform for superstars, or just reality TV non-sense. UFC thought enough of both Ellenberger, and MacDonald that they were put in with Carlos Condit in their first UFC fights, and both came very close to winning. Hendricks smoked TUF 7 winner Amir Sadollah in his debut

- I know that Hendrick's management team, Team Takedown was reluctant to put Jake Rosholt on TUF 8, but once again it comes down to UFC making it worth their while.

Realistic Potential Roster (Hendricks, Story, Hathaway, Ellenberger, Pierce, MacDonald, Howard, Woodley, Askren, Good)

It is easy to look back and say how UFC could have made TUF better, but it might not be as easy to look forward.

What weight classes should UFC focus on moving forward to get the maximum impact out of their TUF fighters, and prove to fans that the show is stacked with legitimate prospects that are worth watching? I'm really curious if Leland Roling has an opinion to what weight class could produce the best TUF class?

- Flyweight - This is the obvious choice. The division is not very deep, and is completely untapped by UFC to this point. Bringing 16 of the best flyweight prospects, and fighters into the fold would certainly produce numerous top 10 fighers, and a couple of title challengers 2-4 years down the road. Sergio Pettis, Sean Santella, Hector Sandoval, Henry Cejudo, and Ulysses Gomez would be some good names to lead the group.

- The next weight class that I would focus on may surprise some people. Light-Heavyweight. Think about what this division will look like 2-3 years from now. Rampage, Tito, Forrest, Hendo, Matyushenko, Perosh, Diabate, and Vera will most likely be retired. Shogun, Machida, Bonnar, Nogueria, Thiago Silva, and even Rashad Evans will be on the downside where skills really start to erode. Jon Jones will likely be at Heavyweight, or seriously considering it. That will leave the division to Bader, Gustafsson, Davis, Mousasi, Te Huna and Feijao, a solid group, but one that leaves room for up and coming prospects to burst in. UFC should start to take a serious look at gathering the best LHW talent out there for a TUF season next spring.

Two weight classes that I would stay away from having a TUF season for over the next few years are Middleweight, and Welterweight.

- Anderson Silva, Chael Sonnen, and Vitor Belfort will move on in the next few years, but MW has a bunch of young studs in waiting. Munoz, Boetsch, Bisping, Palhares, Weidman, Stann, Belcher, Rockhold, Kennedy, Souza, Markes, and Philippou are all tough fighters that will be hanging around the top of this division for a while. It would take a special group of prospects to crack into this group and establish themselves as top 10 fighters.

- At Welterweight there is just so much depth, and more appearing by the show. GSP, Condit, and Diaz are great talents that will remain near the top for the next few years. There is already elite young talent like MacDonald, Hendricks, Ellenberger, and Erick Silva in line to be top 10 talents for the next 4-5 years.

The reality is that UFC can't force a group of prospects on TUF, they need to identify a group of talent that is coming together at the right time and then make it worth their while to make the sacrifices that TUF.

Now that UFC is on FX, and the live format leaves less time for the non-sense in the house, and more focus on the fighters I think UFC is headed in the right direction. This season I feel that the fighters actually have a chance to make a major impact in the UFC. The fighters that made the house for Season 15 have a combined record of 120-20-1 prior to entering the house. The guys they beat in the round of 32 to get into the house had a slightly less impressive over all record of 121-32-1. I know that records can be inflated around the regional scene, but just the eyeball test for me tells me that this season's group seems a little better. When I look at the top 4-6 guys on this show, I can see them in UFC and lasting to make an impression. Hopefully UFC will keep stacking that TUF house with great talent, and not take their fans time, and viewing for granted.

I’ve been a big fan of UFC expanding The Ultimate Fighter to foreign countries. I think this will help bring more talented fighters into the mix, give them a chance to prove themselves, and be exposed to high level training. Dana White is saying that TUF is coming to India, and now news has leaked that there will be a season of UK v Australia. I personally love that idea. Neither the UK, or Australia has the depth in my opinion to put together a UFC caliber cast for this event, but when combined the talent pool is deeper.

The correlation to more fighters being in the UFC fold is that UFC is going to need to put on more fights. Dana White came out this week and said that UFC is looking at creating regional circuits that would help to put these fights on. This is brilliant in my opinion. Here is how I would run the UFC regional shows. I would break it down into four regions.

North America (Canada, US, Mexico, Caribbean)

South America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Panama) - Brazil would carry this region, but I have to think that there are some fighters, and markets in these other countries that could be developed.

Europe (UK, Scandanavian countries, Poland, Germany, Holland, Italy, France, Spain, Italy, Western Russia, also would include Middle East, and Africa)

Pacific (Japan, China, Australia, India, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, New Zealand, Korea, Eastern Russia)

I would look to amend the TV deal with Fuel to do a weekly live or same day taped show that would highlight one region a week. The regions would rotate, and do a show every 4th week, meaning that each region would do 13 shows with 8-10 fights per show. I have to think that Fuel would be open to this type of programming.

