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By; Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor
From an excitement standpoint, I'm much more interested in seeing Wanderlei Silva fight Chris Leben. However, from a title picture viewpoint, I'm more interested in seeing Silva fight Chael Sonnen. Silva vs. Leben would be an entertaining brawl, but the winner would be several fights from a title shot, while the winner of Silva vs. Sonnen could be one or possibly two wins away from a title shot. I would go with Silva vs. Leben as soon as possible, still leaving open the possibility of Silva fighting Sonnen at a later date, after Sonnen's suspension is over.
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Jim Miller wants to fight Kenny Florian, Sean Sherk, or George Sotiropoulos, and all three options sound good to me. I think a fight with Sotiropoulos makes the most sense, but I'd be good with Florian or Sherk being Miller's next match-up. Miller is a good fighter, though I don't think he deserves a title shot just yet; but if he beats any of these three guys he definitely deserves consideration. The lightweight division in the UFC is extremely crowded, and it's going to take a lot for guys to get a title shot. There's no shortage of quality contenders, so the pressure is on for these guys to stand out somehow. Miller kneebaring Charles Oliveira in the first round in his last fight definitely makes him stand out. Now he just needs another quality win over a high-level guy.
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The rumored Heavyweight Grand Prix that Strikeforce might be working on sounds cool, but I'm not putting much stock into it until it's officially announced as happening. Even then I'll still have my doubts as to it actually taking place. These aren't doubts that anyone would have if this were the UFC, but Strikeforce doesn't get the benefit of the doubt here. I want to see Strikeforce do well, but they haven't earned the confidence of the fans just yet. I'd love to see Strikeforce catch up to the UFC in popularity, and I believe that'd be the best thing that could happen to MMA outside of a totally unified MMA organization where every fighter fought in the same company. However, the fact remains that Strikeforce doesn't have the track record that the UFC does when it comes to getting things done. The UFC doesn't leave much on the table undone. I remember the talk of a middleweight tournament in Strikeforce that never happened so I have to have my doubts. I hope the Heavyweight Grand Prix happens, though.
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Thiago Alves has proclaimed himself to be back. He may become a force in the welterweight division, and I hope he does, as I want to see some viable competition for Georges St. Pierre. The problem is, Alves already fought GSP and lost. As it stands now, GSP is on a whole other level in comparison to the other fighters in his division, and I don't think that's going to change anytime soon. I don't think Jake Shields has what it takes to beat GSP, who is so far beyond anyone when it comes to the welterweights. Josh Koscheck is a high-quality fighter and he was rendered absolutely ineffective by GSP. The same was true with Jon Fitch, B.J. Penn and Dan Hardy. Those guys are all very good fighters, but they couldn't do anything to GSP.
To truly grasp the dominance of GSP, it's important to look at not just his wins, but the rounds. In his last seven fights GSP has beaten Josh Koscheck, Dan Hardy, Thiago Alves, and Jon Fitch by five-round decisions in which GSP won all five rounds. Several of those rounds were won 10-8 as well. In those four fights, GSP won all 20 rounds handily. Mixed in with those five-round dominations were wins over B.J. Penn in which GSP won all four rounds before the stoppage, and a couple of second-round stoppages against Matt Hughes and Matt Serra. There's another eight rounds that GSP has won, bringing the total to 28 rounds.
GSP also won a decision over Josh Koscheck in their first fight as well, but two of the three judges scored that Koscheck had won a round while GSP won the other two. The third judge scored that GSP won all three rounds. Depending on how you want to look at it, GSP has either won 30 or 31 rounds in a row. That is an unbelievable achievement for any fighter. Even if you were fighting bums and tomato cans, that would still be impressive. However, GSP has been fighting the best the welterweight division has to offer. No other champion has been fighting the level of competition that GSP has, so for him to have won 30 or 31 rounds in a row is astounding. The magnitude of this accomplishment can't be overstated. Koscheck, Hardy, Alves, Fitch, Penn, Hughes, and Serra. These are high-quality fighters, but they were made impotent by GSP.
Comments and suggestions can be e-mailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.com
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