|
|
|
|
Killing a division?
15 Jan 2010
By Mike Leng.
It’s happening in nearly every weight division of the UFC, champions might be killing divisions.
The middleweight, heavyweight, welterweight and lightweight divisions now have such dominant champs that many including myself think that many will retire before they are beaten. Does that now mean that divisions are getting boring and people are now looking toward the challenger match ups for the most exciting tests?
Now don’t get me wrong I love a dominant display of MMA as much as the next fan but we now getting to the point where fights are looking like a joke (Anderson Silva anyone) or people are simply being fed to champions to keep the division going, in the hope that someone may get a lucky punch.
A classic example of this is Anderson Silva and GSP. The UFC seems to be searching through its roster for these guys to fight as every single fighter is decimated before their talent. Dan Hardy is about to face GSP, and don't get me wrong I’m a big Hardy fan and Dan has come through fights that many people wrote him off all too quickly but I’m sorry but he and GSP are on different levels. Who could blame Dan for taking a title shot and no one else in the division apart from Koscheck is worthy of one, however as much as I will be cheering for the first British Champion come fight night I won’t be betting on it.
BJ Penn has just faced a challenger in the name of Diego Sanchez. While Sanchez is a great fighter it was shown that Penn is simply in a different league. How did Sanchez jump Kenny Florian? Florian once again established himself as the number one contender in the lightweight division by easily dispatching Clay Guida in a much quicker time than Sanchez. Again however, what was the UFC going to do? This is the problem with having such dominant champions, it simply grinds the division to a halt.
Maybe the only exception (and a slight one) is Brock Lesnar. Many previously looked upon the heavyweight division as boring. When Lesnar came along and laid waste to the division he breathed a life into it again that had been lacking for some time. Frank Mir has used his losses to Lesnar to finally start to tap into the potential everyone always knew that he always had. Even with this renewed work ethic many doubt that he will best the current gargantuan champion.
This isn’t just frustrating for fans, it is blatantly obvious that Anderson Silva is getting bored at middleweight. More and more jumps up to lightweight plus lackluster performances and bizarre moves can’t help to highlight this. Who can blame him? The man wants to be seen as the greatest pound for pound fighter of all time, and fighting people that are well beneath his ability must be frustrating for him. I think that if Lyoto Machida was to ever lose his crown then Silva would make the permanent jump to light heavy weight.
What are the alternatives though? No one can blame champions or not appreciate amazing displays of ability. A lot of peoples favorite fighters are champions and they look forward to seeing them fight. As the UFC starts to do more catch weight fights it may be possible to see exhibition fights such as the Fedor vs Aoki grappling match or even possibly an absolute division? I for one would love to see this however I don’t see it as it is simply not worth risking the health of the fighters with the increased chance of injury.
The UFC recently also held a grappling competition at the UFC 100 expo. While this is certainly not the answer to divisions coming to a halt it may be another way for fighters to test themselves against other fighters with a reduced chance of injury.
With champions such as BJ Penn and GSP now talking of their legacy rather than just being a champion, it is unlikely that they will step out of their weight class in case they damage this legacy. This may continue to contribute to ‘dead’ divisions. Fighters like Anderson Silva on the other hand, I am sure will take every opportunity to get out of his comfort zone and test himself.
Maybe that’s how you create a true legacy.
|
|
|
|