I'm Just Going To Say It: "Floyd Mayweather, Shut the Hell Up"

Before I get to flaming, I should thank Eric Raskin, who's yellow-bellied attempted at explaining the Floyd Mayweather situation pissed me off enough to say exactly what's been going through my head since I first heard about these bullshit press releases discussing Floyd Mayweather's transition to MMA. So, here goes something. While the MMA fanbase will probably be the only people reading this, I hope that you guys understand where I'm coming from.



Floyd Mayweather, first and foremost, is a bag of wind. His lips keep flapping, air keeps coming out, but they aren't doing anything except cashing checks. Oh, and throwing that "check hook." Mayweather may be laughing all the way to the bank, but the least he can do is put up and shut up.



Mayweather is a stripper, he gets paid great and he puts on a great tease, but he never delivers. MMA is the land of the hookers, they might not get paid the same, but at least they deliver. The least Mayweather can do, if he's serious about jumping into the mix, is step up and open debates with the biggest pimp of all, Dana White, instead of flapping his lips to the playing customer about how bad he is, about how raw he is and about how he'd beat anybody in the world.

As Eric Raskin so remedially pointed out, going from boxing to mixed martial arts is like going from basketball to boxing, but even that comparison doesn't cover it. You might as well say it's like going from bowling to rugby.



We're not just talking about Mayweather making a transition in learning submission fighting. We're not just talking about teaching this boring excuse for a pugilist to utilize the sprawl and brawl, you're also going to have to restructure the guy's entire style of striking.



There are these things that got brought into this sport pretty early on, in fact I think I remember seeing them get used by this Dutch guy over in Japan. Oh yeah, they're called kicks. And then there's that other part of your leg that you use to hit stuff. That thing right where it bends.



If you put Mayweather in the ring, he'd be so confused when he got locked in a thai clinch, that he'd be yelling at the referee to break that up while his opponent kneed his ribs until they were purple.



Mayweather's standup translates so badly to MMA that Danny Abbadi is sitting on his couch laughing about it right now.

Then, once the fight hits the ground, you're talking about putting a guy who's never even had his back on the floor unless he was getting laid trying to defend elbows to his face that will cut him a third asshole, right on the bridge of his nose. I call it a third asshole, because it will only serve to drain the shit that didn't get carried out through his mouth.



As a long time fan of the sport, I'm offended when someone says the sport is barbaric.

As someone who trains in this sport, I'm offended when someone says the sport is easy.



I'd love to see Mayweather step in a cage with those fat gloves on and that big grin on his face. That match would be over so fast that he'd be wondering why Muhammad Ali is shuffling around above his head while Big John is raising his opponent's hand.

Mayweather is a world class athlete, I will not dispute that, but he's not a fighter.

A fighter fights.

He doesn't dance.

He doesn't weave.

And he definitely doesn't say he has a great performance when his opponent is still standing.

A fighter attacks

A fighter takes pain.

A fighter apologizes when he doesn't finish.

Fedor Emelianenko is a fighter.



Mark Hunt is a fighter.



Andrei Arlovski is a fighter.



Floyd Mayweather Jr., not so much.

The problem with boxing is that it's acceptable just to win, and that's why boxing stopped being called fighting. That's why the sport lost its credibility.

In this sport, you can't just win. In fact, you can't just do anything.

You can get a submission and still get boo-ed.

You can get a stoppage and still get boo-ed.



No one is going to cheer for you just because the judges were nice enough not to put a blemish on your record.

In this sport, the fans want you to step into the cage and put your balls out. That's why I love this sport, and that's why I'll continue to love this sport. Because two fighters step in there and want to show that they have taken physical conditioning and combat skills to a new level. They want to assert they're dominance. They want to earn their right to pound their chest afterwards.



A decision does not give you the right to pound your chest. You might walk home with a belt, but people are still going to wonder whether or not you deserve it.



So this is all of the wisdom I've got to offer Floyd Mayweather Jr.

