10 Fights I Want the UFC to Make Happen
by MMAEruption on Sep 1, 2009 7:45 PM EDT
48 comments
Like many MMA fans, my aptitude test indicates that I'd be a good UFC matchmaker. What could possibly be more fun than coming up with great fights for the world to see? So in no particular order, here are ten fights I want to see happen in the UFC:
1) Anderson Silva vs. Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic - The Spider is interested in fighting at heavyweight, so why not put him up happen against one of the best heavyweight strikers of all time? Sure, Cro Cop is past his prime, but he still packs a whallop with that left leg of his. This matchup could be especially hot if UFC pull of a show Japan. I also wouldn't mind seeing Anderson take on Cheick Kongo.
2) Randy Couture vs. Cain Velasquez - Randy likes interesting fights, and one with Cain would fit the bill. Cain is young, strong, aggressive, and one of the hottest heavyweight prospects in the sport. If Cain gets past Ben Rothwell, a match with the Natural should be on everyone's mind.
3) Brock Lesnar vs. Roger Gracie - Obviously, Roger Gracie isn't in the UFC, and there are rumors that he's ducked some fights, but just close your eyes and imagine seeing the headline UFC 1XX: Gracie vs. Lesnar. Like Lesnar, Gracie doesn't have a lot of MMA experience (2-0 with both wins by submission), but he is one of the greatest grapplers in history with record-setting performances at the BJJ Mundials and ADCC. It would be the biggest BJJ vs. wrestling match of all time.
4) Brandon Vera vs. Jon Jones - Brandon Vera's gone from hot prospect to big question mark. His lackluster victory over a slower and clumsier Krzystof Soszynski couldn't have pleased UFC management, who have already cut his reported fight purse by 70%. Does Brandon want to be a f*cking fighter? Let's find out by putting him up against Jon Jones, one of the hottest prospects in the light-heavyweight division.
5) Matt Hughes vs. Karo Parisyan - Due to injuries suffered a few years back, Karo never got his desired title shot against former welterweight champ Matt Hughes. Since then, Karo's star has taken a fall due to a knockout loss to Thiago Alves and a positive drug test after UFC 94. At the same time, Hughes' wrestling-focused game is clearly losing its effectiveness. This is a perfect "who still has it?" matchup.
6) Dan Henderson vs. Nate Marquardt - There's a big debate over which guy is more deserving of a title shot, and there's only one way to settle it - let them fight. Dan vs. Nate is more interesting than either guy taking on Anderson Silva anyway. This could be a perfect co-main event to the BJ Penn vs. Diego Sanchez fight in November.
7) Diego Sanchez vs. Kenny Florian 2 - Kenny Florian's improved quite a bit since he appeared on The Ultimate Fighter, where he fought at middleweight. But just how much has he improved? The best way to find out is to put him up against Diego, who creamed him at the original TUF finale.
8) BJ Penn vs. Gray Maynard - Gray is probably a couple of wins away from a title shot, but this dominant wrestler may be the only lightweight capable of giving the Prodigy a run for his money. BJ is worlds above Gray in terms of technique, but Maynard has outstanding physical strength and takedown ability. If Maynard murderizes Roger Huerta with an impressive finish at UFC Fight Night 19, his name should come up in title contention talk. The UFC could also work a student vs. teacher storyline - Gray got his start in the sport as a training partner for BJ, and was on Team Penn during TUF Season Five.
9) Frank Mir vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira 2 - Frank Mir doesn't like people discounting his victory over Big Nog, who came into their UFC 92 contest with some serious injuries. Now that Minotauro is back on track with a big win over Randy Couture, let's give Frank Mir a chance to shut the naysayers up. I mean, I'm still trying to find somebody who cares about his upcoming bout with Kongo.
10) Dustin Hazelett vs. Paulo Thiago - I want to see these BJJ experts take it to the ground and attempt to tie each other in knots. Grappling wars with guys who go for the finish are awesome. They could even try a reverse Marcus Davis/Chris Lytle vow - the first guy to throw a punch is a pussy. We'd also get to see Thiago fight someone at his own level - not a top-5 title contender.
Joe Silva, you hiring?
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You are really that excited to see Roger Gracie pull out of a UFC fight???
www.knees2thehead.com
Check it out!!
by BJJDenver on Sep 1, 2009 7:51 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Some of these are pretty good.
Silva vs CroCop: That’s an awesome match-up that never crossed my mind before this post.
