Photo Credit: mixedmartialarts.com

Super fight fever has officially hit the UFC. And no, its not the super fights we were hoping for (ie Anderson Silva vs GSP or Anderson Silva vs Jon Jones). Nope, we are talking about the featherweights and lightweights. Dana White had to appear on UFC Tonight to clear up some of the issues.

First, lets define a super fight. For MMA, its has to be between current UFC champs. Sorry, Aldo vs Edgar was not a super fight although it was close since Edgar was robbed of a decision against Benson Henderson. Sorry Urijah Faber, you against Edgar wouldn’t be considered one either.

Now lets concentrate on the featherweight title picture. Jose Aldo finally agreed to put his title on the line against Anthony Pettis on August 3–we still don’t know where. Since Pettis doesn’t have a title, this isn’t a super fight. Its just a big fight. Apparently, the assumption was that if Aldo beat Pettis he would also get an immediate shot at the lightweight title.

Dana White cleared up the issue saying that Aldo would be given an immediate title shot at lightweight but if he wins, then he must stay at lightweight permanently and vacate his featherweight title. While I think Aldo is good enough to hold titles in both divisions, there would be no way for him to stay active defending both belts, so good call by White.

I think that all but rules out Aldo moving to lightweight unless he felt it was time for him to leave featherweight since he can’t make the weight-cut any longer. I expect, win or lose, Aldo is going to stay at lightweight until he is ready. The same rule will apply to Pettis as well. If victorious against Aldo, Pettis will have to remain at featherweight.

Yesterday, Benson Henderson also came out saying he would like to challenge GSP to a super fight if he is victorious against Gilbert Melendez in April. Dana White shot down that idea real quick although that would be a super fight. Its understandable though, Henderson wants the big pay days. Who better to challenge than the company’s biggest draw?

Don’t get me wrong, Henderson would be a decent matchup for GSP. He is a huge lightweight and would be a decent sized welterweight. But Henderson just isn’t on GSP’s level. Not only that, Henderson has so many challengers waiting for him at lightweight. Lightweight is probably the most stacked division in the UFC right now. Henderson can’t claim any super fights until he cleans out lightweight first.

It was also revealed that Anderson Silva has been itching for a big fights, namely against GSP. There were rumors Silva said he would be willing to fight GSP at 170 lbs. I highly doubt he could make the weight, but if Silva did, there would be nowhere for GSP to hide. Silva was also heard saying that he would fight Jon Jones at 190 lbs.

I have heard so many things coming out of Silva I don’t know what to believe. At this point, I think he should just go for broke and fight Jon Jones while he is still young and inexperienced at 205 lbs. That way he becomes the first man to hold two divisional belts consecutively. GSP is not ready coming off an injury and has new challengers waiting for him.

Silva and Jones have already cleaned out their respective divisions. Dana White even jumped on board saying he would like to see Silva vs Jones later this year in Madison Square Garden. That fight would be huge and should be the only super fight anyone is talking about at this point.

Source: Bleacher Report

Its a match up between “Thunder” and “Lightning” that everyone has been predicting. After Yushin Okami beat Alan Belcher at UFC 155 last month, Okami and Hector Lombard were all but destined to meet early this year.

Okami and Lombard will join the main card of UFC on FUEL TV 8 in Saitama, Japan that is being headlined by Wanderlei Silva and Brian Stann. Even though Okami has the home court advantage, most MMA fans will be rooting for Lombard to get his second win in the octagon.

Lets face it, a win for Lombard still puts him one win away from a title shot. It still beats Okami getting one step closer to a rematch with Anderson Silva. Okami got punked by Silva the last time they met. He was embarrassing, I don’t want to see that a second time.

I think Lombard will still get creamed by Anderson Silva, but at least its something new. Okami had his chance and squandered it. That said, I think the fight will be tough for Lombard. He is going to have to stuff a lot of take downs and finish Okami to win the fight.

As Alan Belcher can attest to, its no easy task.

Source: Bloody Elbow

 Alan Belcher is one of those guys in the middleweight division that is on the outside looking in. Even though Belcher is sporting a 4-fight win streak, he knows a showdown with Anderson Silva is not going to be in his future any time soon. Belcher is ok with that.

“The Talent” will take on Yushin Okami at UFC 155 on December 29 in Las Vegas. While the matchup may not have star power, its a fight Belcher wants since Okami has a win over him from 2009. Belcher knows a win streak could keep his name in the mix while also getting revenge for the loss.

