The UFC middleweight champion, Anderson Silva will make his long awaited return at UFC 112. Silva is scheduled to defend the title against former UFC light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort. Vitor Belfort’s management confirmed the fight this past week. The fight will be a co-headliner with a lightweight title defense by B.J. Penn and the return of a former champion on the undercard. Needless to say, UFC 112 show is shaping up to be one of the most stacked shows in UFC history.

Anderson Silva’s fight will end the longest layoff that the Spider has had since joining the UFC. Silva’s last fight was back at UFC 101 in August. Silva destroyed Forrest Griffin making the former champion look like a kid fresh off of TUF. Silva was next scheduled to defend his middleweight title against Dan Henderson. UFC called an audible and went with Vitor Belfort instead, citing that there wasn’t much fan interest in a Henderson-Silva rematch. An elbow injury subsequently forced Silva into surgery and something of a self-imposed exile from the UFC.

The fight only heightens the drama surrounding the UFC’s middleweight division. After losing to Silva in 2008, former Pride FC middleweight champion Dan Henderson rolled off three wins. After his impressive knockout win over Michael Bisping at UFC 100, Henderson was named the number-one contender. Something happened along the way that changed the UFC and Dana White’s minds. Following Belfort’s win over Rich Franklin, White started talking about a Silva-Belfort match before a Silva-Henderson match. Throw Nate Marquardt into the mix and you had more drama in this division than the Jersey Shore.

Once White said he was going with Belfort vs. Silva, Silva started talking about an elbow injury. Various rumors hit the Internet from Silva needing surgery and a lengthy leave of absence, to Silva fighting at UFC 108. Silva finally did have the surgery and the fight was put on hold. Belfort and Marquardt have both waited out the situation and neither man has fought since the number-one contender controversy arose. Marquardt will fight in the next few weeks, while Belfort has been idle. Dan Henderson turned down a fight with Marquardt during this mess which would have theoretically named a true number-one contender. All of this likely contributed to Henderson’s decision to sign with Strikeforce rather than re-sign with the UFC once his contract expired.

The Silva-Belfort fight while intriguing, is quite suspect to me. I really can’t comprehend how the UFC can deem Vitor Belfort deserving of a title shot over Marquart or Henderson. Belfort has only had one fight in the last four years in the UFC. On top of that, I can’t remember Belfort ever even fighting at middleweight in the UFC. Belfort’s last fight against Rich Franklin was at a catchweight of 195 pounds. Dana White has been fixated on this fight for quite awhile, yet Dan Henderson and Nate Marquardt have valid points when questioning whether Vitor Belfort should be receiving a title shot before them or anyone else for that matter. Apparently in the end it is more about the UFC selling tickets than the integrity of the division. Could you imagine the NFL changing the Super Bowl at the last minute to replace a team with a flashier team that didn’t win their way to the championship game?

UFC 112 is shaping up to be one of the most loaded shows in the history of the UFC. The show is scheduled to take place in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates which is a pretty amazing feat in itself. In addition to Silva-Belfort, B.J. Penn announced on his website that he is scheduled to fight Frankie Edgar on the show. While not a marquee fight by any means, it definitely has the potential to provide fireworks. Additionally, former UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes is scheduled to make his long awaited return to the UFC. Hughes will face the legendary Renzo Gracie who will make his UFC debut at UFC 112.

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In looking back at the decade, I can’t think of another sport that grew so big quicker than MMA. In the United States, the UFC became a household name by the end of the decade. In Japan, MMA has dominated sports culture and shattered ratings records over the last ten years. While thousands have competed in MMA, only a handful have single handedly made an impact. Today I look back at the MMA Fighter of the Decade.

I can’t ever imagine another decade where MMA will experience the kind of growth that it experienced in the last ten years. The UFC came to pay-per-view here in the United States simply as a vehicle to promote Royce Gracie and Gracie BJJ. As we finish the decade, the “barbaric” events that created the UFC have morphed into a sport featuring Olympic and championship athletes from all over the world.

How do you come up with one MMA Fighter of the Decade? I based my decision on a variety of factors. The first factor would be success. It would be ridiculous to give this award to someone with a subpar record, no matter how big of a star he may be. Two, I look at the quality of opponents. There are some guys that step up and face the best, while there are others who do the best they can to avoid the competition. Third, I look at longevity. As impressive as Brock Lesnar is, he has had four fights in the UFC, and has only fought once in 2009. Four, I look at the impact of the fighter and how well they drew as an entertainer and box office attraction. Finally, I look at reputation and how the fighter is perceived in the world of MMA.

