By Sheldan Keay
The Ultimate Fighting Championship has continued to expand each year throughout their existence, and now with the impending arrival of Strikeforce talent and the new TV deal with Fox set to occur in 2012, it is proving to be the biggest year in UFC history. There are a lot of potential fights out there that UFC should be making in 2012, but there are 5 in particular that due to the buzz and revenue they could generate, UFC would be expected to make them.
5. Jose Aldo VS Dominick Cruz
Both men have looked dominant at featherweight and bantamweight respectively, and neither are looking like losing their title anytime soon. With the likes of Chad Mendes and Hatsu Hioki being the front runners for fights with featherweight champion Aldo, and bantamweight champion Cruz potentially having rematches with the likes of Urijah Faber, Brian Bowles and Joseph Benavidez, a fight between Aldo and Cruz could culminate in late 2012. Cruz has stated that he would be interested in moving up to 145 pounds to fight Aldo, and with both men being widely regarded as two of the world's top pound for pound fighters, it is hard to see why a fight between the two may not happen.
Cruz has shown throughout his career that his fast paced style has troubled every opponent he has faced, and with him being a high level athlete both on the feet and on the ground, he has the potential to expose any holes that Aldo has in his game. However, Aldo has rarely shown any holes in his game, and it is for that reason why he is seen as one of the top 3 pound for pound fighters. The only aspect of Aldo's game that may be questionable, is his cardio, ironically the area where Cruz is deemed to be at his strongest. There is no doubt that a fight between these two men would certainly be an intriguing one, and it would help to solidify the winner's pound for pound status.
4. Frankie Edgar VS Gilbert Melendez
It is widely expected that Gilbert Melendez will be the next Strikeforce fighter to make the leap to the UFC, and with him he brings a serious claim to being the best lightweight in the world. However, another man who can claim that title, has proven time and time again never to count him out, as proven yet again at UFC 136, where Frankie Edgar sensationally came back from a early beating from Gray Maynard on his way to stopping Maynard in the 4th round and therefore retaining his UFC lightweight championship. Unless Clay Guida or Ben Henderson has something to say about it, it would appear that Gilbert Melendez is next for Edgar.
Melendez still has a title defense against Jorge Masvidal in December lined up, and with Edgar being unable to resume training until late November due to his medical suspension, a fight between the two could happen early next year. Melendez has great power, as shown in his recent KO victory over Tatsuya Kawajiri, and that power may cause Edgar the same problems that Maynard caused him in their last 2 fights. Melendez has also shown that he can pace himself well and pick his shots, and if put in a position that Maynard found himself in against Edgar, Melendez may have the ability to end the fight. However, Edgar proved in both fights that despite what you throw at him, he'll never give up, and it is that never give up attitude that helped Edgar defeat Maynard by KO at UFC 136, proving that he can also finish fights.
However, it is obviously not Edgar's mental toughness that is the strongest part of his game, it is his well rounded skill set including a great wrestling base, great boxing, great movement and great speed. It is those assets, and his ability to fight guys who outweigh him by around 20 pounds that recently led to Dana White calling him the second best pound for pound fighter in the world, and if a fight with Melendez does culminate, the winner would certainly have a good case to be known as a top two pound for pound fighter not just to Dana White, but to most fight fans.
3. Georges St. Pierre VS Nick Diaz
Diaz's fight style has left many to believe that he could be the one who ends St Pierre's dominant title reign, Diaz's desire to make any contest in a war would no doubt leave St Pierre in a position where he may be forced to fight differently to his conservative (yet dominant) style, and engage in a physical battle with Diaz. Diaz is a high level boxer and grappler, and so if the fight remains standing or hits the ground, Diaz would remain competitive throughout and push St Pierre all the way. St Pierre hasn't been forced to alter his fighting style for many years, and although it may receive criticism from fight fans for being 'boring', there is no denying that he is dominant. If St Pierre is not required to risk his strategy in order to defeat his opponent, then that is testament to his ability as a fighter. St Pierre has proven in his fights that he is skilled in every area, most notably his takedowns and wrestling, an area that Diaz has been known to have problems defending.
However, as shown in St Pierre's fight with Jake Shields, when facing a high level grappler, St Pierre may decide to keep the fight standing, and due to Diaz's grappling ability, this fight may indeed remain standing, which could favour Diaz due to his fighting style, and St Pierre may be forced to engage in a physical pressing battle with Diaz, which would certainly make many MMA fans happy. However, both men first have to defeat Condit and Penn respectively at UFC 137 before a fight could happen between the two, but if it did, it would certainly be a possibility that St Pierre and Diaz may find themselves as the coaches on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter on Fox.
2. Jon Jones VS Rashad Evans
Throughout 2011, MMA fans were expecting to see a fight between former training partners Jon Jones and Rashad Evans. This was due to Jones taking Evans' spot in the UFC 128 title fight against Shogun Rua after Evans received an injury, and Jones subsequently defeated Rua for the title. Initially, Jones and Evans stated that they would not fight each other due to their friendship and desire not to cause a rift in Greg Jackson's camp. However, it couldn't be anymore different now, as both men appear to have developed a true hatred for each other, and are eager to get this fight over and done with as soon as possible.
