Who Needs Fedor- Heavyweights in UFC Ascend
Formerly Weak UFC Division Now Has talent of Lesnar and Carwin
Oct 1, 2009
It has only been only a couple of years from when Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski dominated a very shallow division for a few years. Their fight at UFC 61 was one of the worst in the organization’s history, and it hastened their exit. This turned out to be good fortune for the UFC, as we later found out Sylvia and Arlovski were not even top 10 talent. Around the same time they were leaving, the UFC added Brock Lesnar, Shane Carwin, and Cain Velasquez.
Velasquez, Carwin, and Lesnar Join UFC
Though all three fighters came with high praise, they were all unproven with little experience. All former wrestlers, they have combined to go 10-1 in the organization, with Lesnar holding the heavyweight title, and the biggest drawing card in the UFC. Carwin, who fights Lesnar for the title at UFC 106, has ended every fight in the first round. Add to the mix new young guns Junior Dos Santos, who dismantled Cro Cop recently, and Todd Duffee, who scored the fastest knockout in history in his debut, and the division now seems to have the much needed depth it previously lacked.
This couldn’t better timing for the UFC, which has suffered some hits lately in the other weight classes that were previously their strength Champs Anderson Silva and George St. Pierre are sidelined with injuries, most likely through the end of the year, while Rampage Jackson has apparently retired. B.J. Penn, the welterweight champion, has not been challenged in his weight class, though his impending matchup with Diego Sanchez is a marquee matchup. At light heavyweight, Machida has been has been a precision striker and counter puncher, but with very few finishes and electric fights. His matchup with Shogun Rua at UFC 104 in Los Angeles, does not figure to do big pay-per-view numbers. In fact, the light heavyweight division, previously the bulwark of the organization for years, looks pretty thin after the loss of Jackson and the pounding that Forrest Griffin took at the hands of middleweight champ Silva.
UFC 105 Headliners
The upcoming UFC 105 is being headlined by Randy Couture and Brandon Vera, two big names at heavyweight that have will drop to light-heavyweight for this matchup. If St. Pierre or Silva were healthy, they probably would have headlined this card. But Couture is a huge draw, and the card should do reasonably well, though, at this point, the undercard is not particularly compelling.
But the strength of the UFC lies in its depth and ability to provide stirring mma bouts without needing to have championship matches on every card. While the last three months of the year figure to be lacking in colossal matchups, the momentum its has gained in the last several events is not likely to slow appreciably. And their does loom some great heavyweight clashes that highlight the shows throughout the rest of the year.
