LW- Penn v.s Florian. There are so many talented fighters at this weight, this division will have good and interesting matchups for a long time. Plus with Sanchez coming down to the weight for at least a fight, and Koscheck saying he might move down, provides even more interesting matchups.
WW-GSP v.s Alves. I think GSP wins this one but then what. Fight Sanchez, or Fitch/Koscehck/Karo again? Or Carlos Condit maybe? I think after that the division thins out for him. Rumble Johnson is awhile away. But I think for the Tenth season of TUF you hold a welterweight tourney. I count 48 welterweight fighters not named Pierre or Penn on the UFC website, plus add in the recent WEC cuts, and a couple others, you could have a 64 man tournament. The first several fights would just be on fight night cards, and then the final 16 or so fighters would make it into the house. They would keep going until the two finalists meet on a fight night card. The winner would be GSP’s next challenger, while he stays occupied during that time with a move to MW, where there are tons of potential matchups. Thoughts???
MW-Silva v.s Leites. I chose Silva, as I think many are or will, but the fight is not over until it is over. Then I guess there is Yushim Okami, the winnner of Bispin/Henderson, Chael Sonnen, Demian Maia… I think if GSP does move to MW, you give him a couple fights first, to see if he can hang with Silva. Penn fought GSP right out of LW because he had fought at that weight and heavier before. So who would fight GSP first? Marvin Eastman, bad boy Chris Leben who knows? I think for the next UFC card in Montreal though, a fight between Rich Franklin, who said he would love to fight in Canada again and GSP at Middle Weight would be a hot ticket. Plus Wanderlai might make the move down to 185 so who knows?
LHW- Evans v.s Jackson or Machida. I think Jackson gets by Jardine, so he will face Evans first, but I think Evans takes that one, then a battle of undefeated fighters for the belt. There is just so much talent in this division though. I think Chuck Liddell’s time as an elite fighter is now gone, so I think Rua gets past him, but you never know. There is just so much talent in this division. Thiago and Wanderlai Silva, Jardine, Cane, maybe even Ricardo Arono will come. And there is also Forest Griffin of course, who I think if Jackson gets the title from Evans, Griffin will be Jackson’s next opponent.
HW-Mir v.s Lesner. I think Lesner wins this one this time, and there is also the possible Nogueira v.s Couture fight down the road, and some up and comers to like Carwin, Kongo, Dos Santos, Gonzaga,Herring, Velasquez. But if Dana could somehow sign Fedor, well that would be a whole other thread…