<%=siteName%>

UFC 87: Seek and Destroy is less than two weeks away and will be held at the Target Centre in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This is a star studded card and will feature the return of a few fan favourites.

This past weekend, two of the greatest fighters on the planet, Anderson Silva and Fedor Emelianenko both destroyed their opponents stirring up debate as to WHO belongs atop the pound for pound rankings. Seeing as Silva jumped up 20 lbs to take on James Irvin while Tim Sylvia was Fedor’s first test in 18 months, ‘The Spider’ is still #1 in my books with Fedor now in the #2 slot, just ahead of Georges St.Pierre.

This past weekend, two of the greatest fighters on the planet showcased why they are the best at what they do, easily dismantling their opponents while making a case for their place, atop the pound for pound rankings. 

The UFC’s Anderson ‘The Spider’ Silva jumped up 20 lbs to take on James Irvin in what was supposed to be a slugfest. Instead, it took the Brazilian less than a minute to land a thunderous overhand right, which proved to be the beginning of the end, for his opponent. 

Affliction’s heavyweight poster child, Fedor Emelianenko, took all of 36 seconds to absolutely destroy former UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia, beating him down with punches before securing a modified rear naked choke to end the fight, and proving why many fans and critics continue to call Fedor: ‘The Russian Cyborg’. 

Based on these incredible performances, I still have Silva on top of my pound for pound list simply because he was able to jump up a weight class and destroy a much larger opponent.

As for Fedor, I now have him at #2, just ahead of Georges St.Pierre, simply due to the fact he has dominated some of the best fighters the heavyweight division has to offer. 

As for GSP, he has a tough title defense at UFC 87, against Jon Fitch on August 9th in Minneapolis. Jon Fitch is no joke and can definitely neutralize anything GSP brings to the Octagon but should the Canadian dominate and destroy Fitch like Silva and Fedor did to their opponents, then I will move him back to #2…and most likely will bring up a dream match up between GSP and Anderson Silva.

THE COUNTDOWN IS ON, to this Saturday’s Clash of the MMA Titans, as Affliction MMA officially jumps in to the deep end with their inagural event, BANNED, while the UFC aims to counter punch the upstarts by showcasing their pound for pound champ, Anderson Silva, on free tv.

Silva will test his pound for pound ranking by jumping up 20 lbs, from middleweight to light heavyweight, as he takes on knockout artist James ‘The Sandman’ Irwin in the UFC’s main event.  

Affliction’s Main Event will feature the mythical Russian, and once pound for pound king, Fedor Emelianenko, as he finally takes on somebody in the Top Ten, in former UFC Heavyweight Champion, Tim Sylvia.

Both cards are stacked with talent, and while most of the fighting will happen between the fighters, the action between the promoters is starting to boil over.  

We all know that Donald Trump, an equity partner with Affliction does not like to lose, so he is taking this battle against Dana White very seriously and has already launched a warning shot to the UFC frontman by saying the UFC is making a bad business decision with their free show and that Affliction has the better fighters. 

And lest we forget that there are two big name fighters paying close attention to what will unfold on Saturday night: First, Randy Couture, who is no doubt hoping that Fedor wins, as the Russian is one of the reasons he left the UFC, and of course, Tito Ortiz, who is less than two weeks away from becoming an unrestricted free agent.

Does Ortiz jump ship? Will Couture’s dream fight vanish? And will Anderson Silva still be regarded as the pound for pound champ?

We’ll find out, this Saturday night.

Controversy continues to surround Saturday’s main event at UFC 86, where the original Ultimate Fighter, Forrest Griffin,became the new UFC Light-Heavyweight champion, defeating Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson via a unanimous judges decision.

The judging in this fight is what is causing the uproar, as many analysts, including yours truly, scored the bout in nearly polar opposite fashion. The Nevada State judges unanimously agreed that Griffin won the fight, which is raising many eyebrows in the industry.

While Griffin did earn a 10-8 score for round two, the only other round he may have won, was round 5…and you could even argue this round was scooped up by Rampage.  No matter which way I scored this bout, I had it either 48-47 for Rampage, or at worst, 47-47, if you give Forest the 10-8 round, therefore making this bout a draw. How the judges saw it differently, especially one of them scoring it 49-46 for Griffin is beyond me.

Bottom line, a rematch is in order, and should Rampage defeat Griffin, this promises to be an historic trilogy that the UFC can take right to the bank.

Good news and bad news for Patrick Cote on Saturday night: the good news is that he defeated Riccardo Almeida earning him a shot at the middleweight title. The bad news: that’s a date with Anderson Silva, the man who has mopped up the division, anialating every middleweight who has challenged him in the Octagon.

UFC 86 is finally here, so let’s take a look at some of the big bouts on this card.

On Saturday Night, the long awaited, much anticipated UFC Light Heavyweight Title fight between champion Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson and the challenger, Forrest Griffin, goes down and the Mandalay Bay, in beautiful Las Vegas, Nevada.

Both of these fighters have not been in the Octagon since September of 2007, so with the obvious ring rust aside, let’s take a look at what each guy needs to do to be victorious.

For Griffin, he will have to impose his legendary pace on Rampage and do his best to tire out the champion. Forrest is a cardio machine and is relentless with his offense, as was evidenced in his bout vs Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua. Forrest needs to use his reach and keep Rampage at bay, pick the champ apart with precise strikes and go for broke.

We all know he can take a beating so if this fight does go to the ground, he’ll have to make sure he gets Rampage’s back and sink in a rear naked choke.

For Rampage, his submisison defence and awareness on the ground will have to be at an all time high. If we look back at his bout vs Henderson, we got to see how intelligent Rampage is on the ground by being aware of his surroundings and using the cage to reverse the position.

In the standup realm, Rampage will need to do what he does best…win every exchange with his powerful hooks and straight bombs. He also has exceptional takedowns and his ground and pound is ruthless.

Once he gets on top, he drives his hips to the mat, forcing all of his weight on top of his opponents making it very difficult to reverse the position.

Based on what I have seen from both of these guys, my money is on Rampage to remain the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion.