More Lightweight Rankings (nothing catchy goes with my name)

It’s time that I jump on the lightweight ranking bandwagon. Below is the list of the Top 10 lightweight fighters in the UFC and an explanation for their rankings.

1. B.J. Penn- Penn is the champion and the champ is always going to be the top dog on a ranking for any organization. On top of that Penn looked better against Joe Stevenson then Sean Sherk did against Hermes Franca.
2. Sean Sherk- since Sherk is the number 1 contender, so he (reluctantly)gets the 2 ranking here. Hopefully Penn is able to get an entertaining performance out of the “Muscle Shark” because lay and pray is not going to get the job done in that fight.
3. Kenny Florian- since his loss to Sherk, Florian has been tearing through the competition making his way back into contender status. A win against Joe Lauzon will probably clinch a title shot against the Penn-Sherk winner.
4. Frank Edgar- “The Answer” broke through in 2007 with his fight against Tyson Griffin and furthered his stock with his victory over Spencer Fisher. We’ll see what Edgar has in store of his fans in 2008.
5. Joe Stevenson- the toughness that Stevenson showed in defeat at UFC 80 was great. He was out classed by Penn yet his determination never wavered. Stevenson will be back among the elite in a short time.
6. Roger Huerta- Huerta silenced some critics with his come from behind victory over Clay Guida. Like Mahde mentioned, Huerta did something that a lot of top class fighters couldn’t do and that was finishing Guida. After a busy 2007, the Sports Illustrated cover boy will take some time off before coming back to the UFC in what will probably be another top caliber fight.
7. Tyson Griffin- the UFC has another young star in their hands with Griffin. Griffin can make any fight entertaining, and if it wasn’t for the loss to Edgar, would probably already be fighting for the title shot.
8. Din Thomas- despite Thomas’ knee coming up gimp in his fight versus Florian, he remains a top fighter in a division full of young stars. Thomas needs to regain his form before the Florian fight in order to continue his climb up the rankings.
9. Thiago Tavares- Tavares looked awful in his match versus Michihiro Omigawa, the fight that was meant as a showcase for Tavares‘ skill ended with him looking like he didn’t belong more than anything. He needs to regain the form he had pre-Omigawa in order to continue getting pushed by Zuffa.
10. Nate Diaz- the Ultimate Fighter 5 winner has been on a roll since capturing the six-figure contract. Though he was on his way to defeat against Manny Gamburyan, Diaz has pretty much walked through everyone else in front of him.

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Who’s next for Franky Edgar?

BJ Penn and Sean Sherk will fight, sometime in the semi-near future, for the UFC’s lightweight title. There is no set date, as of yet, but it’s safe to say that the next person in line will have to either wait several months, or fight again in the mean time.

Franky Edgar is, at this point, in position to lock himself into a title shot with one more victory over another top contender. Tyson Griffin and Spencer Fischer were both top contenders for the title until Edgar won decisively over each fighter. Those two wins were enough to earn Edgar a #10-worldwide ranking in the lightweight division (behind Stevenson, Sherk and Penn) by Sherdog.com. There is only one question: Who deserves a chance to catapult themselves into a title shot with a win over Edgar?

At 8-0, Edgar is one of only four fighters in his division to sport an unbeaten record. Of the other three, the most impressive record is that of Wander Braga. But, Braga has yet to fight inside of the Octagon and hasn’t had any wins over a notable opponent. The latter can also be said for Gray Maynard and Corey Hill. With only six wins between them, they combin for little more than half the amount of wins in the current win-streak of Roger Huerta.

Roger “El Matador” Huerta:
Roger Huerta is an excellent choice for two reasons. First, his win over Clay “The Carpenter” Guida showed that the talent behind his hype was worthy of its praises. He was rocked badly and showed enough toughness and tenacity to pull guard; in a dazed and confused state, no less. When you consider the fights that Guida gave Griffin, Thomas and Gilbert Melendez, that has to reflect well on what Huerta was able to accomplish—an early finish.

