We Can Only Pray: Fedor In The Octagon

When I say that he is the greatest fighter in the world, people think that's my opinion, but Fedor Emelianenko is the most feared and most dominant heavyweight in the sport of mixed martial arts.

I was reading an article on sherdog.com on Fedor's recent trip to the United States and his negotiations with the UFC, as well as a handful of other organizations.

Fedor's agent was mentioned (I don't know how reliably) as saying that their best offer so far was from the UFC.

To see Fedor in the octagon would be almost completing a phenomenal year for the heavyweight division. The resurrection of Randy Couture, Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira making their UFC debuts. All that remains is for the UFC to deal with Josh Barnett and Mark Hunt.

As a fan, seeing Fedor in the cage would be incredible, and it would be an opportunity to test the real abilities of the UFC heavyweight division that gets more hype than it deserves.

For those who don't know, Fedor holds a career record of 26-1-0, with his only loss coming by a cut delivered through an illegal strike. The loss would have been declared a no-contest under modern rules, but back in the dark ages of MMA, that wasn't how they ran things. He later avenged that loss by beating "TK" Kohsaka into a bloody mess.

I don't have any insider information on the dealings with Fedor, but I am hoping that he does end up in the UFC. It would be a huge step (the biggest so far) in the UFC's step to create the "Ultimate" heavyweight division and crown the greatest heavyweight in the world with the UFC heavyweight title.

Brock Lesnar: I'm Biased

I have avoided talking about Brock Lesnar for a while, but it's been coming up so much lately that I figure it's finally time.

Dana White recently announced that the UFC will work on signing Brock Lesnar, saying that Lesnar probably should have started with the UFC instead of K-1. Given his wrestling backround and classic American smack talk, that makes sense, but I'm not happy about it.

I don't like Brock Lesnar. It's not a secret.

It's not that he's homophobic.

It's not that he used to work for the WWE.

Those are things that just bother me. I don't Lesnar because he has the biggest mouth in the sport, and he's only had one professional fight.

As far as athleticism and caliber of wrestling, Lesnar is great. He's a phenomenal athlete and he had a great career as a college wrestler, but he seems to think that he's some sort of mixed martial arts savant.

Apart from working with Royce Gracie (who has long since fallen off of his pedestal and was suspended after testing positive for steroids) and building up his ridiculous, creatined-out muscles, Lesnar passes his time by announcing that he should be fighting for the UFC heavyweight title.

In theory, every fighter should strive to be the best and believe that they deserve that belt, but Lesnar's smack talk is ridiculous for someone who holds 1 career win, especially when it's over a no name like Min Soo Kim (2-6-0).

Maybe if Lesnar beat a former world champion or a legend like Pedro "the Rock" Rizzo or a top contender like Mark Hunt in the first round I would be able to say "Okay, you should definitely be considered in the mix." Let's be real though, and look at the numbers behind Lesnar.

Brock Lesnar

Pro MMA Record: 1-0-0 (1 Submission)
Height: 6'2
Weight: 285 lbs

Firstly, when your professional career is a little over a minute long you should not be considering a title shot. Brandon Vera is 8-0 and has fought some legit opponents (most of them with winning records). Lesnar has beaten a 2-6 opponent. Why does Lesnar think he deserves a title shot?

Maybe it's because he has the biggest pecs. Maybe it's because he is a personality. Maybe it's because he played for the Minnesota Vikings.

From a technical standpoint, Lesnar has no standup. He's going to try and take down everyone he fights. That works against Min "Mr. Shark" Soo Kim, but if Mirko CroCop or Randy Couture is trying to take your head off then it's a little bit of a different game.

As far as I'm concerned, Lesnar has yet to make an MMA debut against a serious opponent, but if he intends to do that in the UFC, he better start losing some weight, because if he's really 285 solid then he's going to have to sweat a little bit to cut down to the UFC 265 pound cap.

World Extreme Cagefighting: The Minors, Except Not

Dana White will tell you that organizations like World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) and Elite XC (EXC) are the minor leagues of the mixed martial arts monster that is the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and that's true, to a certain extent.