If you are going to show up in this sport, it's time for you to do as the Romans do, and the way we do it here is the way you haven't done it in a long time:

Put up or shut up. We're sick of the talk.

My Predictions for 2008: UFC Titles

This is going to be a big year for the sport, but the way the sport is growing, it doesn't take a psychic, or even an analyst, to pick up on that, so I've decided I'll give you some specific points of things that I'm thinking are going to happen this year.

First, my picks for the etymology of the UFC division titles and what's going to happen to them over the course of the next 12 months.

UFC Heavyweight Title

Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera vs. Tim Sylvia is going to be an interesting fight, as the almost garunteed next fight for the heavyweight title. That said, I'd love to go with Nogueira on this one, but I can't bring myself to do it. While Nog has high quality boxing skills, his kickboxing is not at the same level as Sylvia's, and I don't think that Nog has the takedowns to bring this fight to the ground. Even he manages to pull guard on The Maine-iac, I have a hard time believing that Noguiera is going to be madly successful against the submission defense that Jeff Monson (a world submission fighting champion) couldn't crack.

Sylvia will return to the heavyweight crown, probably by decision, and I think the first matchup in store for him will be one with the French standup machine Cheick Kongo, perhaps the worst matchup for Sylvia in this division. I see Kongo taking that matchup easily, perhaps even with a knock out in the late third, early fourth round. Whether or not Kongo gets the title shot will have alot to do with who his next opponent is and how his new coach Juanito Ibarra helps him with his ground game. I think that his next opponent will probably be Justin McCully and Ibarra will be able to help Kongo use distance control and solid sprawling, along with Kongo's already well developed knees, to beat McCully into a bloody pulp.

With Kongo as the new champion, his opponent may end up being Brock Lesnar, depending on how Lesnar fares in two fights that will, in all likelyhood, test his ability to adapt. This will be an interesting fight, and this far out it's hard for me to say who I think would take it, though if Kongo shows the kind of grappling saavy I hope he will develop, I'd put my money on the Frenchman.

The other possible opponent for Kongo, towards the end of the year, is Andrei Arlovski, and I think Kongo takes that matchup too, as it is one that favors him very, very heavily. There's the possibility of Andrei using his sambo backround and taking the fight to the ground, but I think that Kongo's youth, athleticism and superior technical striking ability (which, at the moment, seems unrivaled in the UFC heavyweight division) will pull this one out for him.

Heavyweight Champion at the End of 2008: Cheick Kongo

UFC Lightheavyweight Title

This will be an interesting title, since there is really no solid top contender right now, even the man currently lined up for a title shot, Forrest Griffin, is not the obvious first choice. I think that Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, the current champ, will beat Griffin, either by late TKO or decision, and continue to hold his title.

As far as the next opponent for Jackson, that's an easy call for me. It would have to be Lyoto Machida. While Machida could always drop his next fight, which I see being against Thiago Silva, I don't see that happening. I see Machida pulling out the win and going on to fight Rampage. Once Machida gets in the cage with Jackson, I don't see this being Machida's matchup. While I do think Lyoto's strength is serious underrated, it's definitely not on the same level as Rampage's, and his submission skills are not as good as some of the guys that Rampage has beaten in his career. I see Jackson pulling this one out too.

For his final fight of the year, I see Jackson fighting a newly revitalized Houston Alexander. I think Alexander will explode back onto the scene and beat the holy hell out of his next two opponents.

This fight could be interesting, as they are both very explosive, ver powerful fighters, still, I'm going to go with Jackson, as we have now seen that Alexander is not as invincible as he once appeared.

Lightheavyweight Champion at the End of 2008: Quinton "Rampage" Jackson

UFC Middleweight Title

The first fight for this title will be Dan Henderson vs. Anderson Silva, that we already know. I have said that I think Hendo will take this fight, and I'm going to stand by that. I think that his wrestling ability and his knockout power will really help to win this one, but I also think that his athleticism will be the major tipping factor against a fighter with an awesome skillset.

