Friday Night Throwdown 3.14.08: Battle For Supremacy

Posted by Chris Cosme on 03.14.2008

The spring and late summer of 2008 will belong to the light heavyweights and it all begins this May! In the Throwdown, 411’s Chris Cosme will analyze five fights that will determine who‘s the best in the division. From Liddell-Evans to Silva-Jardine, the next couple of months will be loaded with action packed light heavyweight wars. And the Throwdown is here to prepare you for one hell of a summer! Plus thoughts on Fedor's possible return to the free agent market and HDNet not picking up the first DREAM event. All this and more in today's Friday Night Throwdown!




Since Quinton Jackson's surprise knockout win over Chuck Liddell to Liddell's statement win over Wanderlei Silva, the light heavyweight division has been on ice. With the welterweight, lightweight and heavyweight divisions garnering most of the spotlight since UFC 79; the UFC returns to it's bread and butter this summer. The light heavyweight division is arguably the UFC's most important division in terms of money and spectacular matchups. Need proof? Look no further than five key fights in the upcoming months that will determine who's for real and who's next for a title shot.

Rameau Sokodjou vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura (UFC 84): The one thing that both men have in common is that they both lost their UFC debuts to one Lyoto Machida. Another is that they were both thoroughly dominated by Machida as well. Sokodjou will look to prove that his debut was nothing more than just the famous ‘octagon' jitters. For Nakamura, a win here will keep him afloat in the division but a loss will relegate him to the undercard or out of the UFC. Both men have something to gain but plenty to lose.

Who Needs This Fight More?: In this fight you have to go with Sokodjou due to the fact that he was one of the biggest free agent signings by the UFC. He's a much more marketable fighter than Nakamura and has the bigger potential. Nakamura has ‘gatekeeper' written all over him. A win for Sokodjou would get him back on the winning track and a few more big name fights. A loss will just drop him further down the totem pole in the division.

Lyoto Machida vs. Tito Ortiz (UFC 84): In quite possibly his last hurrah before free agency, Tito Ortiz was given no pushover in Machida. Machida has not lost a round in his last four fights in the UFC. He dominated Sokodjou en route to a submission victory at UFC 79. Ortiz hasn't fought since his majority draw against Rashad Evans in a fight he won until he held the cage in the second round. Machida needs one more big win over a quality opponent and would push his record to 5-0 in the octagon. What better opponent than Tito Ortiz right?

Who Needs This Fight More?: There's no question that with free agency looming, Tito Ortiz needs this victory much more than Machida. A win here would give him the bargaining power for him in terms of the next MMA company that decides to deal with him. With EliteXC getting the CBS deal; Ortiz has the ball clearly in his court in terms of negotiations with the UFC to return or sign with EXC. It's obvious that if Ortiz was going to leave after this fight, Dana would want him to leave with a loss.

Come on people, it's no secret that the UFC placed Andrei Arlovski on the undercard of UFC 82 against Jake O' Brien for a reason. If he were to lose (which didn't happen), the UFC would've had the upper hand in terms of re-negotiations with Arlovski for a new contract. His marketing appeal would have taken a hit if he lost to O' Brien if he left to sign with another company. They are doing the same to Ortiz. Ortiz would love nothing more than to defeat Machida, then leave for EXC. That would really be sticking it to Dana White and the gang now wouldn't it?

Keith Jardine vs. Wanderlei Silva (UFC 84): The other big light heavyweight fight at UFC 84 will be Keith Jardine against Wanderlei Silva. Many would argue that if anyone is in line to get the next shot at the gold is Jardine. He finished Forrest Griffin impressively at UFC 66 and neutralized the striking of Chuck Liddell for three rounds at UFC 76. As for Silva, he is looking to rebound from his spirited loss to Chuck Liddell at UFC 79. One man has momentum on his side while the other is just desperately looking for a win to stay relevant in this heavily stacked division.

Who Needs This Fight More?: It's 50/50 and you can make the case for both men. Although Jardine does have victories over Griffin and Liddell, the one thing going against him was his shocking loss to Houston Alexander. Had he defeated Alexander, it would be Jardine not Griffin fighting Rampage later this summer. His style isn't pretty but it is effective, but the loss to Alexander hurts. A win over Silva puts him over anyone after the Griffin-Jackson fight; would anyone argue over a resume that would include wins over Liddell, Silva and Griffin?

In the end, this writer has to go with Wanderlei Silva. The man can ill afford to lose FOUR straight fights in a division as deep as this one. Jardine is the perfect opponent for Silva in terms of style. Wanderlei won't look for space like Liddell to hit Jardine. Silva will close the distance and test Jardine's chin early and often.

A win over Jardine could keep him in the good graces of the fans and the UFC. Silva is an all time great, but he's fighting to keep his career alive. It's sure rough to be fighting for your future in MMA for guys like Ortiz and Silva. Silva needs this win badly and hopefully at UFC 84, we will see the return of the Axe Murderer.

Chuck Liddell vs. Rashad Evans (UFC 85): Shogun Rua was to fight Liddell at this event but tore his ACL. Rashad Evans steps in and looks to derail the train known as the Iceman Express. This fight poses plenty of questions with few answers. Will Rashad look to strike with a dangerous striker like Liddell? Can Evans even take Liddell down at anytime in this fight? Hopefully we get answers to all these questions when the two meet in London.