While the UFC has more money and more talent than the "secondary shows", the smaller organizations are coming into their own. The WEC has done that by moving faster than the UFC to establish lower weight classes, like a 135 pound class (even more fast paced than the UFC's 155 pound division).

The WEC will be holding an event on September 5th (yes, it's a Wednesday) at the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas. It's a major event for the WEC because, though it's being held in the middle of the week and will not have the major pay-per-view sales that the marketing leviathen known as the UFC has been posting, it's being held in a major venue.

I'll keep my picks for the WEC event short and just give the names, but I will say that some of my favorite lighter weight fighters (like 135 pounder Miguel Torres and submission fighter Donald Cerrone) are on this card, which is dominated by the smaller, lighter, quicker and more skilled divisions that the WEC loves to showcase.

"Razor" Rob McCullough (14-3-0) vs Rich "Cleat" Crunkilton (14-1-0) : McCullough by 1st Round TKO

Chase Beebe (10-1-0) vs Rani Yahya (11-2-0) : Yahya by Unanimous Decision

Ian McCall (4-0-0) vs Coty "Ox" Wheeler (6-0-0) : Wheeler by Unanimous Decision

Bryan Baker (4-0-0) vs Jesse Forbes (4-1-0, fought on The Ultimate Fighter season 3) : Baker by 2nd Round TKO

Miguel Torres (18-1-0) vs Jeff "Little Popeye" Bedard (9-0-0) : Torres by 2nd Round submission

John "The Natural" Alessio (19-10-0) vs Marcelo "The Jungle Boy" Brito (6-1-0) : Alessio by Unanimous Decision

Marcus "The Wrecking Ball" Hicks (5-0-0) vs Scott McAfee (5-0-0) : Hicks by 2nd Round TKO.

Brian Stann (4-0-0) vs Jeremiah Billington (9-1-0) : Stann by 1st Round TKO.

The abundance of undefeated and unknown fighters should make this a very entertaining event. The presence of some lesser known fighters like Rob McCullough (well known to WEC fans and a former UFC fighter), John Alessio (also a former UFC fighter), Miguel Torres (a legend for performing very well against larger opponents) and Marcus Hicks (just getting started, but already establishing himself as one of the most exciting 155 pounders out there) will make this event interesting, as will the presence of alot of unknown fighters who I haven't had the opportunity to scout.

It should be a great event and though it's not a major, primetime, weekend show it will be exciting to watch and interesting to see the impact it has on the career of the up-and-comers that heavily populate the card.

Winning Europe: The UFC's War To Expand

UK MMA poster boy and TUF 3 winner Michael Bisping.

I would be lying if I told you that Americans are "bringing" mixed martial arts to the UK. It's existed for many years and the community continues to grow.

Alot of people would say that British mixed martial arts are a lower cailber than American organizations are, but the UFC wants the UK market badly.

UK is the gateway to Europe, and fighters like "The Ultimate Fighter 3" lightheavyweight winner Michael Bisping and up-and-comer Terry Etim are their best bet.

The same way Americans love to cheer for their hometown boys, British fans go crazy for Bisping and he's fast becoming the UFC's European posterboy. He and Etim have already been announced as members of the UFC 75: Champion vs Champion card to be held in the UK. It will be the UFC's second event in the UK this year and will be the first time the UFC has attempted to unify a title with one from the recently liquidated (after being bought out by UFC step-parent company Zuffa) Pride Fighting Championships.

Dan Henderson vs Quinton "Rampage" Jackson will prove a high quality fight and will definitely do well in terms of American pay-per-view buys, but the time change may make it harder for American audiences.

Still, the UFC is trying to give the European fans something to be excited about, and with the main card bouts between the Brit Bisping and American archrival Matt Hamill (they are both very respectful, but it's no secret that Bisping doesn't like Hamill) as well as attractions for mainland Europe in the bout between Frenchman Cheick Kongo and Croatian Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic.

For all of the American MMA fans, we may not see the marketing, but the UFC is going global. We are no longer the soul patrons of the greatest fight-show on earth, and it's going to take some getting used to, but, in the end, it'll be a good thing.

After all, a world stage will bring us better fights and raise the level of competition that much higher.

