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#10: Nick Diaz vs. KJ Noons II
When Elite XC was operating, KJ Noons defeated Nick Diaz following a doctors stoppage to become the first and only Elite XC Lightweight Champion. Following a successful title defense against Yves Edwards at one of Elite XC’s final events, Nick Diaz and his brother Nate Diaz had an in cage confrontation with KJ Noons and his father. There were rumors of a possible Nick Diaz vs. KJ Noons rematch at a future Elite XC event, but the promotion shut down a few months later. A few years later, Nick Diaz was signed by Strikeforce and defeated Frank Shamrock in his Strikeforce debut. In the past few weeks, Strikeforce has announced that they have signed KJ Noons to a contract, after he completed a stint as a professional boxer. Ever since that announcement, the rumors have started swirling in various MMA circles that a rematch between KJ Noons and Nick Diaz is in the works for 2010.
#9: Jamie Varner vs. Donald Cerrone II
Early in 2009, WEC Lightweight Champion Jamie Varner defeated Donald Cerrone via a controversial decision after Donald Cerrone hit Jamie Varner with an illegal strike. Following the fight, Donald Cerrone was scheduled to face Jamie Varner at various WEC events, but injuries suffered by Jamie Varner lead to those fights being cancelled. Following several fight cancellations, Donald Cerrone started some trash talking against Jamie Varner, who was still recovering from injuries. Since Jamie Varner was unable to compete in MMA fights for the remainder of 2009, Donald Cerrone went onto fight James Krause, Benson Henderson and Ed Ratcliff in subsequent fights, winning two of those fights. Recently, Donald Cerrone announced that he was dropping to the WEC Featherweight Division and Jamie Varner announced his comeback fight against Benson Henderson early next year.
#8: Fedor Emelianenko vs. Dan Henderson
Early in 2009, Strikeforce announced that they had signed the “greatest MMA fighter of all time†Fedor Emelianenko to a three fight contract. In his Strikeforce debut, Fedor Emelianenko defeated Brett Rogers during the debut Strikeforce event on the CBS network. Recently, Dan Henderson signed a multi-fight contract with Strikeforce, following a successful run in the UFC. It has been rumored that Dan Henderson would meet Jake Shields in April for the Strikeforce Middleweight Title on the second Strikeforce event on the CBS network. At that same potential event, it has been rumored that Fedor Emelianenko will return to Strikeforce to face Fabricio Werdum. At the Strikeforce: Evolution event in December 2009, Dan Henderson discussed a possible future fight with the legendary Fedor Emelianenko.
#7: Lyoto Machida vs. Mauricio Rua II
At UFC 104 earlier this year, Lyoto Machida successfully defended his UFC Light Heavyweight Title against Mauricio Rua following a controversial decision. Immediately following the fight, UFC VP Dana White announced a rematch between Lyoto Machida and Mauricio Rua during the post fight press conference. At the time of this writing, it has been rumored that the fight between Lyoto Machida and Mauricio Rua will be happening in March 2010. However, the one thing that could put a delay to this fight is the injuries suffered by Lyoto Machida, which has been widely talked about in recent months for the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. It was the first fight against Lyoto Machida that made Mauricio Rua a major star with the UFC fans, imagine what a victory over Lyoto Machida could do for Mauricio Rua.
#6: Rashad Evans vs. Quinton Jackson
The UFC built a whole season of the UFC Ultimate Fighter around the rivalry between former UFC Light Heavyweight Champions Rashad Evans and Quinton Jackson. However, the payoff fight coming this January is between Rashad Evans and Thiago Silva, not Quinton Jackson. Thiago Silva was put in the fight with Rashad Evans because Quinton Jackson announced his retirement from MMA to pursue a career in films, which included a role in the upcoming A-Team movie. However, Quinton Jackson announced that his retirement is coming to an end and he will finish the remaining fights currently on his UFC contract. Also, UFC VP Dana White announced that if Rashad Evans can defeat Thiago Silva in their upcoming fight, then he will get an opportunity to fight Quinton Jackson at a future UFC event.
