Weighing In: What's next?

WKR promised you more features and we decided to bring back "Weighing In."

Who should Anderson Silva fight first Dan Henderson or Nate Marquardt?

Nick Becker: I say neither. 

When you've been anointed by Dana White as the number one pound-for-pound fighter in the world, why shouldn't you have a say in who your next opponent is? 

Anderson Silva has made it clear a rematch with either Dan Henderson or Nate Marquardt  isn't something that he's particularly interested in right now and that they should have to fight to determine the true number one contender.  I say put Henderson/Marquardt on UFC 105 as the co-main event and let them (literally) fight it out.

Now, if someone put a gun to my head and made me choose between the two, I would go with Henderson.  He's the only guy to win a round against Silva and has tons of notoriety due to his "TUF" coaching stint.  He then followed that up with an epic K.O. of Bisping on the biggest PPV in company history.  It's also the better business decision for the UFC as a Silva-Henderson card would absolutely crush a Silva-Marquardt card in terms of PPV-buys.

Zak Woods: In my opinion they have both earned title shots and in that situation neither fighter should be thrown to the back of the line. 

Why not grant both fighters title shots. The UFC needs a main event for November, there's one contender. If Silva wins he can probably fight again in early 2010. Hopefully by that time Machida won't hold the belt at 205lbs. so then we can see Anderson make a permanent move.

Randy Couture should stay at heavyweight

Nick Becker: Absolutely.

During the UFC 102 main event it was evident to just about everybody that Couture has slowed down.  If he struggled to slip Nogueira's punches, how the heck can he compete against opponents that are undoubtedly quicker and more agile? 

The whole moving down to Light-Heavyweight to have "interesting" fights thing reeks of a money grab to me.  Sure, Couture signed a (by all accounts) lucrative deal with the UFC, but he knows that the big money match-ups lie in the 205lb division.  There was one big money match-up remaining for him in the Heavyweight division - Brock Lesnar - and since that rematch appears to be way off in the distance, Couture is probably not excited by the prospect of fighting his way back up the Heavyweight ladder.

And I'm sorry but anyone that thinks Couture could be competitive against Machida or A. Silva is kidding themself.

Zak Wodos: Couture's career is fighting against the worst opponent, time.

With the money the UFC is paying him, and Couture's pay-per view payout, he will want meaningful bouts that draw big PPV numbers. I don't see many mega-fights in the heavyweight division compared with the light heavyweight ranks.

Couture could fight Tito Ortiz, "Rampage" Jackson, Vitor Belfort, Rich Franklin, Dan Henderson, Wanderlei Silva, Lyoto Machida, "Shogun", Rogerio Nogueira, Rashad Evans and many more.

The one wild card would be Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic. If he beats Junior dos Santos then Couture may have one last fight at heavyweight.

UFC 103 will crush Mayweather/Marquez in PPV buys

Zak Woods: The rumor is that the initial date for the Mayweather card was performing so poorly they only sold 3,000 tickets. Yikes.

I don't think anyone is doubting that the UFC will out draw their boxing rival but what will be more interesting is by how much. If the UFC beats Mayweather by 50% oh boy all bets are off. Personally I would love to see what Dana White would do if the UFC outdrew them two to one.

Nick Becker: Crush? No.  Beat? Yes.

The UFC is riding a huge wave of success this year as I believe their average 2009 PPV buy-rate is around 1 million.  Rich Franklin can always be counted on to attract eyeballs, and with the right hype/promo pieces focusing on Vitor Belfort and his many amazing KO's, this card could come close to that figure.  Unquestionably, the hardcore fan views the under card as solid, but to the general public there isn't that big name participant who would help to elevate this card to "must-see" status. 

I don't know a ton about boxing, but I do know that Floyd Mayweather is the biggest name in the sport.  The renowned HBO 24/7 promo series has just kicked off and that may help this card capture some of the buzz that's been primarily absent thus far.  Right now, there is nowhere near the amount of hype one would expect from Mayweather's ballyhooed "comeback" bout. 

I say, UFC 103 --fueled by the incredible momentum built so far this year-- edges Mayweather-Marquez by less than 100,000 buys.