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Now that the dust has settled and UFC 91 is over. The number one Heavyweight in the world Fedor Emelianenko has come out openly and expressed and interest in fighting Brock Lesnar. The fight has been a suggested co-promoted fight has been offered between M-1, and Affliction Entertainment and the UFC. Zuffa has already turned down the offer.

The problem with signing Fedor to the UFC has always been disagreements over contracts and who’s ego was bigger.

“I think Lesnar fought a very smart fight,” Emelianenko told Sherdog.com on Tuesday. “It was very interesting to watch. I think one of his strengths was that — I was impressed by his speed in the fight. I think just from watching the fight, each fighter was waiting for the other one to make a mistake and I think Lesnar was very fortunate to have caught Randy and prevail.”

The apparent super fight between Randy and Fedor now looks like a thing of the past.

“To tell you the truth, I wasn’t entirely excited in fighting Randy. I have a great deal of respect and admiration for him. Getting in the ring with someone that, I myself, adore as a person and a fighter, I’m never as interested in getting in the ring with someone I have an emotional attachment to.”

“I would choose Lesnar, mainly for the reason I mentioned before,” said Emelianenko. “I’m very sympathetic to Randy. We hung out together. We got to know each other. I have a lot of warm feelings toward him. Based on that, if I had my choice without any outside forces involved, I would choose Lesnar.”

Feodr’s next match looks to be vs Andrei Arlovski at Affliction 2 “Day of Reckoning” on Jan. 24 in Anaheim, Calif. The event will be co-promoted by M-1.There is no telling if Emelianenko vs Lesnar will ever happen but there is always a possiblity.

The Stage is set to kick off 2009. On January 31 George St Pierre looks to defend his title against Bj Penn.  Mark your calendar, clear your schedule do whatever you need to, but do not miss this fight. The last time these two champions met in UFC 58 2006 the result was a controversial split decision going to GSP. This left many fans including myself confused over who the real 170 pound king is.

Fans and fighters a like are hard pressed when it comes to picking a winner. Both men have excellent stand up and ground skills. I believe the fight breaks down to who wants it more. Countless debates have fueled on the internet. Now all the talking is done and we will finally know who the real champ is.

Now lets get down to the nitty gritty. What is it going to take for each fighter to win?

GSP - St Pierre has been known as a cardio machine. Coming at his opponents from all angles mixing an arsenal of strikes with takedowns. What he does best is to try and beat you at your own game. This time around GSP will have to out box and run down his opponent with pressing the pace and forcing mistakes. He needs to stay mentally focused and enforce his will (good luck to you).

Bj Penn - Serious serious SERIOUS CARDIO training is a must for him. Penn has been notorious to gassing in previous fights. Although I must credit him by saying Penn version 2.0 seems to be a new man. The prodigy will need to check St Pierre’s leg kicks and counter everything with combinations and knees. Force and engauge the clinch and work GSP from the inside. If Penn can force the takedown from the clinch he will put GSP into a position where he has not spent alot of time. Penns top game and mount is one of the best in MMA today.

There is a lot on the line for both fighters and only one can come out on top. I guess a big thanks to Dana White for making this fight happen. Maybe hes not that bad of a guy after all….hahaha

With EliteXC down the toilet and being knocked out in 14 seconds by Seth Petruzelli (UFC reject) Dana White jokes that we will see him fighting next to a BBQ (possibly mixing it up for a chicken wing?). Although all signs point to this fighters 15 minutes of fame being up, there maybe some hope for him still. Kimbo is a very marketable and charismatic individual given the right people behind him he still could make a name for himself in the ever evolving world of MMA.

There has been no news published that indicates to a new stomping ground for this over night success. But Kimbos management has publicly stated that Mr Ferguson does want to fight and is currently looking for a new home.

