Whats up next for UFC HW div?

By Jason Kelly

Brock Lesnar’s kingdom was taken over at UFC 121, where Cain Velasquez followed suit of his sponsor and Dethroned Royalty, rattling the ranks enough to stir things up. Though we know Cain’s next opponent will be Junior Dos Santos (JDS), the rest of the heavyweight division seems to be open for the taking. There has been no mention of a particular number one contender match, allowing UFC heavyweights to prove themselves to Joe Silva and Dana White as to why they deserve the subsequent title shot.

Perennial names such as Frank Mir and Rodrigo Nogueira come to mind, also Lesnar is not far removed from the title scene, but what about the match ups to conceive a title shot? Shane Carwin was scheduled to fight Roy Nelson at UFC 125 but, as recent as yesterday we learned Carwin will not be competing due to an injury, a fight that would have gave insight as to who will fight the champion, with Carwin out, this creates more options for UFC match-maker Joe Silva. Nelson recently underwent surgery and he requested a fight against Nogueira, who also just completed surgery, which makes this fight probable now that Carwin is injured. Succeeding in that fight does not automatically warrant a title shot, depending on the performance of the victor and the performance of their weighty peers, is what I believe could justify a title shot. Deciding the matches that will produce the next number one contender for Cain’s belt, after JDS, is even more complicated considering the top heavyweight fighters have gone 1-1 in their last two fights.

Although most of the heavyweight matches in the future may be undecided, one that has to be prominent in Dana White’s mind is Frank Mir vs. Brock Lesnar 3. The fight has all the tools to sell; Mir knows how to sell a fight, and Brock himself, sells a fight. The financial aspect of that fight makes more sense than bacon and eggs together, but is that what the fans want?

Lesnar fighting Mir can be sold on numerous levels, the rubber match, the grudge match, and potentially the number one contender match. If one of them were able to absolutely tear down the other, then a title fight for the winner would make sense, and not many other opponents are available for either of them besides each other, but besides Brock being one fight removed from the belt, neither one have a strong case for a belt shot, if they’re peers show and prove.

Brendan Schaub showed and proved against Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 121, he followed up his victory by requesting Frank Mir, and I must add it was in a respectful manner, but I do not think Schaub will have his wish granted. There is too much money involved in a Lesnar, Mir rematch. However, I do envision Schaub fighting Stefan Struve if Struve is victorious in his next bout, a fight I find very interesting, both tall fighters with the flair to put on a blazing show for the fans. Neither guy is in the vicinity of a title shot but, they both are a breath away from a top 5 competitor fight, and with Cheick Kongo’s sub-par showings and Todd Duffee being cut, along with a few newcomers who have not made it off the preliminary card, Schaub vs. Struve seems to fit perfectly, providing Struve wins his next fight.

A lot of what happens with the next heavyweight number one contender has a lot to do with Brock Lesnar. If the inevitable happens immediately and Brock does fight Mir, I expect the winner to fight for the belt after JDS has his turn. If that fight does not take place, it will be very interesting to see how the heavyweight division plays out. Velasquez and JDS are up next, followed by a slew of “what ifs”, eventually Carwin will be back, and we cannot forget the guys on the come up. Joe Silva has a lot of work to do, and Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir will be the deciding factor in who fights who in the boggled UFC heavyweight division. And if that is the direction the UFC leans towards, using the draw power and money angle, wrap your head around this possibility; The Ultimate Fighter 13: Lesnar vs. Mir.


http://www.mmareligion.com/site2/?p=1059

This article is too long and not enough pictures for me follow along.
So I'll just respond to the topic.
HW division is in a good place. You finally have the best fighter as champ. You have battle of young guns who are undefeated in the UFC lined up for the next title fight. You have a handful of other contenders fighting to get shot with Mir, Nelson, Carwin and Brock. UFC HW division is in a good place.

^ second that

There isn't another UFC HW match scheduled until Decebmer 11th so that division is goona be sleepy for a while.

I'll play Joe Silva.