Inside CroCop v Kongo: Underrated and Written Off

Mirko Filipovic vs Cheick Kongo may be the greatest standing matchup ever.

Even Joe Silva and the other UFC brass responsible for putting this matchup together don't seem to realize the magnitude a fight like this can have, the amount of impact this matchup can have.

Cheick Kongo is an up-and-comer. He's 10-3-1 in professional mixed martial arts competition, but the man is a complete monster on his feet. He's been KO'd once in his career by Dutch kickboxer Gilbert Yvel. Since being stopped by Yvel, he has not been stopped and, honestly, has looked unstoppable on his feet. He's stopped 7 of his 10 victories with his incredible striking ability, but it's more than just his precision and power.

Cheick Kongo is a monster. He's 6 feet and 4 inches tall, but he's built like a Ford F150. He's fast, agile and ripped, everything that a striker should be in terms of physique and raw athleticism.

When Kongo steps into the cage at UFC 75 he will be staring down, as Joe Rogan put it, "the scariest man ever to walk out to Duran Duran music."

Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic doesn't beat people, he destroys people. His striking is, beyond a doubt, the most percise and explosive skill in MMA. He holds a professional MMA record of 22-5-2 and has stood across the ring from more top ten fighter than any other heavyweight.

CroCop has a left leg that can really only be described as the most powerful tool in professional sports. It broke the leg of Judo Gold medalist Hidehiko Yoshida. It made giants like Bob Sapp and Josh Barnett just give up. It has claimed KO's over Wanderlei Silva and Igor Vovchanchyn.

Mirko has, perhaps, the greatest highlight reel in the sport and, while Kongo's career is still in it's beginning stages, he has proven that he is a monster standing up.

This is a fight that will not go to the ground. It'll be a kickboxing match between the giant Frenchman Kongo and the 212 pound Croatian Senator and anti-terrorist officer known as CroCop.

I'm not going to make serious, major predictions about the outcome of the fight, though I have my bet on CroCop, I think that this will be a bout worth TiVoing, but in case you don't, it'll be on youtube the next day.

Highlight reels for both fighters:

Cheick Kongo

Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic

Thank you to whoever did the highlight reels. They're really well done, especially the CroCop one.

Picking Winners

There's something that alot of hardcore MMA fans don't get when it comes to looking at the outcome of fights, it's something that even alot of fighters don't get.

When you are making fight predictions, you have to look at two things: what should happen and what could happen.

For instance: going into Gabriel Gonzaga vs Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic, Gonzaga could have KO'd CroCop, we saw him KO two of his other opponents in the UFC (Jordan and Scherner), but no one expected him to. When I was looking at the possible outcomes for that fighter I thought of it like this:

CroCop SHOULD win the standup.

Gonzaga SHOULD win on the ground.

Gonzaga was capable of finishing the fight in CroCop's arena, he had the power to do that, where as CroCop didn't really have a snowball's chance in hell at submitting Gonzaga or outgrappling him.

So:

Gonzaga COULD win the standup.

CroCop COULD NOT win the grappling.

People will tell you that anything can happen. Yes, anything can happen, but there's a reason why bizarre things tend not to happen. When I say what "could happen" I think of, given a fighters history, what he's capable of.

For those who watched the Couture v Gonzaga fight, you have to understand how hard a fight that is to bet on. Here's why:

Gonzaga SHOULD win the standup.

Couture SHOULD win the grappling.

But:

Couture COULD (and did) win the standup.

Gonzaga COULD (but didn't) win the grappling.

There's so much up in the air as to the dimensions of that kind of a fight. Both fighters can win in both places. My suggestion is to never bet more than play money on those kinds of fights, but always watch those matchups closely. They are the ones that are exciting because no one really has any clue what is going to happen until, finally, it does.

UFC 74: Results and Fallout

It's official, Randy Couture is the greatest champion in UFC history. Not that we didn't know that all ready, but at 44, Randy Couture finished his first opponent since coming out of retirement.

In his first title defense since winning back the title from Tim Sylvia, Couture stopped Gonzaga at 1:37 of the third round. He broke Gonzaga's nose in the first, and continued to dominate the massive Brazilian for the rest of the fight. I may not be one of his greatest believers, but the man knows how to put together a gameplan and execute.

