UFC champions a unique bunch
As UFC 104 approaches and Lyoto Machida gets set to take on Maurico ‘Shogun' Rua for the light heavyweight title, it dawned on me, that for the first time in a long time we have champions in each UFC division that all have a very special set of skills, and all seem very unique in their own way.
Let's start at the bottom. BJ Penn, the lightweight champion, has unreal boxing skills and unreal Jiu Jitsu skills, plus he plain just brawls. Out of all the current champions in the UFC Penn might be the least unique, but for his weight at 155lbs, he's head and shoulders above everyone else in the division. There isn't a fight at 155lbs that Penn isn't favoured in. He's that good.
Georges St. Pierre has the best wrestling in MMA, and can you believe he never even wrestled until he started training to fight?! St. Pierre is one of the most dominant ground fighters and has already cleaned out the 170lb division. There isn't any matchup at this division for GSP that is interesting other than rematches, or possibly a fight with someone who isn't inside the UFC. A lot of people are calling for GSP to move up to 185lbs for a new challenge, and many want him to see him fight the next guy on my list.
Anderson Silva refuses to lose. He has the most accurate striking in the fight game, and he has never lost under the UFC banner. The way that Anderson moves in the octagon is absolutely crazy, he's very unique and special in his footwork and virtually takes no damage when he fights, yet he inflicts so much damage on others. Watch his fight against Forrest Griffin, when Anderson went up a division to look for a new opponent, as there were no interesting fights at his natural weight until the UFC brought in Vitor Belfort to pose a challenge. The other two fighters that Anderson could fight and have it be interesting are Dan Henderson and Nate Marquardt, two guys he's already beat.
At 205lbs it's been a rollercoaster ride of champions since Chuck Liddell lost the belt to Quinton ‘Rampage' Jackson. Forrest Griffin won it from Jackson, Rashad Evans won it from Griffin, and Machida took it from Evans and that's where we sit now. Though Machida has yet to defend his belt, (he takes on Rua at UFC 104 as his first defense) he is already considered unbeatable. While most UFC fighters have a background in wrestling, kickboxing, Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai, Machida has a very different background with karate. Machida is really the only person in recent history that has been successful with a karate background, using the simple strategy of not taking damage, while inflicting enough damage to win. It's worked so far as “The Dragon” is undefeated.
Let's start at the bottom. BJ Penn, the lightweight champion, has unreal boxing skills and unreal Jiu Jitsu skills, plus he plain just brawls. Out of all the current champions in the UFC Penn might be the least unique, but for his weight at 155lbs, he's head and shoulders above everyone else in the division. There isn't a fight at 155lbs that Penn isn't favoured in. He's that good.
Georges St. Pierre has the best wrestling in MMA, and can you believe he never even wrestled until he started training to fight?! St. Pierre is one of the most dominant ground fighters and has already cleaned out the 170lb division. There isn't any matchup at this division for GSP that is interesting other than rematches, or possibly a fight with someone who isn't inside the UFC. A lot of people are calling for GSP to move up to 185lbs for a new challenge, and many want him to see him fight the next guy on my list.
Anderson Silva refuses to lose. He has the most accurate striking in the fight game, and he has never lost under the UFC banner. The way that Anderson moves in the octagon is absolutely crazy, he's very unique and special in his footwork and virtually takes no damage when he fights, yet he inflicts so much damage on others. Watch his fight against Forrest Griffin, when Anderson went up a division to look for a new opponent, as there were no interesting fights at his natural weight until the UFC brought in Vitor Belfort to pose a challenge. The other two fighters that Anderson could fight and have it be interesting are Dan Henderson and Nate Marquardt, two guys he's already beat.
At 205lbs it's been a rollercoaster ride of champions since Chuck Liddell lost the belt to Quinton ‘Rampage' Jackson. Forrest Griffin won it from Jackson, Rashad Evans won it from Griffin, and Machida took it from Evans and that's where we sit now. Though Machida has yet to defend his belt, (he takes on Rua at UFC 104 as his first defense) he is already considered unbeatable. While most UFC fighters have a background in wrestling, kickboxing, Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai, Machida has a very different background with karate. Machida is really the only person in recent history that has been successful with a karate background, using the simple strategy of not taking damage, while inflicting enough damage to win. It's worked so far as “The Dragon” is undefeated.
At heavyweight Brock Lesnar is king. The way that man moves for his size is completely marveling. It's very freakish to see. While he is still very ‘green' to the sport, his greatest asset is his size. With a championship wrestling background, Lesnar has a solid base to build off of, but when you look at him, he just looks like a monster, now that he has put some skill behind that raw ability he's a force to be reckoned with.
