Guest Editorials
GUEST EDITORIAL: The MMA Stock Exchange - Examining the Rising and Falling in the UFC's Heavyweight Division
Jan 2, 2012 - 4:25:19 PM GUEST EDITORIAL: The MMA Stock Exchange - Examining the Rising and Falling in the UFC's Heavyweight Division

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The following guest editorial was submitted by MMATorch reader Brad Walker.

Here is a brief summary of what I will be doing here; I'm going to look at the current champ from each division and label them "now." Then I will look at who I feel has the best change to dethrone that champ and label them "next." Next I will select two each of the following: fighters with rising stock, fighters with stagnant (not-changing) stock, and fighters with dropping stocks. I will give explanations as to why I feel each one is placed where they are, and feel free to give me any feedback you believe would be a credible argument, after all analysis is partially opinion, now let's roll our sleeves up and dig in. Hopefully Jamie Penick and the MMA Torch staff will enjoy this column enough to bring me around more in the future!


Heavyweights

Now:  Junior dos Santos. A 14-1 Brazilian wrecking machine, with some of the best boxing in the heavyweight division. Having dropped only one of his 15 career fights, he has burned a path through the upper echelon of the UFC heavyweights. Who else can you imagine pulling off a 64 second stoppage of Cain Velasquez?  Dos Santos is nothing short of a warrior with weapons of mass destruction, better known as his hands. There's only one lingering problem for him in the UFC right now...


Next: Alistair Overeem. The Reem showed us all that he can take the top of the talent pool and take them apart in extremely quick manner. It took him under three minutes to collapse the scariest man on the planet, Brock Lesnar. Overeem is no newcomer to MMA action, either, having been a long time Pride veteran and former Strikeforce champ, not to mention his K-1 crown and many other accomplishments. I firmly believe once Overeem and dos Santos meet in the cage, The Reem will be a long standing Champion after a knockout of JDS. That's just my opinion, but when Rich Hansen posts betting games for that event, it's also going to be my top bet.


Rising Stock: Frank Mir. After devastating losses to Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin, Mir came back to effectively end Mirko Cro-Cops career, kill some of the Roy Nelson hype, and snap Big Nog's arm. He's managed to remain a fighter to watch for a decade now, and he will remain in the title picture for some years to come.


Rising Stock: Cheick Kongo. Bear with me on this one, I know somewhere Rich Hansen is writing punch lines already.  The only two fighters to beat Kongo in the last three years have been Frank Mir and Cain Velasquez.  He has decisively beaten many of his opponents, even handing Matt Mitrione his first professional loss. Kongo may never be in a title fight, but the man will make one hell of a gatekeeper. Not to mention, have you ever seen a half conscious man knock out another man before? Kongo vs. Barry had one of the best KO's of all time, so Kongo deserves the rising stock.


Stagnant: Fedor Emelianenko. "The Last Emperor," or the fighter formerly known as "The Last Emperor" if you look at his win-loss record against relevant opponents. After getting caught in a crazy triangle arm bar by Fabricio Werdum he embarked on a losing streak of epic proportions, on free television. He has since bounced back with mind-numbingly pointless victories against Jeff Monson and Satoshi Ishii, but his stock will not change until he fights someone of relevance to the sport, I'd love to see him go toe to toe with Cain Velasquez as M-1 tried to convince Dana White to do, but Fedors best days are long past. Enter the Last Gatekeeper.


Falling Stock:  Shane Carwin, yes I said it, Shane – Car – Win. His emergence into the sport was a spectacle not to be missed by any fan, but his fall from the top has been painful to watch. After destroying everyone in his path, he fell victim to the least likely arm-triangle choke of all time via Brock Lesnar and a decision that was bloody as hell to JDS. Shane has numerous back problems, and has undergone multiple surgeries. At this point I just don't see him coming back with the same vigor and ability he began with. So for now, I'm going to have to label Mr.Carwin as falling stock. Should he make a return, let's set up a fight with Cheick Kongo. Make it happen, Dana!

 
Falling Stock: Pat Barry, yes Mr. HD himself. Pat emerged in the UFC with a very exciting kickboxing attack and actually pulled off his first UFC win via TKO from leg kicks. Not many people put enough stank on their leg kicks to manage that, in any combat sport. Unfortunately Pat has been wildly inconsistent, losing via submission to Tim Hague, Cro-Cop and Stefan Struve. Sure, Pat has that one punch knockout power, just ask Anthony Hardonk, but he also has a questionable chin after a freak knockout by Cheick Kongo.  Pat will remain an exciting fighter for a long time to come, but without some refinement of the rest of his game - primarily his BJJ - he's going to continue to fall into submissions, and watch his barely above .500 record slide even further into the realm of ProElite level fighters.


Let me know what you think, you can find me on Twitter at @bleavemusic or feel free to send me any comments at Bleavemusic@gmail.com