Whoever pulls this out will fight the next contender in line, Martin Kampmann, and I think that Kampmann will lose to either Henderson or Silva. I don't think that Kampmann has the striking ability that Silva does, and I don't think that his ground game is particularly impressive. He really loses to both fighters on all fronts.

After Kampmann, I see the next contender being the man who almost beat Kampmann when they fought at UFC 68, Drew McFedries. I think that McFedries, though, is the kind of fighter who will give Silva lot of problems, should Anderson remain champion, and I think that he's got a similar style to Henderson. I think that Anderson is in serious stylistic trouble if he fights McFedries, as McFedries can cause serious psychological issues for his opponents when they try to strike with him, and I see that fight staying primarily on the feet.

As for the matchup I think is more likely, that being Henderson vs. McFedries, I think that this will go an impressive five rounds, but I think McFedries will pull it out with his power and his aggressiveness. While I think Henderson could win this fight on the ground, I'm going to mix up the division a little bit and give it to the up-and-comer out of Miletich.

UFC Middleweight Champion at the End of 2008: Drew McFedries

UFC Welterweight Title

Georges St. Pierre vs. Matt Serra, the inevitable matchup to start the year off, will be an interesting rematch, but I think that St. Pierre has shown recently that he is a warrior and is determined to live up to the hype that he has been given as the #1 170 pound fighter in the world. I see St. Pierre beating Serra standing up, utilizing his superior wrestling ability to stay away from Serra's groundgame, and using his muay thai and karate skills to give Serra alot of problems, finishing this fight in the second round.

As far as the next matchup for St. Pierre, I think there are a handful of contenders, but I am going to go with a serious underdog as far as the contention line goes: Karo Parisyan. I think that people seriously underestimate Karo's game and that he will be set up with a shot against Matt Hughes, which will put him at the top of a card. If he does fight Matt, I see him pulling that victory out and getting lined up for a shot with the new champion.

That said, I see Parisyan dropping a fight with St. Pierre on the basis of St. Pierre having superior takedown skills, though Parisyan has a world class judo backround. I'd like to see this matchup and this it will go three or four rounds, but I think that St. Pierre takes it.

As far as the final fight for St. Pierre in 2008, I think his opponent will be a fighter who has been forgotten about a little bit in this division, since dropping a decision to Josh Koscheck at UFC 69.

I see Diego Sanchez working his way back into contention, getting a rematch with Josh Koscheck or a fight with Jon Fitch, and winning. Two or three fights, including avenging his loss, could put him in position for a title shot, and I think that it will, but, as with Parisyan and Serra, I see Diego losing this one, as St. Pierre is better at pretty much everything.

UFC Welterweight Champion at the End of 2008: Georges St. Pierre

UFC Lightweight Title

I'll keep this one simple, because I think this division is.

Like the rest of the sporting world, I see BJ Penn beating Joe Stevenson. When that happens, I see him dominating whoever gets pulled up to fight him.

Whether or not Sherk beats the rap for steroids isn't that important to me, as I think he will lose to Penn anyway. I don't think Sherk has the same submission defense as Matt Hughes and that the submissions Penn almost finished Hughes with will be the end of Sherk.

I see Penn holding the title against anyone he fights, because he's far and away the most versatile fighter in the division, and he's got the best standup and the best groundskills.

UFC Lightweight Champion at the End of 2008: BJ Penn

If a Giant Falls in the Octagon... Would Anybody Care?

Coming into the New Year, there’s one important State of the Sport address to be made, and UFC President Dana White should hold a press conference to figure the damn thing out.

The UFC heavyweight division is the elephant in the room right now; it’s just sitting there, fat, immobile and out-of-place as it slowly decays. This is affected both in the quality of recruiting and the inability of an overseas organization to put together some solid matchups to really force Dana and Joe Silva to do anything about it. I mean, why should Dana organize a tournament when the biggest matchup in the heavyweight matchup in the heavyweight market in the last three months that he didn’t own was between Fedor Emelianenko and Hong Man Choi?

