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Which UFC Champion Will Be The Next To Fall
6 Comments | Posted by Keith Talarico in MMA News
On January 1, 2010, BJ Penn, Georges St. Pierre, Anderson Silva, Lyoto Machida, and Brock Lesnar were all UFC champions. Since then BJ Penn has fallen to Frankie Edgar and Lyoto Machida has fallen to a man whom he had previously beaten in Mauricio Rua. Brock Lesnar, Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre however, have all defended their titles in 2010. My question is, given the remaining three, who will be the next to lose their UFC title?
It is very possible that all three of these men can and will hold onto their belts until they either retire, or vacate their belts. Many people have called for both The Spider and GSP to vacate their titles and move up in weight. Although, I happen to be a fan of dynasties and domination. So more power to them if they want to stay where they are. All three of these MMA fighters have shown very few holes in their games. Brock Lesnar has shown that he now has submission skills to go along with his wrestling, all he needs to do now is improve his stand up and he might be champion for a long time. The only weakness in GSP’s game is that he is accused of being a boring fighter. I agree, but hey, he is winning. Does Anderson Silva have any holes in his game? It seems to me that Anderson Silva’s biggest threat to his title, is Anderson Silva. When he decides to show up, he is a bad man, but one day he is going to underestimate the wrong fighter, and that could result in him losing his title.
There are no threats to GSP that I see at this point. He has already beaten Koscheck once, and beat him at his own game too! So I don’t really think that Koscheck will be able to defeat GSP this time around. Even with the acquisition of Jake Shields, who I hope fights at 170lbs in the UFC, I still don’t see GSP losing. We have seen what GSP does to strong wrestlers, i.e. Koscheck, Fitch, and Hughes. To me GSP is safe from a fall. Anderson Silva, might be the safest, especially if Dana White and Ed Soares successfully got into his ear after Abu Dhabi. Even with all the smack talk Sonnen is doing to promote his fight (which I love by the way), does he really have a chance at beating the Spider? If he Chael does have a chance, it will be to use his wrestling to bully and beat up Silva, again though we have seen Silva handle similar situations, with bigger stronger guys. Marquardt, Franklin, and Hendo all tried to use their physicality to win, but Anderson’s speed and fluidity prevailed over them as well.
Which leaves us with Brock Lesnar. Crazy as it may seem, I believe he has the best chance at losing his title. Just take a look at the guys coming after him, Dos Santo, Cain, and don’t count out Shane Carwin a second time. Ironically enough, I give Carwin the greatest chance at dethroning the Heavyweight king of the UFC. He is just as big, and just as strong, and he showed that he had all the right tools, before he gassed out in the second round. Trust me, we won’t see him gas again, not with the guys Carwin trains with. Carwin showed he could sprawl a take down attempt from a fresh Brock Lesnar, and we knew going in that Carwin had the better stand up. If Carwin’s body doesn’t “seize up” on him again, and he comes out fresher in the second round, and Brock can’t take him down, where does that leave Brock Lesnar? TKO’ed in the second, that’s where. On my blog MMABadAss, I already stated that I thought Shane could do it in a second meeting between the two, and I still believe it. Brock Lesnar in my opinion, out of these three champions, will be the next to fall.
Written by Keith Talarico of MMABadAss.com.
6 Comments for Which UFC Champion Will Be The Next To Fall
Dragon | July 13, 2010 at 9:45 AM
Dizzle | July 13, 2010 at 5:07 PM
If Anderson comes out as the same jackass that showed up in Abu Dhabi, then I give Chael a chance. I would much rather see Anderson come out refocused and destroy Chael in the first round as he is capable of doing. I do think Brock is more than capable of losing his title, just because he could put a 265 pound tired guy in a choke doesn’t mean he’ll be able to grapple with a BJJ blackbelt. I even think Mir could beat him again…
Mir is washed up | July 14, 2010 at 1:33 PM
@Dizzle — are you serious? You think Mir could take Lesnar right now? Lesnar’s first loss was a beginner’s mistake. Mir didn’t stand a chance in their last match and he wouldn’t stand a chance now that Lesnar has even more MMA experience under his belt.
MMABADASS | July 14, 2010 at 10:29 PM
@dragon you have to realize that Carwin is just as big and strong as Brock. Now that Brock has diet restrictions, Carwin will be weighing more on fight nights too, and he is just as athletic. Did you see Carwin jumping those hurdles on that UFC Countdown episode? Brock can’t do that.
@Mir is washed up Mir has the ability to “catch” Lesnar in something. 99 out of 100 times Brock wins, but Mir is the more talented fighter on the ground and on his feet, but Mir could catch Lesnar in a submission or with a combo on his feet.
Dragon | July 15, 2010 at 12:48 PM
@ everyone! I wish I could see Mir @ 265 fighting Brock standing up. He obviously got caught by Shane and underestimated his dirty boxing skills which he later admitted, but against Brock and keep it on the feet, Mir has a VERY GOOD CHANCE! Keep in mind, when he fought Brock in their second meeting weighing in at like 235 or something slimmed down like that, he ROCKED Brock with that elbow and knee combo against the cage. If he wasn’t stupid and try to clinch and throw a “jumping” knee (not flying because…well…he was too close to fly) and allowed himself to get taken down, he could have knocked Brock out!!!
Dizzle | July 15, 2010 at 1:18 PM
@Mir is washed up I think the choke was just an easy way for Brock to win because he couldn’t knock out Shane so easily with ground and pound… and just because he puts a guy in a head lock and then high fives Stone Cold Steve Austin doesn’t mean he’s got “more MMA experience under his belt”
I’m not hating on Brock (even though I had Shane Carwin autograph Brock’s face on the cover of the UFC 2010 game lol) I am really glad to see that he is healthy and now more humble due to his recent illness.
1) GSP won’t lose because he is too careful in his preparation and gameplan. Take the fighter down. Ground and pound. However, it will be interesting to see him against a submission specialist at Welterweight. Any ideas?
2) Silva won’t lose because he is the best in the world. I disagree with you, Keith, in that I don’t think he underestimates his fighter. I feel as though he doesn’t feel challenged, hence, the Damian Mai fight antics (which I’m sure will be for all to see in the weeks leading up to the August PPV).
3) I agree that leaves us with Brock. But it’s not Cain nor Dos Santos, nor Big Country that will do it. If it does happen, which I don’t think will happen, it will be Carwin by punches. However, I cannot believe people all over are saying Carwin is just as strong, just as big, just as fast, just as “fill in the blank” because he is NOT! The only thing Carwin has on Brock is striking. But he is NOT just as strong he is NOT just as fast and he is NOT just as “fill in the blank.” The only way Brock loses is if he deviates from his take down ground and pound game plan. So, Brock will lose because of Brock and due to his much less experienced record, he would be the champ to lose.