It’s really tell us a lot about Lesnar – was the Mir sub a fluke? How dominant of a champ will he be? How much has improved? Fedor/Lesnar will only impact the rankings if Barnett wins.

Even if Fedor beats Barnett and then does not wind up in the UFC there are still good HW out there I would like to see him fight other then Alistair Overeem ? Sure its not as good as him in the UFC but there still is Fabricio Werdum,Sergei Kharitonov, Jeff Monson, etc

who has Fedor fought that was better wrestling credentials then BRock in his MMA career ? Who was bigger also other then Hong Man Choi,Zuluzinho, and maybe Semmey Schilt ?

Isn’t for #1 Brock/Mir but will have lots of friends to play with later.
Fedor/Barnett is for #1, but the winner will be stuck in the wasteland that is non-UFC Heavyweight Land

OK Overeem,Werdum,Monson,Kharitonov,Arlovski, is just a wasteland of HW talent ?

You forgot Sylvia ;-)

Very true Tonley but the point I am trying to make is there are still relivantfights for him outside of the UFC in the HW devision, I actually would rather See Fedor fight Werdum or Overeem over Mir anyday.

Working in a competitive field, I realize theres nothing worse in this world than an ass kisser (and we all know this site is filled with way too many Luke-nuthuggers). However, dare I say, I admit that I have become biased towards your written work over pretty much any other contributor to this blog. I am not saying I always agree, but you seem to substitute the average MMA fan’s abrasiveness (myself included) with the more logical view, and I dig it.
Plus, I can actually sense that you have read a book recently (with mentionings of gravitational pull and using the word “prodigal” rather than “overdone”: concepts left out of the BJ Penn and Eddie Bravo literature).

Anyways…. dont fucking expect anymore compliments, queer!

But seriously, Keep it up homie! Be the voice of reason!

Once you start encorporating anything other than wins and losses into rankings, they become subjective. The factors we all know to have affect upon a fight, such as chin and age and # of cans fought and LUCK, make it weird to hear that Barnett is #2 and Nog is #4. But WHO CARES? You shouldn’t.
My point is this: Rankings must stay objective. It is for this reason that they will always look weird, and rarely make sense. This is especially true in a sport, which unlike even boxing, introduces mystical fucking elements into wins and losses. But the usage of rankings will NEVER be considered parallel to “A would beat B 90% of the time because he is X ordinals above in the rank”. The usage of rankings, regardless of the source, lays simply in ensuring logical matchups, preventing an ugly blow-out, and discouraging the veteran fighters from saying “Hey why does HE get this fight and I dont??”
In the end, these matchups should not boggle our minds at all. You are over-analyzing the rankings, giving them alternate meanings that are not intended. This is not Sylvia v. Mercer. These fights have meaning. The results will only affect the rankings so that to ensure the next fight will not be an epic failure. I am positive that each one of you saw these matchups said to yourself “Yea, saw that coming months ago”.

Sidenote: if we take into account the damaging effects every fighter seems to acquire post-serious-KO, the lack of such an event should DEF be included into odds. So if the odds on Fedor vs. Barnett are ridiculous, although it happened 8 or so years ago, theres no denying that a fresh chin will always have an advantage. In all reality, fresh chins (and size and agility) are what would make Fedor vs. Lesnar a rare and incomparable fight. Who knows how Fedor or Lesnar will recover from a knockout; there is NO way to tell.

but the bottom line is, almost everyone will watch Brock fight Mir.. while only a few will watch fedor fight..

Unfair for fedor? maybe.. but the truth is.. Fedor just isn’t a big enough draw..

actually that Fujita fight was the 2nd time Fedor was in trouble in his career, Early on when he was in Rings the Ricardo Arona fight was very very close Arona had him in some real bad spots. some even think Arona won that fight ?

I just don’t think he stands that much of a problem to Fedor now. After watching him fight against Rizzo and Yvel, he just didn’t look all that impressive to me.

That being said I still think his fight with Fedor is more important as well. If Josh wins it’s going to send shockwaves out through the community and of course a rematch that Atencio could milk for lots of cash.

Mir and Lesnar can’t really have a huge upset, I’m not going to be surprised if Lesnar beats Mir down, on the other hand I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get tapped again either.

The Last Russian Emperor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVVrNOQtlzY

Lesnar-Mir matters more simply because they need that “unstoppable” Heavyweight that they can match up against Fedor in terms of hype.

In terms of exposure and relevance the Brock vs Mir fight will be the most important although it really sucks to say that because the Fedor vs Barnett one is the actual big deal. For me Fedor vs Barnett is one of those fights like Randy vs Nog or Chuck vs Wanderlei it should of happened years ago. Brock vs Mir is the new school for the new generation of casual fans Fedor vs Barnett is one of those “about damn time” fights for the hardcore crowd. One may very well break the PPV sales record and should get mainstream attention and the other will be lucky if 100k die hard fans pony up for the show to see something they should of been graced with in 2006.

This question is too easy:

In terms of the sport, MMA, whenever the best fighter in the world (FEDOR) fights, it will be the most relevant fight.

To The Casual North American Fans:
Probably whenever Randy Couture or Brock Lesnar fight.

I will go ahead and assume MMA is a sport, and Meltzer is correct, that Fedor versus Barnett is the fight that matters, and determines the best fighter in the world.

If Fedor and the UFC don’t come to some kind of agreement, it’s gonna be the biggest mistake made since the Yankees traded Ruth to Boston.

for the people that want to see Fedor in the UFC, you will be cheering for Brock Lesnar on July 11th.

If Fedor wins, Barnett will likely spiral down the rankings and be on the downward slope of his career, exiled from the UFC and knocking back cans in Sengoku for as long as his health holds out.

Well sure, just look at Mark Coleman; after Pride he was never heard from again.

Wait a second, I hear something:

“GAAHHH, LET’S DO IT AGAIN SHOGUN! LET’S DO IT AGAIN!”

Oh, that’s right. Coleman is back in the UFC and still getting fights.

Look, it is almost certain that Barnett’s best days are behind him but the division is terrible. Fighters appearing in a UFC Heavyweight Title Fight since UFC 51: Sylvia (6), Arlovski (5), Couture (2), Nogueira (2), Buentello, Eilers, Gonzaga, Lesner, Mir, Monson

The worst case scenario in the Fedor – Barnett fight would be another quick finish by Fedor and a worse showing from Barnett than Sylvia. In that case, yeah, you would have reason to dismiss Meltzer’s take on the fight. However, Fedor won’t have been past the first round of a fight for almost three years. If Barnett can last into the second round and perhaps pull off a submission attempt or two before he gets put to sleep, he will have become one of Fedor’s most game opponents to date. On the other hand, a Fedor loss would be the biggest upset since GSP – Serra and (potentially) sets up the entire weight class with viable rematches.

Josh Barnett won’t turn 32 until November. He has been stopped 3 times in his career and hasn’t been KO’d in over 8 years. I am willing to bet money that following the Fedor fight, Barnett will get at least 1 additional fight that appears on US television in non-HDnet Fights form.

It depends who you ask. For me, Fedor vs. Barnett matters more. It’s a fight I’ve wanted to see for a while now.