TBerg's Top 10 12.11.09: Week 11 - Top 10 Fights That Need To Happen In 2010

Posted by Todd Bergman on 12.11.2009

From Lesnar vs. Mir III and Overeem vs. Fedor to Torres vs. Faber and of course GSP vs. Silva, these are just some of the fights that 411’s Todd Bergman wants to see in the New Year. Check out the full column to see which fights made the lost and why!

It's generally once a year that I will do an article like this. Big surprise that the article would come around the New Year when the previous year has already exhausted nearly every possible match up, save Fedor vs. Lesnar. In this week's column, we are going to take a look at the ten fights that need to happen in 2010. While 2009 was a great and productive year for MMA, 2010 has the makings to be the best year yet. Adding to the excitement of these possible match ups are the newly-expanded states that can host MMA events. While making a list like this generally results in nothing but ridiculous match ups that won't happen, I can honestly say that I'm shooting for the more realistic match ups.




With that said, I should tell all of you that I will be including some rematches, but the rematches included will have some significance in the overall scheme of MMA. The same rules apply this week as they do every week: before you add a comment, please check out the full description. While this may seem like common sense to most of you, I've been surprised at how many of the last few weeks' comments that have appeared foolish simply because of pure laziness since people aren't reading the requirements for making it onto my list. Therefore, just in case you missed it above, the match ups featured in this list are completely logical. And here they are.



10.) Brian Bowles vs. Miguel Torres II

They always say that the money is in the rematch and, for the WEC, there generally isn't a better fight than a big-time rematch. While there is nothing wrong with this rematch, I wouldn't want to see it happen until next fall because I think that both fighters should get a good fight before fighting again. Bowles, for the most part, was an unknown coming into the Torres title fight. Very few people (I told all of you, that Bowles would win) believed in Bowles and thought that Torres was indestructible. With just a little more than one minute remaining in the 1st round, Miguel Torres was shown to be destructible. Will the rematch be any different? It's hard to tell, but with the WEC looking to expand into different markets, it would only make sense for the them to venture south to Georgia, which is the home state of the champ. While it is the WEC and it might not get much hype, this rematch could be the best fight in the year 2010.



9.) Eddie Alvarez vs. Shinya Aoki II

Their first match up only lasted 1 minute and 32 seconds, but the rematch makes a lot of sense because Aoki recently reclaimed the DREAM Lightweight title. Whether you believe Aoki's pants help with submission, or if it was just luck, Eddie Alvarez is most certainly a completely different fighter. This match up, if it were to happen, would more than likely occur towards the later part of 2010 on perhaps the New Year's Eve card in Japan. Aoki's recent signing with Strikeforce might put a monkey wrench in these plans, but you have to believe that Alvarez will be more wise when it comes to leg submissions. I would like to think that Alvarez would punish Aoki this time around much like Mach Sakurai did to Aoki, but, if the fight happens in Japan, Aoki's magical pants could be the deciding factor.



8.) Jacare Souza vs. Mayhem Miller III

If you've read my writing before, then you know that I can't stand Mayhem Miller as I think he's much too cocky of a fighter. Regardless of my opinion, this fight needs to happen to solidify the Strikeforce Middleweight Division. I'm not even adding in the fact that these two hate each other, especially after the illegal knee that Miller landed in the last fight that nearly set off a pier six brawl in Japan. Both guys took to the internet afterwards to illustrate their hate for each other. Souza is scheduled to take on Matt Lindland in December, but from there it would be logical for this fight to happen as a title eliminator. Would Jacare be able to hold down Miller and suffocate him like he did in the first fight and for the majority of the second fight? Can Mayhem Miller become more than just a funny guy in the very serious world of MMA?



7.) Overeem vs. Any Strikeforce Heavyweight

Logically the challenger to Overeem's Strikeforce Heavyweight Title would be either Fedor or Brett Rogers. Regardless of who it is, 2010 needs to be the year that Alistair defends that title. It's bad enough that Strikeforce has signed onto talent-trading deals, but when they allow a fighter to keep his title undefended for well over three years it‘s simply preposterous. Obviously, this shows that Strikeforce thinks the world of Overeem and would let him do whatever he wants. The Fedor vs. Overeem fight could also take place under the DREAM banner which would be a deathblow to Strikeforce in the long run. The other side of this fight would be Rogers vs. Overeem. "The Grim" has consistently been on the offense when it comes to calling out "The Demolition Man." I find it hard to believe that Rogers could get a shot at Overeem before Fedor does, but, if for some reason Fedor wasn't ready to go, Strikeforce could have a money CBS Main Event with Rogers taking on Alistair.



6.) Frankie Edgar vs. Tyson Griffin II

Their first showdown was one of the best fights that you probably didn‘t see. Both fighters have taken a different route as of late in the UFC. Edgar has become a bright star within the crowded UFC Lightweight Division while Griffin has become a solid decision-based fighter. It may not seem fair to say that about Griffin but his lack of ability to finish a fight has hurt his chances of scoring big-named opponents. Knowing this, Griffin has started to become more and more reliant on his striking as opposed to just wrestling his opponents to the ground and holding them there. Case in point, the Hermes Franca fight in which Griffin destroyed the out-of-shape blonde bomber. The rematch between these two goes from a once not thought about showdown to a potential SPIKE TV headlining fight or Pay-Per view opening fight with possible title implications. Will the winner of this fight get a shot at BJ Penn or Diego Sanchez? I think that while the 155lbs division is insanely loaded, it needs to breed the next big contender, and that's exactly what this fight could do.