- Fighters would generally have between 2-10 fights while they are in the regional system, but in some cases it could be more.

- Struggling veterans, or fighters returning from long layoffs could be used to headline shows. This would help with the name value of the show, and give those guys a chance to rebound their careers.

- Pay would be low as these are unproven fighters working their way up. $3K/$3K and topping out around $10K/$10K for a better fighter. Also $5-$10K Fight night bonuses would sweeten the pot a little bit more. This would keep cost down, and make it a viable option.

- Regional Champions would be crowned in each weight class (eventually). If a champion defends his title twice he will automatically be promoted to the UFC main show.

- There would be no hurry to crown a champ in each weight class, they could focus on developing a weight class around the talent available while bringing in other prospects as they find them. Weight classes that are deep across the board like Lightweight, and Welterweight would continuously have champions. A weight class like Heavyweight usually struggles to find enough quality talent, so there could be periods with no champion, and that would not be a problem.

- Most fighters would not be locked into UFC exclusive contracts. Unless they are a real high profile prospect, most fighters would be allowed to take fights outside of UFC regional, at a minimum with UFC's permission.

- Events could be held in smaller venues 2000-10000 seat arenas to compensate for the lack of name value on the cards.

Benefits to UFC -

-I feel that a system similar to this would rip some of the legs out of Bellator just as it is coming to Spike. UFC Regional would not be able to offer the money up front that winning a Bellator tourney could, but it would offer a clear path to the UFC and a chance to be the best in the world, something that right now Bellator cannot do. Bellator has been picking up many prospects around the world before they have reached a level that UFC will be interested in them, now UFC could turn the tables on this and start picking up fighters 2 or 3 fights into their career across every weight class, not just the current season of TUF.

-Young fighters would be given a great chance to develop, and learn how to function on a big stage in front of a top of the line TV production, and organization. A fighter that steamrolls his way through a division will also bring more interest, and hype with him when he earns a call up to the big show.

-UFC could use the regional shows to conduct a "Soft Opening" on new markets and commissions. There are so many new countries and markets that UFC wants to go to, and these regional shows would give UFC personnel the chance to work with the local governing bodies, and gauge the overall MMA interest of the local community. Communities that sell out their shows fast would be in line for a UFC main show.

-Nine fighters came into the elimination round with undefeated records… Six were able to win and move into the house (Sicilia, Chiesa, Lawrence, Pichel, Jury, and Vick). Jon Tuck one of the undefeated fighters who lost, looked to be on his way to a victory before breaking his toe in a bad way.

-Two fighters in the house, Chris Tickle (7-4), and Cristiano Marcello (12-3) have more than 2 losses in their career. When you look at this house you do not see the old veteran Journeyman that usually slips into the field. Marcello would be the closest guy to that description, but I have the feeling that he has never focused on MMA, and is now ready to commit full time.

-The two fighters with the fewest MMA fights making it into the house were Justin Lawrence, and James Vick. They had different experiences gaining their way in, as Lawrence dominated en-route to a KO, while Vick had a razor close round with Dakota Cochran go his way.

-Four fighters came into the elimination round off a loss. Two (Al Iaquinta, Chris Sunders) made it in, while the other two failed to make the field (Akbarh Arreloa, Dakota Cochrane).

-Here are the guys who won their way into the house, and how I rank them after seeing them fight. Some guys had dynamic performances, others just barley scraped by with close decisions. Teams will be picked next week, and I’m interested to see if the coaches shared my assessment of the fighters.

There were also two guys who I wouldn't be surprised to see show up in UFC with-in the next 6-12 months even though they lost tonight.

Jon Tuck was in control until his gruesome toe injury, and he kept fighting on, but just wasn't the same. Dana White seemed impressed by his toughness, and willingness to fight through an injury. Tuck is based out of Guam, and with UFC visiting the Pacific more often, Tuck seems like a natural fit to fill out an undercard.

I actually scored the round for Jeff Smith, he controlled the first half of his fight, before getting in a bad position going for some submissions late. He came very close to finishing the fight, and won the stand up exchanges. The judges seemed to forget the first half of the round when the scored this one.

As I watched Carlos Condit and Nick Diaz the other night I scored the fight 48-47 for Condit, and thought it was a pretty clear cut victory. I was also watching my twitter in between rounds and was surprised at how many people were scoring the fight for Diaz. I knew when the winner was announced that Bloodyelbow was about to blow up, and I haven't been disappointed over the last few days as it seems like everyone has voiced their opinion.

Yesterday afternoon as I was running around town before the Super Bowl, it hit me what fight this reminded me of. BJ Penn v Frank Edgar 1. That was a fight that was very close, and seemed to divide MMA fans almost right down the middle, with very strong opinions on both sides. I remembered that as I watched that fight I was scoring it for Edgar, but as soon as it was over one of my friends called bitching about how BJ got robbed.

