UFC Welterweight Rankings

MMAWeekly is reporting that a weleterweight bout is nearing finalization between T.J. Grant and Dong Hyun Kim.  Originally, Dong Hyun Kim was set to face Canadian fighter Jonathan Goulet at the historic UFC 100, but Goulet was forced with withdraw due to a shoulder injury.  Meanwhile, T.J. Grant was expecting to face Rory Markham at Saturday’s Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale.  Markham also was forced off the card due to an injury. 

The UFC has decided to pit the two welterweights against one another at July 11th’s UFC 100 on the preliminary card. 

Kim is a strong Korean fighter who is 2-0-1 in the UFC.  He debuted at UFC 94 with an impressive win over Jason Tan, which he followed with a split decision win over Matt Brown.  At UFC 94, however Kim lost a split decision to Karo Parisyan which was later overturned into a no-contest. 

T.J. Grant (14-2) is a talented Canadian prospect who is 1-0 in the UFC with a big win over Ryo Chonan at UFC 97.

Author: The Notorious A.M.G.

1. It is rumored that Tamdan McCrory will face Jonathan Goulet at UFC 97 on April 19th in Montreal. (Source: MMAmania.com)

2. Phil Baroni will headline XMMA 7: “Inferno”  On February 27th, also, in Montreal. He will face Guillaume De Lorenzi. (Source: MMAmania.com)

3. ESPN.com reporter, George “Whatchu Talkin’ Bout” Willis, claims that a certain New York State Legislative body will be holding a session regarding the lifting of the ban on MMA in NYS tomorrow, January 7th. Very interesting. Read the full article here.

4. You like-a the Muay Thai? Then check out these 2 events: Friday Night Fights NYC on Jan 16th in NYC and Kayo Promotion’s Fight Night on Jan 24th in Hempstead, NY.

This is taking place at 170lbs. I give Goulet a lot of stick for having a glass jaw and if there is ever a debuting British welterweight then he is always the opponent I would like them to be given. I don’t dislike the dude, but I’d be shocked if he wasn’t KOed in the first here.

Round 1: I swear I didn’t write the above after watching the fight. Goulet was KOed within a minute. Proper eyes rolling into the back of the head job and he has trouble even standing up without falling down. Oh Jonathan…

Result: Swick, KO, R1, 33 seconds

Overall thoughts: All went as expected. Swick knocks people out an Goulet has a self-destruct button instead of a chin.

Rating: 22% If you like knockouts…

Quick Results:

• Josh Koscheck defeats Yoshiyuki Yoshida via knockout (Strikes) Round 1
• Mike Swick defeats Johnathan Goulet via TKO (Strikes) Round 1
• Steve Cantwell defeats Razak Al-Hassan via TKO (Referee stoppage due to Armbar) Round 1
• Tim Credeur defeats Nate Loughran via TKO (Referee Stoppage) Round 2
• Jim Miller defeats Matt Wiman via Unanimous Decision
• Luigi Fioravanti defeats Brodie Farber via unanimous decision
• Steve Bruno defeats Johnny Rees via submission (rear naked choke) in round two
• Ben Saunders defeats Brandon Wolff via technical knockout (strikes) in round one
• Dale Hartt defeats Corey Hill via technical knockout (leg injury) in round two
• Justin McCully defeats Eddie Sanchez via unanimous decision

Official Fight of the Night: Jim Miller vs. Matt Wiman

Official Submission of the Night: Steve Cantwell

Official Knockout of the Night: Josh Koscheck

• Josh Koscheck looked to be in a different league than Yoshiyuki Yoshida.  What a KO!  I hope he isn’t done with the UFC following his AKA troubles.  He showed he is improved and well rounded
• Mike Swick also impressed in his quick KO of Jonathan Goulet.  He is a serious contender ay 170.
• Steve Cantwell is known for good Muay Thai and striking, but this submission was sick.  If you didn’t see it check it out.  I think Al-Hassan’s arm is still in the octagon somewhere
• Jim Miller looked really, really good against a tough Matt Wiman.  I think Miller can contend one day for the title.  Remember, this fight was on very short notice.
• Tim Credeur has wild looping punches, but he was effective.  He is improving also.
• Ben Saunders was most impressive.  That was vicious.  Brandon Wolff got dominated.   I have never seen someone eat more knees and have a bigger knot on their head.  Wow.  Saunders impressed me.
• Prayers go out to Corey Hill who suffered a broken leg in his fight with Dale Hartt.  He had to be taken out in a stretcher.  More on this as news comes in
• The fight for the troops idea was worthwhile and handled well.  What a classy event that showed the spirit of MMA.  I liked Goldberg’s comments that the UFC is a “sport”, but the soldiers fight real life.  There are no ref’s, tapouts, etc. in battle.  Very true.  Even hardcore fans ought not loose sight of that.  Also, Rogan had some good political thoughts at the end about the “bulls***” of the bailouts of  GM and AIG vs. the worthwhile cause of the intrepid fallen heroes fund. 
• Overall, a great show with good fights.