Matches already made (crazy, these are really the only somewhat solidly announced fights right now).
Cain vs JDS
Stefan Struve vs Sean McCorkel


Matches to be made in the future
Brock vs Mike Russow - He has to win a fight to set up another title shot, imperative to the UFC right now.
Roy Nelson vs Frank Mir - No Brainer.
Shane Carwin vs Ben Rothwell
Big Nog vs Matt Shuab
Matt Mitrione vs Cheik Congo
Travis Browne vs Jon Madsen
Cro Cop vs Gonzaga rematch

Why not give Mir to Schaub and let Nelson fight Minotauro?

GDPofDRC wrote:

There isn't another UFC HW match scheduled until Decebmer 11th so that division is goona be sleepy for a while.

I'll play Joe Silva.

Matches already made (crazy, these are really the only somewhat solidly announced fights right now).
Cain vs JDS
Stefan Struve vs Sean McCorkel


Matches to be made in the future
Brock vs Mike Russow - He has to win a fight to set up another title shot, imperative to the UFC right now.
Roy Nelson vs Frank Mir - No Brainer.
Shane Carwin vs Ben Rothwell
Big Nog vs Matt Shuab
Matt Mitrione vs Cheik Congo
Travis Browne vs Jon Madsen
Cro Cop vs Gonzaga rematch

Let me play Joe.
Brock vs Mir- win or lose the UFC gets 1 more pay day from Brock. Favorable matchup for Brock anyway.
Nelson vs CC- CC is right he is good enough to make it interesting. The names alone make it interesting.
Nog vs Carwin- winner gives you another "name" at the top of the division.
Russow vs Mitrione
keep Schaub on deck for when one of the above gets injured.

Brock vs Rothwell.

Carwin vs Nog.

Mir vs Nelson.

Schaub Cro Cop?

With carwin out I hope, Brock doesnt make a lame climb back up!
Knowing Dana he will give him 2 weak fights an out of know where he will be next in line for another title shot???

r3dman7630 wrote:

With carwin out I hope, Brock doesnt make a lame climb back up!
Knowing Dana he will give him 2 weak fights an out of know where he will be next in line for another title shot???

he'll still get squashed IMO

IMO you have to give Brock a big name/high selling fight. You can't risk losing what selling power he has left. People still want to see how Brock will respond. I think Brock vs Mir 3 is setup perfectly by this. That fight will sell the most, that fight also is favorable to Brock at the same time. IMO that is the smartest move by the UFC.

I dunno, Im kind of sick of Brock vs Mir. I like trilogies when they are warranted but this one is not. 3 out of 8 fights against a single opponent is absurd. Though I do think Mir has a much better chance then I had previously believed. He'll go in as cocky as ever, but Brock will be going in with 1/2 the confidence as their previous fights.

captain organic wrote:

I dunno, Im kind of sick of Brock vs Mir. I like trilogies when they are warranted but this one is not. 3 out of 8 fights against a single opponent is absurd. Though I do think Mir has a much better chance then I had previously believed. He'll go in as cocky as ever, but Brock will be going in with 1/2 the confidence as their previous fights.

Do you think there is any fight out there(that isn't a title fight) that would sell more PPV(involving Brock)? I don't think it is even close. I have a couple buddies(casual fans) that swear Brock already fought Mir 3 times.

OU wrote:

captain organic wrote:

I dunno, Im kind of sick of Brock vs Mir. I like trilogies when they are warranted but this one is not. 3 out of 8 fights against a single opponent is absurd. Though I do think Mir has a much better chance then I had previously believed. He'll go in as cocky as ever, but Brock will be going in with 1/2 the confidence as their previous fights.

Do you think there is any fight out there(that isn't a title fight) that would sell more PPV(involving Brock)? I don't think it is even close. I have a couple buddies(casual fans) that swear Brock already fought Mir 3 times.

I know it's about what sells best, but personally, I'm bored of that matchup.


Brock vs Nog.