The similarity revolves around the style that Edgar and Condit used to win. While not exactly the same, because Condit uses a lot more kicks, they both used a stick, and move strategy to avoid getting sucked into their opponents strengths. Diaz just like BJ failed to adjust his game plan and could not adapt to what his opponent brought to the table.

Now it sounds like the similarity might not end here. Dana White is open to a rematch, while GSP continues to heal. In the Edgar v Penn rematch, Edgar proved he was the better fighter and left no doubt. Could Condit do the same? My first thought was that I'd want to see Condit fight Ellenberger next for the belt, but the more I think about it, lets see Carlos and Nick do it again, just so we as MMA fans can put a controversial fight behind us with a clear cut conclusion.

Here are my UFC rankings along with my analysis, and the upcoming matches they have planned. WW seems like the best place to start this time.

This is going to be the last time I post these rankings here. I know there are a handful of people who like looking at them, but there is so much movement in UFC these days that they are out of date with-in 2-3 days, so here is the link to where you will be able to find them. I am going to be keeping them updated every day or two as fights are announced, and fighters are signed, and released.

http://danonsports-dpk.blogspot.com/

Heavyweight: I’ve added all of the Strikeforce HWs, even Cormier, and Barnett because their fight in Strikeforce is a UFC just under a different name.

If Gabe Gonzaga remembers that he is an elite grappler and just a good striker he could get back into the top 10. In many ways the highlight reel KO of Cro Cop was the worst thing that happened to Gabe, as he started to spend too much time on his feet, and not looking to take fights to the ground. Now he gets a fresh start before it is too late in his career. I don’t think he will ever win a title but he could come pretty close to the top 10.

Fights on Deck: UFC on FX 1 – 20 Jan

Barry v Morecraft – Two guys fighting for their UFC life. Barry has lost 3 of 4, and is a top level striker, but seem to let guys hang around sometimes, and continues to prove that his grappling is not catching up. Morecraft comes in off a loss to Barry’s training partner Matt Mitrione, and desperately needs a win, so this one should be fun while it last

Fights I’d make:

Carwin v Kharitonov – Both of these guys need a win in a bad way. The style should favor Carwin as long as he uses his wrestling, but the other thing to keep in mind is that Carwin’s tank may be approaching “E”. He is 36, coming off a brutal loss, major surgery, and hasn’t won a fight since March 2010. Kharitonov is enough of a veteran that Carwin would have to bring his entire game to win.

Del Rosario v Broughton – The only reason I’d make this fight is to make sure Del Rosario hasn’t lost the edge since his serious injuries that he suffered in a car accident last year.

Mitrione v Cole – Cole is a solid veteran, who would make sure that Mitrione learned some lessons from his fight with Cheick Kongo.

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I hate articles about what MMA needs to do to gain mainstream acceptance, because I personally believe that MMA is a mainstream sport. NFL teams call their offensive strategy "Ground and Pound", MMA stars are in Movies, TV shows, and now UFC is pulling over 8 million viewers for its first show on Network TV. Many people disagree, and point to things like random interviews on the streets of LA to show that people just don't know that much about it. But, if you have ever seen some of Jay Leno's segments interviewing people on the street you wouldn't think that things like our form of government or the political process are mainstream either. So despite my hatred for these types of articles I came across something the other day that inspired me to write one of my own.

Dana White has always stated that his ultimate goal is for the UFC to be the biggest sport world-wide. I think there is something that UFC could influence to not only end the mainstream debate, but start putting itself into the biggest sport world-wide debate. Every year Forbes list the top 50 highest paid athletes in the world. It is a combination of Salary, and endorsements with almost all major sports represented, Basketball(15), Baseball (11), Soccer (6), Golf (4), Football (3), NASCAR (3), F-1 (3), Tennis (3), Motorcycle racing (1) and boxing (1). Last year the highest earner was Tiger Woods with about $75 million, which is saying something after the year he had.

Zuffa is now a billion dollar business that is hosting events, and on TV around the world 3-4 times a month. I think that it is time to see a UFC fighter on this list then we can officially end the debate about MMA being Mainstream. If it was big enough to start paying its high end talent comparable to the other sports around the world, then in my mind the debate would have to end. With guys like Jon Jones, Brock Lesnar, Junior Dos Santos, and Frankie Edgar getting ready to have big years could one of them crack the financial code to get to this point. With the NBA losing roughly 20% of it's season, the price to get on this list will probably go down. I'm not sure though if the UFC financial structure will allow it.

Things we know that could keep UFC from opening up the check-books.

- It was reported about a year ago, that they have a $450 million loan that they are still paying off between now and 2016

- Zuffa is still paying lobbyist to run a major promotional, and now legal effort to get MMA legalized in New York.

- Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta were $40 million in the hole back in 2005. They are making money now, but I think it is very understandable that they build up a hefty war chest in case business drops off. (I always think of what they will have to do in case someone dies in the Cage especially on National TV) That is just smart planning. Dana made a reference to this not too long ago in an interview about fighters pay.

- UFC is secretive about their pay structure, and just how much these guys all really are making we don’t know.

