Intelligently Defending 10.11.07: Five Questions for UFC 77

Posted by Ken Kobel on 10.11.2007

Rich Franklin will try to recapture his middleweight title when he takes on Anderson Silva at UFC 77. There are many questions to be considered heading into the event. In this edition of Intelligently Defending we will take a look at five particular questions that will get answered on the 20th.

Between August 24th and September 22nd the UFC put on an unprecedented string of events that included three loaded pay-per views and one of the best Fight Night Live cards to date.

A few weeks have now passed since the blitzkrieg and the UFC will soon offer its latest pay-per view installment when it presents UFC 77: Hostile Territory headlined by a rematch between UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and former champion Rich Franklin.

As always there are many questions to be answered so let's look at five in particular:

1. Can any current UFC middleweight stop Anderson Silva?

There has been only one safe bet in the UFC over the past sixteen months – ‘the Spider.'

Since joining the UFC, Anderson Silva has laid waste to every fighter put in front of him -- most recently finishing Nathan Marquardt in the first round at UFC 73.

The MMA world is now wondering if there is anyone in the UFC middleweight division that can stop the current champion.

This question will get answered at UFC 77 when Rich Franklin tries to re-capture his title.

After Franklin was destroyed by Silva at UFC 64 many fans lost sight of how good Rich really is. Before the bout with Anderson, Franklin was 7-0 in the UFC with decisive wins over Evan Tanner, David Loiseau, and Nate Quarry. He looked every bit the destructive force that Silva looks now.

Then UFC 64 took place and Silva gave Rich one of the worst beatings in UFC history. The terror on Franklin's wife's face after the fight said it all. Suddenly, the entire mystique surrounding Franklin was taken away and bestowed upon the new champion.

Still, ‘Ace' is the clear cut number 2 fighter in a division lacking star power. If he is not able to give Silva a run for his money at UFC 77, then there is no one on the current UFC middleweight roster that can.

All the pieces will be in place for Franklin to solve the champion. Since losing the title he has gotten his confidence back with two wins. He has already been in the octagon once with Silva and now knows what to expect – he will not be overwhelmed again. Perhaps best of all, each one of the 15,000 Cincinnatians in attendance will be cheering on their hometown hero. If anyone is going to beat Silva, it will be Franklin.

If ‘the Spider' steamrolls Rich again, than WEC middleweight champion Paulo Filho may get called to the big show sooner than expected.

2. Will either Tim Sylvia or Brandon Vera emerge as the next challenger to Randy Couture?

In the co-main event of the evening fans will be treated to a fight that was supposed to take place in March for the UFC heavyweight title.

Now, seven months later, the fight will happen but with no gold on the line.

However, a win could propel one of these fighters into a title shot… The key word being could.

A title shot is in no way guaranteed in this fight, but it is possible the winner will receive one given the current state of the UFC heavyweight division. Andrei Arlovski is in the middle of contract negotiations. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Cheick Kongo will do battle early next year. This fight will likely determine a number one contender – but it is a long way away. And as of the writing of this column, it appears Fedor Emelianenko has signed with the M-1 organization.

This leaves the winner of this bout as a suitable challenger to Randy Couture if -- and only if -- someone comes away with a decisive win.

The UFC will be hesitant to give the winner of this contest a shot at the gold if the fight turns into a three round snoozer – but if one fighter manages to dominate in an exciting fashion he will find himself across the octagon from ‘the Natural.'

Sylvia is the former champion so the UFC will easily be able to market a rematch with Couture if he can regain his killer instinct. If Tim drops Vera with one of his trademark high kicks he will earn a rematch with the champion.

Vera, on the other hand, had worked his way to a title shot before taking his hiatus. Brandon will validate his hype if he if able to finish the man he was supposed to fight for the gold. A shot at Randy would be a natural progression.

Neither Sylvia nor Vera will have an easy time dominating this fight – but it would be in the best interest of both fighters to fight to win rather than not to lose.

