FWP: St-Pierre vs. Alves

Good lord I'm dying to see this fight and only a small part has to do with the amount of Canadian pride that swells up inside me every time GSP demolishes another contender.

Mostly, it has to do with what an intriguing match-up this fight should be, pitting Alves' dangerous striking and solid takedown defense against MMA's most complete fighter.

Enough preamble, let's get to it.

Georges St-Pierre (18-2) vs. Thiago Alves (22-4)

Throw the "Which camp is better?" angle right out the window, as Jackson's MMA (along with Firas Zahabi) and American Top Team are the 1 and 1A of Mixed Martial Arts training camps today.

Stylistically, we could be in for some fireworks, as well as some awkward moments too. As both come from outstanding camps, there is very little chance that a flash knockout is going to occur; both will be dutifully prepared for the surprises the other may have planned.

The awkward moments may come from attempted and stuffed takedowns, as well as St-Pierre's outstanding footwork when dodging Alves' attacks. I honestly believe the first round will be all about both fighters finding their range. From there on out, expect excitement as Alves looks for angles and St-Pierre looks for, well, everything, since he brings a full toolbox into every fight.

I spent a lot of time pouring over the common opponents a couple weeks back at Watch Kalib Run and I encourage you to read the article. The end result is that while GSP has better overall results - Jon Fitch beat Alves and we all know what GSP did to Fitch - I really believe Alves is a more complete and dangerous fighter now than he was against Fitch and he shouldn't be taken lightly.

Bottom line: this has all the makings of Fight of the Night, just as Henderson and Bisping before them does as well and probably more so than the Main Event of the evening.

Predictions come on Saturday.


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The UFC 100: The Fantastic 40's

With the upcoming declaration of #50 in the UFC 100, we officially reach the midway point of the list. What have you thought so far?

Fifty fighters of differing popularity, success, pedigree and abilities remain after the midway point and the debates are only going to get better. Now, we're getting into that territory where your favorite fighter's name might appear and it might be too low for your liking.

In fact, I hope it is ... seriously, I love debates.

50. Mark Kerr
UFC Record: 4-0
Victories Over: Guys You Don't Know

Kerr is one of the fighters I found hardest to rank in this list. On one hand, he went undefeated in the UFC, earning the Heavyweight Tournament title at both UFC 14 and UFC 15. On the other hand, if I told you the guys he beat (Moti Horenstein, Dan Bobish, Greg Stott and Dwayne Cason) you would look at me like I'm talking Klingon, and with good reason. The result: Fighter #50.

49. Josh Koscheck
UFC Record: 10-4
Victories Over: Yoshiyuki Yoshida, Chris Lytle, Diego Sanchez

If he's not there already, Koscheck has a long career ahead of him as the UFC Welterweight division's gatekeeper and his track record proves it. Outside of the win over Diego Sanchez, the TUF 1 alum comes up short against the upper tier (GSP, Thiago Alves) but is more than a handful for anyone else. Great wrestling and a love affair with his striking make him a perfect candidate for the job Matt Hughes so desperately doesn't want.

48. Thiago Alves
UFC Record: 9-2
Victories Over: Josh Koscheck, Matt Hughes, Karo Parisyan

Georges St-Pierre's toughest competition to date has been steamrolling people for the last three years, last taking a loss in June 2006 to Jon Fitch. The American Top Team member has had a couple of run-ins with weight issues, but on the whole, Alves has proven time and again that he is a handful inside the cage.

47. Mike Swick
UFC Record: 9-1
Victories Over: Marcus Davis, Joe Riggs, Ben Saunders

This is what happens when you change weight classes mid-stream; you have to go back down the ladder and fight your way up, so while your record is impeccable, the level of competition isn't the same as some fighters have faced. Get Win #10 over Martin Kampmann in September and we'll talk.

46. Nate Marquardt
UFC Record: 7-2
Victories Over: Wilson Gouveia, Martin Kampmann, Jeremy Horn

One loss came to a guy who literally beats everyone (Anderson Silva) and the other came through point deductions helping the other guy (Thales Leites). Other than that, Nate Marquardt has made quick work of some very talented opponents and has a chance to put an end to Demian Maia's winning streak inside the Octagon at UFC 102 in August.

45. Yushin Okami
UFC Record: 7-1
Victories Over: Dean Lister, Evan Tanner, Mike Swick

The red-headed stepchild of the UFC Middleweight division, no one knows what to do with Okami. He's as talent a fighter as they come and has beaten everyone Joe Silva has put in front of him, save for Rich Franklin, but he can never stay healthy long enough to get the title shot many believe he truly deserves.

44. Carlos Newton
UFC Record: 3-4
Victories Over: Pete Spratt, Pat Miletich

Everyone remembers Carlos Newton for one thing: the power bomb. What they might not remember is that Newton was the defending Welterweight champion in that fight, having beaten Pat Miletich earlier in the year for the belt. Long before Rampage was doing the same to Ricardo Arona, Newton was on the receiving end of a Matt Hughes power bomb to end his reign as champion.

