Anderson Silva Vs Georges St. Pierre: Coming Soon!
By Kevin Nelson
This week we look at all the significant news in the wonderful world of mix martial arts. We discuss changes being made within Bellator, Strikeforce and the UFC. Also discuss latest cuts, signed fighters and future events as well as future fights. Enjoy!
UFC
After the UFC 126 pay per view, Joe Rogan announced that Jon Jones will face Mauricio Shogun Rua for the UFC Light Heavyweight Title.
After Anderson Silva’s victory over Vitor Belfort, UFC President, Dana White, confirmed that in the event that Georges St. Pierre wins against Jake Shields, the two will meet at middleweight in what promises to be the biggest fight in mix martial arts history with both considered the two top pound for pound fighters in the sport. GSP Being the dominant welterweight of this decade and Anderson Silva being the most dominant middleweight of this decade…the two have seemingly run out of challengers.
Also according to ESPN.com, Kenny Florian is moving down to featherweight in the hopes that he will get a crack at UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo. Tyson Griffin has also announced that he will be moving down to featherweight. The featherweight division just became that much more interesting.
Aldo will surely be tested. The featherweight division is relatively new although there are many exciting fighters its still a division that is still developing. So at this early stage the division, it is in a transition period where you have fighters that are relative newcomers and veterans that are on there way down (see Mike Brown).
With the additions of Griffin and Florian the featherweight division will have much more matchups featuring name fighters. At UFC130 Thiago Silva will face Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in a matchup featuring two of the biggest strikers in the division.
Bellator
With the announcement of the next season of Bellator scheduled to kick off on March 5, the entrants in the welterweight tournament are Jim Wallhead (20-5), Brent Weedman (17-5-1), Chris Lozano (6-0), Dan Hornbuckle (22-3), Jay Hieron (19-4), Steve Carl (14-2), and former welterweight champion Lyman Good (10-1) all vying for a shot at Ben Askren.
Entrants so far confirmed in the lightweight tournament are Michael Chandler (5-0), Razor Rob McCullough (19-6), and Carey Vanier (10-3).
The Bellator featherweight entrants are Kenny Foster (8-2), Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (14-1), Zac George (20-3), Georgi Karakhanyan (14-2-1), Eric Larkin (3-0), Nazareno Malegarie (19-0), Wilson Reis (10-2) and Daniel Straus( 14-3).
It is easily one of the best divisions in MMA…the Bellator featherweight division. The matchups confirmed for the March 5th are Lyman Good vs. Chris Lozano, Jim Wallhead vs. Rick Hawn, and Steve Carl vs. Jay Hieron.
Strikeforce
Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez has recently signed a new deal with the company. That signing to go along with Nick Diaz and Robbie Lawler assure fans that their favorites in Strikeforce are there for the long haul.
Sengoku Middleweight Champion Jorge Santiago has been released by the company and is rumored to be signing with Strikeforce and will definitely bolster there middleweight division. If you have not seen Kazuo Misaki vs. Jorge Santiago 2, then you missed the 2010 fight of the year.
March 5 in Columbus, Ohio, Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante will look to retain his light heavyweight tile against “Dangerous” Dan Henderson in a highly anticipated matchup. With the announcement in USA Today that Luke Rockhold pulled out of the fight with Tim Kennedy at middleweight on the March 5 card, the replacement is dangerous Dutch striker, Melvin Manhoef who will be looking to snap a losing streak.
Although his ground game is weak, he is one of the most devastating strikers in the world. This weekend, the Heavyweight Grand Prix kicks off with Fedor Emelianenko facing Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva.
With rumors of having the semifinals in Japan, Strikeforce is looking to expand there MMA brand. I expect them to hold a card there in Japan before the UFC due to their agreement with Japanese promotion Dream. These are just some of the stories this week in MMA.