Planet Tapout 05.29.07: UFC's Welterweight Division
Posted by Lotfi Sariahmed on 05.29.2007
UFC 71 is officially in the books and everyone is talking about "Rampage's" huge win over "The Iceman." But that wasn't the only big fight on the PPV! In the latest edition of Planet Tapout, Lotfi Sariahmed tries to make sense of the UFC's welterweight division following Karo Parisyan's win over Josh Burkman! Where do the top contenders stand? Who should fight whom next? It's all in Lotfi Sariahmed's latest edition of Planet Tapout!
Welcome one and all once again to Planet Tapout! As always I am your host Lotfi Sariahmed and if you're new to the Planet, welcome. If you're a returning reader, sweet, that means I did something right last time. Before I get into this week's column we have to handle some business and delve into the mailbag.
Dana White read your article and went out and signed Rua. If Rampage wins it sets him up to beat the man that beat him. If Chuck wins he rolls into a Rua fight after he fights at UFC 72. Dana should hire you.
If only Bart…if only.
But that does bring up another point that needs to be addressed. The news had been running rampant that Mauricio "Shogun" Rua is set to fight on the UFC 72 card in Belfast. During Dana White's teleconference on Thursday he mentioned that there would be a "mystery fighter" who already challenged the winner of the title fight. Rumor ran wild as to whom it could have been. The easy guess was "Shogun" was that fighter. But Dan Henderson and Wanderlei Silva's names came up too. Of course now we know Dan Henderson was the real mystery guest and he's now tentatively scheduled to fight Quinton "Rampage" Jackson in October. But I put up the column asking what will become of the light heavyweight division and here's Dan Henderson and "Shogun" Rua. Maybe the UFC really was listening to me…?
Thanks for the email Bart and as always I'm open to all questions, comments, random thoughts or good recipe ideas. Send it all to PlanetTapout@gmail.com . Now lets get to this week's topic.
There's no question the UFC's welterweight division is one of the best, if not the best, division in all of MMA. Its talent is absurd from top to bottom. It seems like any two fighters could be put together and there would be a great fight. UFC 71 had another one between Karo Parisyan and Josh Burkman. But despite Parisyan's unanimous decision win, he's not getting a title shot any time soon. So I'm going to take my shot and try and sort through this mess and give the UFC a bit of a roadmap for its best division. Lets start with what we know.
The Ultimate Fighter reality show will enter its 6th season in either August or September. They're moving up a weight division for the upcoming season as this time it will be sixteen welterweights on the show. The coaches for the two teams will be Matt Hughes and the UFC welterweight champ Matt Serra. After the end of the season they'll fight for Serra's welterweight strap in either November or December. The fight makes the most sense. After Serra shocked the world and beat Georges St. Pierre, everyone wondered who would get the next shot. Hughes just lost the belt and made his comeback beating Chris Lytle by decision. Hughes benefited from being in the right place at the right time. If anyone else fought Matt Serra in his first title defense I would have been surprised. Now I understand the need to build hype for Serra's first title defense and putting both fighters on the show certainly isn't a bad way to do it. Neither fighter likes each other so putting them both on should add some more drama. But this puts a standstill on the rest of the division. If this fight doesn't happen until December, then the winner won't fight again until March or April of 2008. So if my math serves me correctly, which it rarely ever does, in the next calendar year we will have two welterweight title fights…that's it. Two. Usually it wouldn't be that big of a deal. But with as many as seven different fighters who are top contenders for that belt, the division needs to be more active. While it doesn't affect the fighters in the #1 contenders' bout, it certainly leaves the other potentially deserving fighters open to being upset.
