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Another UFC event has come and gone and as is typical with every post-event pay per view, rumours run rampant about potential matchups and breaking news. UFC President Dana White quickly put an end to speculation when he confirmed that BJ Penn’s first lightweight title defence will be against the man he recently stripped the title from, Sean Sherk.

While most analysts already knew the Penn/Sherk bout was going to happen, many of us were hoping to confirm whether or not the winner of the Fabricio Werdum / Gabriel Gonzaga fight would get a title shot vs the winner of the upcoming interm heavyweight championship bout between Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera and Tim Sylvia.

Well, it didn’t take long for Dana White to make a decision. At the UFC 80 post-fight press conference, White announced that Werdum will in fact get that title shot. It’s an interesting state of affairs for the heavyweight division, one I believe the UFC did not envision. Let’s be honest for a second. Neither one of these three fighters are the posterchild that the UFC wants in their ‘big’ division. 

When it’s all said and done, I’ll be rooting for Noquiera, only because I’ve been a fan of his since I first saw him fight in July of 2001. That’s when he defeated Gary ‘Big Daddy’ Goodridge by submission. I was in awe and immedietely searched for any and all of his fights that led up to this spectacular victory over Goodridge. What I saw was astounding. Here was this big beast of a Brazilian that was fearless and was bringing my beloved submission game back to Mixed Martial Arts. Everytime he fights, I wonder if he can pull of another magical armbar, rear naked or triangle choke just to prove that knockouts are not the only exciting finishes in the sport.

As for the other fighters at UFC 80, I was blown away by Paul Kelly and Paul Taylor. These guys banged away in the first minute like their lives were at steak. Rewatching it, I cannot believe the speed of their initial exchange and that it was in real time; not sped up. These two guys were on fire and I have to tell you I was super impressed by how they continued to keep the pace up throughout the rest of the bout.

Looks like a new star was born in Paul Kelly, as this victory will surely increase the value of his stock in the eyes of not only the UFC’s matchmaking equations, but also in the eyes of the UK faithful who may have just found their next Michael Bisping. As for Paul Taylor, I feel sorry for his next opponent. Whoever it may be, they will surely be in for a long night. Taylor will be looking to prove that he still belongs in the UFC and whoever stands across from him on that night, I believe he will be the poor soul that Taylor will maul and make an example of.

Other fighters and who they may be matched up against:

Sam Stout - looks to have inked his next bout vs Rich Clementi at UFC 84 in Montreal.

Alessio Sakara - stated he wants to move down to middleweight which opens a variety of matchups. I’d like to see him take on Chris Leben.

Marcus Davis - while he continues to state he wants a bout with Takanori Gomi, I doubt it will happen. I’d like to see him take on Chris Lytle or Ryo Chonan. Even though the aforementioned fighters are coming off losses, they do represent a step up in competition for Davis.

Wilson Gouivea - I’d like to see him take on Kazuhiro Nakamura (if the UFC let him back in to the Octagon) or Houston Alexander.

 Jorge Rivera -  tough to say, but maybe a matchup vs Dean Lister. It can really solidfy which one of these two fighters belongs in the UFC and which one should pack their bags and reconsider.

Antoni Hardonk -  tough call, but perhaps Gonzaga would be a good fit, if not perhaps Brock Lesnar (whether Lesnar wins or loses against Frank Mir at UFC 81).

I’d like to see some of your thoughts?

Regards,

Showdown Joe

This entry was posted on Monday, January 21st, 2008 at 9:41 pm and is filed under MMA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.