This Sunday’s UFC 131 was meant to feature The Ultimate Fighter 13 coaches, Brock Lesnar and Junior Dos Santos squaring off for a shot at Cain Velasquez’s heavyweight title. However, Lesnar’s diverticulitis reared its head again and he had to be replaced by once beaten powerhouse, Shane Carwin.
While the match-up may have changed, the stakes have not.
The winner, barring injury, will most definitely meet Velasquez in the headlining bout of October’s UFC 136. But what’s after that?
The short list of UFC heavyweight contenders is very much that; a short list. You have a sick Lesnar and then Dos Santos and Carwin.
This is followed by Frank Mir who has held the title before but was demolished by Lesnar in his attempt to regain the title at UFC 100 and then knocked out cold by Carwin in his bid for the interim title at UFC 111.
After Mir, there is pretty much dead air.
“Big Country” Roy Nelson was labelled as a top contender but he looked downright woeful against Mir at UFC 130.
Prospects like Brendan Schaub, Travis Browne and Matt Mitrione are still a number of fights away from title contention and old dogs like Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira are having enough trouble making it back into the cage from injury.
Looking at this list, the question changes from “what’s next?” to “does anyone care?”
Even looking at this Sunday’s event, that question could very well pop-up if Carwin is victorious.
The Lesnar/Carwin title bout was a great fight but it left fans with the image of an exhausted Carwin being unable to manage any sort of defence to Lesnar’s ground control.
A devastating KO of Dos Santos could very well change that on Sunday, but I have my doubts that the casual fan will be excited by a Velasquez/Carwin title bout.
It is pretty amazing when you remember how the heavyweight division was perceived prior to Lesnar being toppled back in October.
Lesnar as champion polarised the MMA fanbase and instantly gave a boost to any potential challengers as half the fans were now rooting for them by default.
A Lesnar-free heavyweight division almost sends the weight-class back to before 2007 and the Tim Sylvia-era of heavyweights, where a monotonous cycle of recycled or undercooked contenders almost killed fan interest entirely.
The cycle was only broken by the fairytale return of Randy Couture who dethroned Sylvia and held the title until Lesnar emerged.
If you look at the UFC’s other divisions at the moment the best comparison you can find is the Georges St. Pierre ruled welterweight division. GSP’s reign of – in recent bouts – tedious dominance has led to him clearing out the division as well as a lot of fan interest.
The UFC perceived this droop in interest after GSP’s bizarre unanimous decision win over Jakes Shields and reacted by importing wild-man and current Strikeforce welterweight champion, Nick Diaz to meet him later this year.
This decision made rekindled life in the division and in doing so bought time for the division’s up-and-comers such as Ricky Story, Carlos Condit and Rory MacDonald to string some wins together and establish themselves as top contenders.
The same option is available for the heavyweight division, as Strikeforce contains a number of elite marketable heavyweights such as recent K-1 Grand Prix champion, Alistair Overeem, the legendary Fedor Emelianenko and the two men to defeat him, Fabricio Werdum and Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva.
If these fighters were to be merged into the UFC it would undoubtedly inject the heavyweight division with life.
Of course this is not to overlook Junior Dos Santos who, if victorious on Sunday, is a more than worthy challenger that is riding a six fight winning streak in the Octagon as well as the promotional vehicle that is the Ultimate Fighter.
However, a UFC heavyweight division without Lesnar is a very dull and unmarketable place.
If new blood does not emerge or is not brought in, the UFC’s heavyweight division could very well find itself in the same place it was prior to 2007.
MarkR
Guest
turbodewd - I agree that a good comentator doesn't need to be a former great, they do need ot be 'reasonably' unbiased & well informed. Joe is often both of these, but sometimes he's neither.
MarkR
Guest
Benno - we'll have to agree to disagree. I do train, backgorund in JJ as well as western & chinese boxing. His experience surprises me, maybe it's the commentators curse in that I can see things more easily from the TV angles than he can in a ringside seat. I'd put it down to a lack of knowledge, perhaps they are just that he can't see the action & makes a call just so there's some nosie from the commentators box, but some of the things he says do surprise me as they're wrong. Have you ever watched one of his 'favourite' fighters getting hammered ? It's like we're watching different fights. I might have to start treatingt he UFC like a Wallabies - All Blacks test i.e. turn the sound down so I can focus on the action & not get distracted by the noise.
Dan
Guest
I do not agree, however my favorite part was "but I have my doubts that the casual fan will be excited by a Velasquez/Carwin title bout" I personally would love to see that fight but if i was given Velasques/Dos Santos i would equally be excited... Mir has bulked up a little but still might not be able to deal with the elite of the heavyweights
Benno
Guest
Joe Rogan is one of the best commentators out there in my opinion - and I think you'll find he has far more experience than 12 months, good sir. He's been training in BJJ since 1996, and currently holds a brown belt in 10th Planet JJ (he earned a brown belt under Machado prior to this). He originally started in Taekwondo, and even had a couple of kickboxing matches (record of 2-1). MarkR, do you happen to train in a martial art yourself?
turbodewd
Guest
MarkR a commentator neednt be a former great in the sport. He simply needs to know the sport well and love it. Rogan loves the sport and his enthusiasm comes thru in the broadcast and really reflects well. Im no guru but he seems to know what he's talking about. Having a 3rd commentator who is also a former top fighter wouldnt hurt at all.
MarkR
Guest
Whoops, sorry Jay & thanks for the pickup- always proof read your own stuff, especially when you're trying to work at the same time. Of course I mean Joe Rogan. Apologies to Joe Roff one of my all time favourite Wallaby Fullbacks.
Jay
Guest
Joe Roff?
MarkR
Guest
Sam , an interesting take on the UFC HeavyWeight division. Lesner did excite a lot of people who didn't really follow the UFC that much as well as giving the US wrestling fans another poster boy. For the rest of us it was just a matter of waiting for a decent fighter who could stop his takedowns. There does seem to be a shortage of top heavyweights, perhaps they need another UF series for the Heavyweights ? Also the way they've structured the weight divisions means a lot of the big guys will fight light heavy. If you're a 100kg fighter why fight at 93-120kgs when you can easily fight at the 84-93kg range if you cut weight. Jon Jones is 6'4" there's no way with his build he would be close to 92-93kgs at a natural weight. So this has meant that the light heavy division is getting more interest, & there are some great fighters in that division. Also if you check the Hall of Fame they're all Light Heavy or Welters so the Heavyweight has never been the top draw until tehy gave Lesner what appeared to be a fast track via the Dana marketing machine. I do disagree with your statement re:GSP "GSP’s reign of – in recent bouts – tedious dominance has led to him clearing out the division as well as a lot of fan interest." One of the guaranteed ways to get alot of fans to watch a fight is to have GSP fight. His dominance of opponents through strategy makes him more of a purists fan as his fights can seem boring if you don't understand why he's taking a certain approach. If you watch the latest UF series one of the interesting points has been that fighters are getting a lot better at stopping the wrestlers takedown forcing the fight into a standup match, are we now seeing the resurgence of the striker ? Oh yeah, can someone please shut up Joe Roff & get Randy or someone similar to provide the expert commentary. 12 months at some MMA school does not make you an expert & his bias is ridiculous.