The past two months for Mixed Martial Arts have been anything but boring as World Extreme Cagefighting merged with the Ultimate Fighting Championship to create two new classes for the UFC. The featherweight division and the bantamweight division along with WEC’s lightweight division are now UFC fighters.The action the past two months have been outstanding. UFC Welterweight Champion George St-Pierre dominated Josh Koscheck; two title fights became instant classics; Strikeforce announced that they’re having a Heavyweight Grand Prix; and The Ultimate Fighter coaches were named.
Koscheck couldn’t back up his trash talk when he stepped in with the champ last December. St-Pierre won the fight by unanimous decision and won every round. St-Pierre will defend his belt once again against Jake Shields in Toronto at UFC 129.
Later that month, WEC lightweight Anthony Pettis won the WEC lightweight championship and became the last WEC lightweight champion. Pettis defeated Ben Henderson in an amazing title fight.
Each fighter had two rounds apiece entering the fifth and final round when Pettis pulled off one of the most amazing moves ever. Pettis leaped off the cage and kicked Henderson in the face with the same leg he pushed off the cage with. Pettis knocked him down and won the decision.
Pettis was going to get a shot at UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar to unify the titles, but mayhem broke out at UFC 125 earlier this month.
Edgar battled No. 1 contender Gray Maynard in another classic that ended in a draw. A lot of people questioned Edgar even after he defeated B.J. Penn twice, but after Edgar’s performance at UFC 125 he put all doubts to rest.
Maynard came out and rocked Edgar early. Maynard knocked him down at least five times in the first round, and Edgar, amazingly, was able to stay conscious. Edgar showed the true heart of a champion as he came out to win three of the next four rounds. The first round was so lopsided that it ended in a 10-8 score for Maynard, thus ending the fight in a draw after adding all rounds together.
That was a star-making fight for Edgar, and I believe he will have even more fans after that performance. Due to the draw, Edgar and Maynard will battle in a rematch later this year. Muhammad Ali needed Joe Frazier; maybe Edgar needs Maynard.
Strikeforce’s announcement of a heavyweight tournament will remind long-time MMA fans of the Pride days in Japan when they held tournaments. Names like Alistair Overeem, Fedor Emilianenko, Fabricio Werdum, Josh Barnett, Andre Arlovski and Brett Rodgers are participating in the Grand Prix.
If this tournament is anything like the Pride tournaments back in the day, 2011 could be a big year for Strikeforce.
The UFC announced that the coaches for season 13 of The Ultimate Fighter are former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar and No. 1 contender Junior Dos Santos.
This really surprises me that Lesnar agreed to be a coach, seeing that he hates to be filmed. I know what you’re thinking, how can he hate to be filmed when he was in WWE? I ask the same question every time I see him on T.V.
The biggest question for this season is how many doors will suffer from his anger? Lesnar’s known to have quite a temper, and everyone knows Dos Santos will never back down from anyone, so this makes for compelling television.
One thing is for sure, 2010 was a great year for MMA. And if the past is evidence for future success, this could be another great year.
