UFC Welterweight Division: Shaping Up Very Nicely
by Zach Krantz on Jun 17, 2009 12:28 PM EDT
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Two days ago on my lunch break I wrote a piece for this website. However, this is a very busy week at work and Monday was especially busy so I did not have time to edit it, tag it, link it, or any of that other good stuff I am learning to do. I figured hey, I'll do it later. I went to post the piece later in the day only to read Spencer's Piece about Mike Swick and the welterweight division. This made my piece entitled: UFC Welterweight Division, Who got Next? rather pointless. Thanks a lot man. Being that around 60% of my article (I know it is a blog post, let me call it an article damn it) was the same as Spencer's post. I began thinking of what I should do; should I write a brand new post, rebuttal Spencer's piece regarding our differences, or post it anyways? As I began reviewing my original piece and Spencer's piece I realized something. The UFC Welterweight Division is two fights away from having a long successful run with strong contenders. Seriously, no other division has the depth or strength that the welterweight division has. This is all the more surprising considering how hard it is to be competitive with George St. Pierre dominating the division. Unfortunately we have to go through one undeserving fight to get to the promise land.
Many times when the clear 1 vs. 2 fight each other it means we have tough times ahead. A clear 1 and 2 can often mean the 3, 4, and 5 ranked fighters are far behind. With the UFC Welterweight Division St. Pierre and Alves are the absolute 1 and 2 in my opinion and the 3 is far behind. However, here the 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 are all the same playing field. This potential for amazing contender fights has me amped up.
For sake of argument let us start after the UFC 100 fight and assume St. Pierre wins (no guarantee, Alves is for real). St. Pierre's next fight will be against Jon Fitch, Paulo Thiago, Mike Swick, or Martin Kampman and all of these fighters would still be one fight away from a title shot in my opinion. If Thiago beats Fitch (which he won't) I think he would get the shot. Thiago would only be 2-0 in the UFC, but he would have beat two top ten-ish welterweights in Fitch and Koscheck. I kind of hope he wins just so we can see the Swick/Kampman number one contender fight. Completely agree with other WKR writers when I ask that Swick does not fight Hughes.
After that foursome we still have fighters like Anthony Johnson, Josh Koscheck, Carlos Condit, Dan Hardy, Frank Trigg, Brock Larson and Dustin Hazelett (unless he turns into Sam Bowie) who are all two or three fights away from a title shot. Add this with the potential of signing Jake Shields and you have one stacked division. Unlike the Heavyweight Division the UFC has done a great job taking their time with this division and it has led to a plethora (websters whaaat) of good young fighters. Also, if Alves can keep his fight with St. Pierre close, relatively close, and has strong wins following the St. Pierre fight he could be looking at a quick rematch.
The only problem is the fight after UFC 100. Swick, Kampman, or the winner of Fitch/Thiago could be getting the call up. With the long list of future contenders beneath them a loss could drop them far down on the pecking order. Especially if the UFC throws Fitch in there and he loses his rematch. The only other options I can possibly see are the signing of Jake Shields (I do not think they would give him a title shot right away) or giving Matt Hughes a fourth fight. I do not think this will happen and I have no interest in the fight, but it would not completely shock me. Hughes has stated he does not want to be a gatekeeper, he is nearing retirement, and his only welterweight losses are to the champion and number one contender. The UFC could provide him with a potential going away present (assuming he loses) and give him one more shot at the title and St. Pierre.
Overall I cannot wait for the division to sort itself out. Personally I would love to see Hazelett make a run just because I am big fan, but which of these fighters do you see developing into the next champ/number one contender? Do you think there is a better division in the UFC and who do you think should get the next title fight after UFC 100?
P.S. This is all based on St. Pierre beating Alves. If Alves wins St. Pierre will need one win to get a rematch and the process can start over.
