Hit the Mat 03.30.09: Ten Things to Think About in April

Posted by Matt McEwen on 03.30.2009

April may be a month of fools, but you'd be foolish to not be excited about the upcoming month in MMA. In spite of that horrible introduction, check out the 10 things on Matt McEwen's mind as we head into a big month of fight action.

March may have come into the MMA world like a lion, but it is definitely going out like a lamb. A pretty slow end to the MMA month in North America has us ramping up for a big, big April, which should be chock full of interesting events. So, that being the case, it is once again time for me to rip of Mr. Peter King and present unto you, ten things I'm thinking about MMA:

1. Kampmann vs Condit will be the fight of the month

Maybe not for everyone, but I am hoping it will be for me. I find both guys to be pretty exciting, and with Kampmann having his first real 170lb challenge and Condit moving up to see if he can swing with the big boys....very interesting. And when was the last time someone debuted in the UFC in the main event of a Fight Night? That shows you what the brain trust thinks of Condit, and I am not far behind. Strong overall game and the ability to come back against strong opponents is a nice combination of skills. Kampmann is no joke either, and I would expect this to be a really competitive fight, but I would probably pick Condit over everyone at 170 except for GSP, and maybe Fitch and Alves. One thing for sure though - the winner will likely be fast tracked for a title shot as this will be a high profile, quality win.

2. There will be an upset

I could see Kampmann beating Condit, which would be a solid upset if not entirely surprising, or maybe it will be one of the more unknown fighters catching a more established fighter by surprise come Wednesday night.

Maybe it will come at UFC 97. I'm not sure if either guy winning out of Liddell and Rua will be an upset, but I would imagine we won't be seeing the loser inside the Octagon again any time soon, and that will be an upset in and of itself. Maybe Steve Cantwell keeps improving and takes out Luiz Cane, or maybe Antoni Hardonk (funniest name ever, by the way) can derail Cheick Kongo's title charge.

Or maybe, just maybe, we get a new Middleweight champion. No, I'm not actually going to pick Thales Leites to dethrone Anderson Silva, but let me play with the hypothetical. You have a champion who has been told for the better part of 3 years that he is unbeatable, who has been destroying tough competition, taking on an opponent that most people feel is not in his class in a title fight that seems to be taking place just to give him a fight. That is the perfect equation for a confident champion to overlook a tough challenger, and if nothing else, Leites is tough. Add in the fact that Silva looked odd - for lack of a better word - against Patrick Cote, has been openly talking about retiring and has said that when his contract is up it is a sure thing he will be boxing Roy Jones. Leites is not short enough to be overlooked that much.....

3. UFC 97 is the least of the four major cards I'm looking forward too

This upcoming Fight Night has me pretty interested, as I've mentioned I'm a fan of Condit's and always look forward to his fights. There is a lot of other fights on the card that, while not featuring a lot of big stars, do have the potential to be quite entertaining. And for an MMA fan like me who may not have that much time to sit down and watch regional shows, having new prospects show up in the Octagon is always a good thing.

The first Strikeforce show on Showtime has my interest piqued as well. The fact that the EliteXC assets are now in the hands of people who REALLY know how to run an MMA promotion is an exciting prospect, and the first card they've put together looks like affirmation of that. Shamrock/Diaz may not be an important fight in the "sport" sense, but it is going to be an interesting spectacle and hopefully fun, Josh Thompson and Gilbert Melendez could be the fight of the month, Scott Smith and Benji Radach will have an exciting stand up fight and you get the female destroyer Cris Cyborg taking on a reportedly strong opponent in submission artist Hitomi Akano. That sounds like a great card to get on cable. No complaints from me.

Sunday night the WEC returns to Versus, and Miguel Torres steps in against challenger Takeya Mizugaki. I'll admit to not knowing much about Mizugaki, but the scuttlebutt is that he has as good a chance as anyone in beating Torres, so that hype alone has me interested. Torres is a freak, and if he's in a real fight, I love it. If he puts on a clinic and destroys someone, I love it. If he gets caught quick and beat, I'll be so amazed that I'll have loved it. Add in an undercard that includes Jeff Curran, Cub Swanson, Wagnney Fabiano and Manny Tapia and you know you're going to end up with excitement and some good fights. Here's hoping Curran and Torres both win and we get one step closer to the 135lb dream fight.