I think Choi’s a pretty good fighter, and even I knew that was a half-hearted matchup.

The matchup man Joe Silva has put together some interesting parings in the lighter divisions, and Dana has made a clear effort to raise the bar at 205 pounds, bringing in Pride fighters like Mauricio “ Shogun” Rua, Wanderlei, Sokoudjou and the new UFC champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. Even though Shogun, Silva and Sokoudjou dropped their opening fights, the 205 pound division seems to get mixed around a little bit after every card and the upcoming opponent for Jackson’s belt is an issue that gets a lot of people going, as opposed to the big-man’s division, where there seems to be a lot less “who’s next?” and a lot more “who cares?”



While the 185 pound division is often seen as slacking a little bit, too, at least there are some really interesting matchups coming out of that division and a champion that continues to be mind-melting with every fight. The UFC doesn’t even have a king at 265 pounds and the undisputed champ on the world stage only fought twice this year, both against opponents who were nowhere near qualified.

But it’s not just the fall of many of the big name senior guys in the division starting to step down as age kicks in, it’s also the fact that the UFC hasn’t been showing any signs of bringing in new, young talent, or even drawing the serious overseas talent pool that was expected after Zuffa’s buyout of Pride.



Realistically, I don’t know why they aren’t bringing guys in, it’s not like there aren’t guys out there.

I’m not just talking about the Brock Lesnar’s of the sport, who may be more talk than walk when it comes their time to step into the Octagon. There’s also a whole field of guys that the UFC hasn’t even talked to who deserve to fight in the Octagon and would make this division thicker than Evan Tanner’s hair.

I mean, even beyond the up-and-comers that have a little fame already, like Roger Gracie (backed by his family name) and Big Ben Rothwell (who’s starting to really come into his own in the IFL), there’s an entire echelon of guys out there with the skillset to be in this division. I could rattle off their names (Mike Russow, Neil Grove and Christian N’Pumbu), but it wouldn’t matter, because nobody knows who they are, because their testicles haven’t been caressed by the starmaking power of Mike Goldberg’s lips.

Believe, me, though, when I tell you that Russo (7-1-0), Grove (5-0-0) and N’Pumbu (8-0-0) are all more worthy of the octagon limelight then Justin McCully or Scott Junk. I mean, if the UFC is looking for a serious veteran so badly, they should hire Travis Fulton (188-44-9), who’s got more credibility than Junk or McCully, and has more fights in his career than the entire rest of that heavyweight roster put together.



In the upcoming year, my forecast isn’t so gloomy. Hopefully, Cheick Kongo will show some groundskills and Eddie Sanchez will stop yelling “Yeah, boy” every time he lands a punch (if they don’t knock the guy out, you probably shouldn’t be so excited).

In all likelihood, Nogueira and Silva will bring a show to decide the new heavyweight champion, and we will deal with whatever new regime is born out of that, but I hope that this division starts to come together, since it’s thinner than Randy Couture’s hair right now.

There’s bound to be one good recruit the UFC picks up, and given the ones they’ve thrown back into smaller ponds this year (and I’m not just talking about Brad Imes and all of his go-go-glory) they could always invite a guy back, and I wouldn’t complain.



Taking the rumors of signing former K-1 heavyweight champion Semmy Schilt at face value, we can only hope that the UFC will put some effort (and some money) into this serious fixer-upper division. Then, maybe we’ll start to care when a 265 pound ass hit’s the canvas and Steve Mazzagatti spits out the winner’s name through that ridiculous porn star mustache.

10 Things to Remember from 2007

This was a big year for the sport. 2006 really marked an explosion into the spotlight for the sport and '07 was an opportunity to show that we're not going anywhere. While there's alot to be said, both good and bad, for the things that went on this year, there was certainly no shortage of interesting goings on. Both in the cage and in the boardroom, the sport showed some serious change. Here's the highlight reel from 2007:

10) BJ Penn returns to 155 pounds, the weightclass that he had long deserted, the fight Jens Pulver. The rematch between the two fighters was, brief, and BJ finished with a rear naked choke in the second round, but the proof that Penn is back in the mix was only solidified further when the UFC offered him the chance to fight Joe Stevenson for the Interim Lightweight title at the beginning of the 2008 year.

