Eight Sides of Steel 05.25.08
Posted by Wendell Mitchell on 05.25.2008
UFC 84 is in the books, I give my thoughts on upcoming match ups, and show you how to be a street fighter like Ryu. Like a fight against Briann Stann, this week's column is going to be brief.
NEWS YOU CAN COUNT ON…MAYBE
BJ Penn retained his title with a TKO victory over Sean Sherk
Just like I called it. Still think the Prodigy is a quitter Sean? Do ya?
Randy Harrison has the complete results of last night's UFC 84: Ill Will
Fresh off his victory over Keith Jardine, Wanderlei Silva continues to entertain the notion of dropping down to 185.
I say go for it, especially considering he doesn't want an immediate title shot. He wants to fight the rest of the division and earn a shot at former training partner and current Middleweight Champ Anderson Silva. Anderson pretty much outclasses everyone else in his division so is in need of new challenges. Georges St. Pierre has been rumored as a future and with Wanderlei considering dropping down, that's two potential money matches for the pound for pound best fighter in the world today.
Due to Mark Coleman's injury, Brock Lesnar's next opponent will be Heath Herring.
Well, well. I liked Brock's chances better against Coleman, but I'm not exactly counting him out against the Texas Crazy Horse either. Could prove to be an interesting fight. Herring has a decent ground game as he showed against Cheick Kongo, but Brock's a NCAA champion wrestler, so I have a feeling Herring wants to keep this standing up. I'm thinking this may just go the full three rounds and could be Brock's time to prove a few critics wrong.
Jon Fitch will main event UFC 87 in an attempt to dethrone newly crowned Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre.
Sounds like a good fight to me. On one hand you have the reigning champ who regained his championship in spectacular fashion by destroying Matt Serra last month. On the other we have a guy that the big boss himself guaranteed a title shot after winning eight fights in a row, a feat not accomplished since Royce Gracie in the formative days of the promotion. To borrow a phrase, should be a good one.
In August, Steve Cantwell seeks to avenge a loss and capture championship gold when he goes toe-to-toe with theundefeated WEC Light Heavyweight Champion Brian Stann.
We'll pretend that Cantwell's two fight win-streak means something. Done, pretending? Good. The first time these two fought, the All American dispatched Cantwell in a mere 41 seconds. My prediction, Brian Stann by involuntary manslaughter.
Gina Carano will be featured in the pages of Muscleand Fitness.
I mean, she is the poster girl for Women's MMA. If anything, I'm surprised she hasn't been on the cover before. The issue featuring Ms. Carano is expected to hit news stands June 1, the day after her historic battle on CBS's "Saturday Night Fight."
In their usual fashion, Dana White's words have rubbed someone the wrong way. The latest instance, Elite XC president Gary Shaw.
Not since the days of Eric Bicshoff challenging Vince McMahon to a match have the figureheads of two companies created so much drama. Shaw did not take too kindly to Dana saying a lightweight could beat Elite XC's crown jewel Kimbo Slice. In fact, he questioned Dana's love of the sport and feels that an attitude like Dana's is detrimental to evolution of the sport. Me, I think Dana's echoing the sentiments that many in the MMA community share, but in his typical "fuck you if you don't agree with me" fashion. Shaw should defend his top fighter, but saying Dana doesn't love or respect the business is misplaced.
BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO MIXED MARTIAL ARTS
Figured you guys could use a break from my stuffy boring lectures, so let's go out to the movies…
AND IN THIS CORNER
The reason I think that come August, Brian Stann will still be WEC Light Heavyweight Champ.
LINKS
Limited access to a computer this week, so no links this week, but you know how awesome the MMA zone is, so just click something and read it.
OUT OF THE CAGE AND OFF THE CHAIN
Well a lot of boring real life stuff led to this week's brief column, but I'll make it up to all three of you next week when I jam this thing full of goodness. Until then, thank your lucky stars that you survived another bout inside the Eight Sides of Steel.
