Main Card

Georges St. Pierre def. Dan Hardy by Unanimous Decision.

Shane Carwin def. Frank Mir by KO @ 3:48 of Round 1.

Kurt Pellegrino def. Fabricio Camoes by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) @ 4:20 of Round 2.

Jon Fitch def. Ben Saunders by Unanimous Decision.

Undercard

Jim Miller def. Mark Bocek by Unanimous Decision.

Nate Diaz def. Rory Markham by TKO @ 2:47 of Round 1.

Ricardo Almeida def. Matt Brown by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) @ 3:30 of Round 2.

Rousimar Palhares def. Tomasz Drwal by Submission (Heel Hook) @ 0:45 of Round 1.

Jared Hamman def. Rodney Wallace by Unanimous Decision.

Matt Riddell def. Greg Soto by DQ @ 1:30 of Round 3.

Of course, we all laugh at the discussion of Pudzianowski jumping to the top of the contender ladder, and we should. The caricature of a staredown between Pudzianowski and Lesnar is a comic-book artists wet dream, but what’s interesting is that, for the first time in a while, there really is a serious contender ladder in the UFC heavyweight division.

It’s hard not to recognize that there are at least four solid contenders for the UFC heavyweight title, at the moment. Three are on sizable win streaks, all with wins over major opponents, and one holds a 1-1 split with Lesnar in a series that has consisted of three very high profile title fights. Two of those competitors are fighting for the interim belt, so Lesnar will fight the winner of that bout for sure. Both Frank Mir (13-4 MMA, 11-4 UFC, #3 IWMMAR) and Shane Carwin (11-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) are deserving competitors for the interim belt, and both will make for incredibly exciting matchups with Lesnar, when the time comes to unify the belts.

Cain Velasquez (8-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC, #4 IWMMAR) has finally cracked the top five with a huge win over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (32-6-1-1 MMA, 3-2 UFC, #5 IWMMAR) and is now (as the record indicates) on a 6-0 run in the UFC with three wins over solid opponents. A win over a debuting Ben Rothwell (30-7 MMA, 0-1 UFC) is not that big a deal by itself, but sandwiched between a solid win over a good gatekeeper in Cheick Kongo (14-6-1 MMA, 7-4 UFC) and a top ten heavyweight in Nogueira, it’s starting to look like a serious argument for the top contender position, or at least a very interesting matchup with the loser of the matchup between Mir and Carwin.

At the bottom of the ladder, though still a very interesting opponent (who, in another time, could have been a contender for the belt as his resume stands now), is Junior dos Santos (10-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC, #6 IWMMAR). He has four straight finishes in the UFC, all over fighters who are respected by hardcore fans. Mirko “CroCop” Filipovic (26-7-2-1 MMA, 3-3 UFC) isn’t the fighter he used to be, but to beat a solid K-1 veteran standing up is respectable, and beating three, once you add Dutch kickboxers Gilbert Yvel (36-14-1-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) and Stefan Struve (19-3 MMA, 3-1 UFC), basically makes dos Santos the top dog among strikers in a UFC heavyweight division that sees a lot of striking. While pretty much any of the other top fighters (Lesnar, Mir, Carwin or Velasquez) would definitely look to get a fight with Cigano to the ground, that’s what makes Cigano an interesting opponent for them. Junior’s standup is intimidating, even for the top guys in the division, and the fact that he can knock out a guy coming in on him, like he did with Fabricio Werdum (13-4 MMA, 2-2 UFC, #9 IWMMAR), makes him a much more interesting opponent. I’m not entirely sure what level his jiu-jitsu is at, though I hope to find out when he takes on world champion blackbelt Gabriel Gonzaga (11-4 MMA, 7-3 UFC) later this month.

This is not the UFC’s best division. Not even close. It’s hard to say if it ever has been. However, the division is stronger than it was a year ago, definitely than it was two years ago. It’s an interesting ladder right now, with a number of solid competitors and some solid matchups. Any matchup of these four fighters will make for a great bout, and any matchup of these four fighters with Brock will make for a matchup worth talking about, and worth watching. With Brock’s health a serious question, any opponent is interesting, but these are some good stylistic matchups and they’d make for a test for Brock even if his health wasn’t a matter of speculation. It’s definitely a better division than it used to be, and there’s something to be said for that.