Author: Warren Piece

UFC Fight Night; Fight for the Troops (in brief):

Jim Miller represented hardcore for the Tristate Area and took out the Handsome One (Matt Wiman)…on one week’s notice!

What started off as simply a battle to determine who has the worst old school haircut (Afro vs Ceasar), turned out to be so much more as Steve Cantwell snapped Razak Al-Hassan’s arm at the elbow! Find this fight video online if you missed it. 

Mike Swick reestablished his nickname by pummeling Jonathan Goulet’s face until the ref was forced to stop him at 4:27 of the first round! 

Hold-on, is it just me or is Ben Saunders suddenly the fucking clinch master?!?! Guess not, Rogan just said the same thing (great minds think alike). Anyway, I hearby renickname Saunders “Killa Knee.” Beat that Rogan! What’s with me and nicknames?

HOLY MOSES!!! In the main event, Josh Koscheck knocked Yoshiyuki Yoshida out so fucking bad, it was ridiculous! I just can’t do it justice with words.  Find this online NOW if you missed it.

Overall, this was a terrific Fight Night…totally exceeded my expectations.

FIGHTFORTHETROOPS.COM

 ·         UFC Fight Night 16: Fight For the Troops – Wednesday, December 10^th

This event is a special bonus for fight fans.  Also, it is a stand up gesture by the UFC.  Say what you want about Dana White and the UFC, but no other fight organizations show the benevolence that the UFC does.  The goal of these fights is to raise money for the Intrepid Fallen heroes Fund.  Click here to find out more or to make donations.  Not only is it a good cause, but there are several good fights.  We will see stars such as Josh Ksocheck, Mike Swick, Matt Wiman, Jim Miller, WEC champ Steve Cantwell, and Luigi Fiorvanti.  Tune in to SPIKE on Wednesday Night to watch this event. 

o   Josh Koscheck vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida

o   Mike Swick vs. Jonathan Goulet

o   Matt Wiman vs. Jim Miller

o   Steve Cantwell vs. Razak Al-Hussan

o   Liugi Fioravanti vs. Brodie Farber

o   Nate Loughran vs. Tim Credeur

o   Steve Bruno vs. Johnny Rees

o   Eddie Sanchez vs. Justin McCully

o   Ben Saunders vs. Brandon Wolff

o   Corey Hill vs. Dale Hartt

·         Adrenaline MMA 2 – Thursday, December 11

Some good fights on tap here.  The biggest enw may be the return of legend, Pat Miletich against Thomas Denny.  Also in action will be former IFL Heavyweight champ Ben Rothwell, rising Heavyweight star Mike Russow and several other notable fighters. 

o   Pat Miletich vs. Thomas Denny

o   Ben Rothwell vs. Chris Guillen

o   Mike Russow vs. Branden Bice

o   LC Davis vs. Billy Kidd

o   Mike Ciesnolevicz vs. Derrick Mehmen

o   Gabe Lemley vs. Dan Loman

o   Ryan McGivern vs. Geno Roderick

o   Pat Curran vs. Ramiro “Junior” Hernandez

o   Jesse Lennox vs. Ryan Williams

·         Mixed Fighting Alliance – Saturday, December 13

This boasts a solid main event between two heavyweight legends in Monson and Rodriquez.  The big news will be the debut of WWE star Bobby Lashley.  The question will be can he do what Lesnar has done? 

o   Jeff Monson vs. Ricco Rodriquez

o   Bobby Lashley vs. Joshua Franklin

o   Ariel Grandulla vs. David Baggett

·         The Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale – Saturday, December 13^th                   

I do not know of another TUF finale that I have been so excited about.  This season has all the 16 cast members fighting on this card.  Two exciting finals and two exciting bouts of non TUF cast members in Jason MacDonald vs. Wilson Gouveia and a re-match between Kevin Burns and Anthony Johnson.