MMA Fighter of the Decade – Fedor Emelianenko

In doing the research for this blog, I put all of the obvious names on paper. The obvious names are Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture, Anderson Silva, Georges St. Pierre, BJ Penn, Royce Gracie, and of course Fedor. The more research I did, the more Fedor just kept blowing these guys away in all of the criteria. By the time I was finished with my research, Fedor ran away with this award. Let’s break down all of the factors and see why Fedor Emelianenko is the MMA Fighter of the Decade.

1 – Success. Fedor has only lost one match in the entire decade. As a matter of a fact, the only loss Fedor suffered came at the end of the year 2000. He hasn’t lost a match in nine years. His overall record is 31-1-1. He fights an average of just under three fights a year, which is a lot in an era where most of the UFC champions fight 1-2 times a year. He has 24 fights that ended by either submission or knockout. There is no other fighter that even comes close to Fedor’s MMA record over the last decade.

2 – Quality of Opponents. Fedor is not a guy that won 31 fights over tomato cans. When Fedor finally made the jump from Rings to Pride, he fought top-level competition right off the bat. He has wins over four former UFC heavyweight champions. He has three wins over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (when he was considered arguably the best fighter in the world), as well as wins over Semmy Schilt, Mark Coleman, Kevin Randleman, Ricardo Arona, Mirko Cro Cop (when he was considered unbeatable), Tim Sylvia, Andrei Arlovski, Matt Lindland, and Mark Hunt just to name a few. He fought most of those guys in their primes. There is no other UFC or MMA fighter that has the same number of quality wins overt he course of ten years that Fedor has. Not even close.

3 – Longevity. Fedor has been fighting for the entire decade. There were some years where he fought five times in one year. UFC president Dana White has criticized Fedor for not fighting frequently over the last few years. However, he has fought the same or more times than almost all of the top UFC fighters have over the last few years. In Pride, he fought 3-5 times a year. Just think for a second about how impressive it is to fight five times in one year! Randy Couture only fought more than twice a year once in 2000 and he is regareded as an MMA legend. Chuck Liddell never fought more than three times in one year. Fedor was a machine for most of the decade.

4 – MMA Impact. This is the only category where Fedor loses to anyone and that would be Chuck Liddell. Fedor was a ratings machine during most of the decade in Japan and some international markets. In the United States, Fedor has been a huge disappointment on pay-per-view and television. He had modest success with Strikeforce depending upon how you judge his CBS ratings. The chances are pretty good that Fedor could walk into a local gas station and nobody would know who he is, whereas Chuck Liddell is a mainstream celebrity. If the criteria were even all of the way for Fedor and Chuck, than Chuck would win based on the impact he had in MMA. Unfortunately, Chuck’s record and his slide over the last few years preclude that from happening. At the same time, Fedor was a megastar in Japan but those days are behind him.

As you can tell, this was really an race between Fedor and Chuck Liddell. While other fighters like Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz have had huge impacts on MMA over the decade, their records completely discount them from consideration. Couture was 23-8 and only beat one high-quality opponent in Chuck Liddell. I think Randy’s stature in the MMA world is more hype than fact. Tito hasn’t beaten anyone in years, unless you count an inexperienced Forrest Griffin three years ago as a huge win. There is no denying that Fedor has eclipsed all of the MMA heavy hitters in terms of big opponents and big matches.

I also think it wouldn’t be fair to write an article about the best MMA fighter of the decade without mentioning BJ Penn. Penn won championships in two different weight classes in the UFC. Penn has been one of the most dominant fighters in his division over the decade. It is arguable that if not for Penn himself, he may have run the table and went undefeated over the decade. Penn’s implosions kept him from reaching his potential until the end of the decade. Unfortunately those implosions came during the two biggest fights in Penn’s career. My suspicion is that if Penn could have pulled off those wins over GSP and Matt Hughes, we may be talking about BJ Penn as the Fighter of the Decade.