5.) Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort

This fight has been announced at least two other times and is still not even close to happening. However, this fight will occur at some point in the near future and it's going to be awesome. The punching power that both guys showdisplay is something that you don't see everyday inside an MMA cage. Both guys also have a tremendous amount of boxing talent and, while most MMA fans want to resent any sort of affiliation to that sport, the head movement and overall abilities to avoid shots shows a great recombinants to the once proud combat sport. With Dan Henderson taking his ball and going home, Nate Marquardt is the only real challenger outside of Belfort. Therefore, this could be one of the last fights in the 185lbs division for "The Spider." That, in itself, could warrant a great deal of hype for the fight. Belfort is still on the comeback trail and still trying to build more momentum since his initial run in the UFC years ago. A victory against Silva, would give Belfort much more than just another title: he would be one of three guys to have held two titles in two different weight classes. Bring on the Brazilian Brawl.



4.) Urijah Faber vs. Miguel Torres

It's pretty crazy to think that nearly one year ago, Urijah Faber was the toast of the town when it came to MMA. Boy have things changed in both gentlemen's ranking statuses, but this is still a fight that could do big money for the WEC. Hell, this fight could even be an important fight on a UFC Pay-Per view card. I'm not sure at which weight class the fight will take place, but I do know that it would be all-out fireworks. From a business perceptive, I'm not sure if the WEC would want to put this fight together because it could end the collective run for one of these guys, but a fight like this could also move the WEC up the ladder when it comes to company prestige. Here's to hoping that Versus ends its bitch fit with DirecTV so I can actually watch this fight!



3.) Rashad Evans vs. Rampage Jackson

While the 10th season of The Ultimate Fighter lacked great drama within the house, these two made up for it with their constant bitching and fighting. I must admit that going into the season, I was on the side of Rampage because I couldn't stand Rashad because of all the grandstanding that he does during his fights. However, I slowly began to reason with and to understand Rashad which actually made me enjoy seeing him as a coach. His naming of Dickface to Rampage was one of the best lines in The Ultimate Fighter history. It closely follows the asparagus argument between Bonnar and Sanchez in which Bonnar told Diego that he could be his father. I understand that Rampage recently announced that he would finish out his UFC contract after he realized that the world of Hollywood might not be so kind to him as he once thought. This is the perfect fight to welcome Rampage back to the Octagon, as the UFC just spent a great deal of money and time into promoting their fight. Therefore, this should be a most excellent bout.



2.) Lesnar vs. Mir III

This fight could only happen if Mir beats Kongo this weekend. A loss to Cheick would completely derail this fight for Mir. I'm anticipating Lesnar to be hanging onto the world title for a long time and I will also assume that Lesnar will have made his return and had defended the title before this fight. Usually a third fight isn't something that fans want to see. I mean, who the hell really wants to see Liddell vs. Ortiz III? In my eyes, you would be hard-pressed to find a bigger fight in the UFC. Lesnar has proven, in the past, to be a ratings machine and a media whore when it comes to the main outlets picking up his antics. After their second fight, Lesnar got in the face of Mir and proclaimed to have pulled the horseshoe out of Mir‘s ass. I didn't understand that statement then and still don't to this day, but Lesnar was forceful about that, and who am I to tell him that it didn't make sense? Mir has a great deal of self pride and you know that he can't watch their second fight because he made a lot of mistakes and looked like a fool on the ground as Lesnar simply had his way with him. This fight could've easily been my number one choice had the potential super-fight not presented itself. Whenever this fight happens again, and it will happen again, it's going to break the UFC's Pay-Per view record because fans love watching these two tangle. What interest do all of you have in the potential rubber match?



1.) Anderson Silva vs. GSP

Let's face it. Both guys are one or two fights away from cleaning out their respective divisions. Silva has the ability to compete at a higher weight class, and you would have to think that GSP could be competitive at the 185lbs division. However, it appears that GSP is extremely cautious to move up in weight because he is very protective of his legacy as well he should be. GSP doesn't want to experience anything again similar to what the Matt Serra defeat did to his career. Silva, on the other hand, is unbeaten in the UFC and could add another Top 10 fighter to his rapidly-growing career record. Silva has stated in the past that he would take the fight, but GSP hasn't declared his intentions yet. I'm sure that with a little pep talk from Dana White, this fight could happen sometime before the end of 2010 and, might I say, this would be quite a way to end the year. GSP's wrestling matched up with Silva's striking would just be another defining moment in the expanding history of Mixed Martial Arts.


So, for better or worse, there is my list of Top 10 fights that need to happen in 2010. I hope that all of you enjoy UFC 107 this weekend. Also, don't forget to check out the Roundtable to see who your favorite 411 MMA Columnist thinks will win this weekend. Do you have a suggestion for a future Top 10 list? If so, let me know below. Remember to support your local MMA and keep your tapping hand strong.