The
UFC has always been tops in the world as far as MMA goes. Ever since Pride Fighting Championships was disbanded, the UFC has taken control of the fight game. They also reintroduced the lightweight division which had been absent from the organization for quite a few years. Although the UFC has had astounding success, their divisions have not always been stocked with talent, and at some points they have relied on marketable names to get PPV buys and sell tickets. Recently though, the UFC has proven that they can stock pile talent in every division and on any givent night they can show solid fighters at any weight class, most of which have become household names in MMA. The success of the Ultimate fighter has helped to add depth to some once depleted divisions. Here is a division by division look at some of the UFC's top talent.
Lightweight:I dont think there is any doubt right now that
BJ Penn is currently the top lightweight in the UFC. He hold the title and no one within the lightweight division has shown that they are ready to knock him off his throne. Although BJ was man handled in his last bout, that was against a much larger
George St.Pierre. At 155 BJ is the man to beat right now. Ultimate Fighter 1 alumni
Kenny Florian has vastly improved and looks likely to get the next title shot. Ken-Flo is primed and ready for this opportunity but will likely need the showing of his life to beat BJ. Look for Kenny to use his vicious elbows, probably the best in the sport. Also in this division are the likes of
Joe Stevenson, also an Ultimate Fighter cast member, who has looked good at times but is still trying to bust through,
Sean Sherk, who has had steroid issuses and hasnt looked the same since losing the lightweight title. Also amongst the very deep lightweight division is
Diego Sanchez who recently dropped from 170, and looked impressive in his first win at 155, proving that making the cut is no big deal. Look for him to be a force at this lighter weight. Honourable mensions should be given to
Spencer Fisher who always impresses,
Nate Diaz who has looked very good and has only lost once in the Octagon and that was via split decision to the always entertaining wild man
Clay Guida.
Welterweight:With
Matt Hughes' reign of terror in the Welterweight division all but over, it is now GSP's division to rule. He has shown that no one at 170 can compete with him and he is arguably one of the pound for pound best fighters in the world. Look for GSP to own 170 for a long time to come. Don't get me wrong though this division is still loaded with top end talent.
Josh Koschek, newcomer
Carlos Condit, Jon Fitch, Karo Parisyan and Matt Serra are all outstanding fighters and bring tons of excitement to the division.
Thiago "Pittbull" Alves is next in line for a title shot and deservedly so. He has run through the welterweight division with 7 straight wins, uncluding impressive wins over Hughes, Parisyan and Koschek. Look for him to give GSP all he can handle with his aggressive style and potent standup. A relative newcomer to the division,
Mike Swick, after dropping from 185 is also a man to look out for. His nickname "Quick" is not a joke. He has lightning fast hands and knockout power. In his most recent fight he put
Jonathon Goulet away in just 33 seconds, and says he is now ready for the best the welterweight division has to offer, and has all the tools to challenge the best.
Middleweight:This division is one that used to look bleak. Before the likes of
Anderson Silva, Rich Franklin walked through everyone in the middleweight class. Now, realizing (quite smartly i might add) that he isnt going to beat Silva, after already losing twice, Franklin moved to 205. This left the division wide open again as Silva, who is still undefeated in the UFC, has polished off the divisions best, and has even had to dip his toe into the 205 weight class in search of a challenger. This division has seen a resurgence though and now has competitive fighters, looking to take down the champ.
Thales Leites is next in line and with great jiu-jitsu, should be a challenge for Silva if Leites can get him down. Also among the divisions best are Canadian
Patrick Cote, who had his title shot but blew out his knee in the third round. He'll be back in the summer of 2009 and looking to again make some noise. Also grabbing headlines are jiu-jitsu ace
Damein Maia, Japanese fighter
Yushin Okami, strongman
Nate Marquardt, former Pride champ
Dan Henderson, newcomer
Denis Kang, and ultimate fighter alumnist
Kendal Grove (who still needs to prove himself). Also you can't forget about
Mike Bisping from the UK. He is the total package, strength, standup, takedowns, everything. He will soon get a title shot if he keeps winning and may just make the most of it. He's won 7 of his last 8 in the octagon with the only loss in there to current light heavyweight champ
Rashad Evans. Bisping is a force watch for him the rest of 2009.
Light Heavyweight:This is possibly the UFC's most stacked division. It is loaded with world class talent. Right now Rashad Evans holds the title and has looked extremely impressive and is still undefeated in the UFC. He has wins over the divisions best in
Chuck Liddell, Forest Griffin, and Mike Bisping. His lightning quick hands and incredible wrestling and ground and pound make him a handful for anybody. Forest Griffin has proven he can hang with the best in the world posting victories over
Rampage Jackson, and
Mauricio Rua, and breifly holding the title as well. Griffin is a very good striker and will remain atop the division for some time to come. Rampage has battled personal issues, lost the title and looked less than impressive in previous fights. But it appears he is back on track and will likely get a title shot once his jaw heals. "Rampage is back BABY!"
Lyoto Machida will next face champ Rashad Evans, and despite Machida's boring style, his record doesnt lie. 14-0 in his career, but with a lot of decision victories. Since Rashad Evans has learned to finish fights now, look for Machida to be in tough as Evans likely wont let this go to the judges. Chuck Liddell and
Wanderlei Silva are both looking to bounce back from losses, and although they may be getting a bit older, are both deadly fighters and will try to fight their way back to the top of the 205 division. Dont forget about them. Like i said, the division is stacked, and there isnt enough time to go over every fighter, but keep an eye on all the following fighters, because with a win or two any of these guys could fight for the belt: Rich Franklin,
Keith Jardine, Mauricio Rua,
Matt Hammill, and
Thiago Silva. Also watch up and comers
Ryan Bader and
Steve Cantwell.
Heavyweight:Also once seen as depleted after the absences of
Tim Sylvia and
Andrei Arlovski, the heavyweight division has once again started to deepen its talent. The return of
Randy Couture helped immensely. His fight with Sylvia brought instant recognition back to the heavyweight class. Since then
Frank Mir has made an impressive comeback, and looks to be back at the top of his game,
Brock Lesnar has made the transition from WWE superstar to a MMA heavyweight contender and
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira has come over from Pride to breifly hold the interim title. The mini tournament between Lesnar, Couture, Mir, and Nogueira brought excitement and a series of great fights to the organization which will be completed later this year when Lesnar takes on Mir in a rematch for the heavyweight title. The division is also loaded with a plethra of depth fighters all on the edge being stars that just havent shown consistency enough to be in the divisions elite. The list includes
Cheick Kongo, Heath Herring, Shane Carwin, Gabriel Gonzaga, and Fabricio Verdum.
Cain Valesquez has showed loads of skill and may be the best heavyweight outside the top 4. He hasnt lost in the UFC and is ready to take on the divisions elite.
Junior Dos Santos is relatively unknown but has two first round TKO's in 2 fights and could be a force in the upcoming year. Also their have been rumblings that
Mirko "CroCrop" Filipovic is ready to return to North America and the UFC, and could re-enter the heavyweight division and cause problems for some fighters, despite not looking impressive while on hiedus from the UFC.
Well there ya have it, a division by division breakdown of the top talent in the UFC.