#5: Gilbert Melendez vs. Josh Thomson III
A few years back at Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson, Josh Thomson defeated Gilbert Melendez by decision to win the Strikeforce Lightweight Title. Following the victory, the potential rematches between Gilbert Melendez and Josh Thomson were always postponed due to various leg injuries suffered by Josh Thomson. Then in December 2009, Gilbert Melendez defeated Josh Thomson by decision in their rematch to regain the Strikeforce Lightweight Title, a late candidate for the MMA fight of the year. With the current lack of top contenders to the Strikeforce Lightweight Title, outside of KJ Noons, a rematch between Gilbert Melendez and Josh Thomson is almost a certainty for 2010. The real question could become, following a third fight between Josh Thomson and Gilbert Melendez, where would each fighter go after the fight ends?
#4: Bobby Lashley vs. Brock Lesnar
This fight comes from the professional wrestling side of my brain, as I believe it would be interesting to see a fight between former ECW Champion Bobby Lashley and former WWE Champion, and current UFC Heavyweight Champion, Brock Lesnar. Bobby Lashley is currently wrestling in the TNA promotion and has recently signed with the Strikeforce promotion and he will be making his Strikeforce debut at the January 2010 event. Currently, it is very doubtful that Brock Lesnar will have an MMA fight in 2010, following his surgeries for his intestinal injuries. However, if a fight between Brock Lesnar and Bobby Lashley were to happen in the future, it would be the first time in MMA history that two former WWE Title holders would compete against each other in an MMA fight.
#3: Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brock Lesnar
Fedor Emelianenko has been long considered to be the greatest heavyweight fighter in MMA history and Brock Lesnar is considered to be the future of MMA. Ever since Brock Lesnar defeated Frank Mir at UFC 100 earlier this year, MMA fans have been salivating at the thought of a possible encounter between Fedor Emelianenko and Brock Lesnar. The prospects of a potential fight between Brock Lesnar and Fedor Emelianenko have been dampened following Brock Lesnar’s health status and Strikeforce signing Fedor Emelianenko. It had been rumored that if the UFC had signed Fedor Emelianenko a few months back, that a fight between Fedor Emelianenko and Brock Lesnar would have happened. One must think that as the last few years have gone by, is the once thought about dream fight between Fedor Emelianenko and Randy Couture still wanted now that Brock Lesnar is the dominant UFC Heavyweight Champion?
#2: Georges St. Pierre vs. Anderson Silva
Interestingly enough, I actually featured this match in my “Ten Fights I Want To See In 2009†column I wrote on this very website late last year. Sadly, this dream fight between current UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre and UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva still didn’t happen in 2009, despite my wanting to see the fight. In recent months, there has been some light rumors of a fight between the two champions in the coming year. With the lack of contenders both champions have in their respective weight classes, a potential fight between Georges St. Pierre and Anderson Silva seems to be coming to fruition a little more each day. The one major roadblock that could halt this fight is which weight class will the fight happen in…welterweight, middleweight or catchweight?
#1: Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir III
There has been very few heated wars in the UFC at the level of Frank Mir and Brock Lesnar, who have been going at each other for a few years now. It all began at UFC 81: Breaking Point, where Frank Mir defeated Brock Lesnar in under a minute with a heel hook. The war continued at UFC 100 earlier this year when Brock Lesnar defeated Frank Mir by TKO to unify the UFC Heavyweight Title and UFC Interim Heavyweight Title. Despite the recent health issues that Brock Lesnar is currently suffering through, a third fight between the rivals is still being considered. In an odd twist of fate, Frank Mir may be facing Shane Carwin to determine a UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion, which could decide who faces Brock Lesnar if and when he makes his return to the UFC. Assuming Frank Mir wins the UFC Interim Heavyweight Championship, it would mark the first time in UFC history that a UFC Heavyweight Champion and UFC Heavyweight Champion, who both held those same titles in their last encounter, would compete in another unification fight against each other.
You can contact David Tees at bigtees360@yahoo.com
(Note: I would just like to wish everybody who visit’s the PWInsider family of websites a very good 2010 and I hope you all had a good holiday. Also, I want to thank all of you readers for giving me a great year of MMA writing on PWInsiderXtra and PWIPoP. I would also like to thank Dave Scherer, Buck Woodward and Mike Johnson for the opportunity to continue writing on their fine family of websites and I will continue to contribute more and more to PWInsiderXtra in the following year, it has been an honor to write about the world of MMA for all of you great people out there.)