Winner of Florian/Lauzon fight on April 2 in Broomfield, Colo.:
Kenny Florian would seem an obvious choice. His hard-fought decision-loss to Sherk showed that he can hang with the best and his dismantling of veterans Dokonjonosuke Mishima and Din Thomas were impressive, to say the least. Florian, however, still has to win his fight over “Creepy” Joe Lauzon one month from next Saturday. It’s a tough fight to call. Lauzon has shown us that he has loads of talent, and he has started training with “The Prodigy” BJ Penn. One could argue that if Lauzon were to beat Florian, he should be next in line for a title-shot opportunity.

Kurt Pellegrino:
Kurt Pellegrino has a solid resume. His only loss was a unanimous-decision loss to Stevenson. But Pellegrino has looked impressive and put up a good fight, especially in the second round, during the Stevenson fight. Also, in a direct comparison to Huerta, he was stunned early in his last fight, but battled back to completely destroy Alberto Crane. To add to that, Pellegrino grew up in Point Pleasant, N.J., just 20 minutes from Edgar’s hometown of Toms River. It would also give Pellegrino a chance to do what his training partner, Hermes Franca, was unable to do.

Nate Diaz:
Nate Diaz’s fight game can be summed up in one word: slick. The younger brother of welterweight-standout Nick Diaz has shown that the amazing submission-game is probably in the genes. I’m sure training under Caesar Gracie doesn’t hurt either. Alvin Robinson, while not the best in the division, was a solid test for Diaz, who passed it with flying colors; and a triangle choke. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner would also be a nice counterweight to Edgar’s wrestling skills.

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A Bloody Affair : UFC 80 Rapid Fire

UFC 80 from the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle England was off the charts. The English MMA fans are rowdy and had the place jumping.

With only two fight’s going the distance, three TKO’s and KO’s, and the one only submission of the the night coming in the main event.

Main Bouts:

Kendall Grove vs Jorge Rivera

In the first televised fight of the night in the 185lb division. MMA vet Jorge Rivera took on ultimate fighter 3 winner Kendall Grove. The fight didn’t last too long. From the Bell, Jorge got right in Kendall’s face delivering some heavy blows. Getting the fight to the ground, and constantly attacking Kendall in his half guard. Kendall didn’t show much movement or an aggressive guard. When Kendall was trying to get to his feet already hurt he ate a left hand that punched his time card out for the night.

Jorge Rivera scored a big win that helps him up the ladder in the 185lb division. Kendall needs to go back to the drawing board and figure some things out to get him out the losing column after dropping two in a row.

Wilson Gouveia vs Jason Lambert

A light heavy weight division fight that looked promising and delivered with a knock out blow. From the bell Lambert rushed towards Wilson with an aggressive attack and gets a takedown. WG is a brazilian jiujitsu black for good reason and was able to fend off the Punisher’s wicked ground and pound attack. Even almost getting a triangle into omoplata submission to end the fight. By the end of the first round, Lambert looked as if he was just over powering WG.

In the 2nd frame, after finding Wilson’s mouth piece ( which was strange, how do you lose a mouth piece in a 2 foot space? ) the fight continued with Lambert rushing and attacking wildly till a left hand from WG punched his time card out. LHW’s take notice, because Wilson Gouveia is the business!!

Marcus Davis vs Jess Liaudin

This was a 170lb showdown that I really wanted to see. Jess said he wanted to bang with Marcus, even though the lesser of two evils would of been taking Marcus to the ground. When the bell rang Jess being true to his word wanted to trade blows, so then a minute or so into the fight Marcus almost punched a hole through the ear of Jess that left him out on the canvas in la la land.

Marcus, is on a 11 fight (8-0 UFC) win streak and even though he is not on anyone’s top 10 light weight list, he is edging closer to a title shot.

Gabriel Gonzaga vs Fabricio Werdum

A rematch of a fight 5 years ago that Werdum came out victorious. Both fighter’s have improved greatly since they last met, and Gonzaga having a brake out year in 2007 was looked at as the favorite going into this fight. When the bell rang..Gonzaga came out looking to take the action to ground and gets a takedown. They are both great on the ground and Gonzaga thinks twice and allows Werdum to stand back up. Gonzaga lands some nasty low leg kicks that seems to buckle Werdum, but Werdum fought through it and ended the 1st round in top postion on the ground.