- Dana wants the UFC brand to be the draw, more than the stars. This is understandable seeing how far and fast some stars can fall.

What would a fighter have to do to get on this list

- Fight at least 3 times as a Champion, or have a significant PPV percentage attached to their contract.

- Gain Outside endorsements

o GSP has Gatorade, and Under Armor

o Jon Jones, and Urijah Faber have KSwiss

- Market themselves and their fights above and beyond what UFC will do for them.

- Chael Sonnen, and Brock Lesnar are examples of guys who can work a mic and get a few hundred thousand more buys on a card. Get out to ESPN, and on the radio to sell the fight. But then most importantly, win the fight.

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Here are my UFC rankings along with my analysis, and the upcoming matches they have planned. WW seems like the best place to start this time.

WW: This division just got a whole lot more interesting. I’ve said for the last year that this division would still be one of the deepest, and most interesting even if GSP was out of the picture (Just at the time I thought it would be a move to MW). Not only will the Diaz/Condit winner be the champ, but they will likely have to defend the title at least once before GSP can return at the end of next year. I love it because no other fighter in this division has the “unbeatable” aura that GSP has built over his career, and everyone is back in the mix for a title shot.

Jon Fitch has to feel a sense of desperation at this point. This is his best opportunity to win a UFC title with GSP out of the way, but he isn’t even assured a title shot. He needs to win impressively over Johny Hendricks, or he is going to leave the door wide open for Jake Ellenberger to take his shot. While Fitch has been “Fitching” his way to victory, Ellenberger has won 5 in a row, with 4 stoppages, and a win over Diego Sanchez could probably jump him past Fitch for the next shot.

Here are a few fights I would make.

Hecht v Waldburger – Jake Hecht was impressive in his UFC Debut, now it will be interesting to see if he can sustain it. Waldburger is a 3 fight veteran with 2 wins, but neither of those came over anyone that has earned a win in the UFC. It is time to see if he can step up his game.

Hardy v Brown – One of these guys is going to leave UFC soon, and it might as well be in a fun fight against each other

Baczynski v Hathaway – Baczynski has shown improvement in his return to UFC after getting cut. Hathaway is solid, but not spectacular, and this would be a good test of his game.

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Here are my UFC rankings along with the upcoming matches they have planned.  BW has some life, and seems like a good place to start this time.    

BW: After watching Barao win his last fight, I was all about seeing him get the next title shot... now after watching Faber destroy Bowles, I think Barao can wait one more fight.  Faber looked great, and his last fight with Cruz was close and exciting, so lets do it again.  In the meantime Barao can fight Miguel Torres to establish the next guy in line. 

Michael McDonald did what he should do against a late replacement who isn't on his level.  UFC doesn't need to rush him right now, with Faber, and Barao in line for title shots ahead of him.  A fight with Assuncao would be a good next step. 

Other fights I'd make:

Bowles v Curran - Would Bowles' heavy hands and wrestling be enough to keep Curran's grappling at bay? 

Stone v Easton - Let's see these guys try to move up, and get into the mix near the top half of the division.

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Here are my UFC rankings along with the upcoming matches they have planned. I will start with WW this time.  

WW:  I don’t have any problem with Diaz getting the next title shot, he looked great for the last 2 rounds against BJ, and I’d pick him to beat any WW not named GSP right now.  I might catch some heat for ranking Diaz ahead of Fitch, but I think Nick has to tools to beat up Fitch on the feet, and enough grappling to either get back to standing, or put Jon in danger on the ground.  

I know some people will say that UFC is risking knocking off it’s fresh title challengers with Condit facing Kos, and Ellenberger will also likely get a tough fight coming up… but I don’t care if both Condit and Ellenberger lose their next fights.  If there are no fresh fights for GSP, maybe it will finally convince him it is time to move up to MW and fight Anderson Silva.  I don’t think UFC would mind that either. Here are a few fights I'd make.

Shields v Sanchez – Two very good grapplers with Stand up deficiencies, this would be a very fun fight.

Ellenberger v Alves – Let these two monsters get after it.  Ellenberger is on the cusp of a title shot, but needs 1 or 2 more big wins.  A fight with Alves would give him the chance to do this.     

Bahadurzada v Paulo Thiago – Thiago would be the perfect fight to find out how good Bahadurzada is.  Either UFC has a legit future contender, or just another over hyped product. 

Erick Silva v TJ Waldburger – Silva looked great in his UFC debut, but it was against another fighter making his debut.  Let’s see him step up against a guy who has a few UFC fights under his belt.

Anyone know if Riddle, Soto, or Mitchell have been cut? 

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The recent success of Ben Henderson, Donald Cerrone, and Anthony Pettis has many people saying "I told you the WEC LWs belonged in UFC," or "I'm still not sold thtat these guys are that good."  I've been asking myself why are these guys having success and being competitive with guys that are towards the top of the food chain in the UFC's deepest division? 