o   Ryan Bader vs. Vinny Magalhes

o   Phillipe Nover vs. Efrain Escudero

o   Jason MacDonald vs. Wilson Gouveia

o   Anthony Johnson vs. Kevin Burns

o   Junie Allen Browning vs. Dave Kaplan

o   Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Shane Primm

o   Eliot Marshall vs. Jules Bruchez

o   Kyle Kingsbury vs. Tom Lawlor

o   Shane Nelson vs. George Roop

o   Rolando Delgado vs. John Polakowski

Josh Koscheck vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida

Koscheck is the obvious favorite here, but there has been a lot of drama in his life recently. Koscheck is coming off of a loss to Thiago Silva at UFC 90.  Also, there is all the drama that has been going on at AKA.  Koscheck apparently is right in the middle and will not sign the agreement.  Franklin McNeil, on MMA Live, speculated that this could be Koscheck’s last UFC fight win or loose.  I don’t know about that, but I do know he may have some distractions.  That has to affect him.  If it wasn’t for that I would clearly pick Kos to win.  Yoshida may be a good pick for some of our risky betters out there.  Yoshida is a well roudned fighter who looked very good against War Machine in his debut.  Yoshida is a solid judoka with well rounded MMA skills.  Koscheck is a wretler first, but has much improved striking skills.  Which Koscheck will we see?  There is a part of me which wants to pick Yoshida to win this fight, and he very well could, but the safe pick is still Koscheck.  I will pick Koscheck to win by unaimous decision.

Mike Swick vs. Jonathan Goulet

Goulet has looked better lately than he had before.  However, his lasts two wins came over Kuniyoshi Hironaka and Paul Georgieff.  He has a career 4-3 record in the UFC.  Goulet is a decent fighter who can be very aggressive, however Mike Swick is a legit top ten welterweight and could climb higher.  I do not expect Swick to fall of the horse against Goulet.  When it comes down to it I think Swick is better all around and I think he will take this fight by TKO in round 2.

 Matt Wiman vs. Jim Miller

The original fight was slated to be Wiman vs. Frank Edgar, however last week Edgar was forced to withdraw due to an injury.  Jim Miller is a solid replacement that many feel could really climb into elite status in the UFC.  Miller is a gamer.  He steps in on little notice against a very good opponent in Matt Wiman.  A lot of people forget that Wiman is 4-0 since coming off of The Ultimate Fighter Season 5.  Guys like Maynard, Diaz, and Lauzon have gotten all the attention from that season of TUF, but Wiman is right there with them.  This is a tough fight to pick.  Miller ought to have better wrestling and better jiu jitsu than Wiman.  Whereas Wiman ought to have better striking skills.  When it comes down to it one of the questions would have to be Miller’s cardio in stepping in near last minute.  Will it be a factor?  I see this as a tough fight between two guys climbing the ladder at 155.  In the end I think Miller wins it by decision.  However, watch for the submission and watch Wiman’s hands.

Steve Cantwell vs. Razak Al-Hussan

Cantwell is young and very underrated.  He was not expected to beat Stann in their second fight, but I have to believe that Cantwell got on the radar with his win over Stann.  Cantwell has great striking skills.  Cantwell appears to be fairly versatile as a fighter.  I have a feeling that this fight will stay standing and that Cantwell will win by TKO in round 1.

Nate Loughran vs. Tim Credeur

Nate Loughran is 1-0 in the UFC, with his win coming over Johnny Rees.  Loughran also boasts a 9-0 career record.  However, he is stepping in against a solid veteran in Tim Credeur.  Credeur did very will on the Ultimate Fighter 7, loosing twice in the semi-finals to Jesse Taylor and C.B. Dolloway.  Credeur is best known for his very good ground skills.  Loughran also has some ground skills, 8 of his 9 wins have come by way of submission.  I look for this fight to eventually hit the ground and to become very technical.   I look for Credeur to win by submission in round 2.

Luigi Fiorvanti vs. Brodie Farber

The military fans love Luigi Fiorvanti, the ex-marine.  Fiorvanti is coming off of a disappointing loss to Diego Sanchez.  Farber is also coming off of a heartbreaking loss to Rory Markham.  It appeared Farber was about to finish Markham off when Markham landed a head kick that KO’d Farber is highlight reel fashion.  I think Fraber is a solid fighter.  The loser of this fight very well could be out of the UFC.   I really think that Luigi will come pumped and ready to win for the fans at this one.  That is why I think that Fiorvanti wins this win by TKO in round 2.