In the 2nd round Gonzaga gets Werdum to the ground, but lets Werdum back up a few times. Gonzaga looking like he is on a qtr tank of gas, Werdum starts opening up with some Muay Thai Knee strikes that rocks Gonzaga. Werdum takes Gonzaga to the ground, opening up an attack from the top, Gonzaga not defending himself leaves the ref no choice, but to stop the fight.

Gonzaga lost a 2nd fight with Werdum, but did not lose a fan in me. Gonzaga is a fighter that always comes to fight. I respect him and hope to see him soon again fighting inside the octagon.

Werdum has erased the images of his lack luster UFC debut against Andrei Arlovski. Werdum just shot himself up the top heavy weight list. He will soon enough with the way he fought agaisnt Gonzaga, fight for the heavy weight UFC title.

BJ Penn vs Joe Stevenson

The much anticipated main event fight that all MMA fans where feaning to see.

BJ Penn said it best in a pre fight interview : Joe is a tuff fighter, but it’s a bad time to fight BJ Penn.

How right he was. Joe has the heart of a lion and crazy fighting skills, but from the opening bell BJ lands a upper cut that drops Joe. On the ground BJ dominates all postions. Coming close to the end of the 1st round BJ opens a nasty cut in the middle of Joe’s forehead from the guard that left him bleeding profusely. Joe gutted it out of the first round, but that cut looked bad.

Off to the 2nd round blood leaking out his forehead, BJ attacks and drops Joe to the canvas, gets the mount transitions to the back and with blood making things more slippery and Joe being dazed made a rear naked choke slip easy around Joe’s neck and forces a tap out.

The Prodigy cemented his legacy in the history of MMA by being the 2nd fighter in UFC history to win belts in two different weight divisions. BJ today looked like he could beat Fedor Emelianenko. BJ Penn is one of the best fighter’s pound per pound in the world today. Joe is a warrior and is young and with tremendous experience under his belt.

Joe, keep your head up. You were in a lw title match with BJ Penn for good reason, you earned it. With the type of fighter you are, you have mine and the respect of alot of fighters and fans through out the MMA world.

In a night of fights that was action packed. I begin to realize that the UFC/MMA in 2008 started off with a bang!!! On Wednesday free on Spike TV, MMA fans will be treated with a UFC FightNight that promises to pick up where UFC 80 left off.

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Thoughts on UFC 80: Rapid Fire

UFC 80 is officially in the books, and here are a few of my thoughts on the fights. (Spoilers will follow, so do not click the link below if you do not want to know the results yet.)

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UFC 80 results coverage — LIVE!

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BJ Penn: The Prodigy’s Legacy

BJ Penn is a mixed martial artist who comes around every 100 years or so. He is a special breed of fighter much like Randy Couture.

BJ began his MMA career in the UFC in 2001, which was just one year removed from being the first non Brazilian to win a gold medal in the World Jiu Jitsu Championships (Black Belt Division) in 2000.

At just 23 years old, he fought and lost a majority decision to then the UFC lightweight champion, Jens Pulver. Soon after their fight, Pulver left the UFC and his 155-pound belt behind. To declare a new champion, the UFC took the best lightweights to fight in a type of tournament-style Grand Prix to get the number 1 and 2 fighter’s to fight for the vacant title.

Penn made it to the finals against Caol Uno. The two battled to an unceremonious draw, meaning that Penn failed for the second time in his attempt to claim the lightweight belt.

Quickly thereafter, the UFC decided to wipe out the division entirely.

Penn moved on, fighting and tapping out superstar Takanori Gomi in October 2003. He then made the move up to the 170-pound division to challenge then five-time UFC champ ion, Matt Hughes, for the welterweight title.

Hughes at the time cleaned out his division with no one left to fight.

That all changed when Penn knocked on the door. Or even better, kicked in the door and ran through Hughes, choking him into submission and capturing the welterweight crown.

This was another milestone in his young and promising career. However, his time as champion was short lived when he and UFC President Dana White did not see eye-to-eye on his contract.

In short, Penn left the UFC and his title behind.

Penn went on fight Duane “Bang” Ludwig at 170 (win), Rodrigo Gracie at 185 (win) and current undefeated light heavyweight, Lyoto Machida, at 205 (loss) decision. He also took on Renzo Gracie in a superfight (win) during his hiatus from the UFC.