I don’t think there will be another fighter to dominate a decade like Fedor did. BJ Penn has a shot over the next ten years, but he has to win a  few Super Fights to be considered. Sure, there will be guys like Brock Lesnar that may fight once or twice a year but I don’t know if he will ever have the consistent level of competition that Fedor had in Pride FC. I can’t ever envision  a fighter that fights and beats high-quality opponents five times a year the way Fedor did a few times over the last decade. Dana White can make fun of Fedor all day, but nobody in the UFC has ever accomplished what Fedor has been able to do in MMA over an entire decade.

Fedor Emelianenko is truly the MMA Fighter of the Decade.

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The UFC rebounded after several disappointing shows with a great closeout to 2009. UFC 107 lived up the hype with decisive finishes, great fights, lots of blood, and dominant performances. BJ Penn and Frank Mir both looked tremendous in their wins at UFC 107. Unlike recent UFC shows, there were no questionable decisions…just questionable futures.

BJ Penn continued to look better and better as he put on a clinic against Diego Sanchez. I thought the fight would be closer, but BJ dominated the fight from the start to the finish. BJ almost finished the fight early in the first round after a vicious upper cut. Diego survived and kept coming for four more rounds. In the fifth round, BJ landed a great high kick to the Sanchez’s head which opened up a nasty cut. Penn opened the cut up more with punches until the fight was stopped due to the severity of the cut. Regardless, Sanchez would have lost as Penn dominated all five rounds.

Frank Mir talked a lot of trash on Cheick Kongo before the fight. I don’t know if there is anyone other than Tito Ortiz in the UFC that is better at selling a fight than Mir. Kongo felt disrespected going into the fight, refusing to do the traditional stand-off at the weigh in. Mir predicted he would put Kongo to sleep, and that he did. The new bulked up Mir landed a great left and followed up with a guillotine to put Kongo out cold in a little over one minute in Round 1. It was one of the most impressive performances in a high profile match I have seen in a long time in the UFC.

It is only right to start talking about the futures of both Penn and Mir following UFC 107. Let’s start with Penn. There is nobody left in the lightweight division that looks remotely exciting against Penn on paper. Tyson Griffin is a name thrown around a lot lately, but I don’t think anyone is excited about a Penn-Griffin match. Penn made Kenny Florian look like such a joke, that a rematch would be less appealing than their first bout.

BJ Penn has made it known that he wants a rematch with Georges St. Pierre. GSP won’t be fighting again until March. Penn will have to have at least one more fight before the GSP rematch becomes a reality. Until then, I don’t know who you match Penn up with to give the fans an exciting fight.

Frank Mir’s future is also a big question and it all comes down to Brock Lesnar. There are still conflicting reports as to Lesnar’s health. Lesnar’s camp says he is coming around, while Dana White said that he has seen no evidence to confirm that. White has stated said that if Lesnar is still in doubt after the next 30-45 days that the division would move on without him. Regardless, Lesnar already has a match scheduled with Shane Carwin if he comes back in the next few months. Should Lesnar not come back, Cain Velasquez and Carwin would fight for an interim title with the winner likely fighting against Lesnar. Either way, Frank Mir looks like the odd man out.

After Mir’s dominant performance over Kongo, I am starting to think that the UFC’s inability to sign Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brock Lesnar may have turned out to be a blessing in disguise. As huge as that fight would be, Mir vs. Lesnar III will shatter MMA records. These two already have the best rivalry in combat sports, and Mir’s decisive win only adds fuel to that fire. Mir has never stopped talking about Lesnar and has been marketing the trilogy since the UFC 100 post-show press conference. Ironically, Lesnar’s controversial post-fight confrontation with Mir may wind up producing the biggest gate in MMA history. My advice should Lesnar be ready to fight again is to make this fight Lesnar’s next fight.

I know that Dana has already promised Shane Carwin the fight, but Dana White has broken fight agreements in the past. Is it fair to Carwin? No, but he did something very similar to Dan Henderson after Vitor Belfort beat Rich Franklin. There are rumblings of a July UFC event at Comiskey Park in Boston, MA. Sit Mir until the fight, because this fight falls apart the second Mir loses. Make Carwin vs. Velasquez and give them the winner of the Mir-Lesnar fight. There is too much money on the table to risk doing anything else but making Mi vs. Lesnar each other’s next fight. Like Mir, the fight would mean a hell of a lot less if Lesnar loses his next fight. Mir-Lesnar III won’t reach Pacquiao-Mayweather numbers, but they will be a lot more respectable than anything else on the UFC horizon.