3. Is the UFC seriously not going to broadcast Yushin Okami vs. Jason Macdonald?

There are currently only four main card bouts announced for UFC 77 with Okami/Macdonald being listed on the undercard. It would be a travesty if this fight is not aired.

In his last fight Yushin Okami was in the main event against Rich Franklin at UFC 72. While he did lose to Franklin, Okami was within inches of securing a fight ending kimura. If the submission would have been successful this pay-per view would be headlined by a Silva/Okami showdown. Okami holds a 4-1 UFC record including wins over both Kalib Starnes and Alan Belcher who will do battle on the main card. That is right; two men that Yushin handled with ease will get a cushy spot on the live broadcast. Talk about injustice.

It is not as if Okami's opponent is not good enough for the main card. Jason Macdonald has a 3-1 UFC record with his only loss coming to a very game Rich Franklin at UFC 68. He submitted Rory Singer in his last fight which came on a main card. What sense does it make to now send him back to the prelims – especially considering he is taking a step-up in competition?

Hopefully, this fight will be made the swing bout and air live. While we may not see a highlight reel knockout in this one, we will see a chess match between two ground technicians. On top of this, Okami and MacDonald are only a few wins away from a title shot given the razor-thin talent pool in the UFC middleweight division.

To have this fight not broadcast in favor of other bouts with much less on the line would be unfair to the fighters and -- more importantly -- the fans.

4. Can Stephan Bonnar work his way back to his former standing?

No matter where his career goes from here on out, Stephan Bonnar will always be remembered as one of the men that helped put MMA on the map in North America. Say whatever you want about him as a person or fighter, but his war with Forrest Griffin at TUF1 finale did more for the UFC's mainstream standing than anything else had done up until that point.

After the now classic bout with Griffin, Bonnar put together a nice string of wins inside the octagon. He even defeated Keith Jardine at Ultimate Fight Night 4 in a decision that was not nearly as bad as people make it out to be.

Things went south for Bonnar soon after his bout with Jardine.

In his next fight, Stephan was manhandled by Rashad Evans in a unanimous decision loss. Next, he would return to the octagon to be defeated by his old nemesis Griffin – this time losing a lopsided decision. Finally, and worst of all, Bonnar tested positive for steroids following his second bout with Forrest and was issued a nine month suspension from the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

Stephan returned to the octagon at UFC 73 and ran through Mike Nickels with a first round submission. He will look to continue his winning ways against Eric Shafer at UFC 77.

It will be interesting to see if Bonnar can reach the level he was at in early 2006. He was never in title shot conversations, but there was a time when Stephan was regarded as an up-and-coming fighter. The steroids suspension was a huge blow to his career and now he must work his way back in a light-heavyweight division that is ten times as stacked as it was two years ago.

Bonnar is now training at Xtreme Couture with Randy and the gang. It seems like everything that camp touches turns to gold these days. Will some of the success rub off on ‘the American Psycho?'

5. Can Kalib Starnes make it two in a row?

Kalib Starnes was a favorite to win TUF3 middleweight division but suffered a loss to eventual winner Kendall Grove in the semi-finals.

Since the show, the Canadian has had an up-and-down UFC career. He was soundly beaten by Yushin Okami at UFC 64 but then rolled off a unanimous decision win over Chris Leben at UFC 71.

Starnes will now look to make it two wins in a row for the first time inside the octagon when he takes on Alan Belcher at UFC 77.

Kalib is a talented fighter and a winning streak would be huge at this point. As mentioned before, the middleweight division is currently the weakest in the UFC. If Starnes is able to defeat Belcher he will begin to see higher profile match-ups almost immediately.

The key to victory for Starnes will be to play to his strength -- his ground game. Starnes claims to be working on his stand-up and if he chooses to showcase it against the educated hands of Belcher he will be in for a rude awakening. We saw what happened when Kendall Grove decided to stand with Patrick Cote.

Look for Kalib to fight smart. Get Alan down. Submit him. And climb a few more rungs up the middleweight ladder.

That is all for this week. Dig the column? Think it sucks? Have something totally unrelated to talk about in the world of MMA? Hit me up at [e-mail]