Steve Bruno vs. Johnny Rees

Steve Bruno, who trains out of American Top Team is 0-1 in the UFC, with his loss coming to Chris Wilson.  Rees is also 0-1 in the UFC losing his bout to Nate Loughran.  This is another bout of the loser leaves the UFC.  Therefore, I pick Steve Bruno to win by decision.

Eddie Sanchez vs. Justin McCully

Sanchez will want this fight to stay standing.  McCully may just want to stand and trade as well.  If it stays on its feet I really expect Sanchez to pull out a win by KO or TKO and that is what I think will happen. 

Ben Saunders vs. Brandon Wolff

Wolff is a highly regarded fighter.  Saunder is a solid fighter and TUF 6 alum.  These guys could really go at it on Wednesday.  In the end I pick Wolff to win by decision.

Corey Hill vs. Dale Hartt

Corey Hill was expected to be a very good fighter and that is why the UFC has kept him around despite his inexperience.  He has no ground game, but he does have great Muay Thai.  The loser of this fight will be sent packing from the UFC.   I think Hill’s size will be the difference.  Corey Hill by TKO in round 1. 

Check out MMARated’s intwerview with Welterweight fighter Mike Swick who talks about the UFC vs. AKA situation and Jon Fitch, also his upcoming bout December 10th with Jonathan Goulet. MMArated always has good interviews!

The Champion: Georges St. Pierre

The Top Contender:  B.J. Penn & Thiago Alves

The Next Tier:

·         Jon Fitch

·         Josh Koscheck

·         Diego Sanchez

·         Karo Parisyan

·         Martin Kampmann

·         Mike Swick

·         Matt Hughes

·         Matt Serra

On the Rise: 

·         Yoshiyuki Yoshida

·         Dong Hyun Kim

·         Dan Hardy

·         Dustin Hazelett

Other Notables:

·         Marcus Davis

·         Chris Lytle

·         Yoshiyuki Yoshida

·         Chris Wilson

·         Dustin Hazelett

·         Ryo Chonan

·         Dong Hyun Kim

·         Akihiro Gono

·         Luigi Fiorvanti

·         Dan Hardy

·         Jonathan Goulet

·         Tamdan McCrory

·         Kevin Burns

·         Anthony Johnson

·         Rory Markham

·         Paul Taylor

·         Roan Carneiro

·         Brad Blackburn

·         Pete Sell

Scheduled Fights:

·         Josh Koscheck vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida at UFC Fight Night 16 on December 10

·         Mike Swick vs. Jonathan Goulet at UFC Fight Night 16 on December 10

·         Luigi Fiorvanti vs. Brodie Farber at UFC Fight Night 16 on December 10

·         Ben Saunders vs. Brandon Wolff at UFC Fight Night 16 on December 10

·         Steven Bruno vs. Johnny Rees at UFC Fight Night 16 on December 10

·         Anthony Johnson vs. Kevin Burns at TUF 8 Finale on December 13

·         Brad Blackburn vs. Ryo Chonan at UFC 92 on December 27

·         Marcus Davis vs. Chris Lytle at UFC 93 on January 17

·         B.J. Penn vs. Georges St. Pierre at UFC 94 on January 31 (For Title)

·         Jon Fitch vs. Akihiro Gono at UFC 94 on January 31

·         Karo Parisyan vs. Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 94 on January 31

·         Matt Arroyo vs. Dan Cramer at UFC 94 on January 31

·         Matt Hughes vs. Matt Serra April 2009

Match Ups I’d Like to See:

·         Dustin Hazelett vs. Chris Wilson

·         Martin Kampmann vs. Pete Sell

·         Thiago Alves vs. Georges St. Pierre/B.J. Penn

Other Thoughts:

·         When people talk about staked divisions they think of the UFC welterweight division.  The best welterweights are here.  There may be a handful of decent welterweights outside the UFC including Jake Shields, WEC’s Carlos Condit, Hayato Sakurai, Jay Hieron and Nick Thompson.

·         Jake Shields will likely land in the UFC.  That is what he wants and where he wants to be.  There are a lot of potential match ups here for him.

·         Thiago Alves will get a title shot in 2009 against the winner of Penn vs. St. Pierre.

·         Martin Kampmann signed a new contract and should fight at 170

·         B.J. Penn very well could become a fixture at 170 as he could vacate his lightweight title win or lose against St. Pierre.

Pour des raisons de santé qu’il ne veut pas discuter selon MMA Weekly. Je suis très déçu. Goulet avait un bon momentum après sa prestation au Centre Bell. J’espère qu’il se remettra rapidement.

