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Round One: The Division Has Been Cleaned Out?
Anderson Silva has now won thirteen straight fights in the UFC and it does not look like there is anybody in the UFC Middleweight Division that can stop him. This destruction of Vitor Belfort may be the last hurdle that Anderson Silva needed to overcome to have his long anticipated fight with current UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre. The only other contender that can possibly challenge Anderson Silva for the title is Yushin Okami, who earned the opportunity at UFC 122. Vitor Belfort, in hindsight, may have been better off taken another fight before challenging for the title after his long layoff.
Next Round For Anderson Silva: Yushin Okami or Georges St. Pierre
Next Round For Vitor Belfort: Yushin Okami, Nate Marquardt or Alan Belcher
Round Two: Ace Didn’t Navigate The Forrest
Unlike Vitor Belfort, one fighter who seemingly benefited from a long layoff was former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Forrest Griffin. Despite a few scaring moments from Rich Franklin, Forrest Griffin mainly dominated the fight on the ground, scoring more than five takedowns in the fight. Forrest Griffin now puts himself in a good position to once again get an opportunity at the UFC Light Heavyweight Title. Rich Franklin now finds himself in a truly odd position, to light for the UFC Light Heavyweight Division and has no chance of challenging for the UFC Middleweight Title.
Next Round For Forrest Griffin: Ryan Bader, Stephan Bonnar or a rubber match with Tito Ortiz
Next Round For Rich Franklin: Vladimir Matyushenko, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira or Ryan Bader
Round Three: Win It, Get It
Jon Jones knew that a victory over Ryan Bader would do wonders for him in the UFC Light Heavyweight Division, but he couldn’t possibly imagine the reward. After thoroughly destroying Ryan Bader in under two rounds, Jon Jones was rewarded with a UFC Light Heavyweight Title fight at UFC 128. Jon Jones now has a little under six weeks to prepare for the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, Mauricio Rua. One must also wonder what is going through the mind of Ryan Bader right now, because one must assume that he would’ve been offered the title fight if he had won the fight.
Next Round For Jon Jones: Mauricio Rua
Next Round For Ryan Bader: Rich Franklin, Forrest Griffin or Rashad Evans
Round Four: The Kid Stays Out Of The Picture
There are a few debuts I was anticipating in the UFC more than that of Norifumi “Kid†Yamamoto, who has been a dominant fighter in Japan for years. However, that excitement was short lived as Demetrious Johnson just destroyed Kid Yamamoto with takedown after takedown. This victory is a pivotal win for Demetrious Johnson, who now becomes a contender in the UFC Bantamweight Division. There is no doubt in my mind that the UFC will give Kid Yamamoto another opportunity in the promotion, but it could be his last chance.
Next Round For Demetrious Johnson: Antonio Banuelos or Chad Mendes
Next Round For Kid Yamamoto: Michihiro Omigawa, Joseph Benavidez or Chad Mendes
Round Five: How Many Ways Can I Watch The Action?
If somebody were to analyze this UFC 126 card, they would notice that the eleven fight card was broken up into four portions. There was the un-aired preliminary card, the Facebook.com fight, two fights on Spike TV and the five fight pay-per-view card. Speaking for myself here, outside of the un-aired preliminary card, I watched the other three portions of the event both on my laptop and on my TV. The real question lingering for the UFC is this…what media platform can they air fights for the future events?
Next Round For UFC: UFC 127 at the end of the month
You can contact David Tees at bigteesps3@yahoo.com