9) Dan Henderson comes to the UFC to unify the first UFC and Pride titles. He lost his fight as the 205 pound representative of the Pride hardward to UFC champ Rampage Jackson, but his next unifying fight at 185 pounds with Anderson Silva will reveal whether or not he really is the champion of champions in his natural weight class.

8) Anderson Silva defends his title three times, demolishing everyone the UFC has to throw at him without even spending the full length of a title fight in the cage. Anderson's wins over Travis Lutter, Nate Marquardt and Rich Franklin came together in a total time of less than 20 minutes, and Anderson continues to be a complete wrecking ball in the 185 pound weight class.

7) Quinton "Rampage" Jackson shocks the world by making quick work of then UFC lightheavyweight champion Chuck Liddell, putting Liddell to sleep less than two minutes into the opening round of their fight.

6) Sean Sherk tests positive for steroids, becoming the highest profile trial in the Nevada State Athletic Commission. While his appeal has been postponed repeatedly, there is little to do other than to see what becomes of the UFC 155 pound champion.

5) Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou bursts on to the MMA scene when the man everyone thought was a stepping stone connected with a right hand to the face Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, one of the unstoppable brothers Nogueira. It was the first time one of the brothers had lost a fight without the judges and it showed that anything can happen.

4) Wanderlei Silva vs. Chuck Liddell finally comes to fruitition, and the long awaited striker vs. striker matchup takes place in the Octagon. Liddell won a decision over Silva in a fight that showcased his jaw, but also showed Silva's skills as a counterpuncher. While the fight didn't occur in the prime of either fighter, Liddell vs. Silva was still an exciting matchup that had the kind of back-and-forth pace that is hard to count on in this sport.

3) Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic gets knocked out by Gabriel Gonzaga, making Gonzaga an undisputed force in the sport and leading people to question the power of CroCop, once thought to be the undisputed champion of heavyweight striking. In the wake of his loss to Gonzaga, CroCop dropped a decision to Cheick Kongo, but few things have shocked MMA fans more than seeing Gonzaga's right shin catch the Croatian squarely on the dome.

2) Matt Serra upsets Georges St. Pierre to become the UFC Welterweight champion, making the reality show winner perhaps the biggest underdog of the turbulent year to pull out his win. More impressive, in reality, was the way that he did it; knocking out St. Pierre in the first round.

1) Zuffa buys the Pride Fighting Championships, making the UFC the largest organization in the world by far and resulting in the buyouts of half a dozen top ten contracts from the former Pride roster. While there's some contreversy about what this did for the sport, whether it created a UFC monopoly, created the potential for some serious, high caliber matches or a little bit of both remains to be seen, but it has changed the entire landscape of the sport both in South-East Asia, where there are a handful of shows now emerging to fill Pride's space, and in North America, where the quality of fighters is quickly improving.

Happy New Year: A Little Taste of Last Year

Sorry I haven't been as active over the break. I will say that I enjoyed UFC 79, despite some of my favorite fighters from the good old days underperforming (damn you, Soa Palelei). I also enjoyed the M-1 Global event, though I wish JZ might have been able to offer us the fight of the year with Aoki.

I have a collection of moments in a year that has been a roller coaster ride for many fans of the greatest sport in the world, but before I get to that, which I'll try to get out tomorrow, I want to give you guys something fun to celebrate the New Year.

A friend of mine linked me this post I made before thanksgiving and I realized I hadn't put it up on the blog for you guys.

To put it in context, this is a bit I did after Jeff Lacy came out with his outburst against MMA. I enjoyed writing this alot, and I hope you guys like it as much as I did. Happy New Year.

Are you f*cking kidding me? Jeff Lacy is a credible source on boxing?

First, the guy's an idiot. Second, all of his comments are only aggravating an argument that could be made so much better.