Who Needs This Fight More?: Evans doesn't need this fight as much as Chuck does. Chuck knows that one more win could guarantee himself a shot at the winner of Griffin-Jackson sometime in December. A win over Evans by KO, and his stock skyrockets big time. We all know the guys at Zuffa would love more than to have their poster boy have one more shot at Jackson. As for Evans, it won't hurt him as much if he were to lose to Liddell.

Evans still has plenty of potential but this the fight to see how much he has grown as a fighter. A good example of this scenario is the Griffin-Ortiz fight at UFC 59. The Ortiz fight for Griffin was to show if he belonged or not in the upper class of the division. The same goes for Evans and this fight will go a long way to see if Evans belongs or not.

Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson vs. Forrest Griffin (UFC 86): The most prominent fight of the summer is of course Jackson-Griffin for the belt. Both men haven't fought since last September but at the same time, both men are coming off huge wins. For Griffin, his submission victory over Shogun got him the title shot in the first place. For Jackson, he continues his rampage over the division after a hard fought decision win over Dan Henderson. The two are crowd favorites and the exposure of the fight will be even bigger after the next season of the Ultimate Fighter that takes place next month.

Who Needs This Fight More?: Rampage loves money and he knows that if he gets by Griffin even more big money fights comes his way. A possible third fight with Liddell to even a third fight with Silva and Rampage could see himself in some of the biggest fights of the next couple of years. And even better, he can go into those matchups as the reigning UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. I can't really see Griffin defend the title more than once if he were to become champion. Jackson has the better skill set than Griffin to fight the likes of Liddell, Silva, Ortiz or Machida and still have a better chance of walking out champion.

Not to take anything away from Griffin, should he become champion it will be one of the biggest upsets in UFC history. And if anyone can make a believer out of me…it's sure as hell is Forrest Griffin. NO ONE thought he would outlast Shogun and choke him out. But Jackson is on a roll right now and benefits more with a victory. Griffin will champion one day…but it won't be anytime in the next year.

These five fights will determine the scene of the light heavyweight division heading towards the end of 2008. Each fight has serious implications in terms of who will be champion and who's going to be the number one contender at the end of 2008. It's going to be an exciting summer to be a fan of any of these fighters heading into their fights. The war begins in May, the real question is now…are you ready?

ThrowDowN CentraL

Never…will watch Never Back Down…EVER!

That is all I have to say about the movie ‘Never Back Down' that is being released in theaters today. By looking at the previews and synopsis of this movie…IT WILL SUCK. The plot is so predictable for crying out loud and they seem to want to be more Fight Club than MMA. You guys must wonder how would I know if I never seen the movie? Have you seen the trailers for crying out loud?! I'm the type of movie fan who can tell a movie will suck by just looking at the trailer.

All I can hope is that Redbelt will be a tad bit better than this movie…it has Randy Couture right?

Fedor…free agent…AGAIN?

Look it's all speculation at this point since the news broke from ESPN The Magazine. You also have reports that Monte Cox; the CEO of M-1 saying the Fedor is still with M-1. All I can say is…I TOLD YOU SO! Come on…did you really think M-1 would be able to pay Fedor two million a fight? I would never pay no fighter two million to fight cans like Hong Man Choi! If there are fighters that deserve that kind of money would be Anderson Silva or GSP.

People are crossing their fingers hoping that Fedor will resume talks with the UFC if he indeed is released from his M-1 contract. It could happen but with promotions like EliteXC or HDNet Fights; I can't see Dana go into a bidding war over Fedor. He tried it once and didn't like the results which included many clauses that Dana didn't like in order to sign Fedor.

What doesn't help is Dana's criticism of Fedor throughout the whole ordeal. If you need quotes head over to the Cardio Freak column for quotes that would make Fedor's mother angry! But if Dana White did everything in his power for seven years to get Wanderlei to finally fight Chuck, he would do the same to get Fedor to fight Randy in the octagon on New Years Eve.

The real dilemma in all of this if Fedor were to sign with the UFC and Randy returns would be this: What about Big Nog? He is the interim champion and has asked to fight Randy to unify the belts. The best way to solve this problem is to have the winner of Fedor-Couture to fight Big Nog to unify the belts. But it is a pipe dream right now so we'll see what happens.

PRIDE 2.0 Returns

I've got to admit that DREAM 1 is the rebirth of PRIDE under a different banner. Yet it is one hell of card in terms of their Lightweight Grand Prix. Of course we can't forget the return of Mirko Cro Cop as he hopes to restore his tarnished legacy after a rough stint in the UFC. I find it disappointing that HDNet decided to not pick up the event. Mark Cuban and his boys dropped the ball on that one.

From Akoi-JZ to Amade-Alvarez, it's going to easily be a showcase of the best lightweights not in the UFC or EXC (except for Alvarez). I will find a way to catch this event but it really is a can't miss Grand Prix. If anyone has anyway of seeing it; please send it to the comments section at the bottom of page so we all can benefit from it.

In Closing

To Frank Shamrock…be a good brother and tell your brother Ken to just hang them up. No matter how much YOU want to pummel him but for him to lose to a guy name Buzz, you have to do something. Shamrock is becoming the Evander Holyfield of MMA. And I'm talking the over the hill Holyfield, because Ken is just a legendary gatekeeper now. Retire while you still have functioning brain cells Ken.

That wraps things up in the FNT, I cannot stress how excited I am in terms of fights in the next couple of months. 2008 is starting to become one of the better years in MMA, in the sense that the best are fighting the best. All I can say is that May can't come soon enough! Be sure to send any feedback at [e-mail] and the feedback will be very much appreciated. Hope you guys have a great weekend and I will see you right back here….inside the Throwdown!