WEC fighters learned how to be professional fighters.  They got to fight on televised cards, and deal with the fame that goes with that, go 5 rounds (for some), do promotional work, do interviews before and after fights, and deal with the fame that comes from being on TV.   It also allowed these prospects to build some type of hype.  Cerrone and Bendo hit the radar with their fight of the year performance in their 1st fight (Which I still think Cerrone won).   Pettis gained a lot of Attention with the Showtime kick that sealed his great fight with Ben Henderson.  

While they were in WEC they fought the right level of competition for where they were in their MMA development. 

            -Anthony Pettis, Ben Henderson, Donald Cerrone, Bart Palaszewski, Danny Castillo, Shane Roller, Alex Karalexis, Ed Ratcliff, Chris Horodecki, Anthony Njokuani, Ricardo Lamas, Kamal Shalorus, and Jaime Varner are some of the names that show up on each others records, and that is one hell of a melting pot of styles, talent and potential. 

No one in that group was a star, and there is a big variety of skill sets available to match guys with too.  Does anyone think Donald Cerrone, or Ben Henderson was ready for UFC when he first started out in WEC.  I don't, but I'm sure thet were on the radar of other organizations like Strikeforce, Dream, and if it had been around Bellator.  While in WEC they were matched against other prospects, and given a chance to keep training, and fighting.  

Just look at what happened to two WEC prospects who could have benefitted from another year in a WEC level organization.  Kamal Shalorus came into UFC with 9 MMA fights and a record of 7-0-2.  He was immediately matched with Jim Miller who had an 8-1 UFC record, and 19 MMA wins at that point, including 6 in a row.  Shalorus was overmatched, and dispatched by Miller.  The guy Shalorus should have been fighting at that point is Shane Roller, who after stunning Thiago Tavares in his UFC debut, was for some reason matched with Melvin Guillard.  Everyone knew how this fight was going to play out, and it pretty much lived up to expectations.  These are two guys who were outmatched, when they should have still been fighting other prospects, not top rated Veterans.  These are two examples of guys who paid for getting into the deep end of UFC too soon.

So out of this I hear that Zuffa is still negotiating with Showtime to keep Strikeforce around, and I hope that they take the WEC/SF Challengers model to develop talent.  It can become a great proving ground for many prospects.  I think Zuffa has seen the potential of a well run feeder organization, especially now that it seems Bellator is trying to sign any prospect with any serious potential, and they have a potential financial monster if Viacom ever throws it's full support into Bellator.  The time to lock up prospects is early before they get locked into Bellator contracts, or struggle to find good fights on the regional scene.  

Here are my UFC rankings along with the upcoming matches they have planned.  I put these charts together to help me see what realistic fights are out there and make sense, and who is currently booked.  I rank guys based off results and my opinion of who's the best.  The next guy getting the next title isn't always ranked number 2, when guys are inactive for a long period of time (usually around a year) I start dropping them down the rankings a little at time.  Most of the time new fighters to UFC are going to start at the bottom of the rankings unless I've seen enough of their body of work to rank them a little higher.  Let me know what you think, but if you tell me I have someone ranked too high, let me know where you think they should be ranked.  It is easy to say someone isn't top 10, until you look at all the other guy out there.     

LW:  Is there any other division to start with right now.  It's times like these that I would pay to have Joe Silva's job.  With the recent run of LWs in waiting for a title shot, I fully expect the Bendo/Guida fight to end in either a draw, No Contest, or Double KO.  Pettis, Miller, and Guillard have all now fallen 1 fight short of a title shot.  I honestly think Gilbert Melendez was the biggest winner coming out of UFC 136, with Guillard out of the title picture, his chances of getting the next title shot have greatly improved.  If Melendez did come over, I would insert him at number 2 in the rankings.  Here are the fights I'd make in this division right now

Maynard v Sherk - Sherk is dropping in the rankings due to inactivity, but he is still a solid name, and recent articles suggested he was looking for a fight.  Maynard fits the bill for this sometime early next year.  Neither guy is getting a title shot with a win, or eliminated from contention with a loss, so it makes sense. 

Pettis v Diaz - This fight would have some very technical striking, and put one of these young guys right in the mix, potentially 1 or 2 fights away from a title shot.

Lauzon v Wiman - TUF 5 cast mates, with a lot of UFC experience, I'm surprised their paths have not crossed before.  It would be a great fight, and the timing will never be better. 

Dunham v Volkmann - Volkmann is undefeated at LW, and needs to start getting fights to find out if he is for real, or just a guy who will be a mid level gatekeeper the lower end of the spectrum. 

Jim Miller v Stephens - Both guys coming off of a loss, with a lot to prove.  A great test to see how Miller rebounds from his first loss in a long time.  

Guillard v Sotiropolus - One of these guys needs to rebound, and stay relevant.

TJ Grant v Thiago Tavares - Both these guys had their best UFC fight their last time out, IMO, why not see who is ready to jump into the top 20. 