I'd rather see Brock vs Nog or Nelson then Mir again

Brock vs Nog would be interesting to say the least...

captain organic wrote:

OU wrote:

captain organic wrote:

I dunno, Im kind of sick of Brock vs Mir. I like trilogies when they are warranted but this one is not. 3 out of 8 fights against a single opponent is absurd. Though I do think Mir has a much better chance then I had previously believed. He'll go in as cocky as ever, but Brock will be going in with 1/2 the confidence as their previous fights.

Do you think there is any fight out there(that isn't a title fight) that would sell more PPV(involving Brock)? I don't think it is even close. I have a couple buddies(casual fans) that swear Brock already fought Mir 3 times.

I know it's about what sells best, but personally, I'm bored of that matchup.


Brock vs Nog.

When it comes to Brock and the UFC, damn right it comes down to sales. I'm not saying what I personally want to see, just what makes the most sense for the UFC IMO.

You guys know it's Brenden Schaub, right? Not Matt Schaub, he's a quarterback. Pretty sure he'd die.

chorky777 wrote:

You guys know it's Brenden Schaub, right? Not Matt Schaub, he's a quarterback. Pretty sure he'd die.

No shit Sherlock

killerofchicken wrote:

chorky777 wrote:

You guys know it's Brenden Schaub, right? Not Matt Schaub, he's a quarterback. Pretty sure he'd die.

No shit Sherlock

Well GDP's OP says Matt and not Brenden. I didn't pay enough attention to catch it.

OU wrote:

killerofchicken wrote:

chorky777 wrote:

You guys know it's Brenden Schaub, right? Not Matt Schaub, he's a quarterback. Pretty sure he'd die.

No shit Sherlock

Well GDP's OP says Matt and not Brenden. I didn't pay enough attention to catch it.

thats the thing, everybody knows he meant Brenden lol

chorky777 wrote:

You guys know it's Brenden Schaub, right? Not Matt Schaub, he's a quarterback. Pretty sure he'd die.

lol. Thanks. I know only 3 Schaubs in this world
Brandon
Matt
Charles

GDPofDRC wrote:

chorky777 wrote:

You guys know it's Brenden Schaub, right? Not Matt Schaub, he's a quarterback. Pretty sure he'd die.

lol. Thanks. I know only 3 Schaubs in this world
Brandon
Matt
Charles

Not to be confused with Stump The Schwab.

Talk to Chuck

Interesting little write up on UFC's big man division. Covers the 29 HW's on the roster currently, #29-#15 anyways..

http://mma5roundwar.wordpress.com/2010/10/27/ranking-the-ufc-heavyweight-division-worst-to-first/

Under my count, the UFC currently has 29 heavyweights under contract listed on their website. I’m not counting James McSweeney due to his recent drop down to the 205 pound division, but everyone else is listed below. Without further adieu, let’s get started.

Not Applicable

29. Antoni Hardonk

The Dutch kickboxer has been relatively quiet since his defeat at the hands of Pat Barry at UFC 104. In interviews he has stated that he has a desire to retire and has been focusing more on the coaching aspect of mixed martial arts lately. Assuming that all of this is true and final, Hardonk will go down as a decent mixed martial artist during his career. He had professional kickboxing experience which led to a dynamite stand up game, but his ground game was lacking. He was a worthy opponent for most and will be remembered as such if his decision to retire is final.

28. Heath Herring

Like Hardonk above not much has been heard from the Texas Crazy Horse since his defeat by the hands of Brock Lesnar at UFC 87. He was scheduled to fight Cain Velasquez at UFC 99 but he had to pull out of the fight at the last moment due to an undisclosed injury. Herring repeatedly spoke out against the low pay recieved by the fighters within the UFC and made it known that he much preferred working in the movie business, where he was making substantially more money for much less work and sacrifice. The durable heavyweight fought a who’s who of the world’s best while in Japan and continued that streak once he fought within the Octagon. Herring would be a welcome addition to the heavyweight roster of the UFC as a litmus test for those looking to break into the upper echelons of the division.