Team Kimbo might be in for a shock when they deal with the UFC. Since Dana White is notorious for low balling fighters pay. Another option for Kimbo is to go over to Japan and fight in one of their organizations. the Japanese would most likely welcome him with open arms. It will likely be a while before we see the over night internet success rise to the top of the MMA world. But in a sport where anything is possible…it is also not all that unrealistic.

According to Jeremy Lappen, Head of Fight Operations for EliteXC CBS has turned down the offer to purchase this mma franchise. Although no one knows for sure if CBS or Showtime will be planning their own fight label, one thing is for sure. The pay for mma fighters looks to take another step backwards. Although this does not come as a surprise to most people inside the mma circle, it has casued dissapointment.  The EliteXC promotion has been reporting loses since its inception. The approach to setting up the franchise was done hastily and smacked together to go against the 800 pound gorilla known as the UFC.

Looks like there will be 50+ good quality mma fighters all looking for new contracts and new homes. Dana White might have been right from the get go. Seems like the fans support the brand and not the athelete.

Are you kidding me? This is what the UFC is offering as a main even??? Thank god its free.  The only ones stupid to buy tickets or pay for the event is the Brits. No wonder why they decided to host the event over there. That plus Michael “The Count” Bisping is the UK poster boy. Ok enough complaining lets talk about the actual fight.

Style wise we will be entertained by two standup mma fighters that like to exchange leather. From a technical perspective the fight has to go to Bisping. His standup skills are on the upper end of the food chain when compared to Leben’s. In order for him to pull off the win he is going to have to throw punches in bunches and come at different angles. Much the same as what current middle weight champ Anderson Silva did when he fought Carrot Top…oops I mean Chris Leben.

That being said the unorthodox south paw does have a punchers chance. Leben has been known to hit hard and does not mind to eat a few shots to land his own. If Leben expects to pull off the upset, and believe me this would be a huge upset. He is going to have stay out of the clinch and throw straight left hands down the pipe. If Leben does end up in the clinch by choice or misfortune, dirty boxing or body clinch take down is going to be a must. Bisping has got to be one of the most borring fighters from his back and his submission game is less than par.

To say I am not interested in watching a free event would be lying. However for either man win or lose does not seem to be very exciting given the fact that current king pin Anderson Silva would destroy either man on his worst day.

Ok so its official UFC 92 will co feature two main events. Wanderlei Silva vs Quinton Jackson and a title match of Forrest Griffin vs Rashad Evans. Like most I will be tuning in on Dec 27 to watch the events unfold. For some reason there is this little voice in my head that keeps chanting pride, pride, pride, pride……. that’s right Wandy vs Jackson has already happened 2 times before in Japans Pride FC. Both fights ending in the same results. Dominating performances by the axe murderer. Or has Joe Silva and Dana White forgotten all about that, since Zuffa purchased the bankrupt company and have tried to remove all the fights off of youtube. Is it possible that we will see some sort evolved fighter in Rampage? Highly unlikely. Quintons style is perfect to play right into the hands of Wanderlei. We should all expect to see much more of the same from their previous fights.

Title fights are always the main event on any fight card. However the question remains in fans minds. How legitimate is this title match? By no means am I insinuating Rashad does not deserve a shot at the belt. In fact I believe he deserves a shot at the title from the real champ. Which many believe to still be Quinton Jackson. In the controversial descision we all saw at UFC 86, a new more marketable star was born.  Now we are seeing what the UFC has been dreaming of. Two of their own TV stars taking front stage to fight for a belt. Giving legitimacy to reality show TUF.

Of all the divisions the UFC has to offer middleweight seems to be the least competitive. Please do not twist what I am saying. The worlds mma p4p fighter is a middleweight in the UFC, however there is no one in the Octagon today, that will be a threat to his throne.  Saturday October 25 looks to be another lopsided beating delivered by no other than the spider. There is no one at 185 that can come close to matching the skill or determination of this guy.  Anderson’s  athleticism and natural abilities are far beyond what most can classify. That being said heavy underdog Patrick “The Poutine” (oops i meant predator) Cote looks to ruffle some feathers.