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thanks man. It is crazy though. I mean look at that list and there are still a ton of guys i do not mention who are either another fight away or still a draw based on their name: marcus davis, matt serra, dong, matt brown-? (ultimate fighter popularity), Yoshida, Karo, saunders. It’s nuts how deep the division is.
all these are worthy contenders but i would like to see silva vs gsp on new years…i know it would tie up both belts, however i think if they give a guy like swick a shot at gsp it wouldnt last long and gsp could have a quick turnaround and fight silva later in the year. they could also give silva okami finally in like october and he would be ready for gsp by new years.
the only problem is gsp would have to go up because i do not think silva would want to fight at welterweight, middleweight, and light heavyweight. One of GSP big advantages (besides being a nasty athlete) is his size at WW. He looses that advantage at MW. However, within a vacuum if you ignored scheduling problems that fight would be unbelievable.
I enjoyed this piece too… when I wrote it earlier in the week! OOOOOH… SICK BURN!
All immature jokes aside, we’re obviously in agreement that the UFC Welterweight division is crazy deep and shaping up nicely. Of all the guys out there, I see Alves being the next champion, either by upsetting GSP (which I don’t think will happen) or whenever GSP moves on, which could be never.
If Fitch keeps improving his stand-up, he’s a strong contender too, as is Kampmann. I really don’t believe how little love that dude gets… I want to see him and Swick in a #1 Contender match and hear all the groans when The Hitman dismantles Quick.
by E. Spencer Kyte on Jun 17, 2009 2:59 PM EDT reply actions
i hate you. In all seriousness you are right about Kampmann. I am not sure about him yet, but i clearly see the potential. He got rocked by marquardt and it was on the feet, so i am a little hesitant if you put a strong (physically strong, not talent strong) striker against him.
I think Marquardt gets underrated too. Dude is a seven-time King of Pancrase, the loss to Leites was dicey and other than that, he’s lost to Anderson Silva like everyone else.
If he gets by Maia – which is a very big IF – he’s the #1 contender in my books and the most deserving.
As for The Hitman, I think the drop in class was the best move for him. He was a small-ish MW; now he’s on par with everyone else in the division as far as size goes and he’s shown the skills to dominate bigger guys and some tough WW already.
And Zach, please don’t hate me…
by E. Spencer Kyte on Jun 17, 2009 4:05 PM EDT up reply actions
ever since Thiago beat Koscheck, he’s the Cinderella man in my opinion. i don’t see him having a shot in hell against any of the Wweights in the division…..but i’d still love to see him go far just for how he’s been thrown to the damn wolves. kampmann impressed me against Condit who is as dangerous a dude as any out there, it was a naaaaaaarrow win, but a “W” nonetheless. I think GSP’s wrestling cred beats Kampmann however.
Gatti. Dekkers. Pele. Aoki. Kang. Vanderlei.
http://theworldsoldestsport.blogspot.com/
by theworldsoldestsport on Jun 17, 2009 4:28 PM EDT reply actions
Marquardt lost the Leites fight for fouling the crap out of him with knees to the groin and such. that was an absurd fight. i am interested to see him fight Maia though. I’ve counted Maia’s lack of standup before, but damn if he didn’t dispatch of Chael with a quickness.
Gatti. Dekkers. Pele. Aoki. Kang. Vanderlei.
http://theworldsoldestsport.blogspot.com/
by theworldsoldestsport on Jun 17, 2009 4:29 PM EDT reply actions
larson is your next champ
put mike swick in against brock larson and you will get the next contender. larson by ground and pound. if he thought okami was strong larson will make him drop to 155
I like Larson a lot, but think he’s a couple more wins away from a shot just because he spent a whack of time in the WEC.
While he’s been winning impressively since coming back, he’s been doing his thing on the undercard for the most part and isn’t widely know by the masses (read: those who don’t ready sites like this) and so the UFC will want to build him up a little more before tossing him in there.
Swick might be a good matchup, though I’d personally like to see him against another strong grappler / wrestler like Kos…
by E. Spencer Kyte on Jun 17, 2009 7:25 PM EDT up reply actions
Larson needs to prove himself against a WW with wrestling as good as his. So far, he’s been able to impose his will as to where and how the fight takes place; that’s an incredible ability on its own, but it also tends to make a fighter look better than they may actually be because you never see the holes in their game. Consider if Velasquez had never stood with Kongo (takedown right off the bell, Kongo doesn’t get a chance to throw), or the inverse that Kongo and Velasquez never went to the ground. Each would paint a much different picture of the fighters involved, and you don’t truly know what a fighter is capable of until you see them fight through adversity.
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