Waiting for Their Walking Papers

27. Anthony Perosh

The state of Perosh is not entirely known at this point. He had always fought at 205, but stepped up to fight Mirko Cro Cop at UFC 110, in his home country of Australia, after Ben Rothwell pulled out two days before the fight due to a bout with travelers sickness. Taking the fight on such short notice against such a high profile opponent outside of his weight class was sure to earn the gritty Australian another opportunity within the UFC. However since his one sided beat down against the Croatian, little has been heard of Perosh or his future intentions within the organization.

26. Mark Hunt

Once the UFC bought out the rival organization PRIDE, they became contractually obligated to the fighters under the Japanese companies banner. Years came and went and finally the UFC announced a fight for the 265 + behemoth from New Zealand against Sean McCorkle at UFC 119. Multiple times leading up to the fight, Dana White was lambasted for signing the heavyweight, with an overall MMA record of 5-6. White had wanted to simply buy out the remaining fights of Hunt’s contract but the former kickboxer would have none of that. It is unsure if Hunt is contractually guaranteed another fight within the UFC after his first round submission loss to McCorkle at 119 or if his stint with the premier mixed martial arts organization is up.

25. Chris Tuchscherer

Based out of Brock Lesnar’s UFC DeathClutch gym in Minnesota, the stout wrestler is standing on uneasy ground within the UFC. He lost his debut fight to Gabriel Gonzaga, thanks in part to a brutal groin kick that had American men across the nation wincing in pain. He followed the loss up with a majority decision win over Tim Hague and a knockout loss to Brendan Schaub. With his UFC record standing at 1-2, it is unknown whether he will get another chance with the organization. He has a solid wrestling base and is obviously heavy handed but his limitations as a fighter are apparent. His jiu-jitsu is basic at best and his slow plodding style makes him an easy target for the faster strikers of the division.

24. Vinicius Querioz

The 6’7” Brazilian made his UFC debut earlier this month against fellow newcomer Rob Broughton in England. He was winning the fight until he gassed midway through the second round and ultimately lost due to a rear naked choke in round 3. Querioz is an explosive muay thai specialist, training out of the Chute Box academy of Brazil. His long frame gives him a decided reach advantage against most within the division. He used trip takedowns extensively against Broughton with great effectiveness, but his overall wrestling game will be tested within the division thanks to his lanky frame. Given some years to mature and fill out, Querioz could become a real threat within the division, but for now he is one fight away from his walking papers.

23. Gilbert Yvel

Yvel is currently 0-3 within the UFC, but two of those losses have come to the upper tier of the division against Junior Dos Santos and Ben Rothwell. Yvel has always been your prototypical kickboxer, excellent standup with a very disappointing ground game. Wrestlers like Rothwell and Jon Madsen have had their way with Yvel in dropping him to the canvas and raining down blows. If the fight stays standing however, Yvel is a threat to anyone. Maybe not as much anymore now that he has slowed down with age, but he still has knock out power. Another fight in the UFC is unlikely thanks to the three straight losses, but I still believe that he beats 24-27 easily.

Needs Some Work

22. Christian Morecraft

Morecraft was flat out dominating Dutch skyscraper Stefan Struve at their UFC 117 meeting through the first round. He rocked and dropped the 6’11” fighter multiple times and unleashed a world of hurt upon him. The bell rung and he calmly walked to his corner, probably figuring he would finish his business next round. It didn’t go as planned. He got tagged in a slug-fest and Struve eventually got the KO stoppage. Morecraft has obvious heavy hands and he weighed in at 263, so he is a big dude. Little else could be determined from his performance, Struve was so out of it that Morecraft didn’t really have to worry about his jiu jitsu and wrestling never came into play. I look forward to seeing more of him in the future.

21. Rob Broughton

After losing to Vinicius Querioz for the better part of a round and a half Broughton brought it on once the Brazilian gassed. He eventually executed a well timed sprawl and choked out the lanky fighter. His stand up was good enough, landing jab after jab and not getting to flustered with the muay thai black belt. His jiu jitsu looked good enough against Querioz and his gas tank was obviously better than his opponents. Will he become a contender one day? Probably not, but he could very well end up as a mainstay in the 12-15 range within the division.