Some people may have noticed that Shane Carwin doesn’t have a ranking from the Independent World MMA Ranking panel. Carwin was ineligible to be ranked this month as he has been inactive for twelve months. He will regain his eligibility for the April rankings when he fights Frank Mir on the 27th. In February, when Carwin was last eligible, he was ranked at #5, above Brett Rogers and below Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

Shane Carwin.

What better way to prepare himself for a third go around with Brock Lesnar than to take on a fighter with so many similarities to the current UFC heavyweight champion?

Lo and behold, shortly after winning his UFC 107 bout, Mir mentioned a possible showdown with Carwin.

He even went so far as to say that Carwin is better than Lesnar.

That of course, remains to be seen, but the possibility of Mir and Carwin going toe-to-toe is very real.

After Mir put Kongo to sleep, he re-awakened his name as a top contender. Not that he ever slid too far down the ladder, but with this win he vaulted back into my top three.

We all know of Mir’s prowess on the ground, and we all saw his improved striking against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, but in the little time he had to showcase his new size and skills on Saturday, Mir made a huge statement.

Coming in just one half-pound under the heavyweight limit, Mir looked in fantastic shape.

In fact, it was Mir who said that he needed to add an additional twenty pounds of muscle, if he wanted to compete with Lesnar.

It looks like he did that. And he did it in a big way.

Carwin currently has no opponents lined-up for when he is able to fight again, which should be in February.

How about Mir, who would be ready to go around March, at UFC 113 in New Jersey?

It all makes perfect sense. It gives Mir the test he is looking for; to see if the added muscle will be enough to overcome the size advantage Lesnar held over him.

For Carwin, it’s an opportunity to fight a former champion, a top level fighter who is entering the prime of his career.

Carwin released a statement on his blog, saying he would be honored to fight Mir. He actually called him a legend of the sport.

With Lesnar’s status still unclear, and other contenders locked into fights, this one makes too much sense.

Anyone disagree?

Main Card

B.J. Penn (-260/-303) vs. Diego Sanchez (+250/+187)

Frank Mir (-174/-210) vs. Cheick Kongo (+170/+140)

Kenny Florian (-181/-238) vs. Clay Guida (+180/+160)

Jon Fitch (-415/-600) vs. Mike Pierce (+400/+325)

Stefan Struve (-125/-150) vs. Paul Buentello (+126/-105)

Undercard

Rousimar Palhares (-325/-405) vs. Lucio Linhares (+305/+225)

Johny Hendricks (-400/-500) vs. Ricardo Funch (+325/+300)

Kevin Burns (-105/+105) vs. T.J. Grant (-125/-139)

Matt Wiman (-325/-400) vs. Shane Nelson (+280/+250)

Edgar Garcia (-225/-303) vs. Damarques Johnson (+215/+185)

Wilson Gouveia (-105/-125) vs. Alan Belcher (EV/-125)

So now everyone knows that BJ Penn is capable of pushing into the later rounds and retaining his cardio after he dismantled a solid Kenny Florian at UFC 101 in the fourth round and he continues to push the limit in the stacked UFC lightweight division. Others may feel that Diego Sanchez, with his ability to win at 170 and 155 (albeit via decisions), will be considered the toughest test for Penn. No matter who you pick, this fight should be fun to watch.

Frank Mir returns after his devastating loss to Brock Lesnar to face Cheick Kongo in order to begin the process of determining an interim heavyweight champion. The current champ, Lesnar, has been seriously ill for months and will be unable to fight for quite some time. The winner of Mir/Kongo will continue up the ladder to eventually fight in an interim title fight in the future, most likely sometime in 2010. We know that Mir wants this fight on the ground while Kongo wants to use his feet to create the distance. I think Mir takes this fight, but Kongo has been known to pull out the TKO win, so we’ll be talking more about this fight next week just prior to the event.