Vera vs Jones: A good stylistic match-up, and a chance for Vera to really enter the rankings at LHW. (I strongly disagree with his Consensus Ranking, he’s beaten no-one of note at 205.) If Jones pulls out the victory, he’s ready for some Top 15 competition
Henderson vs Marquardt: An odd mix of styles, and the only way to determine the true #1 MW contender. The story tells itself: a fight to earn the right to rematch Anderson Silva between two contenders coming off brutal knockouts
by klown on Sep 1, 2009 7:57 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
GSP vs Anderson
I don’t care what he did to Forrest. GSP would take him down and crush his face in.
"I look down and boom! I kick 'im in his 'ead! I knew I ‘urt ‘im, when he said aarg" – GSP
by GSPwner on Sep 1, 2009 8:19 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Eh, Anderson is a pretty big guy and GSP wouldn’t have his usual strength advantage.
by MMAEruption on Sep 1, 2009 8:39 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Judging by his name, avatar, and sig. line I’m guessing he’s a bit biased :)
Walla walla walla I'm an idiot.
by ufc4 on Sep 1, 2009 11:09 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Just a bit.
But i too would still absolutely love to see that fight.
by Danny Dangerously on Sep 2, 2009 4:22 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Hazelett vs Thiago would be interesting, good call.
by brad23 on Sep 1, 2009 8:35 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Agreed. You have a pretty fair number of interesting matchups there.
by ludakrish on Sep 2, 2009 2:26 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Some interesting match-ups up there but….
2) Randy Couture vs. Cain Velasquez
I don’t think the UFC would benefit from this at all. Both guys have more to lose than gain in this fight. Velasquez isn’t going to get a title shot by beating someone who’s just lost twice in a row. If he loses he’s going to be a lot farther away from a title shot than he is now though. Couture winning would give him a rebound and show that the guy still has it, but it wouldn’t do much to cement his “legend” status, nor is it some sort of nostalgia mega-fight like his fight against Nogueira was. If Couture loses then he’ll lose most of his remaining relevancy in the HW division though. I really don’t like this match-up.
3) Brock Lesnar vs. Roger Gracie
Ok this is waaaay premature. BJJ superstar or not, Roger Gracie has not proven very much yet. The guy is obviously very marketable but he needs to actually commit to being a mixed martial artist and fight more than once every 20 months or so before being put in fantasy match-ups with the UFC HW Champion.
4) Brandon Vera vs. Jon Jones
I really don’t want to see Jones against a guy who might make him boring.
10) Dustin Hazelett vs. Paulo Thiago
I can live without seeing this one :)
Good call on Hughes/Parisyan btw. It makes so much sense yet I’d never even considered it.
by Chromium on Sep 1, 2009 8:40 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
^^^
Ack! This is why we need a 2 minute grace period to edit comments. Freakin’ block quote grumbles
by Chromium on Sep 1, 2009 8:41 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
There is an infinite grace period, it is called the preview button.
Walla walla walla I'm an idiot.
by ufc4 on Sep 1, 2009 11:10 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
LOL at the idea of Okami ever getting within 8 million miles of a title shot.
by MMAEruption on Sep 1, 2009 9:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
For entertainment's sake
Carlos Condit vs. Marcus Davis
Beverly Hills 90210.......Denver Broncos 7.
by SSreporters on Sep 1, 2009 9:30 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Prefer Condit vs. Hardy
I like Hardy, but he’s a slightly lesser version of Condit in every way. Would be a great scrap…
by Kwisatz Haderach on Sep 4, 2009 1:49 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
A real matchup that just has been confirmed is Amir Sadollah vs Phil Baroni at UFC 106
by SouthAlaBamaRampage on Sep 1, 2009 9:32 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Seriously? Fuck yes, this card just keeps getting better, I can’t wait til November. We need to have a BE meetup somewhere in Vegas that weekend.
Walla walla walla I'm an idiot.
by ufc4 on Sep 1, 2009 11:11 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Mike Goldberg vs. The English Language
Make it happen.
Beverly Hills 90210.......Denver Broncos 7.
by SSreporters on Sep 1, 2009 11:19 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
The English language would be at like -500
by Captain7 on Sep 2, 2009 12:48 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah, right. Goldberg would murder the English language.
Bolts from the Blue // "Game over." - Jamal Williams
Bloody Elbow // "Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
by Richard Wade on Sep 2, 2009 1:38 AM EDT up reply actions 7 recs
Your not even giving the English language a chance?
