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From MMATorch.com Ennis' Take The King of the Welterweights (and arguably of all fighters) put on another dazzling display at UFC 100, demolishing another number one contender in his division. One has to wonder where that leaves the rest of the welterweights (or as GSP refers to them, "future victims") on the contender list. Let's have a look at this deep division, where an insurmountable gulf lies between the champ and everyone else.
THE CONTENDERS Currently, I'd argue that no one fighter is the top contender. There are two who could lay claim to number one contender status, but one will first have to defeat the other, and thus they are a step away from contention. That leads us to our next category… A STEP OR TWO AWAY Mike Swick (14-2): Swick was 5-0 as a UFC middleweight when he was outmuscled and outmatched by a much larger Yushin Okami at UFC 69. He made his debut at welterweight in January of last year during the twelfth installment of the Fight Night series. While he won a majority nod over Josh Burkman, the performance left a little something to be desired. Swick has since impressed with a grinding decision win over perennial tough guy Marcus Davis and back to back TKO stoppages over Jonathan Goulet and Ben Saunders. Swick will look to match his initial middleweight win-loss mark when he faces fellow former-middleweight, Martin Kampmann at UFC 103, with the winner of this fight getting the dubious honor of facing GSP in his next title defense. Martin Kampmann (15-2): Former middleweight Kampmann made the same decision as Swick after being soundly thrashed at the hands of Nate Marquardt at UFC 88. This came after four straight impressive victories over Crafton Wallace, Thales Leites, Drew McFedries, and Jorge Rivera. Kampmann has been proven dangerous on the feet and on the mat, winning thrice by submission as a middleweight, and once by dominating decision that took place almost exclusively standing (against Leites). Kampmann is now 2-0 as a welterweight, winning by TKO over Alexandre Barros and closely contested split decision over former WEC champ Carlos Condit. The tough-as-nails Dane looks to find the ultimate success at welterweight by earning a title shot of his own with a victory over Swick at UFC 103. UP AND COMERS John Howard (11-4): Howard made a splash with a close split decision win over the always-tough Chris Wilson at UFC 94. The IFL and Ring of Combat veteran combines superior wrestling and slams with nasty leg kicks and solid striking to wear opponents out before the finish. The majority of Howard's wins have come by submission, but he is hardly unable to finish on his feet. Having fought much of his career at middleweight (his last loss was to current UFC middleweight Dan Miller,) Howard enjoys a strength advantage at 170 pounds that he couldn't claim at 185. His next fight will be a stern test against Tamdan McCrory at UFC 101 in Philly. John Hathaway (11-0): Hathaway made his debut in enemy territory, being booed out of the building at UFC 93 in Dublin. The Brighton, England native then scored a first round TKO victory over hometown hero Tom Egan. He would fight in friendlier territory at UFC 99 in Cologne, Germany, taking a rousing unanimous decision over UFC neophyte Rick Story. Hathaway has five wins by way of TKO, but is able to shed the anti-grappling stereotype of English fighters with a solid, if unspectacular ground game. He almost ended the fight against Story with a sweet triangle choke, and was able to escape a tight kimura against the fence in the same round. Hathaway doesn't have another fight scheduled at the moment, but one would imagine that he'll be a staple on the European cards for a little while, being given the chance to throw together some more wins before he's given fully over to tougher competition than those making their Octagon debut. Dan Hardy (22-6): Perhaps the most proven commodity in our up-and-comers list, Hardy is in the midst of a six-fight win streak, with the only loss in his last 12 fights coming by DQ to Yoshiyuki Yoshida when he landed an unintentional but vicious kick to the groin in their December 2007 bout. Hardy has been given no easy fights since entering the UFC in October of last year, but he has proven to be up to the task thus far. He's won split decisions over Akihiro Gono and, most recently, Marcus Davis, separating the two with a knockout victory over Rory Markham at UFC 95. With his win over Davis