Any boxer that wants to bring up Maywether vs. De La Hoya as an example of why MMA is an inferior sport is an idiot. I watched the fight, and usually I can appreciate boxers for their hands and head movement, but both of them proved to be complete p*ssies in that fight. Great competition comes from having two guys who want to win, who want to finish and who want to really show how great they are, not who want to line their pockets.

Boxing is a better sport because there's more money in it? No!

The international boxing market has fallen apart, while international MMA continues to grow at a speed no other sport in the world can keep up with. Boxing continues to be a waste of time and talent because guys with lots of potential would rather make money than actually fight.

Then there are all of these ridiculous boxing contracts. De La Hoya gets to pick the color of Floyd Maywether's shorts and gloves? That's a disgrace not just to the sport of boxing, but to anyone who associates themself with being a "fight fan."

Then you have guys like Valuev who continue to put on raucous displays against opponents that are hand selected by Don f*cking King. At least for Hong Man Choi to get a title, he's got to fight real opponents (and I'm not just talking about Fedor, I'm also talking about Jerome LeBanner, Semmy Schilt and some of the other great guys he fought in K-1).

Honestly, I wish I could say boxing was dead, so that I could ignore it, but instead it's just flopping around like a fish out of water, gasping for air. It can't die quickly enough. It makes me sad to say that some of the great eastern European fighters I grew up watching, like the Klitchko's, are part of a sport that is falling apart, and I have as must respect for the guys that realy fight in boxing as I do for the guys in K-1, but the vast majority of boxers are killing this sport. It can't even just be blamed on the promoters and shady managers any more.

I've done enough talking about boxers as inferior athletes, because they are. They don't condition themselves to perform as wide a variety of tasks or endure as much punishment as an MMA fighter. If you want to see what I have to say about that, here's a quote from one of my old posts:

"Obviously, your new, so I'll be gentle.

None of the guys you have seen in MMA punch for sh*t? What about:

Fedor Emelianenko
Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Mark Hunt
Andrei Arlovski
Tim Sylvia (in his younger days)
Aleks Emelianenko
Sergei Kharitonov
Igor Vovchanchyn
Randy Couture
Chuck Liddell
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua
Wanderlei Silva
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson
Rich Franklin
Anderson Silva
Denis Kang
Georges St. Pierre
BJ Penn
Takanori Gomi
Joachim Hansen
Hayato Sakurai

That's just off the top of my head. A handful of those guys are, or were, professional boxers. If you don't think they can punch, you obviously have no idea what a punch looks like.

You see, the difference between these guys and boxers is that they can do other things. Bas Rutten even proved that a boxing stance was useless in MMA (and, thus, a streetfight) when he had Duane Ludwig pound on Jens Pulver's more traditional boxing style.

Boxers have come over, but they rarely make it up the top ranks. If you want to know what I mean watch PRIDE's Butterbean v Ikuhisa Minowa. You have to know submissions and wrestling, and that's not just something you can pick up over night. It's much easier for a wrestler (who can control the pace of the fight and where it goes) to transition to MMA than a boxer, because a wrestler has much more applicable skills in MMA.

Even if you're a boxer in MMA, you can't win a fight with just boxing. There's more than just hands in boxing. You have to deal with the added dimensions of leg-kicks and clinches that your opponent can hit you in, in addition to the constant threat of being taken down.

I've been saying this for a long time:

Show me a boxer who can take leg-kicks from Mirko CroCop...

Show me a boxer who can hurt Mark Hunt standing up...

Show me a boxer who can avoid a takedown from Mark Coleman...

Show me a boxer who can defend a submission from Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira...

Show me a boxer who can get off of his back with Fedor Emelianenko pounding his face in...

... and that guy'll be great in MMA. He, however, has not shown up and does not, in the real world, exist.
Simply put, Jeff Lacy is a dumbass, as so is anyone who doesn't give MMA fighters the respect they deserve as athletes and as warriors."

To finish, I'd like to add:

F*ck boxers... I'm going to eat some Turkey.