The other thing we know is that aforementioned #1 contenders' bout. During that same Thursday teleconferenceDana White said that the winner of the Georges St. Pierre and Josh Koscheck fight in August will be next in line for a shot at the title. St. Pierre is going into this fight after losing his belt to Serra in his first title defense at UFC 69. It hasn't been much easier for St. Pierre since that loss as he got into trouble for making excuses for the Serra fight. He said he was injured and if this fight were against Matt Hughes he would have pulled out. Those comments blew up in his face and then he went on Sherdog.com's Savage Dog Show to explain himself and apologize. It doesn't get any easier for him having to take on Josh Koscheck in this #1 contenders' bout. The Ultimate Fighter alum will go into the bout coming off a victory over Diego Sanchez at UFC 69. Was it the most impressive of victories? No. But a win is a win and his win over Sanchez put Koscheck in this spot with a chance to fight for the title. This is a rough fight for St. Pierre between potential title shots. Koscheck is probably the best wrestler in the UFC. While Matt Hughes fought Chris Lytle in his first fight after losing the belt, St. Pierre is getting Koscheck. It's not to take anything away from Lytle but Koscheck is a more dangerous fighter. But to be fair, Hughes was in a different situation. The division wasn't as crowded then as it is now with Koscheck and Burkman joining the fray. As for the fight between Koscheck and St. Pierre, it's a tough one to call right now. St. Pierre isn't getting a break facing the man from AKA. The American Kickboxing Academy is doing wonders for Koscheck when it comes to building on his ground game and developing his standup. But Koscheck should still be the underdog going into the fight. He'll be facing a more talented fighter in St. Pierre. He has the edge over Koscheck in the standup and Matt Hughes couldn't take St. Pierre down in their second bout. So Koscheck's advantage in wrestling might not be that big of an advantage. On top of that, Koscheck will be facing an angry St. Pierre looking to bounce back after a loss. We have a couple of months before the fight so I'll save my prediction until then. But it'll be a fun fight to watch one of these welterweights step to the front of a crowded division.
What about the rest of the contenders? Karo Parisyan and Josh Burkman are both certainly in the mix. They went at it this past Saturday with Parisyan taking an exciting unanimous decision victory over "The People's Warrior." But like I said to earlier in the column, no matter who won they weren't getting a title shot anytime soon. So what does this fight mean for both fighters? Well, Parisyan needed the fight. He was set to get his title shot at UFC 56 against Matt Hughes but had to pull out because of an injury. He's been fighting to get that shot back ever since. He beat Nick Thompson and Drew Fickett but lost to another welterweight title contender in Diego Sanchez. So if Parisyan lost to Burkman to go along with his loss to Sanchez, Parisyan might have turned into a gatekeeper for the division. But now with the win, Parisyan keeps himself in the mix for one of the next welterweight title shots. The problem is the next title shot might not open up for another year. Barring an injury, the winner of the St. Pierre v. Koscheck fight is next in line for a title shot. So Parisyan will need another fight between now and then. Who should he face? Also, what happens to Josh Burkman? Sure he lost to Parisyan but he still put on an impressive performance. This was his first big fight and he didn't disappoint. He's too young to be tossed out of the picture this early. There are actually a couple of good potential fights out there for Burkman too. It just further demonstrates just how deep this division is.
So we touched on six different top welterweights but there are even more title contenders. Lets start with Diego Sanchez. "Nightmare" lost to Josh Koscheck in a horrid performance at UFC 69. Despite the poor bout he shouldn't be written off. His win over Karo Parisyan was fight of the year in 2006. He also has a win over Nick Diaz. So if Sanchez notches a couple of big wins there's no reason why he couldn't get a title shot. The issue that Sanchez has is his health. According to Dana White, Sanchez was set to announce his retirement because it was thought that he had Hepatitis C. He jumped from doctor to doctor but no one really knew what it was until they finally found out it was a Staph infection. Hopefully Sanchez could recover from the infection and be ready to fight sooner rather than later. The loss to Koscheck set Sanchez back because had he won the Koscheck fight he might have earned a title shot. There was also a chance that if he beat Koscheck he would have fought Matt Hughes to determine the #1 contender to Serra's belt. But either way I don't think he's worse than sixth in the division.
Matt Serra won The Ultimate Fighter season 4 and earned a title shot against Georges St. Pierre (we all know what he did with it). Matt Hughes has had countless big fights during his career. Karo Parisyan's had his big fights too. Georges St. Pierre had his two big fights with Matt Hughes and B.J. Penn. Josh Koscheck had his fight with Sanchez. All these top fighters in the welterweight division have had their share of big fights. Jon Fitch is the best fighter in the welterweight division who hasn't had his big shot yet. He's barely been on TV. But the American Kickboxing Academy fighter is incredibly dangerous and could pull off an upset or two if he gets his shot. He's taking a step up in his next fight. Of course I don't mean a step up with regard to opponent. He's going to be on TV. His next fight is against Roan Carneiro on the June 12th UFC Fight Night card. Fitch SHOULDN'T have a problem with Carneiro, but then again I didn't think Keith Jardine would have a problem with Houston Alexander. Or "Cro Cop" with Gonzaga. Or St. Pierre with Serra. No fight is an easy fight in MMA so IF Fitch gets by Carneiro, which I think he will, the UFC needs to give this man his big test.