at UFC 99, Hardy could be looking at a higher profile fight, perhaps on one of the stateside cards coming up but more likely at the next UK event (UFC 105 in November.) Hardy's dangerous striking will prove to be a challenge for any opponent, but the question will remain whether he is able to keep up in the grappler-heavy welterweight division. ON THE REBOUND Thiago Alves (16-4): A layoff of almost nine months between fights didn't stop Alves from giving everything he had against the welterweight version of Fedor at UFC 100, but his best simply wasn't enough yet. Alves rode a seven fight win streak into his title fight, and as he's still young (25 as of this writing,) he'll look to string together some more victories and get another shot at the title in the future. A great opponent for Alves could be the similarly-positioned Jon Fitch, as the two met a little over three years ago with Fitch taking the unanimous decision victory. Alves is a completely different fighter at this point, and a rematch would be of great interest (at least to me.) In any case, a loss to GSP is hardly something to be ashamed of, and as the man himself said, this loss will be good for him, as the loss to Matt Hughes was for the current champ. THE POOL (Fair warning on this one, folks – the welterweight pool, she is deep. This could take a while.) Okay, let's start out at the top of the heap, and we'll work our way around in no particular order, just going with the flow, if you will. I've already mentioned four out of my top six welterweights (Shields and Fitch will come later,) so let's start with number seven. That's Carlos Condit (22-5). He's coming off of a tough loss to the aforementioned Martin Kampmann, and the former WEC welterweight kingpin won't get a rest in his next fight, as he'll reportedly take on frequent "Fight of the Night" winner Chris Lytle (27-17-5) at UFC Fight Night 19 in September. This should prove to be an explosive and well-matched fight, with both men able to hold their own both standing and on the mat. Lytle is coming off of yet another rousing performance against Kevin Burns (7-3) just a few weeks ago at the TUF 9 Finale. Burns doesn't have a rumored next opponent yet, but Anthony Johnson (7-2), who went 1-1 in two fights with Burns, does. He'll face Yoshiyuki Yoshida (11-3) at UFC 104 in October. While Yoshida is largely remembered for his brutal knockout loss to Josh Koscheck (12-4) back in December of '08, he's a much better fighter than many realize. This guy can absolutely take a man out in brutal fashion. Prior to the Koscheck fight, he hadn't lost since 2005, and he still hasn't ever been out of the second round (his first two fights were two-round decision losses in Shooto.) While I'm thinking about it, a fun opponent for Kevin Burns could be Jonathan Goulet (22-10), who never fails to entertain and hasn't fought since his December loss to Mike Swick. Speaking of Koscheck, he'll be busy himself when he takes on the returning Frank Trigg (19-6) at UFC 103. Trigg has been splitting time at 170 and 185, and is 7-2 since his last appearance in the UFC (where he was spanked by GSP in 2005,) having won his last four. Whereas UFC 103 has Trigg-Koscheck and Kampmann-Swick, two fights that will tell us something toward the top of the rankings, UFC 101 has four welterweight bouts that should give us an idea of how some prospects will fare. TUF 7 winner Amir Sadollah (1-0) will make his first appearance at welterweight, and his first appearance since winning the show, when he takes on former WEC standout Johny Hendricks (5-0). Hendricks is tough, and he won't hand Sadollah an easy submission like CB Dollaway did, so it will be a stiff test for the young gun in his first fight at 170. Two more TUF 7 vets will square off at Philadelphia's inaugural event, as Matt Riddle (2-0) takes on Dan Cramer (1-0). Riddle in particular has looked very impressive at welterweight thus far for a fighter with his level of experience. This fight should tell us something about both men, as Cramer also looked like he had something for the welterweights when he beat Matt Arroyo (3-3) by split decision at UFC 94. Also on the card is a fight between two more former WEC fighters in Jesse Lennox (10-1) and Danillo Villefort (9-2). Both are coming off of (T)KO victories in their final appearances in WEC. Rounding out the welterweight action at UFC 101 will be the up-and-coming John Howard (mentioned in the corresponding category above) taking on the