MMA Analytics 01.07.08: Matchups in the Making

Posted by Leland Roling on 01.07.2008

The news wire has been buzzing with potential matchups in the making recently in the UFC. Machida, fresh off his big win over Soukoudjou, has been reportedly offered to fight Tito Ortiz. Heath Herring has been offered to fight the Frenchman Cheick Kongo, and Matt Serra has confirmed that he will fight Pierre in Canada in April. Will Ortiz accept the Machida fight, can Herring put Kongo to the floor, and does Serra have a chance? We'll look at those fights and take a brief look at Kimbo vs. Tank in this edition of MMA Analytics.

The post-UFC 79 news of upcoming matchups has hit the news wire recently, and some interesting fights are in the works. Lyoto Machida has reportedly accepted a deal to fight Tito Ortiz sometime in the late Spring. Heath Herring has also reportedly accepted a battle with the Frenchman Cheick Kongo. Matt Serra confirmed that he would take on Georges St. Pierre in April. Some heavy hitting matchups that should excite the fans. On the entertainment note, Kimbo Slice will continue his reign of the EliteXC heavyweight division by taking on Tank Abbott. Although a purely spectacle bout, it should be an entertaining brawl of a fight. Let's take a look at these matchups.

Machida vs. Ortiz; Good for Machida, bad for Tito

Although many fans still consider Lyoto Machida a very boring fighter, those fans need to appreciate the skills of Machida as a tactician in a sport that relies on fighters aggressively putting themselves in danger of being knocked out at any moment. Machida lessens that chance with his elusive style and good counters. How should we see a battle with the always marketable Tito Ortiz play out?

Tito has claimed that injuries have definitely hurt his technique in the cage. The big question is whether or not we will see the Tito Ortiz of old. Unfortunately, Tito's wrestling and ground and pound tactics would have to be amazingly impressive to defeat Machida. Soukoudjou is fairly well-known to have a lot of power, and Machida was still able to take him on the ground. This is all assuming Tito can even get Machida to the floor.

Machida in the standup is the superior fighter. He's also more elusive and a better counter puncher. He's also one of the most frustrating fighters for someone to take on. No doubt, Tito Ortiz has a huge task at hand.

Other than the fact that it looks like matchup that suits Machida in many ways, Ortiz's main draw as a fighter is his marketing qualities. He's able to draw fighters into a war of words and can usually create an atmosphere that fans get excited about. After Machida's post-fight comments regarding Soukoudjou, it would seem that he could possibly fire back at an Ortiz onslaught of vulgarity. Machida isn't very accessible, and he certainly doesn't speak English. I think it'll be hard for Ortiz to market this fight with anything other than his name, and it'll be a very hard fight for him to win as well. Good luck to Tito.

Kongo looks to continue his run

Heath Herring took a break after nearly defeating Antonio "Minotauro" Nogueira. With a swift kick to the chin, Nogueira was struggling to maintain his composure. Luckily for him, Herring made the mistake of not pouncing on the hurt "Big Nog". Herring took a break from action, and now he looks to be back in the mix.

To some fans, this may seem like a good fight for Kongo. He has superior reach, strong striking, and good power. His ground game has yet to be tested however. In fact, Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic was able to handle Kongo on the ground during their battle in the first round before Mirko received the rib shots that broke his ribs and groin shots that definitely caused some gas to fall out of his tank. Mirko isn't exactly a ground tactician.

With that said, Herring is no idiot when it comes to battle stronger and bigger guys than himself. He isn't a slouch in the ground game either. He has abilities to avoid huge damage, and his ground game is surprisingly pretty good. He isn't the slickest grappler or most dangerous man on the ground, but he has skills that can defeat someone on the ground. Look for Herring to put Kongo to the floor and try to expose Kongo's weakness.

Serra's injury is healing, looks for April return

I'll touch on this for a brief moment to say that Matt Serra really has a tough task ahead of him if he wants to defend his title to Georges St. Pierre. The fact is that dominating one of the most dominant welterweights of all-time in Matt Hughes was unbelievably impressive for the French Canadian. Matt Serra would undoubtedly have had some problems with Hughes, and he will no doubt have problems with a refocused Georges St. Pierre.

The only real difference in their styles is the jiu-jitsu game. Serra has very strong skills and has had impressive showings at grappling tournaments in the past. He is no easy man to beat in a grappling fight. The problem is that Pierre has so many more tools that he can turn to, and his wrestling has become a phenomenal tool in his arsenal.

Serra has an uncanny way of sticking around in a fight, but Pierre will most likely be way too much for him the second time around.

Kimbo Slice looks to continue his rise

Regardless of what many of you think about Kimbo Slice, he's become a draw for EliteXC. His Internet fame has caused a lot of people who aren't that interested in mixed martial arts to at least pay attention to the events in which he is on the card. He'll take on the former UFC brawler Tank Abbott on February 16.

This isn't exactly a technical matchup. Both fighters are straight brawlers, but Kimbo has the x-factor. He works with Bas Rutten in his training, and has shown a willingness to actually go to the ground when he knows his opponent is a good striker. The fight didn't last long enough against Cantrell to see any of this happen, but in his exhibition bout against Ray Mercer, he did take him down for the submission.

Will we see that happen in this matchup? I'm more inclined to think Kimbo will brawl it out with Tank. Tank has problems with lasting more than 2 minutes in his cardio, and Kimbo is known to have a very tough chin. Tank is a journeyman who searches for a paycheck, and this is no doubt a fight that Kimbo should win.

Overall thoughts

The most interesting matchup of the recent news-making battles that we will see is the Kongo vs. Herring fight. Tito has yet to accept the Machida fight, and I think he may sway away from accepting it. It's a chance for him to raise his stock, but at the cost of being beaten badly. Herring has a chance at exposing Kongo's weak ground game by putting him down and pounding on him, or even putting a submission on the lengthy Frenchman.

Pierre should dispose of Serra, but Serra could very well last a lengthy amount of time. In any fight, the longer you can last, the better the chances become. On a pure entertainment matchup, look for Kimbo vs. Tank to at least be a good brawling matchup that should end in someone getting their block knocked off.

Leland Roling is the editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com