Stout v Cole Miller - Stout is on a good run winning 4 of 5, but one more against Cole Miller would help set up fights against the top of the division. 

On a side note, despite the loss by Maynard, how good was TUF 5 for the UFC.  Maynard, Diaz, Lauzon, Wiman, and Cole Miller all remain relevant and competitive at LW, and Manny Gambuyran is a top 10 guy at FW.  That kind of talent should be the goal for every season. 

Anyone know if Cody McKenzie, Rafaello Oliveira, Kamal Shalorus or Kyle Watson have been cut?  These are just 4 names that stood out to me as I was looking over the list, and I want to keep it accurate

Heavyweight: UFC should be pretty conservative with Stipe Miocic, he has potential, but still needs to put a lot of things together.  Hopefully his fight with Joey Beltran will show him some areas where he can improve.  I'd match him with Rob Broughton next, and hopefully we will see some improvement

The top of this division is set for awhile, but I do see a round of loser leaves town fights down towards the bottom of the division.  Here are the fights I'd make

Carwin v Werdum - Rumor is Werdum is coming over, and he would be a perfect fight for Carwin.  Hopefully they slide it into the 30 Dec card. 

Schaub v Struve - Which prospect re-establishes himself as a legit threat to be a star

Browne v Russow - Which one of these guys is going to be taken seriously?  Browne needs to work on his cardio, and Russow just needs keep winning..

Barry v Hunt - Why the hell not... but could you imagine Mark Hunt on a 3 fight winning streak?

Beltran v Rothwell, and Morecraft v Einemo 

LHW:  I don't have a problem with Jones v Machida.  I just hope that they make Evans v Davis also.  Would Rashad take the fight?  He has said that he isn't going to wait like he did last time again, so why not. 

The rest of the division is either Booked, injured, or suspended (Thiago Silva).   The only fight of note I'd make at this time is Te Huna v Nedkov.  2 powerful prospects, in what would be a fun fight.

MW:  I doubted if Chael Sonnen would come back impressively after a year off...  I guess I was wrong on that one.  I can't wait for his rematch with Anderson Silva, if you need the WWE BS to get excited about this fight then you suck.   This fight also gives time for the next contender to make a move into contention.  Is it going to be Bisping, Munoz, Palhares, or Belcher... we'll see.  Fights I'd make.

Okami v Maia - Two tough grapplers, who came up way short in their title shots.  I'd love to see this fight between two top 10 guys. 

Palhares - Belcher - The winner of this fight could be 1 more fight away from a title shot 

Belfort - Munoz/Leben winner - I just think this would be a fun fight, and the timeline should make sense as Belfort recovers from an injury

Boetsch - Simpson - Is one of these guys ready to step up and be in the mix to fight top 10 guys?  Let's find out.

Herman - McGee - See comments from previous proposed match. 

Cantwell will probably be cut, and I wouldn't be surprised if Schafer goes too.  Usually a guy gets another shot, but this isn't Schafer's first UFC go around and he got blown out. 

WW: Jake Ellenberger, and Anthony Johnson are the newest arrivals to the top 10.  I'd still like to see Johnson build his resume with 1 or 2 more wins over guys in the 8-15 range before he gets a crack at a fight that might be considered a title shot eliminator.  If Thiago Alves wins on 5 Nov, then I'd make a Johnson/Alves fight. 

I don't think any big fights will get made until after the 29th, and possibly until after 19 Nov shakes out. Here are a few fights I would make

Shields v Sanchez - Two very good grapplers with Stand up deficiencies, this would be a very fun fight.

Bahadurzada v Paulo Thiago - Thiago would be the perfect fight to find out how good Bahadurzada is.  Either UFC has a legit future contender, or just another over hyped product. 

Hardy v Sadollah - If one of these guys is going to go out, it might as well be swinging.

Anyone know if Riddle, Soto, or Mitchell have been cut? 

FW:  Kenny Florian finds himself in the same spot that Josh Koscheck, and Rich Franklin are currently in.  Better than most of the division, but not going to see a title shot any time soon.  I guess it is just interesting fights for now against other guys in the same boat.  Mike Brown, Omigawa, Mark Hominick, and maybe even Faber are the guys that come to mind.  Other fights I'd make

Aldo v Mendes - Of course ... really a no brainer at this point

Gamburyan v Nunes - Already scheduled once, and postponed due to injury.  There is some real heat between the two, and it would be a great fight

Koch v Griffin/Palaszewski winner - Guys who all need a few more wins to get in the title mix

Hioki/Roop winner v Poirier/Garza winner - I'm assuming Hioki, and Poirier are the winners here, and the winner of that fight would be next in line for a title shot.

Elkins v Vazquez - Winner of this fight would sneak into the top 10, and be lined up for some bigger fights. 

Garcia v Blanco - Garcia can get all the love Rogan and Goldie he wants, but he is still going to get cut soon, if he doesn't start winning.  Blanco would give him a good chance to either win or go out in an exciting style. 