20. Sean McCorkle

McCorkle was the hardest fighter to peg within the division. Before being recruited to fight within the Octagon he had only fought in the super heavyweight division of MMA. He was able to cut to 265 for his fight with Hunt which he won quickly and decidedly. He put incredible torque on the fight ending kimura that forced the tapout at 1:07 of the first round. McCorkle showed incredible strength during the submission, as he is obviously one of the bigger guys in the division. His competition so far hasn’t exactly been world class, especially in the super heavyweight division. His UFC debut was only 1:07 so we couldn’t really learn that much about him in that fight. And the fact that he fought Hunt, who is 36 with a 5-6 record, doesn’t lend us any hints at his ability. His fight with Stefan Struve at UFC 124 should answer a lot of questions about Big Sexy.

19. Joey Beltran

Beltran was called upon to face Rolles Gracie at UFC 109 after Mostpha Al-Turk had troubles obtaining a visa. After Gracie gassed almost immediately as the fight began, Beltran kept pushing forward and punished the jiu jitsu prodigy. After the TKO victory over Gracie, Beltran posted a unanimous decision victory over Tim Hague. He recently suffered his first loss in the UFC to Matt Mitrione at UFC 119 via unanimous decision in the fight of the night. Beltran is a brawler by trade and will always come forward swinging. He has a decent wrestling as well and a largely untested ground game within the UFC. He is on the lighter side of the division, weighing in around the 235-240 mark, putting him at a decided disadvantage against the larger fighters. His nontechnical striking and rudimentary ground game will pose future problems as he tries to rise in the ranks of the UFC.

18. Pat Barry

There has been a common theme amongst world renowned kickboxers. They have outstanding stand-up and a seriously lacking ground game, the same problems that plague Barry. Barry may be the best striker in the heavyweight division today, but unfortunately he also may have the worst jiu jitsu. Blessed with incredible speed, flexibility, and power, Barry has shown to be adept in the striking department. He has thunderous leg kicks and a dynamite jab that put out Antoni Hardonk. His novice jiu jitsu flared up against both Tim Hague and Mirko Cro Cop, losing both by submission. It can easily be argued that he would have finished the Croatian sensation if he hadn’t broken both his hand and foot, but regardless the end result was a loss. If Barry continues to extensively train his grappling he may one day become a force within the division.

17. Mike Russow

Not many could take the punishment that Russow recieved at the hands of Todd Duffee during their fight at UFC 114. After thoroughly being outclassed on the feet for two and a half rounds, Russow landed a slight jab and knocked out the chiseled Duffee. Many have proclaimed it the knockout of the year simply because it came out of nowhere. Russow was obviously blessed with an iron-clad chin and some power in his hands. His ground game has been proven time and time again and is arguably his best strength. However the Chicago police officer will not get far if he allows himself to take the punishment he took at 114. Getting hit that much is just not good for a guy. Unless he tightens up his striking defense, I don’t expect Russow to ever get far within the division.



Barely Hanging On

16. Mirko Cro Cop

The days of the stunning knockouts, split second head kicks, and liver shattering body shots are long gone. The crowd favorite has simply become too old and too slow to compete with the younger, hungrier fighters within the division. Cro Cop made a name for himself with highlight reel knockouts, a legendary sprawl, and an icy demeanor. However the knockouts and demeanor are long gone. He has slowed down in his old age, where fighters can see his kicks coming long before they get there. He is reluctant to throw anything worth mentioning, often settling on simple one or two punch combos before retreating. He still is a handful to take down, and will give anyone below him a serious fight. Maybe it’s his knee injury that occurred back in Japan, since then he has forgotten about his earth shattering kicks. Maybe it’s old age, I mean not everyone is Randy Couture. Or maybe he just doesn’t want to be there anymore. He laughs it up with the media, the fans, and his foes which is a long way gone from his no nonsense approach in his heyday. Whatever it is, Cro Cop has lost what once made his the most feared striker in all of MMA.



Check back soon for the top 15 fighters within the division as I’ll focus on the up and comers, the contenders, and everyone else in between. Leave some comments down below.

Kind of a recap of what's happening with guys who are out of the spotlight right now.