Either way, the UFC has two huge money matches on the table for 2010. Georges St. Pierre vs. BJ Penn and Frank Mir vs. Brock Lesnar in addition to Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort, Rampage Jackson vs. Rashad Evans, and Lyoto Machida vs. Shogun Rua II puts the UFC in a great position to turn around their recent slump of disappointing events. Unfortunately when it comes to the MMA game, these fights could slip through their hands as soon as they get them if Mir, Penn, Lesnar, or St. Pierre are upset before the matches are made. It would take a lot of luck to keep these guys undefeated throughout the year before making these matches. You already get the feeling that by the end of UFC 107 that UFC 2010 is a volcano ready to explode.

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UFC closes out 2009 this weekend with its first title match since UFC 104.  BJ Penn becomes the last champion to defend a title in 2009 in the main-event against Diego Sanchez.

BJ Penn is doing something that no other champion has done in awhile, defend his title twice in a few months. Penn fights the winner of the first season of The Ultimate Fighter Diego Sanchez in a much anticipated main-event. Penn and Sanchez are two of the most explosive fighters in all of MMA. Both men have 11 knockouts between them, and are two of the best strikers in the UFC. This is one of the first UFC main-events in a long time that has the potential to live up to expectations.

Penn is looking to erase memories of his first match in 2009 against Georges St. Pierre with two strong finishes to close the year. Penn is 3-0 as champion, winning two fights with a rear naked choke and won on a TKO due to strikes. Penn was once labeled as a lazy fighter who didn’t take his training seriously. That has changed, and BJ Penn has turned into a conditioning machine as proven by outlasting Kenny Florian in his last fight with a submission in the fourth round. On top of that, Penn’s desire to jump right back into a title fight says a lot about his newfound dedication to MMA.

Sanchez has been one of the most exciting fighters in the UFC since entering The Ultimate Fighter. Rarely, do you see a boring Sanchez fight. Sanchez’s last fight against Clay Guida was arguably the Fight of the Year. Sanchez is not just some guy who won a reality television show. Sanchez 23-2 in MMA, suffering his only losses back-to-back in 2007. Since his last loss, Sanchez dropped to the lightweight division, improved his standup game, and has been on a roll ever since. Sanchez has been long overdue for a title shot.

Most UFC stars who have been asked have picked BJ Penn easily in the fight. While I do think he wins, I don’t think it is so easy. Sanchez has never been submitted or knocked out. Sanchez’s two losses have come via decision. His last 8 of 13 fights have gone the full three rounds, so conditioning shouldn’t be a big concern. While Sanchez has never fought five rounds, he is well known for his superior conditioning. Unlike a few of Penn’s previous opponents, Sanchez can also take a punch. Guida hit him hard in their last fight and was unable to put the Nightmare away. I just can’t believe that this is going to be a cake walk for BJ Penn.

In terms of skills, Penn has the advantage on the ground. His BJJ is far superior to Sanchez’s ground skills. Sanchez may be the better wrestler on the ground between the two. On their feet, I think it is fairly even. That said, Sanchez needs to turn this into a standup war in order to win this fight. Sanchez can get frustrated when neutralized on the ground like he did against Josh Koshcheck. Penn can dominate Sanchez on the ground if that is where the fight goes. Sanchez could catch Penn with a lucky shot if he keeps this on their feet, which is the only way he wins this fight. No way is Diego Sanchez grounding and pounding BJ Penn for five rounds.

Penn is a -200 favorite on sportsbetting.com as of this writing, with Sanchez getting +160 odds. I bet those odds separate even more by fight time. The funny thing is that if you listen to Penn in lengthy interviews, he is more obsessed with Georges St. Pierre than anyone in his division. Penn is much more interested in avenging his embarrassing loss in January than he is defending his title. Penn is eyeing a 2010 rematch with St. Pierre which will likely happen at some point next year. He could look past Diego and get caught in an upset. I just don’t see it. I think this one is an exciting fight, but in the end Sanchez just becomes another victim to BJ Penn.

