Welcome to the UFC 03.02.06: Middleweights
Posted by Zach Marcus on 03.02.2006
Welcome back to the exciting world of the UFC. Come inside to meet the middleweights.
WELCOME TO THE
Thank you to all of those who emailed me about or read my last column. This week I will be discussing some news, the middleweights, and the fighter of the week. Also I am giving you, the reader, and opportunity that you cannot find anywhere else. I will tell you what it is at the end of this column.
News
From combatfighterzone.com
Ultimate Fight Night 4
Chris Leben is scheduled to face Luigi Fioravanti is an addition to the previously announced match ups of
-Rashad Evans vs Sam Hogar
- Luke Cummo vs Jason Von Flue
- Josh Burkman vs John Fitch
- Joe Stevenson vs Josh Neer
- Stephan Bonnar vs Keith Jardine
-Ansar Chalangov vs. Josh Koscheck
I think that is shaping up to be the best Ultimate Fight Night yet. So far there are three all Ultimate Fighter match ups. This is a good step to determining who will have a future in the UFC and who the UFC should drop. The Evans-Hogar fight is the most surprising because for every other Ultimate Fighter winner was given an easy win for their first fight. Hogar will be a tough fight for Evans.
UFC 58- United States vs. Canada
There has been some very surprising news that the Diego Sanchez vs. John Alessio fight as well as the Kenny Florian vs. Sam Stout have been canceled due to the injuries of Sanchez and Florian. Spencer Fisher will replace Stout, but the Sanchez fight may not be replaced. Florian has a back injury, while Sanchez was sent to the hospital due to dehydration. I really hope this was not caused by him cutting too much weight, a topic I will talk about at a later date.
The Middleweights
In order to help bring you into to the sport I am introduce you to the fighters, the most important people in the sport. This week is the middleweights. I will introduce each fighter by stating a few of his key victories, what he is known for, and why I like or dislike him. These fighters weigh anything from 171-185 pounds. As with the welterweights I am only going to talk about the fighters that I feel have a future in the UFC.
Rich "Ace" Franklin (21-1-0) The Champion
Franklin is the current Middleweight Champion and has defeated some very tough opponents in the UFC. He has beaten Evan Tanner twice, Ken Shamrock, Edwin Dewees, and Jorge Rivera. Rich is not the archetypical fighter, however. He started fighting while getting his math and education degree at the University of Cincinnati, and went on to become a high school math teacher. Franklin is a well-rounded fighter with good conditioning and excellent hands. He is my favorite middleweight because his fights in the UFC so far have all been very exciting and none have gone to the judges. His next fight is against David Loiseau at UFC 58 on March 4.
David "The Crow" Loiseau (15-4-0) The Number One Contender
Loiseau is a very exciting fighter from Canada, who trains with Georges St. Pierre. Throughout his UFC career he has beaten Evan Tanner, Charles McCarthy, Gideon Ray, and Mark Weir. He is a very strong puncher, and has killer elbows beating Tanner and Ray due to cuts sustained through the use of his elbows. Loiseau is a very exciting fighter and was especially amazing in his victory over McCarthy. In the second round he was able to land a spinning back kick followed by a flying knee that lead to the eventual victory. His next fight is against Franklin for the title and I hope that Loiseau comes ready to fight.
Chris "The Crippler" Leben (13-1-0) The New Guy
Leben was one of the most controversial stars from the Ultimate Fighter Season one. He left after losing not once, but twice throughout the duration of the show. However, after the show was over he started winning again. Leben went on to defeat Edwin Dewees, Patrick Cote, and Jorge Rivera. In his fight against Cote, Leben's iron chin was on display along with his punching power. In a recent interview with combatfighterzone radio, Leben stated that he did not want to challenge for the Middleweight Title until he was ready, most likely at the end of the year. When his time comes to challenge for the title I hope he is more prepared than Nate Quarry was.
Evan Tanner (35-7-0) The Veteran
Tanner has been in the UFC for a very long time, debuting at UFC 18. Throughout his UFC career he has beaten Phil Baroni, David Terrell, and Elvis Sinosic, among numerous others. He is known for his good ground work, powerful knees and leg kicks. Another exciting aspect of his fights is that he has a different hair cut before each one including corn rows and a crew cut. At UFC 59 he will be fighting a very tough opponent, Jeremy Horn. If Tanner loses, I am afraid to say that he has very little left to gain in the division. He has lost to Franklin twice and David Loiseau once, meaning he won't be able to fight the champion for a long time.
David "The Soul Assassin" Terrell (9-2-0) The Unproven Warrior
Terrell has only had two UFC fights, defeating Matt Linland and losing to Evan Tanner. However, if he able to get back to the level he was last year he may have a chance at challenging for the title again. He will be making his long awaited return to the UFC at UFC 59 against Scott Smith. Terrell is known for his submissions and I hope we see the David Terrell that was able to knock out Matt Linland at UFC 49.
Mike "Quick" Swick (9-1-0) The Flash
Mike has only been in the octagon for 42 seconds, but he was able to defeat two opponents. Swick is known for his striking, speed, and aggression and has beaten Gideon Ray and Alex Schoenauer in the octagon. Before filming The Ultimate Fighter he received his only loss at the hands of Chris Leben at a WEC event. Swick will be facing Steve Vigneault at UFC 58 and I cannot wait to see if he can beat Vigneault as fast as he did his last two opponents.
Jeremy "Gumby" Horn (84-14-6) Old School
Jeremy Horn debuted in the UFC way back at UFC 17 and has had over 100 professional fights. Throughout his UFC career he has beaten Chuck Liddell, Eugene Jackson, and Trevor Prangley. When he is not preparing for a fight, Jeremy trains with many of the fighters in the UFC, including Tim Slyvia and Matt Hughes. He is known for his ground technique and his ability to take punches. He is rumored to be fighting Evan Tanner at UFC 59. This will be his second fight back in his natural weight class after losing to Chuck Liddell.
Nate "Rock" Quarry (14-2-0) Lost Opportunity
Quarry was arguably the break out star of The Ultimate Fighter. He was injured by Randy Couture while training, but was allowed to stay on the show as a coach. In the UFC he has beaten Shonie Carter and Pete Sell, but lost to Rick Franklin. Before his fight with Franklin, Quarry said that Franklin had a glass chin and that he would knock Franklin out. This never happened and Franklin impressively knocked out Quarry in the first round. Hopefully the UFC will use this fight as a warning sign for putting popular fighters in title fights before they are ready.
Fighter(s) of the week
This week I could not decide between Rich Franklin and David Loiseau so they both will be fighters of the week.
Special Opportunity
I have the privilege to offer you, the reader, the opportunity of a lifetime. You can ask UFC and other MMA fighters questions and they will answer. This will be done through a wonderful radio show at combatfighterzone.com. They also have a lot of breaking news, but the best part of the site is the radio show. While you are there feel free to sign up for the free newsletter, which I believe is better than the sherdog one. So far they have interviewed Joe Riggs, Nate Quarry, Chris Leben, Sean Sherk, and many more fighters. If you don't want to email them feel free to email me with questions for whichever fighters are coming up and Ill pass them on. Coming on the show soon will be Sean Sherk, Mike Whitehead, Luke Cummo, and Josh Koschek.
Thank you for spending some time reading my column this week. Next week I will be talking about the very exciting Light Heavyweights and if I am able to watch UFC 58, I will have a short review of it. As always email me at zach.marcus@gmail.com with any questions or comments.
