Planet Tapout 4.22.08: Fighters Changing Weights!

Posted by Lotfi Sariahmed on 04.22.2008

Post-UFC 83 the big question is how will some fighters do at different weights? In the latest edition of Planet Tapout, 411Mania's Lotfi Sariahmed takes a look at the potential of three fighters in changing weights! All that plus Miscellaneous Musings in the latest edition!

Welcome to the MMA column that never runs away from its responsibilities. It's Planet Tapout here at 411Mania.com and this is the man who supports mocking your opponent if he deserves it, Lotfi Sariahmed. We actually have a mailbag this week. Yes, I was surprised too.

Mailbag!
So Mike Farrow was a Serra fan and after last week's Planet Tapout, he wanted to let us know.

I can't be the only one who thinks Serra will win. Rule one of MMA betting, as I know you love the Vegas odds, is you never count out an underdog with heavy hands. I've seen Serra as high as +436. Unless GSP has suddenly found a solution for tough guys who are willing to come in on him and trade, he's not going to want to keep the fight standing. So he has to take the fight to the ground and take his chances on the ground. GSP has to dictate where the fight takes place because it doesn't matter to Serra where it takes place, he's comfortable.

As an MMA fan, the pick is GSP, but as a gambling man Mike you're absolutely right. +436 is just too good to not take a chance on Serra. And you ended up being right. GSP did take Serra down but he dominated him there. So talent did win out, but I can't fault you for taking Serra at +436.


Bob didn't like my picks
Way to pick all the favourites...don't go out on the limb or anything..........

I went 10-1 only losing the Jason Day fight…I'm ok with it. And technically Clementi and Goulet weren't favorites.


"Kaktus316" had no faith in Serra…
If Serra makes it out of the 1st round I'll be surprised. St. Pierre is on a helluva roll and is on a mission to get that title back. I'm calling St. Pierre by ko in 3 minutes. Not that I'll be watching. Awful undercard.

It was certainly an awful undercard. But I'll get to that in the Miscellaneous Musings. But as for Serra, he didn't make it out of the 2nd round. GSP was certainly dominant.


Nick wanted to give Serra credit…
It's hilarious not only 'how many' people are writing off Serra, but also 'the extent' of how far they're writing him off.

This is going to be a good fight; this isn't a cakewalk for GSP like 90% of the GSP fans would like you to believe.

Personally I think Serra's going to win again, because of the home crowd. That's a lot of pressure; just ask Rich Franklin.

The home crowd argument certainly isn't or wasn't a bad one. But it didn't seem to affect GSP in any way. He just walked through Serra.

Send me emails or comments. I'm a fan of either. The email address is [e-mail]. Now onward to Planet Tapout!

So we're post-UFC 83. And was it the best card? Nope. Kalib Starnes, Travis Lutter and Charles McCarthy killed any shot the card had at that title. But was it the worst? I don't think so. I think it was a card that lived up to already mediocre expectations. But there was one big theme that came from the card. There's a lot of talk about people moving up or moving down in weight. Specifically the welterweight champ and the former middleweight champ. Then of course there's also the current middleweight champ. All three guys have potentially big moves up or down in weight (and in the case of one of these guys out of the promotion) in the near or not so near future. So lets take a look at all three fighters starting with the former middleweight champion, Rich Franklin.

Everyone knows his story by now. He was on top of the world going into UFC 64. Then Anderson Silva rearranged his face. After taking care of Jason MacDonald and Yushin Okami, it was time for UFC 77…and Anderson Silva to rearrange his face again. Now, post-UFC 83, Anderson Silva is the pound for pound best fighter in MMA and Rich Franklin will not get a title shot as long as he's (Silva) champ.

So what's a fighter to do? Well in Franklin's case there's a lot of talk about him moving up in weight to 205 pounds. There he could be back in title contention among a who's who of big name fighters. He could fight everyone from Liddell to the other Silva and Jardine. The match-ups in that division are endless. He's a very big middleweight so the move up could do him a lot of good. But he's already gone on record saying he's not going to move up to light heavyweight permanently. He would do it on a showcase fight deal with the understanding that he'd move back down to middleweight. In other words, if the UFC were to set up Franklin v. Liddell, that's a fight that could happen. But outside of that there's very little that would bring Franklin up to light heavyweight.

