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By: Ryan Kane, MMATorch Contributor When looking back at 2008, in the UFC history books, there were some big fights and a lot of guys made names for themselves. Looking ahead to 2009, I thought it would be fun to make my predictions for who will be breakout stars, in the UFC, in 2009, in their respective weight classes. My predictions are based on the fact that I believe by year’s end in 2009, mixed martial arts fans will look back on the year and say, "those fighters made major strides toward stardom." So without further adieu my list for UFC 2009 breakout fighters:
Lightweight Division:
Kenny Florian
How can you not be impressed with the year that Kenny had had? He seemed to take off in 2008 with wins over Joe Lauzon, Roger Huerta (in a #1 Contenders match for the Lightweight title) and Joe "Daddy" Stevenson. Kenny never complained, at least publicly, after his #1 Contenders fight with Roger Huerta when he wasn’t given Lightweight champ, BJ Penn. So he kept his mouth shut, went out, and dismantled Joe Stevenson on a card that had over 1 million PPV buys thanks to Lesnar-Couture. However, in the co-main event spot, on the UFC’s second most bought card ever, "Ken-Flo" went out and took apart Stevenson. Now he waits on BJ Penn, and he will finally get his chance at the Lightweight title after the Penn-St.Pierre super-fight at the end of the month. Florian has become not only a model spokesperson for the UFC, but now will get a chance to cement his spot as the dominant 155-pounder in 2009. If Penn happens to defeat St.Pierre, the stakes become that much bigger for Florian.
Welterweight Division:
Thiago Alves
Much like Kenny Florian, Thiago Alves will be licking his chops waiting on the outcome of that Penn-St.Pierre fight at UFC 94. Alves will surely get the chance to face whoever the Welterweight champion is coming out of that PPV, whether that is Penn or St. Pierre. Alves will be a major threat to whoever holds that title. He has now won seven straight fights in the UFC, with victories over Karo Parisyan, Matt Hughes and Josh Koscheck. The best part, in my opinion, about the "Pitbull" is that he’s going to be only 26 in March. Thiago is really becoming quite the physical specimen and is so physical inside the cage, it’s scary that he’s only getting better. Thiago should be first in line for the Welterweight champion after UFC 94, and if he finds 2009 as successful as 2008 was, he’s going to be in for quite a career in the UFC’s Welterweight division.
Middleweight Division:
Demian Maia
It’s almost funny trying to pick a breakout star in the 185-pound division because, well, does anyone really stand a chance against Anderson Silva? Well, if anyone does, it might be Maia. Demian had a very good year in the UFC, and you have to commend the promotion for the way they are bringing along Demian. He had three very impressive fights in 2008, with victories over Ed Herman, Jason MacDonald and Nate Quarry. All of those fights finished via submission, which shouldn’t serve as a surprise considering Maia’s world-class Jiu-jitsu skills. Next up for Demian is former WEC Middleweight champion Chael Sonnen. They will lock horns, arms, or legs at UFC 95 in England. While Anderson Silva is world-class all-around, the one area experts believe he can be beat is via submission. So it would make sense that Maia, if anyone, could potentially serve as a threat. Not so fast; I believe Maia needs to work on his stand-up because you can’t go into a fight with Anderson Silva with a lack of stand-up skills. He’d introduce you to his knees and shins really fast. But as long as Maia takes care of his business in 2009 and works on his stand-up, he could be seen as a worthy contender for the King’s (Silva’s) Middleweight championship.
Light-Heavyweight Division:
Rashad Evans
Yes, yes I am aware that he is the new UFC Light-Heavyweight champion. How does that qualify him for breakout star in 2009? I know his antics during his championship fight with then champ Forrest Griffin were controversial. Yes, the way he carries himself may be controversial. But hey, controversy sells. He’s going to be a guy you either love, or you love to hate, as evidenced by the many articles that have been written in the past week. Back to why he will be the UFC’s breakout star in the Light-Heavyweight division in 2009: First of all, the division is the most stacked, of all the divisions in the UFC. So when you sit atop that mountain, you’re already qualified as a stud. Second of all, he had TWO highlight knockouts of some of the UFC’s top stars in 2008. Chuck Liddell was knocked out cold in the UFC88 Main-Event and just recently, while yes he was down 2-0 during the fight with Forrest Griffin, he finished that Main-Event fight in spectacular fashion as well. So now he’s the UFC Light-Heavyweight champion and has a huge target on his back, with a speculated fight with Quinton "Rampage" Jackson potentially next on Evans’ list. While it might be a bold statement, I think Rashad will find himself, still, the UFC Light-Heavyweight Champ at year’s end in 2009. His wrestling is excellent and his boxing is short and crisp. One would think he can only go up from here.
Heavyweight Division:
Brock Lesnar
Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. This must be some sort of joke right, two champions on the list for breakout stars in 2009? There isn’t one fighter in the UFC that saw the type of meteoric rise that Brock Lesnar did, in the UFC, in 2008. Honestly, there was no Brock Lesnar in the UFC in 2007. Now at the end of 2008, Brock Lesnar is the UFC Heavyweight champion. Brock’s stardom started at UFC 81, in a loss, to Frank Mir. He dominated the former heavyweight champion in every sense until, well, Frank Mir showcased his world-class submission skills and sent Lesnar home with a loss in his debut event.
But the executives at UFC saw a budding star in Lesnar, and Joe Silva put Lesnar in the Octagon with an experienced Heath Herring at UFC 87. Brock crushed Herring en route to a unanimous decision and left Herring’s face a mess. Dana and Joe Silva had seen all they needed to see and thrust Lesnar into a Heavyweight title fight with Randy "the Natural" Couture at UFC91. The significance of the fight showed with ESPN even highlighting the fight on their programming leading into the event.
Now, after capturing the title from Couture at UFC91, Brock looks into 2009 and sees…Frank Mir, the interim UFC Heavyweight champion, staring him right back in the face. In what some people are calling, "the most anticipated heavyweight rematch in UFC history," this time the significance is greater. The Undisputed Heavyweight title lies in the balance. Brock is now considered, maybe, the most marketable fighter in the UFC and has the PPV buyrate numbers to back that up. If Brock happens to get past Frank Mir, who would lie ahead that would be considered a threat to his title? Cheick Kongo? Not hardly. A rematch with Randy Couture? Not likely. Minotauro Nogueira? Maybe, but Mir just got done taking him out in a fight where he looked flat and unfortunately looked like maybe his illustrious career may be winding down with all the punishment he’s taken over the years. But Lesnar has a MIGHTY challenge waiting for him in 2009, a hungry and determined Frank Mir.
[Lesnar Photo by Wade Keller (c) MMATorch.com]
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