It was expected that Jones and Evans would meet following Jones' victory over Quinton Jackson at UFC 135, however, Evans is still recovering from the broken hand is suffered in his victory over Tito Ortiz at UFC 133, and so Jones will now face Lyoto Machida at UFC 140. If Jones is able to defeat Machida, it is likely that Evans will be his next opponent, and Evans offers a lot of skills that Jones may not yet have come across in his career. Evans is a high level wrestler, and we are yet to see how Jones performs off of his back. While Ryan Bader was also a high level wrestler, and he was unable to get down Jones, Evans' transitions into his takedowns are much better than Bader's, and if he is able to get down Jones, it will be interesting to see how Jones performs. Evans has also proven to have good striking, as shown recently in his KO victory over Tito Ortiz. This is arguably down to Evans' recent training camp with elite kick boxer Tyrone Spong, and if Evans is able to land on Jones, it will be interesting to see whether or not Jones has a durable chin.
However, these claims have been made many times before when opponents have faced Jones, and he has proven on every occasion just why he is now regarded as being a top pound for pound fighter. In his last outing, Jones fought Quinton Jackson, who has proven on many occasions to be a top level striker. However, Jackson hardly landed a punch on Jones, due to Jones' ability to maintain the distance and utilise his long reach advantage, something that will also be the case in his fight with Evans. Add this to Jones' ever improving skills both in his stand up and ground game, and it would be easy to assume that Jones will have another routine victory on his hands. However, when you factor in the fact that these men have trained together and know each other inside out, then that adds a whole different perspective to this potential fight. Both men have claimed that they dominated the other when training together, and while it is unknown which man is being truthful, it certainly means that a potential fight between the two is very intriguing. Jones and Evans would also be ideal candidates for a coaches role on the debut season of The Ultimate Fighter on Fox.
1. Anderson Silva VS Chael Sonnen
At UFC 117, Anderson Silva was a huge favorite going into his title defense against Chael Sonnen, and Silva was expected to defend his title in fairly convincing fashion following months of trash talk leading up to the fight by Sonnen. However, Sonnen certainly didn't plan on that being the case. He gave Silva the toughest fight of his UFC career, and for four and a half rounds, he completely dominated Silva by putting on a wrestling clinic on the middleweight champion. However, with just under two minutes remaining in the fight, Sonnen's concentration slipped for just a brief second, and Silva was able to lock in a triangle armbar and win the fight by submission. Ever since then, MMA fans around the world have wished for a rematch, and following Sonnen's win over Brian Stann at UFC 136, a 2012 rematch looks very likely.
A rematch was originally planned for UFC 125 on January 1st 2011, however due to Sonnen testing positive for elevated testosterone levels in his first fight with Silva, he was subsequently suspended for a year by the CSAC. Following a successful appeal process from Sonnen that lasted several months, his suspension was reduced, and Sonnen finally made his return to action at UFC 136 with a submission victory over Brian Stann. Sonnen showed in the fight just why he caused Silva so many problems, as he was able to take Stann down with ease and use his superior wrestling ability to keep the fight on the ground. Silva has always had trouble against wrestlers, and Sonnen exposed that weakness by repeatedly taking Silva down and using some devastating ground and pound throughout the fight. If a rematch takes place, it is unlikely that Silva may have been able to develop good enough takedown defense to prevent takedowns from someone as skilled as Sonnen in that area. Sonnen's recent training camps with the likes of Jake Shields and Nick Diaz has also improved Sonnen's submission game, and it is widely expected that due to training with such high level grapplers, Sonnen will no longer find himself in a position where he can be submitted as often.
With these factors to bear in mind, it would be expected that the Chael Sonnen that may step into the cage with Anderson Silva in their rematch would be a much improved Sonnen, so what evidence is there to suggest that Silva would be able to win, after having so many problems with Sonnen in their previous fight. The evidence is that he is Anderson Silva. Silva is regarded as the best fighter on the planet, and has broken countless records since making his debut in the UFC due to his unbeaten status. Since the fight with Sonnen, Silva has recorded KO victories over Vitor Belfort and Yushin Okami, and if it was possible, has appeared to gotten even better as a fighter. Whether that be due to the introduction of Steven Seagal into his training camp is yet to be seen.
It was reported that Silva went into the first fight with Sonnen with broken ribs, and due to this, Silva was unable to perform at his best, therefore showing why Sonnen was able to dominate the champion with such ease. These claims was never confirmed, and so it is likely that Sonnen would be able to achieve the same success if given the opportunity. However, Sonnen first has to get the fight to the ground in order for that to be the case, and Silva has proven to have amazing movement and striking ability, most notably shown in his KO victory over Forrest Griffin. Sonnen has proven to have a great chin throughout his MMA career, and if given the option of having the better striking or the better wrestling in a fight, most fighters would choose wrestling.
With all these factors to consider, it is hard to make any case for either fighter on why they would lose this fight. While Sonnen clearly is strongest where Silva is weakest, Silva is the best fighter in the world for a reason, and as proven in the first fight, Silva should never be ruled out. if Sonnen is able to get Silva down, it cannot be forgotten that Silva is a BJJ black belt, which was the key factor in their first fight. Both these men would also be ideal candidates for the coaches role on The Ultimate Fighter's debut on Fox, and with Sonnen's trash talk expected to be in full force, it would certainly be a ratings hit. Long story short, a potential rematch between these two is easily the most desired MMA fight of 2012, and based on Sonnen's comments during his post-fight interview at UFC 136, it could go down as one of the biggest fights in MMA history.
Follow Sheldan on Twitter: @SheldanKeay