So who should fight whom and where do these fighters rank? As I mentioned earlier numbers 1-4 are clear and they have two fights set up.
UFC Welterweight Rankings
#1 Matt Serra
#2 Matt Hughes
#3 Georges St. Pierre
#4 Josh Koscheck
As I mentioned earlier Matt Serra will defend his title against Matt Hughes after season 6 of The Ultimate Fighter. At UFC 74, Georges St. Pierre will take on Josh Koscheck in what has been dubbed as a #1 contenders' bout. I've touched on those bouts already so let me get to what happens to the rest of the division. Where do the other fighters rank and whom should they fight next? I have Parisyan at #5 behind Koscheck. I know he lost to Diego Sanchez but this win over Burkman puts him ahead of Sanchez. Of course that means I'm putting Diego Sanchez in at #6. Now if Sanchez comes back and wins an impressive return bout then they might swap spots. But for now Parisyan goes at five while Sanchez is sixth. I have to put Jon Fitch at #7 until he fights some big name. It's unfair because he's not getting any respect but my hands are tied. As for Josh Burkman, he's not a top 10 welterweight worldwide, but he slides in at the #8 spot in the UFC.
Now what about the bouts? What's next for these four fighters? While I was thinking about what the best match-ups would be one screamed out to me. Lets have Diego Sanchez v. Karo Parisyan round 2. Like I said, it was the fight of the year in 2006. It's a bout that makes sense given where both fighters are. Lets make it happen. But then I thought about it some more and this bout hurts just about as much as it helps. Coming off a staph infection and his loss to Koscheck, Sanchez would be put in a rough spot having to come back against Parisyan. You risk having to drop Sanchez from title contention because he could lose that bout. Sanchez won the first fight because his cardio was absurd. I want to challenge Sanchez but I want an easier bout for him. That's where Josh Burkman comes in. Both fighters would be coming off losses and a battle between two Ultimate Fighter alums would sell no problem. As for Parisyan, he needs one more fight and a bout with Jon Fitch is the easiest choice. It's another big welterweight bout that could sell and it helps both fighters to some extent. Jon Fitch finally gets his big showcase fight against a tough opponent. Fitch called out Parisyan so that should help the UFC build hype for the fight as well. As for Parisyan, he's in a tough spot. He's a #1 contender with no title to contend for in the near future. He has a lot more to lose in this fight with Fitch than he does to gain. If he loses, he'll be forced to climb back up for his title shot he was supposed to get at UFC 56. But if he wins his next fight should be for the title no questions asked. Unfortunately for Parisyan, he's in a tough situation he can't do anything about.
So to recap:
UFC Welterweight Rankings
#1 Matt Serra
#2 Matt Hughes
#3 Georges St. Pierre
#4 Josh Koscheck
#5 Karo Parisyan
#6 Diego Sanchez
#7 Jon Fitch
#8 Josh Burkman
Future UFC Bouts
Matt Serra v. Matt Hughes for the title (Confirmed)
Georges St. Pierre v. Josh Koscheck to determine the #1 contender (Confirmed)
Karo Parisyan v. Jon Fitch (My speculation)
Diego Sanchez v. Josh Burkman (My speculation)
But don't forget one big wildcard to this whole thing
B.J. Penn fought Georges St. Pierre at welterweight in his return to the Octagon back at UFC 58. He gave Matt Hughes all he could handle in a welterweight title bout at UFC 63. But he's currently one of the coaches of eight lightweights on The Ultimate Fighter season 6. During the finale, he's set to fight Jens Pulver at lightweight. So where does Penn factor into all of this? Will he stay at 155? Will he move back up to welterweight? It's never smart to guess when it comes to Penn because he just makes you look silly. But I wouldn't put it past him to make that jump back up. He'll be another fighter in an incredibly deep division.
So there you have it folks. Planet Tapout is once again in the books (with more bells and whistles this time around). Send me your thoughts, questions, comments whatever to PlanetTapout@gmail.com . It's been a pleasure and make sure you come back next Tuesday for another edition of Planet Tapout! We have the IFL in the Pacific Northwest this weekend. The playoff chase is heating up. The Tokyo Sabres take on the Portland Wolfpack and the Los Angeles Anacondas take on the Seattle Tigersharks. Enjoy the fights everyone.
Credit the following sites for pictures—
Boutreview.usa
HillsboroSchools.net
World-Wide-Ed.com
Wrestlebank.com
Yahoo.net
Completemartialarts.com