To quote the best mma announcer today (Joe Rogan, seriously every other mma commentator could learn from this guy) Styles make fights. Stylistically speaking there is nothing special about this fight. Both men like to stand and trade. And in every department of standup or ground game Anderson has this fight covered. I expect to see a fight clinic being showed by Silva with Cote standing around and taking notes. To be fair this was the only legitimate contender the UFC could produce at 185. Looks like we are in store for much of the same in the near future. As there is no one that can touch Silva at 185.

Although the exact date has not been released the grudge match between these two welter weights has been confirmed. This should be an interesting matchup since both fighters are recovering from injuries. Hughes from the knee injury and Serra from the herniated disc.  Styles make fights but so does hatred and this fight lacks neither one.

Hughes is a wrestler with tremendous top game and good ground and pound mixed with some submissions. Serra is no slouch off his back and has excellent submissions being a Renzo Gracie bjj black belt. Both men seem to have improved striking skills. With all the talent they posses the injuries both have incurred lead me to believe we are in store for a slug fest. Mobility in the knee of Hughes will have some effect in how well he shoots for a takedown and Serra must still be suffering from some loss of flexibility.

The Terror has been quoted as saying he wants to spend more time wrestling in the training room. I do not know if this is a mistake but I feel he should stick to what he is good at. Takedown defense and a brawl and sprawl seems to work well against Hughes. Proven by guys like Georges (rush) St Pierre  and Thiago (the pitbull) Alves. Serra definitely has along way to come if his striking skills are ever going to compare to any of those fighters, but he does have some heavy hands.

I hate to give predicitions since mma has this funny way of always proving me wrong. But I can say this with confidence, the UFC marketing machine will hype this fight and as long as the fighter show up we should be in store for some fireworks.

Looks like the Trump has managed to get his fat head and sticky hands into the world of MMA. Although I do not blame him for wanting to get a piece of the pie, I don’t know if I exactly like the idea of having his involvement in a sport that has yet to be appreciated by the baby boomers. We all know that comb over Trump does bring some assets to the ring. Money, the Trump Taj Mahal and an over the top Reality TV personality. But he also brings some negatives. What the hell does this guy think he knows about MMA and what we the fans are really looking for when we watch the fights.

The other day I saw an interview with the Don on TV. He was giving a press conference, talking about his plans with Affliction all of a sudden he stops to take a phone call from no other than Andrea Arlovski. Staged you say? No…Mr Trump would never try to pull something like that. Of course he would this is what this idiot is famous for! Fans who like watching the sport want to see big fights. The whole reason MMA evolved was to see styles vs styles fights. That way there would be a clear cut answer to who reigns supreme in a full contact fight. We are not looking for another WWE and we sure as hell are not excited to see another Vince Mcmahon. Trump offers nothing to the sport accept fat pockets to perhaps take on the UFC.

News flash to Donald Trump… stick to what you are good at that means wearing makeup on your down sliding reality show ‘The Apprentice” or raising funds to develop commercial property.  If you really are here to make the sport better, start by putting fights back in the cage and developing serious weight categories. Another plus would be to look for some cross promos.

There has been alot of hype surrounding the legitimacy of TUF turned UFC fighters. After all the TUF series is what saved the UFC from bankruptcy. I will be the first to admit that I have never thought much about the fighters that came out of TUF. This all changed last night after watching young Nate Diaz handle his business inside the Octagon against Josh Neer.

From the time he won season 5 to all the fights leading up to the main event Nate seems to be coming into his own. Since his loss to Hermes Franca, Diaz has won 4 of his last fights plus last nights descision over Josh Neer. Before the fight even started I had doubts if Diaz would be able to work his game plan. But watching him push hard and transition from position to position and utilising scoring strikes said alot about his growth and maturity as a fighter.

We are all looking forward to seeing big things from this young fighter and if last night is a glimpse of what we can expect in the future, I think this kid could have a bright future in front of him