By the beginning of 2006, he was invited back to the UFC and faced welterweight phenom, Georges St. Pierre, at UFC 58. Penn utterly dominated “Rush” in the first round, but gassed out in the final two stanzas.

This was a result of his one true weakness: Cardio.

In September of 2006 he took a rematch with then UFC welterweight champion, Matt Hughes, because St. Pierre had to withdraw from the bout with an injury.

Once again, Penn dominated most of the fight. However, he was stopped in the third round via technical knockout. It was later revealed he had suffered a broken rib during the fight and it zapped his conditioning and breathing ability.

Surprise! The cardio card was played again, overshadowing Penn’s amazing accomplishments and undeniable talent.

While all this was happening the UFC decided to revive the lightweight division. And the weightclass was to be the centerpiece of the fifth season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF). White then named Penn and Pulver as opposing coaches who would fight (again) at the conclusion of the show. The winner of the TUF 5 Finale would then be granted a title shot.

By this time Penn had been around the world and enjoyed the highs and lows of a prolific (albeit maddening) MMA career. He rediscovered a new drive to train and live up to his potential. And perhaps become what he was meant to be:

The best pound per pound fighter of our era.

Penn changed his life style, rededicated himself to dieting and trained at 150 percent. His stint as coach on TUF 5 — seeing all the new talent popping up and knowing what he can still achieve and has yet to do — perhaps helped stoke the flames of the newly-lit fire inside of him.

On June 2007 he came into his fight with Pulver in the best shape ever and when the bell rung, it was all Progidyism. Pulver had no answer in striking or grappling, getting choked out in the second frame.

After the fight, Lil’ Evil said it best: “I woke up the sleeping giant.”

Now “The Prodigy” has his third opportunity to be crowned the UFC lightweight champion this Saturday at UFC 80: “Rapid Fire” when he takes on Joe Stevesnon for the vacant 155-pound belt.

With a win, he will become one of two men to have held UFC belts in two different weight divisions (Couture did it first).

This will not be an easy task for Penn because he faces the extremely talented and strong contender in “Daddy” Stevenson. Joe — unlike BJ — is known to be a cardio machine and owns a crazy strong guillotine and masterful leg locks.

The question many will have on regarding Penn is which BJ will show up — the out shape one or the in shape?

I believe he will be in the best shape of his career going into this fight.

For Joe the question will be whether or not he will crack under pressure. Put simply, this is the biggest fight of his career.

I don’t know the answer to this one. However, he will more than likely bring his A game because he doesn’t have much choice.

This fight can possibly turn out to be the fight of the year because both fighters have the tools and hearts to be the champion. Can Joe beat BJ? Yes he can. Will Joe beat BJ? I think not. Penn has yet to be knocked out or submitted in his career.

The hardest thing to do is have talent and be expected to win. That’s the cross the Penn has had to bear throughout his career. He gets another chance at the lightweight title this weekend and another chance to live up to his nickname, “The Prodigy.”

Fight fans, MMAcraze addicts and all others don’t miss out on this lightweight showdown that will prove legendary. There’s more than just a title at stake … Penn’s legacy is on the line, too.

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UFC 80: The Forgotten Event *** First official post ever on MMAcraze ***

UFC 80 is now just days away. Two days, 22 hours and 39 minutes away if you want to get technical, yet still, there is not the usual ‘buzz’ surrounding this event.

Sure this event lacks blockbuster matchups like Chuck Liddell vs Wanderlei Silva, or GSP vs Matt Hughes, but it is still a UFC event – which means top quality fighters. UFC fans that pick and choose which PPV’s they order will more than likely pass this one by, but the hardcore fans will buy it, since they buy them all, no matter what.

Many times, its these types of cards, those that are lacking the blockbuster and hall of fame type names, that provide for the most excitement. The UFC 80 card reminds me a lot of Ultimate Fight Night 10 as well as the TUF 6 finale, and I can only hope that UFC 80 turns out similarly. The two cards were both lacking the big names, and many internet bloggers were doing nothing but dissing the cards. UFN10 and TUF 6 Finale ended up being two of my favorite events of the year – they were full of excitement!