BW: Some people are upset that Pickett v Banao is the co-main event of UFC 138, but this fight has title shot implications.  I could see the winner either next in line after the Faber/Bowles winner, or 1 fight away from a title shot.

I think it is obvious that by match McDonald with Johnny Eduardo next, that I have a much higher opinion of McDonald then UFC does at this point.  He is still a young work in progress, but he should be fighting better opponents than a guy coming off a loss in his UFC debut. 

Mizugai v Wineland - Two warriors who would put on an entertaining show. 

Benavidez v Johnson - It should be for the flyweight title, but why not do it now.  You won't see two quicker guys in UFC. 

Easton v Jabouin - 1 minute into Easton's last fight I was thinking about this fight.  Would be an interesting match of powerful strikers. 

Here are my UFC rankings along with the upcoming matches they have planned.  I put these charts together to help me see what realistic fights are out there and make sense, and who is currently booked.  I rank guys based off results and my opinion of who's the best.  The next guy getting the next title isn't always ranked number 2, when guys are inactive for a long period of time (usually around a year) I start dropping them down the rankings a little at time.  Most of the time new fighters to UFC are going to start at the bottom of the rankings unless I've seen enough of their body of work to rank them a little higher.  Let me know what you think, but if you tell me I have someone ranked too high, let me know where you think they should be ranked.  It is easy to say someone isn't top 10, until you look at all the other guy out there.     

MW:  Some people had issue with me still ranking Okami at #2, and Bisping at #4, so I'll go a little more in depth in my justifications. 

Okami -  He got dominated by Anderson Silva... Who hasn't?  He earned his way up to number 2 by beating a lot of solid fighters, and top 10 guys like Marquardt, and Munoz leading into his title fight. 

Belfort - Looked great against Akiyama, but has a history of being inconsistent.  I thought about moving him ahead of Okami, but I need to see at least one more solid performance before I could move him into the # 2 slot. 

Sonnen - Would be #2, but he started to drop due to essentially 14 months of inactivity.  Let's not forget, that even if Anderson Silva hadn't pulled out that triangle choke at the end of their fight, Sonnen would still not be champ, because he tested positive for PED's.  Now he has been out for over a year, and is 34 years of age, a time when a lot of pro athletes, and veteran fighters start to lose their edge.  Not everyone is Randy Couture, Anderson Silva, or Dan Henderson. 

Bisping - 3 straight wins over Solid, but not spectacular competition.  He is a good veteran who stays active, and most of the time finds ways to win.  There are guys behind him, that will probably pass him over the next few cards, but I need to see how they look first.    

Stann - Has a nice win streak, and if he beats Sonnen, he will jump Bisping in the rankings. 

Munoz -He has some nice wins, but was easily handled by Okami not too long ago.  Does not use his wrestling very well, but like Stann, if Munoz win's his next fight, he will probably jump Bisping in the rankings. 

Palhares - This guy would jump Bisping, if he didn't keep having mental mistakes.  Drawl, Marquardt, and now Miller are all fights where it showed that something is just not clicking in the cage with this guy.  He is his own worst enemy.  Top 3 talent... mental game just isn't there.

Fights I'd make are Dan Miller v Dollaway (loser leaves town), Belcher v Palhares, McGee v Herman, and Belfort v Okami

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Jordan Burroughs is one of the hottest name in two sports right now, and is also the perfect example of why some at USA Wrestling remain uncomfortable with the influence of MMA.

 Former Olympic Gold Medalist, Olympic team coach, and UFC veteran Kevin Jackson is quoted as saying "I do feel like MMA does hurt USA Wrestling’s chances to win at the world and Olympic level.  Because it takes away from our depth when we have very good wrestlers who choose to go directly from college to MMA."  That is very understandable, Johny Hendricks, Jake Rosholt, Phil Davis, Cain Velasquez, Cole Konrad, and now guys like Mark Ellis, and Bubba Jenkins are all the type of guy that Jackson is talking about.  Mo Lawal, Ben Askren, and soon Shawn Bunch are all guys who competed internationally before turning to MMA.  They would make an improving USA Wrestling team even better on the international scene.  You might say that is a double standard for Jackson considering he has 6 MMA fights on his resume, but those came after he had already won an Olympic Gold, and 2 World Championships.

 Dan Gable on the other hand feels that MMA is a good method for wrestlers to make money when they are done with college, and international competition.  What he doesn’t want to see is young men showing in wrestling rooms with their sole focus being MMA.  They have to learn the sport first. 

 I tend to agree with 2008 Olympic Gold medalist Henry Cejudo, who says that "MMA is only going to help wrestling."  While it might hurt the depth, the fact is that there will probably be more depth to choose from if MMA can help wrestling expand.  How many times do we hear on UFC telecast about the importance of wrestling as a base?  At least a few times each broadcast, and that helps bring exposure to the sport, and bring a few more curious kids into a wrestling room.   And lets look at another fact, if a kid wants to start learning MMA skills to be fighter in the future… BJJ, and most other martial arts classes aren’t cheap.  Wrestling is still taught at most middle, and high schools for the cost of a pair of shoes.  

