Fights you're looking forward to


Chops

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Right off the top of my head I will go with Lesnar/Mir and Faber/Pulver.

Lesnar/Mir should be interesting as it all depends which Mir shows up. If his oldself comes in, I could see him getting an early submission on Lesnar. However if out of shape Mir show up, I could see Lesnar using his strength and cardio to L'n'P Mir after he gasses.

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I personally hope Lesnar gets humbled.

I'd rather see someone live up to thier hype and become a force in a now directionless heavyweight division than see another big name fall on thier ass.

In fact there are several heavyweight matches coming up that will shape the division. Nog vs Sylvia for the title will hopefully make Nog into the UFC new heavyweight top dog, and Werdum vs Gonzaga will determine who Lesnar or Mir has to face on thier way up through the rankings. I'm glad that they finally got around to trying to shape that division somewhat. Before they were banking too much on Couture, now at least they are trying to maximise thier existing talent. I'm left wondering who Cro Cop's final opponant in the UFC will be. Do they want to test an upcoming fighter whose rep might be hurt by losing, or make some cash from a bout with another former top heavyweight who has sunk down the card. On top of all this where does Cheik Kongo fit in? Is he put in position as a potential spoiler again? A bout with Tim Sylvia has been mentioned. Plus you have to figure that Brandon Vera will figure in once he is ready to return from his broken hand.

I'd agree that there is no megastar like Randy in this group, nor do I think any of them have to potential to rival him, but there are some interesting fights and I think that 2008 does not have to represent a slump in the heavyweight division.

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Cro Cop has three more fights on his contract, Stavros. And, judging by the way they've booked him so far, we can probably look forward to three more crappy fights nobody wants to see. What a letdown his American run has been...

OK, fair enough. I thought the contract was for 4 fights total. Thats not so bad then since Cro Cop beating a couple of guys on his way out goes some way towards justifying his hype and if he doesn't win it only helps the guys he's fighting. I can see Cro Cop vs Silvia, Mir & Vera being a good way to round out his current contract if they are looking to send him on his way. I can't imagine them keeping him on at his current price tag although if he's willing to fight and for the right price it would be very interesting to see him try to rebuild his rep. If he wins the three remaining fights I could see UFC wanting him to stay on.

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I don't think they'll put him with Mir unless Frank can beat Lesnar. A more likely scenario is Mirko / Arlovski in the summertime, with the loser basically out of the UFC shortly, if not immediately, thereafter. They had a similar situation with the Pedro Rizzo and Ricco Rodriguez a few years ago, where both were on their last legs after a string of losses, they faced off and the loser (Ricco) was out the door afterwards.

I'd love to see Cro Cop / Sylvia if Mirko could show up with his working boots, and think a Cro Cop / Noguiera rematch would be great since their first fight was so good. If you've never seen that one, seek it out - it pretty much embodies why Nog is such a big name. He was getting SPANKED and still managed to pull it out.

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The problem with Arlovski is he's too dangerous right now. With the influx of Pride guys, the heavyweight division need to settle, and with Cro Cop and Nog's dissapointing showing in the states, possibly giving credibility to insinuations of steroids, the UFC has basically sat on Andrei's contract. He still has one fight left, but according to an interview Dana has basically told him they will be sitting on it for awhile. Mirko/Andrei would be a waste if it wasn't for the title, nobody I know wants to see Tim with the title, and it's ludicous that he's being awarded a title fight after only one win. The UFC should have gone with a combination of Nog/Kongo/Arlovski for the title. With the third guy getting the next shot. However, where to go from there is another thing entirely, Cro cop, Werdum, Gonzaga, Vera, Mir all have recent losses.

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Besides Lesnar and the stuff that's going on with Randy, I am so not interested in the HW division right now. Tim presses guys against the cage for 15 minutes, Cro Cop has failed to impress, Vera's cool but I need to see him face tougher guys, Arlovski I like but he's nowhere to be found and I've seen very little of Gonzaga's work.

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The only danger the modern Arlovski presents is death by boredom. I'm left with no desire to watch him fight. In the case of Arlovski they couldn't put him into the title picture with only one fight left, he'd be given too much ammo for what are already rumoured to be troublesome contract negotiations.

On top of that throwing Kongo into a title match is too much too soon. I'm not happy with Sylvia in that position either, but at least Tim has a recent win plus a history of fighting at the top level. If Slyvia beats Nog then the whole thing is going to hell, but I suppose at least there are interesting challengers to come.

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