Behind those three, Silva in what should be a relatively easy defense, the battle against irrelevancy as Liddell takes on Rua and all the Canadians on the card not guaranteed to be on TV, and UFC 97 is fourth on the list. Now, consider that I WILL be shelling out for the show, and you can guess how much I'm looking forward to April as a whole.

4. Kenny Florian finally getting his title shot is a very good thing

Penn will defend the 155lb title for the first time in nearly a year and half, and the division can finally take a step forward. Florian has fought two or three times as the "#1 contender" which sort of means he's been fighting with the pressure of actually having something to lose, which can only do him well in this fight. Penn is coming off an embarrassing loss, and normally I would say that will be good incentive for him, he has concentrated more on Vaseline than what part of his game needs work, so who knows. Just one year ago I would have said Florian had no chance against a fighter like Penn, but Florian just keeps getting better and better and has stepped up to every challenge he has had in front of him for a few years now. I don't think I'll be picking him come August, but I won't be shocked if the fight is a lot closer than people expect.

As for the rest of the division, this is GREAT news. People can finally start moving up and out of the holding patterns they've been in. Guys who would have been in title contention have had to fight several times while they've waited for their chance, and more often than not they've lost against other guys trying to move up. It's created a log jam, so if the title is going to be regularly defended, we should start to see more challengers step up and stand out a bit.

5. The Light Heavyweight division is crazy
I know this commonly said, but when was the last time you really took a look the division? It's the deepest and most dangerous in the sport.

Checking out the BloodyElbow.com and USA Today Meta-rankings (which are the best rankings in the sport, sorry to my 411 mates on that one, though we are part of the rankings), we have world #1 and UFC champion taking on #3 Lyoto Machida coming up, with the winner of that fight taking on #2 ranked Rampage Jackson. Whoever comes out on top of that mini-tournament is the undisputed best in the world in the division...at least until their next fight.

Elsewhere, #4 Forrest Griffin will return against #11 Thiago Silva as he looks to get back into title contention, #5 Liddell takes on # 8 Rua, #7 Keith Jardine just lost to #2 Jackson in a close fight, #6 Wanderlei Silva will be fighting #14 Rich Franklin in a catch weight fight, and younger fighters like #13 Luiz Cane, #19 Steve Cantwell and #22 Jon Jones all have fights upcoming. And that's just the UFC part of the list. This is an insanely deep division, and anyone in the Top 10 could beat anyone else in the top 10 at any given time, and the great thing is that the top fighters just keep fighting the top fighters.

6. All that being said....

Lyoto Machida is still, in my opinion, the most skilled fighter pound for pound in the sport, and will be on top of the division for a long time. Did you think I could go a whole article without mentioning how good Machida is? Personally, I'm surprised I made it #6 on my list before I did.

Though I did not need to know that he drinks his own urine.

7. Strangest product around...

Jesus Didn't Tap clothing. I find the combination of religion and "fight lifestyle" clothing very, very odd. Not to mention, their logo is pretty ugly.

8. The MMA world is looking healthier than it has in a while

Yes, the UFC has lapped the pack in terms of being the industry leader, but the health of the sport is probably more dependent on the smaller and second tier promotions than anything.

The second tier is taken care of with the WEC putting on good shows, and Strikeforce taking over the EliteXC assets and moving forward, and just look around at the number of regional shows and the fighters who come from them to the big time. In just about every locality, there's a good chance that in the next 3-6 months, you will have a quality pro MMA card within driving distance. And THAT is a very good thing.

9. While the sport is growing, the ref pool sure isn't

It's been a topic of discussion lately, and even CNNSI.com has has tackled it, and it is not going away any time soon. There is a very limited pool of good refs, and even the good ones can make bad decisions. While a lot of fighters take it upon themselves to leave little doubt to the outcome of a fight, but it seems quite often lately refs have interjected themselves by either calling (or not calling) questionable fouls, letting fights go too long, stopping them too soon or trying to make the fights "more exciting", which seems to be code for quick stand ups (particularly in New Jersey it seems....they hate ground fighting in Jersey).

A lot of MMA rules seem pretty subjective and are enforced differently by different refs....maybe a little more uniformity would do us all well.

10. King Mo, future......

UFC superstar. They're going to love this guy when they finally sign him, and kudos to them for not jumping the gun.