still-young-but-always dangerous Tamdan McCrory (11-2). You are reading the words of an unabashed "Barn Cat" fan, so this fight is definitely on my radar. Both of these guys show some real potential, and this could be a statement fight for one of them. While we're on the subject of fighters with bouts coming up, there's only two more to mention as far as I've been able to see. That's former Howard opponent Chris Wilson (14-5) and submission whiz Mike Pyle (17-6). Pyle had the misfortune of being a late replacement for Wilson at UFC 98 when Wilson and his family were robbed at gunpoint in Brazil just prior to the event (thankfully none were harmed, though it was a terrifying incident that you can read about here.) Pyle was submitted in the first round by Brock Larson (26-2), owner of 18 submission wins himself. Larson is a sleeper in the division who has had the misfortune of facing (and losing to) Jon Fitch (19-3) and Carlos Condit in his two most high-profile fights. Don't sleep on him, though, as he could still make some noise. That wraps up everyone with either announced or rumored fights as of this writing, which leaves us with some guys who have fought a little more recently. At UFC 100, we saw Paulo Thiago (11-1) show off more of his jiu jitsu than he did against Josh Koscheck in his first UFC fight, even though it was in vain against my number two welterweight, Jon Fitch. Fitch has shown outstanding grappling in his UFC career, but his striking proved to be his undoing when he met GSP at UFC 87. Time will tell if Fitch is able to put together a gameplan to topple one of the sport's pound-for-pound greatest. Also seeing action this past weekend was St. Pierre's fellow Canadian, TJ Grant (14-3), who had racked up a nice little five-fight win streak before being outworked and outgunned by Korean superstar Dong Hyun Kim (12-1-1, 1 NC), his loss-turned-no-contest to Karo Parisyan (18-5, 1 NC) a distant memory. Another fighter who ran into Kim and came out with a loss was the suddenly-kind-of-relevant Matt Brown (9-7), who lost a razor-thin decision to Kim in the Korean's debut at UFC 88. Brown's most recent outing was much more successful, as he destroyed Pete Sell (8-5) at UFC 96 via first round TKO. Sell was out long before the fight was stopped, and Brown showed class in pleading with the ref to stop the fight before Sell was hurt. You're probably thinking by this time that I've got to be done, but we haven't even mentioned two former champions yet. So let's start the next segment with them. Both Matt Hughes (43-7) and Matt Serra (9-6) have talked somewhat evasively about retirement, but who knows what's on the horizon for these two? After Hughes' victory over a surprisingly game Serra, neither man has much left to prove in the Octagon, and both are actively training other fighters. If I had to guess which of the two would come back, I'd say Hughes. If you think he believes half of what he says, there is no fighter better than himself, but he's made some mistakes that cost him fights. So maybe he'll want to prove to himself that he's still got it against these young guys. A fight with Marcus Davis (16-5) might be fun, though I don't know that there'd be much point in it. Davis, who's found his niche fighting on the European cards, recently added himself to the list of Dan Hardy's victims. Joining him on that list is another guy I wouldn't mind seeing matched up with Davis in Rory Markham (16-5), who has two highlight reel knockouts in his two UFC fights (though he's on the receiving end in one of them.) Fellow IFL vet Brad Blackburn (15-9-1) has found new life in the Octagon, going 3-0 since his debut a year ago, and most recently winning by controversial split decision against our final WEC vet, Edgar Garcia (7-1), at the TUF 9 Finale in June. Rounding out our welterweight breakdown, we've got our British fighters. (Mostly.) Of course James Wilks (6-2) is the most recent TUF winner, having taken out favorite Demarques Johnson (9-7) by first round submission. Also impressing on that same show was Nick Osipczak (4-1), who choked out the gritty Frank Lester (3-3), also in the first stanza. Don't be surprised to see Wilks and Osipczak on the UFC 105 card, but do be surprised if you see Lester back in the Octagon before picking up a few wins outside of it. The always-exciting Paul Taylor (10-4-1) has been a staple on the UK cards and most recently made the trip to Germany for UFC 99, where he defeated newcomer Peter Sobotta (8-2) by unanimous decision. Ricky Story (7-3) also made his Octagon debut at UFC 99, losing a close but unanimous decision to John Hathaway. Oh, but we're still not done. You see, for a while the UFC has had a monopoly on top welterweight talent. And they really still do, save for the absence of Jake Shields (23-4-1), who holds victories over current UFC welterweights Carlos Condit and Mike Pyle, not to mention the likes of middleweight contender Yushin Okami, the now-retired Renato Verissimo, Bellator lightweight finalist Toby Imada, and current Dream tournament semi-finalist Hayato Sakurai (35-8-2). However, the other promotions out there have been quietly bolstering their ranks and building their own welterweight stars. In Dream's current tournament, they've got four solid names in Sakurai, Marius Zaromskis (9-2), Jason High (7-1), and Andre Galvao (3-0). High didn't look so impressive in his lone loss to Affliction's Jay Hieron (17-4), but he followed it up with a submission in under a minute in Dream's welterweight tournament opening round. Galvao is relatively unproven, but it's got to mean something when you finish your first three pro fights by armbar, right? (If nothing else, the guy is consistent thus far.) Bellator has their share of prospects as well, with Lyman Good (10-0) winning their inaugural welterweight tournament, and runner-up Omar de la Cruz (5-2) also acquitting himself well. Of course, any comprehensive welterweight list has to include Nick Diaz (20-7) to be taken seriously, so there you go. Diaz will be taking on Joe Riggs (30-10) at Strikeforce's next event in a rematch of their 2006 bout. That's about it for now, folks. I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted. There's no rest for the weary though, because there were two title fights at UFC 100, and that means there's two Lay of the Land features. Next week we'll take a look at the gradually-improving heavyweight division. Have a refresher course on the Welterweight Title history, and if you think I left anyone out, go ahead and let me know in the comments. History of the UFC Welterweight Title *Bold indicates title changing hands 10/16/98 – P. Miletich def. M. Burnett (Decision) 1/8/99 – P. Miletich def. J. Patino (Decision) 7/16/99 – P. Miletich def. A. Pederneiras (TKO) 6/9/00 – P. Miletich def. J. Alessio (Submission) 12/16/00 – P. Miletich def. K. Yamamoto (Submission) 5/4/01 – C. Newton def. P. Miletich (Submission) 11/2/01 – M. Hughes def. C. Newton (KO) 3/22/02 – M. Hughes def. H. Sakurai (TKO) 7/13/02 – M. Hughes def. C. Newton (TKO) 11/22/02 – M. Hughes def. G. Castillo (TKO) 4/25/03 – M. Hughes def. S. Sherk (Decision) 11/21/03 – M. Hughes def. F. Trigg (Submission) 1/31/04 – B. Penn def. M. Hughes (Submission) *BJ Penn leaves UFC (contract dispute stemming from Penn signing with K-1)* 10/22/04 – M. Hughes def. G. St. Pierre (Submission) 4/16/05 – M. Hughes def. F. Trigg (Submission) 9/23/06 – M. Hughes def. B. Penn (TKO) 11/18/06 – G. St. Pierre def. M. Hughes (TKO) 4/7/07 – M. Serra def. G. St. Pierre (TKO) 12/29/07 – G. St. Pierre def. M. Hughes (Submission) – Interim Title due to Serra injury 4/19/08 – G. St. Pierre def. M. Serra (TKO) 8/9/08 – G. St. Pierre def. J. Fitch (Decision) 1/31/09 – G. St. Pierre def. B. Penn (TKO) 7/11/09 – G. St. Pierre def. T. Alves (Decision) Longest Title Reign: Pat Miletich (931 Days) Most Consecutive Defenses: Matt Hughes (5) Current Reign: Georges St. Pierre (453 Days, 3 Defenses) Definitions/Parameters: The Champ: Self-explanatory The Contenders: Fighters who could fight for the title immediately and be taken as legitimate contenders. Fighters coming off of a loss will not typically be in this category. A Step or Two Away: Fighters who could be in contention for a title with another victory or two over legitimate competition. Up and Comers: Fighters who have no more than three fights in the UFC, who have shown promise. They're not always undefeated, but they have potential. On the Rebound: Coming off of a high-profile loss or a loss in a fight that they should have won, and it will take a while to get the momentum back. Typically a champion who just lost his belt, as there's really nowhere else to put them. The Pool: Other fighters of note within the division, who could work their way into the top three categories by going on a run and/or proving themselves/proving themselves again in the Octagon. Also those outside the UFC who could make an impact. © Copyright by MMATorch.com |