But what about a move to the WEC? This is another idea I've heard tossed around and it doesn't come from a bad place. The WEC could always use more big time fighters and bringing in Franklin would certainly be a boost for the division. For as bad as Paulo Filho has looked, a Filho v. Franklin fight would be very entertaining. Don't forget that the middleweight title fight in the WEC right now has Filho taking on Chael Sonnen and it's a fight you will never sell me on. So Franklin in the WEC can only help. But is it necessary? I don't understand why everyone wants to move Franklin somewhere because he can't get a title shot any time soon. Does that mean he can't fight anyone else? How about Nate Marquardt? Dan Henderson would probably give middleweight another go for Franklin. A 2nd Okami fight? Franklin v. Bisping? I mean the UFC's middleweight division is the 2nd worst behind heavyweight so to take away a big name makes no sense. Especially if there are still big fights out there for you.

But in Anderson Silva's case things are a bit different. He wants to box Roy Jones Jr. but obviously that will never happen thanks to the UFC. He's already steamrolled through the better part of the division with no discernable contenders on the horizon. So who knows how many fights he has left. After a bout with Yushin Okami what do you do with this guy? That's why there's so much talk of a champ v. champ bout for Silva. It's just an issue of whom he would take on.

The first name that comes out of most people's mouths is GSP. It's easy because they're both dominant champs and it's a dream bout that a lot of people have been thinking about. But St. Pierre has enough problems of his own to deal with in the stacked UFC welterweight division. He has a fight with Jon Fitch coming up but then look at the list of contenders that could potentially be on the horizon. He has Thiago Alves, Karo Parisyan, Diego Sanchez and maybe even Josh Koscheck. On top of that, who knows if there won't be a third fight with Serra? So he has enough on his plate for at least the next year before a fight with Anderson Silva gets off the ground. So what about Silva moving up in weight? Well his team has already said Silva will not move up in weight either. It's not that he would be a small light heavyweight (Although he wouldn't be that big); it's a power issue with Silva. His bread and butter is in the striking game for as well rounded as he is. But if he goes up and faces a guy like "Rampage," his power is virtually neutralized. So he doesn't really have the same advantage that makes him so dangerous at middleweight.

Which brings us to the other champ in GSP. I've already talked about how he has enough on his plate between now and any potential champ v. champ match. But looking at the bouts themselves he faces the same dilemma, Silva and Franklin do by moving up in weight. They're at the specific weights they're at because they have a certain amount of power and prowess. GSP is a big welterweight and in turn wouldn't be that big of a middleweight. In fact, what he loses in strength and size I think would be too much for him to overcome in a bout at 185. On the other hand, if BJ Penn or Sean Sherk came up from 155 we have ourselves a different story. I think GSP would beat Sherk in a title fight at 170 relatively easy…he's already beaten Sherk. A fight against BJ Penn is tougher to handicap because in their first bout, BJ Penn completely gassed after the first and to be fair it was his first bout back. All the while GSP didn't do much of anything in the fight either. So that would be the most interesting of the bouts and the most competitive. Don't get me wrong; I'd love to watch any of them. But I think the Penn v. GSP title fight would be most likely to give us a title change in favor of the lighter weight fighter.


Miscellaneous Musings!
●Kalib Starnes deserves to be let go from his UFC contract. I don't care what statement he was trying to make. He looked ridiculous and deserved what he got. Who runs away in a fight?

●On that same note, Travis Lutter and Charles McCarthy also deserve to be let go. I understand the middleweight division doesn't have a whole lot of depth but there's a difference between having quality depth and depth for depth's sake. Lutter talked a big game this time around and gassed out before the end of the first. McCarthy meanwhile shouldn't have been on the main card to begin with and served as cannon fodder for Michael Bisping.

●Who by the way looks much better at 185…but then again it was McCarthy so who's to know what to really make out of that. We'll find out as long as he avoids the fight v. Franklin next.

●As for the main event, am I the only one who wouldn't mind seeing a third Serra v. GSP fight? I mean I understand it can't happen right away. But if Serra beats Hughes, why not put him in a third fight with GSP? Remember that the first fight between the two wasn't competitive either. Serra rocked him in the first one.

●On the gambling front, if you didn't make money on this card I SEVERELY question your MMA knowledge. I can't see any reasonable combination you could pick that would justify going 5-6 or worse. None.

●If the main event of UFC 85 ends up being Rashad Evans v. James Irvin or Brandon Vera v. Fabricio Werdum, a part of me is going to die inside.


That's it for this week on Planet Tapout! Don't forget about the mailbag and comments. Send me your thoughts, loving, hateful and otherwise. The email address is [e-mail] .

We like Meehan. He made the banner. So in return go read his column. He went to Wrestlemania. Go read about it.

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Make sure you come back next Tuesday for another edition of Planet Tapout! This week in MMA gives us a Pain & Glory card, a Smackgirl card, cards from the UWC, RITC, Total Combat and DRFC too. And to round out the crazy MMA weekend there's an MKM show, Pinnacle Combat, The Cage and Pancrase shows as well. Enjoy the fights everyone.