 Burroughs is 23 years old, and just won his first World Championship coming off a dominating college career.  If he lived in an Eastern European country he would be looking at becoming a freestyle wrestling legend over the next 10-15 years. If you want to put Burroughs' World Championship in perspective to a MMA fan that doesn't follow wrestling too closely, Ben Askren, considered one of, if not the best wrestler to make the jump and compete seriously in MMA, finished 7th in the same weight class at the 2008 Olympics.   Here in the US, his options include continuing to compete internationally, which USA Wrestling has taken steps to make more attractive.  They now offer pretty good bonuses for medaling at the Olympics, and World games. The going rate for Olympic medals is now $250K - Gold, $50K - Silver, $25K - Bronze.  For the World games the bonuses are $50K - Gold, $25K - Silver, and $15K - Bronze.  Burroughs could also move into coaching, which would provide him with a comfortable living, but let's face it, coaching wrestling is not the same thing as coaching SEC football.  Any MMA fan though will instantly recognize that the ceiling for pay is much higher in MMA, where top talent can clear 6 and 7 figures a fight.  He could easily make the jump to MMA, and have any of the top teams lining up to train him

 The Olympics are coming up next year, and Burroughs will be the favorite to win Gold in London, in what could be a very strong showing for the US Freestyle team.  They finished 3rd in the team portion of the World Championships, and could have 2 former gold medalist on the team with the return of Cael Sanderson, and Henry Cejudo.  Sanderson finished 5th at this year's Worlds, but that isn't too bad when you consider that before April he hadn't wrestled competitively since he won his gold medal in 2004.  In addition to that Jake Varner won a bronze medal this year, and Tervel Dlagnev a past Bronze medalist at HW, finished 5th.  USA Wrestling would love to make Burroughs the face of their "Beat the Streets" initiative that is helping to bring wrestling to inner city schools around the country. Burroughs is a man with many options coming up.  Daniel Cormier has already said he wants him to come out to AKA if he decides to make the jump. 

 If Burroughs has any interest in MMA he should pursue it after the Olympics.  If he commits to it for 2-3 years and decides it is not the sport for him, then he will still be young enough to get back into international competition, or coaching.  If he turns into an elite Mixed Martial Artist, then he could easily have a great 10 -15 year career that leads him into the pinnical of the sport.   The epicenter of MMA is America, most of the best training facilities and competition are here.  In Freestyle wrestling there are lots of trips to former Soviet republics, and other communist block countries to look forward to.  Also, wrestling officiating can seem very political at time, and when your big bonus paycheck depends on that, it might not be the most appealing option.  

Here are my UFC rankings along with the upcoming matches they have planned.  I put these charts together to help me see what realistic fights are out there and make sense, and who is currently booked.  I rank guys based off results and my opinion of who’s the best.  The next guy getting the next title isn’t always ranked number 2, when guys are inactive for a long period of time (usually around a year) I start dropping them down the rankings a little at time.  Most of the time new fighters to UFC are going to start at the bottom of the rankings unless I’ve seen enough of their body of work to rank them a little higher.  Let me know what you think, but if you tell me I have someone ranked too high, let me know where you think they should be ranked.  It is easy to say someone isn’t top 10, until you look at all the other guy out there.     

LHW:  Is Shogun that good, or is Forrest that bad?  That was a good win for Shogun, and I don’t want to take much away from it, but based on Forrest Griffins comments leading into the fight, and the fact that he has a very pregnant wife at home I wonder how much Forrest’s head was in this fight.  The more I read into Forrest’s comments, the more I wouldn’t be surprised to see him walk away from the sport, as a fighter at least.  What’s next for Shogun though?  I could see UFC trying to match him with Rampage next… if Rampage loses to Jon Jones next month, but I’d like to see him against Phil Davis.     

 Will Dan Henderson come back into the mix?  I’d like to see him take another run at it.  I’ve heard the rumors of Phil Davis and Machida getting ready to fight later this year, but I’d love to see Hendo v Machida, but that is all dependent on the deal getting done.  Or if Hendo v Anderson Silva happens.

 If any division could use a wave a fresh talent it is LHW.  Most prospects take 18-24 months to climb the ranks after they join UFC, and I’m just not seeing too many guys getting ready to do that at 205.   After Jon Jones, and Phil Davis this division is very dependent on the Old Guard to sustain it right now.  Rampage, Forrest, Tito, Bonnar, Franklin, Lil Nog, Machida, and Shogun all seem like they could be one bad fight or injury away from retirement at this point. Stanislav Nedkov didn’t look that impressive, but then again he hadn’t fought in well over a year.   I think a fight against Igor Pokrajac would be good for him, and UFC to see if he really is a potential top 15 talent, or if he just landed a perfect combo against Luis Cain.  

Other fights I’d make are Gustafsson v Matyushenko, and Ortiz v Franklin