You do realize that Gonzaga recently got cut by the UFC, subsequently retired, and recently fought on an undercard, right? Let's not pretend we have a guy a fight away from a title shot on our hands here.
And Glover Teixiera is an unknown who is making his UFC debut.
Felt the same way about 92 ... Pat Barry, Ryo Chonan, Brad Blackburn, Matt Hamill, Antoni Hardonk and Yushin Okami were all on the undercard; the fact that none of them were at the top of their career arc at the time doesn't mean they aren't killers ... it just means they are weaker box-office draws. The fact that Napao isn't riding a 4-fight UFC win streak has more to do with the fact that he keeps fighting Carwins and Ciganos and Werdums, not with the fact that he's not a destroyer.
And Glover Teixiera is an unknown who is making his UFC debut.
Felt the same way about 92 ... Pat Barry, Ryo Chonan, Brad Blackburn, Matt Hamill, Antoni Hardonk and Yushin Okami were all on the undercard; the fact that none of them were at the top of their career arc at the time doesn't mean they aren't killers ... it just means they are weaker box-office draws. The fact that Napao isn't riding a 4-fight UFC win streak has more to do with the fact that he keeps fighting Carwins and Ciganos and Werdums, not with the fact that he's not a destroyer.
I'm interested in seeing him fight, don't get me wrong.
I just think his current placement on cards is appropriate given where he is currently at in his career.
And if you're comparing him to guys like Blackburn, Chonan, and Hardonk then I don't see where the disagreement is. That's where he is at, with a little more cache due to his title run and being a HW.
Dave Herman would make the most sense to me out of guys on the roster.
The fact that he can't say anything leads me to believe it could be someone not on the roster. Maybe someone like McCorkle.
Forgot about Herman, he does make a lot of sense. McCorkle too even if he gets back into the UFC, which is looking like it could be a possibility soon given he's finished all 6 of his fights since being cut.
Maynard should run through Guida, but I don't think Le is a gimme fight. Franklin was getting outstruck by Chuck, looked awful against Forrest and hasn't fought since. Should be a fun matchup.
Maynard should run through Guida, but I don't think Le is a gimme fight. Franklin was getting outstruck by Chuck, looked awful against Forrest and hasn't fought since. Should be a fun matchup.
No he didn't. For a guy that spent almost 10 min on his back, he took little to no damage at all in that fight. It was Forrest that wanted the win ala Tito Ortiz or something. Franklin came into that match way undersized to Forrest. I agree though that Lee-Franklin should be an awesome fight, I doubt Lee will have the cardio at his age to keep up with Ace.
Bisping/Boetsch set for 148 in Vegas. Should be a good scrap, but was hoping to see Bisping/Munoz for the #1 contender. Maybe still happens anyway though.
Bisping/Boetsch set for 148 in Vegas. Should be a good scrap, but was hoping to see Bisping/Munoz for the #1 contender. Maybe still happens anyway though.
How so? Bisping is coming off a close decision loss to the #1 contender. Bisping and Munoz are both considered right behind Chael, makes sense to me.
The UFC wants Bisping to fight for a title since he has a large fanbase. A loss to Munoz would drop him down the ladder quite a bit. It's much easier to get him to #1 contender status fighting guys like Boetsch.
Last edited by DeathFromAbove: 03-19-2012 at 02:58 PM.
The UFC wants Bisping to fight for a title since he has a large fanbase. A loss to Munoz would drop him down the ladder quite a bit. It's much easier to get him to #1 contender status fighting guys like Boetsch.
But he's unlikely to get #1 contender status by beating a bunch of guys rated well below him. I guess eventually he may just by default, but as of right now, he's going to have to beat Munoz in order to get that title fight. I'd say Munoz is closer to a title fight than Bisping is at this point.
I just figured that after a close loss to Chael that Bisping/Munoz would be a natural choice to determine the #1 contender. But I can see your point as well of building both guys for title shots separately.
Last edited by Peter Griffin: 03-19-2012 at 03:34 PM.
But he's unlikely to get #1 contender status by beating a bunch of guys rated well below him. I guess eventually he may just by default, but as of right now, he's going to have to beat Munoz in order to get that title fight. I'd say Munoz is closer to a title fight than Bisping is at this point.
I just figured that after a close loss to Chael that Bisping/Munoz would be a natural choice to determine the #1 contender. But I can see your point as well of building both guys for title shots separately.
The middleweight title is going to be tied up for a while. After Sonnen beats Silva, they will want to set up a rematch right away, that's if Silva can be convinced to face Sonnen again, which may be doubtful.
I'm sure some injuries will derail them, but this break has provided some potentially stacked cards at 146, 147, and 148. Plus a good Fox 3 card.
I wonder if there has been a better string of main events than Rashad/Jones, Overeem/Dos Santos, and Sonnen/Silva too.
Not only are those three big fights, they are the first three fights that feature a winner in a FOX card. If one or two of those PPVs hit a million, then the UFC would be back on track after a downturn in 2011, and the FOX deal would clearly be a big success. IF those fights only do in the 500K range, then I think it might take 2-3 years for the FOX deal to start having a major effect. That will be a critical point for the UFC--has Fox already had an effect on their big divisions, letting them start focusing on the smaller ones? Or is Jim Miller/Diaz main eventing a FOX card too soon? The ratings of the FOX card will be critical as well--can they sell a FOX card with loghter weight fighters? That 1.5 month span is absolutely massive for the UFC.
Probably in 2010 when we had Shogun/Machida 2, Rampage/Rashad, Liddell/Franklin, Lesnar/Carwin, and Silva/Sonnen. 2010 was so much fun.
Good stretch as well, but Liddell/Franklin in the middle sticks out. Aside from it being Liddell's last fight it was a largely irrelevant fight. That was a horrible card in general too.
Good stretch as well, but Liddell/Franklin in the middle sticks out. Aside from it being Liddell's last fight it was a largely irrelevant fight. That was a horrible card in general too.
It looked bad on paper but I thought it was an exciting all around card.