Déjà il a un nouveau combat. Pas surprenant après sa super prestation lors de l’UFC 83 à Montréal. Il combattra le britannique Paul Kelly (7-0). Voici ce qu’il avait à dire selon UltimeFanatic.com :

“Je m’attends à livrer une guerre. C’est un brawler et moi, je suis un meilleur technicien que lui debout. Nous avons déjà établi un plan de match et je serai prêt pour la guerre, a déclaré Goulet. “Ma force et ma rapidité de frappe ne font qu’augmenter et je risque, encore une fois, d’impressionner les sceptiques. “Je n’ai encore une fois aucune blessure et ma préparation avec mes entraîneurs sera comme toujours – intense pendant environ 6 semaines. C’est déjà mieux que l’année dernière où je me battais parfois aux 2 semaines! Et puis j’avais déjà hâte de m’entrainer à nouveau et j’ai l’occasion de le faire pour un combat, alors je suis à nouveau de bonne humeur, “

Je lui souhaite bonne chance, je l’aime bien Goulet.

Georges St. Pierre when focused and determined is bad news for any welterweight.  That is bad news for Jon Fitch.  St. Pierre proved that the Serra knockout was a fluke.  Perhaps it showed that Matt Serra is good, but not that good.  I look forward to the Serra vs. Hughes fight.  Again, wow GSP is great when he wants to be.

Rich Franklin looked pretty good and is a class act.  He is what MMA is all about.  Rich can hang with most middleweights and win, this is his dilemna.  He can beat anyone in that divison except Anderon Silva.  Rich showed great talent escaping an arm bar and picking apart Lutter.

Travis Lutter, a jiu jitsu great has no cardio.  How in the world can you step into the octagon, get paid as a career to fight, and get tired after one round.  There is no excuse for that.  In my opinion Lutter can submit anyone, but he is not able to hang with strikers.  If he wants to fight in the UFC he needs to improve.

Michael Bisping looked great at middleweight, but come on he wasn’t fighting a top ten guy or even a top 20 guy at middleweight.  He looked like he was in great shape and he did great.  I’d like to see Bisping fight a top 15 type guys maybe Leben, Cote, or Almeida.

Nate Quarry looked fantastic.  If this indicates what he will be he will be dangerous.  Perhaps Quarry could fight Bisping.  He will get a top ten type guy now.  He looked fresh though, but he fought Starnes.

I considered Starnes a decent fighter.  Now I think he is not so much.  I can handle loosing.  I can handle a guy getting submitted or KO’s.  I can handle a guy getting KO’s bad or quickly, but running is ridiculous.  If I was Dana I would can Starnes right now.  He may have punched his ticket out of the UFC.  By the way Nate Quarry making fun of Starnes, doing the running man and the Screech was stinkin’ hilarious.  It made that fight worth watching.  How much do you want to bet Starnes’ leg isn’t hurting him as bad as his pride is?

Mac Danzig looked great.  After a little bit of a tough round 1 Mac came out and showed his experience and versatility.  He ought to get a tough level competitor now.  I’d like to see a Nate Diaz vs. Mac Danzig fight.  Mac will go far in the lightweight divison.  He did great against a good ground fighter. 

Didn’t see the undercard fights, but looks like MacDonald will stay near the 3-9 range in the middleweight divison.  Goultet earned fight of the night with a great fight and show of heart.  That Maia submission was sick, I wouldn’t want to fight him, he is here to stay and he climbed my rankings.  Jason Day impressed Dana White and may have earned a chance to hang around the UFC.  UFC 83 may have been a coronation of Cain Velasquez as the next great heavyweight, but time will tell.  I hear he looked real good.  Rich Clementi keep winning and climbing the rankings slowly.  If I was Dana White or Joe Silva Kalib Starnes, Charles McCarthy, and Travis Lutter would be done with their UFC careers.  Can them and sign someone who will fight. 

If any of my readers paid attention, they will see how great I did at picking these fights.  I was 10 of 11.  I missed the Maia vs. Herman fight and I nearly picked Maia.  This is not to brag because i usually am slighlty better than 60% or so.  At least for once I picked a card accuratley.  Can’t wait till UFC 84!

UFC 83, also known as “Serra vs. St. Pierre 2,” presents us with not only a clear sign that the creative minds at Zuffa took the month off, but also that rare occasion where roughly every opinion espoused online by fans of the sport sounds absolutely retarded.