In addition to the exciting main-event, UFC 107 probably has the most stacked lineup since UFC 102. Frank Mir returns to action for the first time since his loss to Brock Lesnar at UFC 107. Mir will face Cheick Kongo in a heavyweight fight. Mir has described Kongo’s ground game as the “worst ground game in the heavyweight division.” As a BJJ expert, Mir should submit him easily on the ground. At the same time, Kongo has the standup to upset Frank Mir on their feet. Mir has bulked up since the Lesnar fight and put on a ton of muscle. He says he is quicker and in better shape, but that is something that could really come back to haunt him if this one goes to a third round. In the end, I think Mir pulls off a win here and starts barking for another match with Brock Lesnar.

Finally, Kenny Florian also returns to action for the first time since his loss to BJ Penn at UFC 101. Florian takes on one of the most popular stars in the UFC, Clay Guida. Taking into account some of the unappealing main-events that the UFC has put on lately, this one could easily be a headliner by today’s UFC standards. Dana White is dying to make Guida-Penn and Sanchez-Florian. The only way that happens is with a Guida win in this one. White would probably have the biggest smile on his face in years if both Guida and Sanchez win and he can rematch them in a title fight next year. Unfortunately, as exciting of a fighter as Guida is he has never beaten anyone as good as Florian. I see Florian taking a decision here and grinding this one out in a disappointing fight.

The complete UFC 107 card as scheduled is…
B.J. Penn vs. Diego Sanchez
Frank Mir vs. Cheick Kongo
Jon Fitch vs. Mike Pierce
Kenny Florian vs. Clay Guida
Paul Buentello vs. Stefan Struve
Alan Belcher vs. Wilson Gouveia
Matt Wiman vs. Shane Nelson
Johny Hendricks vs. Ricardo Funch
Rousimar Palhares vs. Lucio Linhares
DaMarques Johnson vs. Edgar Garcia
Kevin Burns vs. TJ Grant

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The Prodigy is 3 to 1 favorite; The Prodigy’s Nightmare is +2 dog. A bit too expensive for The Prodigy if you ask me. UFC promotes him as “unbeaten at 155 pounds for nearly eight years”, but one might say “defeated nearly every other time at 170 pounds”. I also never fully understood these must have nicknames for the fighters and one paranoid friend of mine thinks it is all a big conspiracy to sell more fighter t-shirts. Well, this time it came in handy for an article title.

The fight takes place on December 12th at 10pm ET at FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee; per-per-view only. This lightweight title fight replaces Rampage/Evans bout as a main event, which was cancelled due to Jackson removing himself from the card in favor of acting. Rumors have it he is being cast in the upcoming feature film adaptation of “The A-Team”. I can hear a lot of boos for Jackson from the fighting aficionado crowd, but I say – go for it and “good rampage” to you. Acting is a learned skill just as fighting and it is much nicer to make faces than get punched in the face, so, good luck Quinton. This replacement fight might be a lot more spectacular than the original heavyweight bout.

B.J. “The Prodigy” Penn vs. Diego “Nightmare” Sanchez fight should have -200/+160 odds. Who knows, Penn Sanchez odds still might come down to that from the current -300/+220. Nightmare has longer reach and is younger and faster on his feet with light-speed punching and kicking. Both fighters have good skills on the ground but The Prodigy is way more experienced. Penn opponents have been much stronger obviously and it will count a lot on the ground in this fight. That is what I think will be the base strategy for BJ – take Sanchez down quickly and choke him. Stay away from the rear-naked choke or it will be your own nightmare, Sanchez!

Have you seen the last Sanchez vs. Guida fight? He was like an energizer bunny that short-circuited and just kept throwing punches at amazing speed. When Guida took him on the ground in the second, you should have seen those elbows Sanchez threw from the bottom position, like a “La Maquina”; which is “The Machine” in Spanish and a better nickname for our Sanchez.

We are in for an interesting fight and I am going to put my money where my mouth is and get few bucks down on Sanchez.

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Check out this hilarious parody of BJ Penn cleaning out the UFC lightweight division. The champ rolls through the division in this takeoff of the movie Raw Deal. BJs past victims are featured in the parody. The victims include Kenny Florian, Sean Sherk, Joe Stevenson, and more. A UFC superstar also makes a cameo appearance at the end of the video to set up the sequel. Great stuff honoring arguably the greatest lightweight of all-time, BJ Penn.

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