UFC 107 will be live from Memphis Tennessee from the Fedex Forum on December 12th. The full main card along with the undercard is as follows:

Main Card
BJ Penn vs. Diego Sanchez
Frank Mir vs. Cheick Kongo
Jon Fitch vs. Mike Pierce
Kenny Florian vs. Clay Guida
Paul Buentello vs. Stefan Struve

Undercard
Alan Belcher vs. Brazil 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

Georges St. Pierre vs. Thiago Alves Part 1 – Part 2

Michael Bisping vs. Dan Herderson

Jon Fitch vs. Paulo Thiago

Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Alan Belcher

Dong Hyun Kim vs. T.J. Grant (Foreign Broadcast)

Stephan Bonnar vs. Mark Coleman

C.B. Dollaway vs. Tom Lawlor

Jon Jones vs. Jake O’Brien

At the end of the night, whether the crowd chooses to chant his name or not, Fedor Emelianenko (30-1-0-1 MMA, #1 IWMMAR) will still be the greatest heavyweight in the world. He will still be ranked #1. The best that Frank Mir (12-3 MMA, 10-3 UFC, #2 IWMMAR) or Brock Lesnar (3-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC, #4 IWMMAR) can hope for is to slip ahead of Fedor’s upcoming opponent and lay claim to the second place position.

Of course, claiming the number two sport with any authority will demand an impressive performance, especially from Lesnar. If there’s controversy in this fight, there’s a chance that Josh Barnett (24-5 MMA, 4-1 UFC, #3 IWMMAR) could find himself in that number two position. In international MMA, winning decisively means a lot more than simply winning, and if you want to claim a real top spot in a division, it’s important to make sure that you establish authority by destroying opponents. Emelianenko has done that, while Mir and Lesnar haven’t exactly put together dominant runs.

A lot of people assert that one has to be at the top of one of the big five divisions, one has to be in the UFC. That’s true for every division, with the exception of heavyweight, where as much talent exists outside the UFC as inside of it. The number of top ten heavyweights in the UFC (Lesnar, Mir, Couture, Nogueira and Carwin) is the same as the number of top ten heavyweights outside of the UFC (Emelianenko, Barnett, Overeem, Rogers and Arlovski). However, there are far more fighters outside of the UFC who are on the cusp of becoming top ten fighters, and that has a lot to do with the size of the talent pool.

Outside of the UFC, fighters like Fabricio Werdum (11-4-1 MMA, 2-2 UFC), Jeff Monson (30-8 MMA, 4-3 UFC), Gilbert Yvel (35-12-1-1 MMA), Paul Buentello (24-9 MMA, 3-1 UFC) and Aleksander Emelianenko (15-3 MMA) all have the potential, with two or three solid wins over substantial competition, to make their way into the top ten. The UFC doesn’t really have that. Gabriel Gonzaga (10-4 MMA, 6-3 UFC) has been eliminated from a potential top ten discussion following two losses. Cain Velasquez (6-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) may be able to break into the top ten with a win over Shane Carwin (11-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC, #8 IWMMAR), but he seems the lone opportunity for the UFC to claim a sixth heavyweight in that top ten, though Junior Dos Santos (8-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) certainly has the potential, given his win over Werdum.

Of course, those are only marginal arguments as to why it will be hard, in the future, for Lesnar and Mir to establish themselves. Simply put, its hard for them to rack up legitimate, respectable wins, even against the top guys in the UFC.

More important, though, there’s a simple numerical difference between Fedor, who will continue to be #1 as long as he continues to win decisively, and whoever comes out on top in the UFC title fight this weekend.

That number, in its smallest form, is 10.

Fedor has ten straight decisive wins, following his no contest against Nogueira (it’s possible to go back farther and make the number bigger, but even the simplest figure, 10, helps highlight the difference between Emelianenko and both of the top UFC heavyweights.

The numbers match up like this:

Fedor has ten straight, decisive wins following a no contest against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (31-5-1-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC, #5 IWMMAR).

Frank Mir has three straight, decisive wins following a loss to Brandon Vera (10-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC).

Brock Lesnar has two straight, decisive wins following a los to Mir.

Since his lone loss in December of 2000, Fedor has racked up a professional record of 26-0-0-1. Simply, Fedor has more wins since his last, incredibly controversial loss, than Lesnar and Mir have in both of their careers, combined. He has twice as many in that single streak as the more seasoned of the too (Mir) has in his career, much of which consists of his 8-1 pre-motorcycle accident run.