43. Kevin Randleman
UFC Record: 4-3
Victories Over: Maurice Smith, Pedro Rizzo, Renato Sobral

Randleman could have been one of the greats in my opinion, but injuries, suspensions and controversy prevented it from happening. In seven UFC fights, "The Monster" beat a former HW champ (Smith), earned the heavyweight title over Petey Williams and gained victories over the previously ranked "Babalu" and the very tough Pedro Rizzo. Those three losses? Bas Rutten, Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell.

42. Tank Abbott
UFC Record: 8-10
Victories Over: Paul Varelans, Steve Jennum

Long before he made a guest appearance on Friends or "fought" for WCW, Tank Abbott was as dangerous as they came inside the cage. That is, if the other guy was willing to stand and trade. Abbott could knock anyone out, but as his brief list of notable wins and extensive list of namebrand losses shows, if you made it more than a street fight, chances are you got the best of one of the true UFC originals.

41. Diego Sanchez
UFC Record: 10-2
Victories Over: Clay Guida, Joe Stevenson, Joe Riggs

I know what you're thinking - a guy already ranked here today beat him (Koscheck) and he's switched weight classes like another (Swick), so how is Diego Sanchez ranked so high? Unlike Swick, Sanchez walked into the lightweight division and beat Top 10 competition right off the bat. As for the Koscheck loss, I'll say this: Sanchez destroyed Kenny Florian to become The Other Ultimate Fighter Season 1 winner and we haven't seen Ken-Flo on this list yet.

Only 40 more fighters to go. Any early predictions on the Top 10? Top 5? #1?

Track back to see what you missed with the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's.

History is only five days away.

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The Official "Bring Back Mayhem" Petition

This is an open petition to Dana White and the UFC.

I want to see Jason "Mayhem" Miller back in the UFC. Not because he's the host of a really, really bad reality TV show on MTV where he is paid to act like a cartoon version of himself, but because there is unfinished business to be handled and the entertainment value of it all.



We'll start with the second half of that equation, the entertainment value. For my money, there isn't a more entertaining entrance for a fight than a Mayhem entrance. While the UFC doesn't have the same ramp intros as they do in various other organizations, there is still a long walk to the ring and having the entertaining Mayhem and Co. breakdancing to the ring to "Dance Monkey" or breaking out the ceremonial Chinese dragons would get everyone's attention and be a ratings winner.

Now onto the more important part of the petition: the unfinished business.

Back in 2005, Mayhem and current Welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre had an epic, bloody battle. After losing by Unanimous Decision, Mayhem had some complaints about GSP being a little greasy. Now, in the post-Greasegate Era, Mayhem has renewed those objections and there is only one way I know of for fighters to settle their differences...

This works on so many levels!

Once GSP gets through with Thiago Alves - and he will get through with Thiago Alves - there isn't anyone on the immediate horizon in the Welterweight division worthy of a title shot.

We get a rematch of an epic bout and all that yapping Mayhem has been doing about GSP greasing can get resolved once and for all with what would hopefully be a great fight.

Of course, Mayhem has some unfinished business with Jacare for the DREAM Middleweight belt and he's fighting at 185 now, but still...

Add your name in the comments section if you want more Mayhem!


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Weighing In on Weight Cutting

As is often the case, reading something somewhere else has inspired my thoughts here at K2 for the day.

I read an interesting take on weight cutting in Mixed Martial Arts on MMA Junkie. Basically, the thought put forward by fellow Canadian MMA fan from Ottawa was that reforms to process of making weight need to be made. The writer believes this will lead to fewer fighters gassing, promote healthier fighters all-around and more attention being paid to their skills as mixed martial artists than honing their abilities to cut weight.

The problem - as I see it - is that if you want to institute weight-cutting reforms, than new weight classes need to be introduced universally as well. Fighters don't always walk around fitting into the weight classes that are established and guys like Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin need to cut weight to make the 265 lbs. heavyweight maximum.

While I agree that cutting weight is a somewhat dangerous activity and detrimental to one's long-term health, it's not as if these fighters are going through the process unsupervised and with reckless abandon.

This is something they have been doing for an extended period of time and they know how their bodies react. Managers, trainers and teammates are right there along side of the fighters, presumably, to ensure that making weight never comes at the expense of overall health.

Furthermore, it's not as if anyone is forcing these fighters to fight at the weight they do. Thiago Alves chooses to cut close to 30 pounds to fight at 170 and when he misses weight as he did in the Matt Hughes fight, he forfeits a portion of his prize money. That is the risk he decides to take so that he can be one of the biggest guys in the weight class. He could easily move up to 185 and still be pretty solid, but he picks to cut the weight.

While I would love to see fewer fights like the Mark Coleman - Shogun Rua gas-out fest, that had far more to do with both fighters having an absolute lack of cardio than cutting weight leaving them with no energy.

For the most part, guys in the upper echelon and the top flight organizations know what they are doing and cut weight without any problems.

So long as a fighter can safely make their fighting weight and penalties are in place when someone fails to do so, I don't see a reason for change.
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