I’ll be honest, I am not a big Belcher fan. He seems to be a crybaby at times. To be fair, he is 6-1 in his last 7 fights. But he has four notable losses to Yoshihiro Akiyama, Jason Day, Kendall Grove, and Yushin Okami in the UFC. I am not even sure Day and Grove are still in the UFC. Akiyama is a small middleweight.

That said, Belcher is finally healthy enough to contend in the middleweight division. I think he still needs a spectacular year beating at least three top 10 middleweights if he wants to challenge for a title. Hector Lombard, Tim Boetsch, Mark Munoz, Vitor Belfort, Michael Bisping, and Chris Weidman will be in his future before Anderson Silva.

If you ask Belcher, he is fine with that. Belcher is planning to beat up everyone at middleweight to make his way to Anderson Silva. His journey will start with Okami at UFC 155.

Source: Yahoo

With time, anything can happen. A couple months ago, you couldn’t even get Jon Jones to talk about taking a super fight with Anderson Silva. Today, pressed on the topic, Jones said he wouldn’t want the fight but would take it if he was challenged by Silva.

Bones went on to say that he is not afraid of any man–including Anderson Silva. WOW! Jones just made a complete 180 degree turn from a couple months ago. Before, Jones would use the cliche that he and Silva were friends and that he wanted to use Silva as a mentor.

Now its “if he challenges me, I’m going to fight him”. That is a big deal! Just when the Anderson Silva vs GSP super fight fell through, we were losing hope of ever seeing another super fight. Well, I think we just got a better match up to replace Silva vs GSP.

I think I speak for everyone when I say Bones is the better match up for Silva. GSP would get destroyed. But I wouldn’t mind seeing it. Silva vs Jones is a dream come true. Someone that actually has the skills and size to deal with Silva’s accuracy and striking ability.

The thing that makes super fights so much more pressing is what happened to Manny Pacquiao this weekend. He was a win away from possibly fighting Floyd Mayweather. Now that fight is no longer available. I am sure that fact will not be lost upon Dana White who should try and make this fight happen now while both guys are in their primes.

Source: MMA Fighting

What Chael Sonnen asks for, Sonnen gets. The UFC announced today that Jon Jones will coach opposite Chael Sonnen on TUF 17 and then fight on April 27. The news will undoubtedly shock everyone in the MMA community. Sonnen went from losing to Anderson Silva in July to moving up and fighting Jones in April the following year without having to take another fight in between.

It goes without saying that Sonnen will no longer face Forrest Griffin in December. There is currently no word on what will happen with Griffin. The news is welcome for TUF fans who have lost interest in TUF because the coaches have been less than entertaining. I have not been this excited for a TUF season since Rampage Jackson and Rashad Evans were coaches.

Dane White said the decision to make Jones and Sonnen coaches was not to help bolster the struggling reality show. Rather, it was out of necessity since Jones is going to be on the shelf rehabbing his injured right elbow. Why not film a reality show and increase Jones’ exposure as well? Its a brilliant idea. And Sonnen is guaranteed to be entertaining when he goads Jones on television.

I know a lot of people are down on the announcement because Sonnen technically doesn’t deserve the fight with Jones. But who cares? The UFC is a business and they need to put on fights that fans want to see. That is what makes the UFC so special. And its not like Jones has other qualified candidates waiting. He has already cleaned out the division. Why not give a new guy a chance to take him on?

Update 10/17/2012: Anthony Pettis revealed that he and Donald Cerrone were in the running to coach TUF but plans fell through when the UFC selected Jones and Sonnen instead. While Pettis and Cerrone would have made good coaches, Jones and Sonnen just blew them out of the water. TUF needed saving, Pettis and Cerrone weren’t going to cut it. Pettis and Cerrone are expecting to fight some time in January of next year.

Update 10/18/2012: FX network execs finally confirmed what we have all been hoping for, the next season of TUF will air on a weeknight that is NOT Friday. I have been saying all along that the Friday time slot has been killing TUF more than anything else. I guess they finally heard us. A day has not been named but we know it won’t be Friday.

Update 10/25/2012: Who would turn down a coaching spot on TUF? Rampage Jackson. Both Jackson and Dana White confirmed that Jackson was offered a coaching spot opposite Chael Sonnen. But Jackson said he doesn’t like fighting guys that “hump” their opponents, so he turned down the offer. That is when the UFC approached Jon Jones who accepted. Jackson still wants to fight Glover Teixeira some time next year to fulfill the last fight on his UFC contract.

Update 12/4/2012: TUF 17 will air on FX on January 22nd which is a Tuesday. Its not the Wednesday time slot I had hoped for but anything is better than Friday. Dana White has been saying a lot of good things about this season. Hope its true.