Jan 5, 2010 - 12:38:36 PM By Frank Hyden, MMATorch Contributor
-I really hope Brock Lesnar gets good news from his doctor this week. The UFC Heavyweight division can really use him. That's no knock against Shane Carwin or Frank Mir, who are set to fight for the interim Heavyweight title, but it's always good to have a huge star like Lesnar around. I hope Brock's able to return to form, he doesn't have many peak years left so it'd really suck if he had to sit out for a year or more. Brock's a good fighter now, but I want to see what he can do with another year or two of training.
-We saw what I consider to be the best of B.J. Penn this year. We also saw the worst of B.J. this year, and I don't just mean his four round destruction at the hands of Georges St. Pierre. Instead, I'm talking about his pre-fight comments. B.J. said, "I'm going to try to kill you, and I'm not joking about this." MMA fans, we all know that's just a bunch of crap. A lot of the fighters seem to read from the same stupid trash-talking book, but that wasn't Joe Blow the unknown fighter saying that, it was one of the faces of the UFC. That little soundbite is what gets played for non-MMA fans, and the loonies try to use that in their "MMA is barbaric!" agenda. What's even more ridiculous is that a lot of these same people have no problem with boxing because they grew up with it. I'm not going to retread the old boxing vs. MMA argument, but it's a proven fact that MMA is safer than boxing in terms of head injuries. MMA is often more graphic than boxing due to the blood, and that's what turns off a lot of these older people who grew up watching boxing. My point is, we don't need a highly visible fighter giving these people a bulletpoint soundbite to rail against. The fact that MMA is still illegal in some states is laughable. It's a small thing, but not making outlandish statements like B.J. did can only help MMA's fight for acceptance. I want MMA to be shown on Sportscenter more.
-I want to see real challengers to B.J. Penn, Georges St. Pierre, and Anderson Silva. I know it'll happen eventually, but I hope it happens this year.
-I hope that these "cursed" cards happen even less than they do now. UFC 108 was a good show, but it didn't have the flash of some of their other shows. Dana White said that the UFC will be the biggest sport in the world by 2020. Overlooking the fact that UFC isn't the sport, MMA is, injury-riddled cards like UFC 108 don't do much to grow MMA. Yeah, it had good fights, but that's not the same as big names in big matches.
-I hope that the 11th cycle of The Ultimate Fighter has some good fighters on it. I also hope that there's no faux staredowns or trashtalking sessions.
-I hope Strikeforce gains even more popularity as a viable competitor to the UFC. As much as I want to see one league so we can settle any questions about who are the best fighters in the world, I know the probability of that happening is essentially zero. Competition is always the best way to improve a product. As MMA gains even more popularity, we'll see even more great athletes in MMA, thus raising the bar for overall quality. Each successive year should be better than the previous. That's why I'm expecting 2010 to be even better than 2009.
I may have more New Year's Wishes to add later, but I have to go deal with the mountain of snow that Northern Indiana got buried by.
Comments, suggestions, etc. can be e-mailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.com, or left in the Comments section below. Also, you can follow me at twitter.com/hydenfrank, or you can friend me on Facebook.
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