So let’s look at two possible scenarios, one if Brock Lesnar wins decisively, another if Mir wins decisively. If the bout ends with controversy, one can be sure that the two will meet again, and that Barnett will claim the number two spot while Mir and Lesnar pick up #3 and #4 in some order. Of course, that’s great for Tom Atencio and the Affliction leadership, but ignore that possibility for the moment.

If Brock Lesnar defeats Frank Mir decisively, he sets up a potential third bout between the two and takes up the #2 spot in the division, showing that he’s progressed in terms of his skills and matured in terms of his attitude in the cage, not simply rushing his opponents (which I think we can already be sure of, as he looked much better in his bout with Randy Couture). There will be discussions about whether Brock Lesnar’s power would be enough to make him a threat to Fedor Emelianenko, but at the end of the day, no one would hesitate to acknowledge that both in observing the history of the sport and the performances of both fighters (in quantity and quality), Fedor is the superior fighter. Not to mention he’s fought fighters much larger than Lesnar in the past without much difficulty, and Lesnar still is far from credible with respect to his ability to defend submissions. Fedor is still #1, but Lesnar can take up the #2 spot as an acknowledgement that people want to see him fight Fedor.

And now, the alternative:

If Frank Mir defeats Brock Lesnar decisively, there will be questions about whether he can pose a strategic threat to Emelianenko. Given that he’s the only fighter to finish Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, there’s potential for acknowledging a possible strategic advantage. However, like with Lesnar, it’s fairly easy to point out that Mir’s weaknesses are far more obvious than Fedor’s, that he’s struggled a great deal with fighters far weaker than Emelianenko (and far more recently than any tough, competitive bout Fedor has had). Fedor is statistically superior and, from a technical standpoint, it’s hard to argue that Mir offers anything Fedor hasn’t encountered in his career. Fedor is still #1, but Mir can take up the #2 as an acknowledgement that people want to see him fight Fedor.

Obviously, the scenarios are fraternal twins, and both put pressure on Dana to try and bring Fedor into the UFC, though it remains to be seen whether he can actually negotiate with those “crazy Russians.” Anyway, I’ve rattled on for long enough, but hopefully the repurcussions of this title fight are clear, as it’ll be an interesting bout to establish a clear champion in the UFC.

It remains to be seen what this will do, if the UFC will arrange for an alternate contender for Lesnar. Now we just sit around waiting for the fallout. The UFC 98 matchup has been discussed for a while, and was officially announced earlier this week.

For those who don’t remember the first fight, it ended with Lesnar tapping out to a kneebar.  I suppose we’ll have to wait to see how the second installment goes.

Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir are both charismatic, young fighters, and whoever the winner of their bout is, the division will have a good, easily publicizable face (more so with Lesnar, I tend to think, but Mir has a good deal of commentating experience with the WEC, and does alright in front of the camera). Neither of them, I hope, will suffer from the delusion that they are the greatest fighter on earth, though they may talk like it, but both seem reasonable and sane. Contrary to what I’ve said about Lesnar in the past, and my still very present frustration with his choice of trainers, I think he’s aware of where he is in the division.

If Lesnar beats Mir, we will still have to resolve that title with a third bout, but, in the meantime, Lesnar will be hailed by all as the future of MMA. He’s a couple years older than Mir, but that’s not really the point. Athleticism will be the redeeming virtue of the UFC heavyweight division (though not of heavyweight MMA), and the presence of a very powerful, explosive Gabriel Gonzaga or Shane Carwin at the head of the division, and the rising star of Cheick Kongo (if he disposes of Antoni Hardonk, as most think he should), there aren’t any fighters who’s athletic ability is questionable, and it will be a while before we see another fighter built like Tim Sylvia in the top ranks, I think.

There have been some talks about Fedor joining the UFC, and going into negotiations either right before or immediately after his fight with Josh Barnett. I don’t expect much from that negotiation, and as long as Affliction is healthy (as it seems to be, despite some rumors) Fedor has that option very open. If something does happen, then there’s going to be a serious change in the way the division operates, but, again, I’m not getting my hopes up on that one. Instead, I want to keep the focus on the athleticism of these top fighters, because that’s going to be the division’s claim to legitimacy (whether it will be recognized by fans and commentators when there are guys who are better is another issue).