Could 2010 Be A Year Without A Title Change?

by E. Spencer Kyte on Dec 14, 2009 2:13 PM EST Comment 5 comments

After watching BJ Penn dominate another "toughest challenge yet" on Saturday night, it became undeniable that "The Prodigy" is without equal in the UFC Lightweight division, and that doesn't look as if it will change any time soon.

Penn's position at 155 pounds is similar to those of arch enemy Georges St-Pierre at welterweight and Anderson Silva at middleweight, where the champions sit atop divisions they have effectively cleaned out of contenders.

With 60% of the UFC titles in the hands of truly dominant forces, my latest article at heavy.com follows the course of the titular question above from the perspective of both the UFC and the fans.

For the UFC:

Despite the hard sell the UFC consistently and understandably delivers with each instalment of the UFC Countdown series, they are starting to feel a little disingenuous and there is little the company can do to remedy things.

Though there is always the possibility of a Matt Serra-type upset, the hype and praise heaped onto Sanchez felt forced before hand, and looks worse in the wake of Saturday’s destruction at the hands of BJ Penn.

For the Fans:

As fans, the situation is a Catch-22: while we’re getting to watch some of the best fighters in the history of the sport dominate their respective divisions, the title fights we normally turn to for suspense and intrigue are becoming foregone conclusions.

Ultimately, the real question that needs answering may not be whether or not a title will change hands in 2010, but how fight fans would feel about such a situation?

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So What?!?
HW Brock is going to have some challenges in Carwin, Velasquez and possible Mir rubber match since he packed on muscle, weight and power.

LHW Machida defeating Rua is not a foregone conclusion.

MW I’m a biased Anderson Silva fan but Belfort looks like a legitimate prospect. Marquardt, Who knows? For the most part, Anderson Silva will be the MW champion as long as he wants to be the champion.

WW GSP looks better than all his possible contenders BUT Hardy has a legitimate chance. Hopefully he’s learning how to stop takedowns. Koscheck has been making a strong argument for himself BUT he can’t beat Alves. And who else? I don’t know. I believe Fitch reached his peak. GSP will be the MW champion as long as he wants to be the champion.

LW Penn will be the MW champion as long as he wants to be the champion.

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by VeeisAnimated on Dec 14, 2009 4:04 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Just interested in the feelings and opinions of the fans…

I very much agree that Brock and Machida are not foregone conclusions, but the other three are in my opinion. No one will take their belts if they enter their title defenses healthy.

by E. Spencer Kyte on Dec 14, 2009 4:11 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

If history has taught us anything, and it hasn’t, no one is unbeatable.

by JonathanSnowden on Dec 14, 2009 7:32 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Agreed…

Chances are one of them will get caught by someone and a belt will switch hands, but Penn and Silva especially look without challenge, and GSP would too if there wasn’t the still very memorable Matt Serra incident.

Lesnar could be unstoppable if he comes back healthy and really was competing at less than 100%, and before the Shogun fight, people thought Machida would destroy everyone, so there is potential for no changes and that interests me to no end.

by E. Spencer Kyte on Dec 15, 2009 1:13 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Unbeatable

Yes, no one is unbeatable but between Silva and Penn . . . they’re extremely phenomenal.

Penn: Look at BJ Penn via his defeats. He’s only lost to champions. He owns a victory against two of the guys the defeated him, Jens Pulver and Matt Hughes. Matt Hughes did not dominate him at all in Rounds 1 and 2. GSP soundly pounded him out until his corner called it quits at the end of the 4th. That beating was a serious testament to his durability and endurance. And he went to decision against Lyoto Machida. A fighter who outweighed by about 20 or more pounds.

Silva: The interesting thing about Silva is that I hear some fans saying he’s cherry-picking his opponents at 205lbs. Fans with short memory tend to forget that Joe Silva could not find a guy that would compete against him on short notice, so he ended up with James Irvin. The Forrest Griffin fight at LHW was a true virtuoso performance . . . surreal because what happened looked so unreal. So much so that many people began to discredit Griffin, stating he was overrated. This is a guy that was supposed to match Silva in weight, height and strength. This was the guy that beat two huge credible stars from Pride in Quinton Jackson and Mauricio Rua. Former UFC champion, Frank Mir says he would be honored to step into the ring with Anderson Silva and then take his arm off his body.

GSP: Notwithstanding the memory of the Matt Serra loss, a strong argument can be made for GSP being unbeatable. He’s definitely on his way toward a 10+ fight win streak in the UFC. (Good Luck Dan Hardy)

Check out my recent MMA drawings on my blog, drop a comment, or subscribe via RSS for updates http://www.scritchandscratch.com/blog/?tag=mma

by VeeisAnimated on Dec 15, 2009 9:52 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

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