Happy Thanksgiving.

See you all in January.

TUF Finale: Hot and Cold

The overall tone of the fight wasn't set by the main events, as it usually is. The two main bouts between top lightweight contenders Clay Guida and Roger Huerta and Ultimate Fighter finalists Mac Danzig and Tommy Speer were interesting fights, but the rest of the card was, for the most part, not.

While I will say that I expected more from Tommy Speer than was displayed, I knew how the fight was going to end (though I hadn't anticipated it being so short). Danzig, the more experienced and more agile fighter, choked Speer out in about two minutes.

The fight between Huerta and Guida was the best fight on the card, and the two fighters went to war. Huerta eventually won with a choke in the third round.

While the card was full of exiting submissions, most were like the one in the Danzig fight, coming early and not really giving us the chance to see a war. Here are the results from the other fights:

Jonathan Goulet chokes out Paul Gorgieff in the first.
Roman Mitchyan finished Dorian Price with an ankle lock submission in the first.
Matt Arroyo submitted John Kolosci with an armbar in the first.
Troy Mandoloniz KO'd Ritchie Hightower in the first round.
Ben Saunders beat Dan Barerra unanimously on the judges scorecards.
Goerge Sotiropolous choked out Billy Miles in the first.
Jon Koppenhaver TKO'd Jared Rollins the third round.

WEC's Next Big Event: WEC 31

The WEC is starting to look suspicious. After all, the UFC has had a handful of cards that have not had a single title fight, and barely a high profile matchup. Now, UFC fans are considering themselves lucky if they are getting a single title shot.

So where does the WEC get off putting three title fights on their upcoming card. It is, really, about putting together a high quality product for the fans, but also doing their best to get some serious attention while promoting some of their less famous fighters.

The biggest matchup on the card is the first title defense of undefeated Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu machine Paulo Filho (15-0-0). Some fans rank Filho as the number one fighter in the world at 185 pounds, and nobody has him ranked outside of the top three. He's set to fight UFC veteran Chael Sonnen (19-8-1) who, as a wrestler, provides nothing that Filho hasn't seen before in an opponent, but really offers Filho the opportunity to show his strengths as a grappler while also facing an opponent who can't simply be written off as a nobody. Really, the matchup is to further introduce American fans to the style of fighting they can expect from the WEC, display the dominance of Filho and give the main even on the card some notoriety.

The most interesting fight on the card is the match between current WEC featherweight champion and resident organization animal Urijah "The California Kid" Faber (19-1-0) and Jiu-Jitsu legend Jeff "Big Frog" Curran (28-8-1). Curran is a long time veteran of the sport and his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu chops and experience will prove an interesting test for Faber, who has been no less than devastating in his three fights in the WEC, where he has yet to hear the bell ending the first round.

Both of those fights will provide most of the draw, but the great unknown champion of the infant WEC organization is the lightheavyweight champion working lower in the card: Doug "The Rhino" Marshall. While little is known about Marshall (6-2-0) as a fighter, because he has only had 8 fights, all have been in the WEC, so he is established in the organization and may become the first big star brought up in the organization. The WEC certainly has a good deal riding on Marshall, but his opponent, Cuban Ariel Gandulla (4-0-0) isn't considered a serious threat to his title, because he only won his title shot by a split decision.

Still, the lighter weight classes for which the WEC is fast become noticed, are set to provide an interesting backing for the quickly expanding lightheavyweight division, and the installation of Filho as champion of the middleweight division shows that the WEC is serious about expanding it's ranks of champions from the bottom up. So expect the announcement of some heavyweight contracts in the next six to ten months, and the emmergence of a belt in about eighteen.

The WEC is going to really put some pressure on and may put together a show that makes MMA fans drawn in by the publicity behemoth that is the UFC start turning to smaller options and the quality of fights they are seeing in the UFC start diminshing.

It's almost as though WEC is offering a challenge to its big brother cagefighting organization:

If you're not going to give people title fights, we will.

And I'm excited to see what will happen