On the one hand, you have the sure-fire infallibility of Serra in this clash. Everybody saw the way he knocked the Canadian around the octagon like, I don’t know, whatever an American would play with instead of a hockey puck. Based on that performance, this fight is a no-brainer — Serra by whatever-the-hell-he-pleases, clearly, and if you don’t agree with the people shouting this claim (in CAPS, that is,) you can be sure they will inform you that you are clearly a “goddamn faggot” or “stoopid fuck.” Possibly both.

Then there’s the pro-GSP camp who apparently are unique in having seen more than that one fight by GSP, and as such are aware that he has a tendency to step into the Octagon and do terrible things to whomever he fights in more-or-less any facet of the fight game. In fact, when you look at his other performances, you really start to see how thoroughly outclassed Matt Serra is. I mean, really, what are those idiots that are picking Serra to win even seeing that makes them think he has a chance of making it out of the first minute, let alone winning. You know, besides that time he TKO’ed GSP in their first meeting.

In reality, this is a deceptively good match-up between, potentially, the best fighter in the world and the most underrated fighter in the UFC, who, by the way, just happens to still hold the UFC belt after beating said best fighter. Is it really that unreasonable that Serra could pull off the upset again? No, not really. Will he do it?

No, not really.

Elsewhere on the card, you have the career-stalled Rich Franklin, who can likely hammer every fighter in the UFC’s Middleweight division with one notable exception, yet can’t seem to escape a fight with Anderson Silva with a win or a one-piece nose, highlighting a cast of TUF veterans and UFC also-rans. Kalib Starnes makes an appearance against Nate Quarry, best known for being knocked stiff by Franklin, which of course begs the important question “how the hell is Kalib Starnes still in the UFC?”

Also of note, Michael Bisping makes his 185 debut against Charles McCarthy, taking his popularity on the road now that the UFC has finally realized it looks really bad when a guy they want to promote as a future star still gets booed by a home-town British crowd, even when he’s one of the few across-the-pond fighters they have in the big show.

One Ounce of News’ Picks:
George St. Pierre def. Matt Serra by TKO (Round 2)
Rich Franklin def. Travis Lutter by TKO (Round 2)
Nate Quarry def. Kalib Starnes by KO (Round 1)
Charles McCarthy def. Michael Bisping by Decision
Mac Danzig def. Mark Bocek by TKO (Round 1)
Jason MacDonald def. Joe Doerkson by Submission (Round 2)
Rich Clementi def. Sam Stout by Submission (Round 3)
Kuniyoshi Hironaka def. Jonathan Goulet by Decision
Alan Belcher def. Jason Day by Decision
Ed Herman def. Demian Maia by Decision
Cain Valesquez def. Brad Morris by TKO (Round 1)

• I expect to see new title holders in every division but one and that is the middleweight.  All though Anderson could be challenged by Dan Henderson.  My picks for the title holders: Nogueira, Not sure about lightheavyweight, Anderson Silva, St. Pierre, and B.J. Penn.
• I expect to see a few more fighters signed to UFC contracts.  Highlighting the list: Matt Lindland, Gilbert Melendez, Jake Shields, and some other big name surprise
• I expect TUF to be a disappointment with Rampage Jackson getting a lot of camera time saying his crazy off the wall things
• I expect the middleweight division to get tougher
• I expect a few UFC stars to retire (Matt Hughes and Rich Franklin)
• I expect Sean Sherk to get another title shot, but B.J. Penn to beat him badly
• I expect the light heavyweight division to get crazier with guys like Machdia, Thiago Silva, Rashad Evans, and Shogun in the title mix.
• I expect Chuck Liddell to avenge his loss to Keith Jardine by summer
• I expect that Shogun is still only one fight away from a title shot, I think that my top ten in the lightheavyweight at the top ten at light heavyweight, perhaps not in that order.
• I expect Dan Henderson to try Anderson Silva like he hasn’t been tried in a while
• I expect Jon Fitch, Kenny Florian, Sean Sherk, Roger Huerta, Matt Lindland, and either Arlovski or Cro Cop to get a title shot. 
• I expect the former PRIDE guys to turn it around in the octagon
• I expect another solid fight from Wanderlai Silva, can you say rematch?
• I expect the Fedor vs. Randy fight to happen
• I expect other organizations to become more of a competition to the UFC
• I expect Dana White to say many more expletives on national television
• I expect TUF alums to suceed this year even more
• I expect Diego Sanchez to drop to lightweight
• I expect Brock Lesnar to be a middle of the road fighter
• I expect Brandon Vera to drop to lightheavyweight
• I expect Bisping to cry when he gets beat in middleweight
• I expect Tito to loose in the Apprentice