Ultimate Fight Night 10: The main event was Stout/Fisher 2. That fight was more than memorable. A standup battle at its finest. Who knows, Penn/Stevenson may end up being a very memorable scrambling type fight, ala Diaz/Sanchez. Jon Fitch was also on the UFN10 card against Roan Carniero. This would be what was considered the ‘featured bout’ that occured before the main event, the equivalent of a Gabe vs Werdum. The rest of the fights on that UFN card seemed pathetic. They were:

Drew McFedries vs Jordan Radev

Anthony Johnson vs Chad Reiner

Gleison Tibau vs Jeff Cox

Pete Spratt vs Tamdan McCrory

Luigi Fioravanti vs Forrest Petz

Jason Black vs Thiago Tavarez

That night of fights was great. Many of the fights ended quickly, and we got to see more fights than usual. Everyone remembers McFedries nearly killing Jordan Radev in the octagon, followed right up by a 13 second Anthony Johnson KO. This event also featured the unveiling of Thiago Tavarez, where he looked stellar in his performance against Jason Black.

TUF6 Finale: The TUF 6 was pretty recent, so I’m not going to go into much detail, but NOBODY was complaining about that card after the event. The main event featured 2 Top 10 LW fighters, Roger Huerta vs Clay Guida. This was the Fight of the Year! UFC 80’s main event featured the TOP TWO LW’s and could provide for the same level of excitement. And who would have predicted that War Machine vs JRock would be discussed as possibly the fight of the year? There were zero blockbuster names on that card, and look how it turned out. Besides the opening fight, Barrera vs Saunders, every other one was phenominal and ended before the end of the third round. What else can a fan ask for?

And now back to the up-coming UFC 80.

BJ Penn vs Joe Stevenson: When the cage door closes on the two, they are both going to come running to the center of the octagon, and the pace should stay like that for at least two rounds. Then the question about BJ’s condition will be raised, but he looks to be in the best shape of his life. The only way I don’t see this fight being exciting is if BJ gasses and Stevenson goes Sean Sherk on him for rounds 3, 4, and 5 to win a decision. But even if that were to happen, Stevenson will be looking to end the fight, and BJ will still be working his world renowned guard.

Gabe Gonzaga vs Fabricio Werdum: Their first fight when the fought was actually exciting. If have only seen Werdum fight once, against Arlovski, you haven’t seen the real Werdum. Werdum has never been finished in a fight, and Napao has never been submitted. Both of these fighters want to end this fight. This fight will be exciting on the feet and on the ground. Look out, this could actually be a surprise pick for Fight of the Night…

Marcus Davis vs Jess Liaudin: I have not seen Marcus Davis in a boring fight since his TUF days. Jess Liaudin also likes to bring it, and word has it that he wants to KO Davis. If this is true, then look out – someone’s wig will be getting peeled back in this one!!!

Wilson Gouveia vs Jason Lambert: I have been touting Wilson for a while now. He is extremely talented, and it appears that he wins his fights effortlessly. Meanwhile Jason Lambert earned himself the nickname “The Punisher” for the right reasons. He likes to take his opponents down and pound them out. Wilson has crisp standup and a world class guard. These contrasting styles may make for an outstanding fight

Kendall Grove vs Jorge Rivera: I have found all 3 of Kendall’s post TUF fights to be entertaining. His muay thai is great, and he likes to finish. Jorge Rivera may be a stepping stone, but I wouldn’t call him that to his face. Jorge is a tough guy with standup background. I picture this looking like the Grove/Belcher fight or the Grove/Cote fight, both of which had me on the edge of my seat.

Of the undercard fights, I am rooting most to see Paul Kelly vs Paul Taylor (fought Marcus Davis at UFC 75 in the Fight of the Night) and James Lee vs Alessio Sakara. There has been a lot of hype surrounding James Lee on the internet before and especially after his 30 second win at PRIDE 33.

So what I’m saying is – don’t sleep on the UFC 80 card, you may regret it. You don’t want to be that Maniac that signs onto the computer Sunday morning kicking themselves in the ass because they didn’t cough up the money for the PPV. There are definitely fights on the card that have the potential to be memorable, even though its not filled with blockbuster names or Top 5 competitors.

So you now know how I feel about the event, how do you feel?

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