Georges St. Pierre also won, defeating Josh Koscheck by Unanimous Decision. I expected St. Pierre to win in more overwhelming fashion, but Koscheck proved that he is in the 170 pound elite (though I still don't think he's as tough as Jon Fitch) and worth considering as a top fighter.

Joe Stevenson, Roger Huerta and Clay Guida won at 155 pounds. Stevenson by Unanimous Decision. Guida by Split Decision. Huerta by 3rd round TKO.

Renato "Babalu" Sobral returned to form to submit David Heath with a Guillotine Choke at 3:30 in the second. After his recent KO losses to Chuck Liddell and Jason Lambert, I wasn't sure who was going to show up tonight, but Babalu is back.

Thales Leites put away Ryan Jensen with a first round submission and definitely earned some attention from the UFC brass.

However, the star of tonights show (and my big underdog pick on the card) was Patrick "The Predator" Cote. I've always considered Cote an underrated fighter and I was upset that Grove was given the Season Three title of "The Ultimate Fighter" after winning a close decision over Ed Herman.

Both veterans of The Ultimate Fighter series (Cote was runner up at 185 pounds on Season 4) were expected to bring the pain tonight. Grove stands 6'6, and so some people had trouble believing that Cote could land a substantial shot on him, but Cote demolished Grove and forced the ref to stop the fight at 4:45 in the first round when Grove could no longer defend himself against Cote's strikes.

Here is the impact of these fights on the divisional ladders:

Heavyweight: The was really no major impact tonight, except that things remained as they are. Couture stayed the champion and will defend against the next opponent. The only real change is that I think alot of people will be concerned about Couture, regardless of who his opponent is. Frank Mir reestablishing his presence and getting a win under his belt after his motorcycle accident is something big, too, and I hope we see him fighting tough competition again soon.

Lightheavyweight: Sobral put himself back in the mix, and I don't think that Heath will have his contract renewed after two consecutive losses considering that neither of them were to titleholders or top contenders. He'll have a fight or two in a smaller show and if he wins, he'll be back soon.

Middleweight: There was alot going on in the bulk of the division tonight. Cote and Leites were not considered top contenders, and I still don't really think they are. It was definitely a big win for Cote, because he believes that he should be fighting towards the top of that division, and I agree with that. I also think that Leites will be getting some bigger fights soon. I don't expect Grove to disappear, and I think that Jensen will have one more loss before the UFC lets him go. Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing them fight each other.

Welterweight: Since the only 170 pound bout on the card was St. Pierre v Koscheck, I can't say that the division changed enormously. I think that St. Pierre has established himself as the clear #2 contender, but I also think that, because he won a decision, the UFC will want him to have another warm-up fight before giving him the winner of Matt Serra (current champion) and Matt Hughes (former champion and #1 contender). I think that could be Jon Fitch, if the UFC wants the fight to be really challenging, or it could be Diego Sanchez, Karo Parysian or Joe Riggs, who GSP could beat decisively. Personally, I'd like to see Karo, because that would be a high profile fight and I think he deserves it, but I also think that Jon Fitch deserves a chance to fight a real top contender, so there's alot Dana White and Joe Silva (the UFC's matchmaker) have to think about.

Lightweight: Alot of changes as far as stock tonight. I think that alot of people considered Joe Stevenson a top contender for a fight with champion Sean Sherk, but I also think that Joe needed to finish Pellegrino tonight to establish that. (I didn't pick him to) It was a big night for Clay Guida, who got a lucky decision after losing an unlucky decision to Tyson Griffin. But the biggest night was for Roger Huerta, who is considered a major rising star in the UFC (he was the first MMA fighter to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated, while I personally consider him somewhat undeserving of that honor). He finished Alberto Crane and I think that his name has been in the mix as a top contender for a while, but he could be more of an immediate contender since "Joe Daddy" wasn't able to finish his opponent. The third round TKO may have put Huerta in a position for a shot at the champ.

All in all, an exciting night. As always, some wars and some bores. Still, a worthwhile and well put together card. Now it's time to get ready for UFC 75.