I believe in Posey.
by 49er16 on Sep 2, 2009 5:58 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
The winner of that fight against Tito Ortiz
Beverly Hills 90210.......Denver Broncos 7.
by SSreporters on Sep 3, 2009 12:07 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
1) Anderson Silva vs. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic – I have no interest in seeing Anderson fight at HW, if he wants to test himself let him go after Machida and prove he can beat the top LHW first.
2) Randy Couture vs. Cain Velasquez – I have no interest in seeing Randy at HW again, he belongs at LHW where there are plenty of interesting fights.
3) Brock Lesnar vs. Roger Gracie – Roger Gracie needs to beat someone worth mentioning before even thinking of putting him in the same cage as Brock.
4) Brandon Vera vs. Jon Jones – This is actually a good fight, you have a young cocky and hyped up fighter something that Vera once was against a timid and unimpressive fighter. This fight will either end the Vera experiment in the UFC or maybe finally bring out the best in what was once a very promising fighters career.
5) Matt Hughes vs. Karo Parisyan -This is a fight i’d love to see Karo grappling skills against Hughes would be a very good contest and probably bring out the best in both guys.
6) Dan Henderson vs. Nate Marquardt – The best 2 MW’s not names Anderson Silva facing off is definately a great fight.
7) Diego Sanchez vs. Kenny Florian 2 -Interesting fight but i’ll have to see how Florian does against Clay before deciding if I reallly want to see this rematch.
8) BJ Penn vs. Gray Maynard – I have no interest in seeing one dimensional Gray fight BJ, maybe if Maynard can get some more experience and a couple of dominant wins but now no.
9) Frank Mir vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira 2 – Mir has already destroyed Nog, so unless it’s for the title in the future there really isn’t much to get out of this fight.
10) Dustin Hazelett vs. Paulo Thiago – Decent fight here both guys are booked against top guys Karo and Alves so when they both come off losses this would be a nice fight to make.
by Raker on Sep 2, 2009 12:06 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
4-9 gets a big yes from me
Sometimes you wonder, do they understand the game of football? They have a few drinks and probably the prawn sandwiches, and they don't realise what's going on out on the pitch.
Roy Keane
by RealIrish on Sep 2, 2009 12:22 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Drop matchups 2 and 3...
and replace them with Randy Couture vs Rich Franklin and Anderson Silva vs Rampage Jackson.
by Razzel on Sep 2, 2009 12:35 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
all good and possible match-ups cept #3 and #4. i’m thinking dos santos will make C.C. fall far below what a.silva will accept. if C.C. where to pull off the upset? :)
by bdw on Sep 2, 2009 1:19 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Jon Jones Vs Anyone
Keep firing Assholes!
ZE GOGGLES! ZAY DO NOZING!!!!
by Ubernoober on Sep 2, 2009 1:30 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
i prefer for him to fight vera actually. just to make sure vera fights at his “supposed” apex.;)
by bdw on Sep 2, 2009 1:39 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Disagree w/
Crocop vs. Anderson. Anderson needs to be defending his title, and Crocop likely gets nothing if he beats Andy, but gets lambasted and ridiculed should he lose.
Supporting all Las Vegas MMA. Xtreme Couture FTMFW.
'09 is the year of the FW's.
by ElliotMatheny on Sep 2, 2009 2:03 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Crocrop
Uses the left leg more than the right.
by rainmaker6 on Sep 2, 2009 2:30 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Whoops! Surprised I slipped on that one. Edited!
by MMAEruption on Sep 2, 2009 7:09 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
remember when anthony johnson was scheduled to fight matt brown? that would have been a fucking awesome fight.
by Marcus213 on Sep 2, 2009 8:12 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Couture is done at HW. He may still have a few fights in him at LHW, but putting him against Velasquez is hopefully not going to happen.
by lhasafi on Sep 2, 2009 9:01 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Good choice – Cane vs. Vera would also make sense.
by MMAEruption on Sep 2, 2009 4:43 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Sexyama vs. Arianny
3 rounds of “lay and pray” if you catch my drift.
Beverly Hills 90210.......Denver Broncos 7.
by SSreporters on Sep 2, 2009 5:08 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Not Aki dude
I guarantee you we would see some vintage ground and pound from The Sexy One.
And by vintage, I mean like circa 1980’s, porn mustache and everything
Supporting all Las Vegas MMA. Xtreme Couture FTMFW.
'09 is the year of the FW's.
by ElliotMatheny on Sep 2, 2009 6:54 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Some of these you may see in 2010. I think Randy will go to 205 from here out. And Lesnar would kill Gracie lol
by TurtlesMMAspot on Sep 3, 2009 10:45 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
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