THE TORCH: THE #1 WORLDWIDE BRAND IN COMBAT ENTERTAINMENT COVERAGE - OVER 250 MILLION VIEWS & LISTENS PER YEAR REREACHING MORE FANS EVERY WEEK THAN ANY OTHER INDEPENDENT SOURCE • VIA THE WEB, MOBILE, PRINT NEWSLETTER, AND ITUNES
Opinion & Analysis
:
Roundtables
MONDAY ROUNDTABLE: Which Strikeforce fights would you most like to see jump to UFC, and who should they fight? Penick, Schwartzbard, Leahy, Hansen
We have brought back the popular MMATorch Roundtable feature. Most days we will publish a question followed by several staff members' answers. We will run several batches of staff responses to the following question over the next several days, and then introduce a new topic after that.
TODAY'S NEW TOPIC:
Who are the two or three current Strikeforce fighters (other than Fedor) you'd be most intrigued to see acquired by UFC. What match-ups would you make from those acquisitions?
===
ADAM SCHWARTZBARD, MMATORCH COLUMNIST
First, I would like to see Brett Rogers fight some of the current UFC heavyweight up and comers. I would love to see Rogers vs. Dos Santos, Rogers vs. Cain Valazquez, and Rogers vs. Shane Carwin. In fact I would like to see all four of these guys fight each other at some point, they all can make intriguing fights.
Secondly, I would like to see Melendez in the UFC against some of the top lightweights. I think Melendez vs. Florian can be a really exciting fight. Lastly, I would like to see Diaz return to the UFC and compete against the top Welterweights, and if he is successful take on GSP.
===
AIDAN LEAHY, MMATORCH COLUMNIST
Three Strikeforce title holders: Gegard Mousasi, Jake Shields, and Nick Diaz. I'd like to see Mousasi vs. the winner of Rampage vs. Evans, Shields vs. GSP (I believe Shields is willing to drop back down to 170), and Diaz vs Paulo Thiago (a fun fight). Of course, I'd also love to see Alistair Overeem pass a PED test and fight in the U.S. again, too.
===
BJORN HANSEN, MMATORCH COLUMNIST
That’s easy: Mousasi, King Mo, Jake Shields, Dan Henderson (sorry I’m still heartbroken), and Nick Diaz.
Mousasi vs. Machida (a battle of fisticuff fury.)
King Mo vs. Jon Jones (Two of MMA’s biggest prospects colliding.)
King Mo vs. Rampage (Rampage has said it before jokingly, but I think there’s an ounce of truth to wanting to be MMA’s best brother.)
Jake Shields vs GSP (Can you even conceptualize in your head GSP getting taking down and mounted effortlessly by his opponent? Shields may be the only Welterweight in the world who stands a chance.)
Dan Henderson vs. Nate/Silva/Vitor (Unfinished business)
Nick Diaz vs Dan Hardy/Josh Koscheck (Just the smack talk alone would be worth the PPV price.)
Okay, so maybe it wasn’t that easy to limit my picks to three fighters after all.
===
JAMIE PENICK, MMATORCH EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Gegard Mousasi, Jake Shields, and King Mo are three who have not been in the UFC who I'd love to see against the UFC's Light-Heavyweight and Welterweight Divisions. Mousasi and King Mo may be on the path to face one another in Strikeforce, but both make for exciting new blood in a packed Light Heavyweight Division with plenty of fights ready in waiting.
Mousasi versus Forrest Griffin, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, and eventually the Lyoto Machida's and "Shogun" Rua's in the UFC. Man, if that doesn't excite you than you're just not a fight fan.
With King Mo, he's got the wrestling credentials to hang with some of the big boys in the UFC right now, plus his war of words with Rampage Jackson last year boosts what could potentially be a trash talking extravaganza. Both guys are young, exciting and would be a very welcome addition to the roster.
For Jake Shields, we'd get to see how he matches up against the best welterweights in the world, as the fact that he doesn't have competition at 170 right now in Strikeforce is the reason he's jumped up to fight at Middleweight. He'd be tested like he's never been tested in his career, as the Welterweight Divsion in the UFC is among the greatest grouping of talent in all of MMA.
All three would be extremely exciting to see in the Octagon, and with the UFC hype machine behind them they could break out in a big way.
Our next batch of Roundtable Topics to be addressed over the next week or two are as follows (so keep coming back to MMATorch every day for this and more exclusive features):
-Predictions for the top fights at UFC 110 this weekend.
-Who are the two or three current UFC fighters you'd be most intrigued to see leave UFC for whatever reason (perhaps not being given a fair shake, already fought everyone, hit a ceiling, etc.) and be acquired by Strikeforce. What match-ups would you make from those acquisitions?
-Would you prefer Strikeforce in two years was out of business, close to UFC's equal (in revenue, ratings, buyrates, talent roster), or had surpassed UFC (assuming UFC stays static in the mean time)? Why?
-Should UFC add a women's fighting division?
[Brett Rogers photo provided to MMATorch by Strikeforce]
ALERT: Every Tuesday night, listen to the MMATorch Livecast from 9-10:30 p.m. ET or listen now to the most recent shows by clicking here. Listen live this coming Tuesday as Jamie Penick, Rich Hansen, and Matt Pelkey discuss the latest MMA happenings. Online listen at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/mmatorch or call into the show at 646-716-8090 to either just listen or participate.
"There's still a large contingent of people, that they just want to see these guys almost die, or the other guy almost die and come back, and sometimes fights are like that. Certainly they are. But sometimes you get technical masterpieces too, and to hate a beautiful, technical fight - you're not really a fight fan...
Diaz has a granite chin, possesses perhaps the best recovery in the sport, his pace and conditioning are second to none and he sets records with the volume of his punches almost every time he steps into the cage. Nick Diaz is simply designed to fight the way he fights, and not many other fighters are...
"There was a lot of poison going on around there and I'm really disappointed because we had a good thing going. It was a good thing and I think people's egos got in the way. Well, not people just Javier, his ego got in the way, and too many cameras in the gym and him trying to build himself up and his brand, his AKA brand...
PART OF THE USA TODAY UFC GROUP