The Light Heavyweight division in the UFC is stacked with talented MMA fighters. We will be lucky enough to see several key match ups at UFC 88 and UFC 89 that will answer many questions about the future of the division. Will Brandon Vera regain the form and excitement he had as a heavyweight? Is Rashad Evans or Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou for real? Will Thiago Silva be able to save us from a boring fighting style that Lyoto Machida has used to stay undefeated?
At UFC 88, Rashad Evans will face off against the former champ Chuck Liddell. Rashad left a lot of questions about his ability against the upper echelon fighters with his draw versus Tito Ortiz. Many consider Tito past his prime, and Ortiz would have won the fight if not being penalized a point for holding the fence. We all know what Chuck can do. If he stuffs Rashad’s takedowns, and beats him standing up, it will prove that Rashad is not quite ready for the upper guys in the UFC Light Heavyweight division. If Rashad wins it would help convince some people that Chuck is on his way out and that Rashad is the real deal.
Then a month later at UFC 89, you will get three UFC Light Heavyweight battles to help sort out the rest of the division. Brandon “The Truth” Vera will be taking on Keith “The Dean of Mean” Jardine. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou will match up against Luis Cane and the fight I am most excited about is the Lyoto Machida versus Thiago Silva.
Brandon Vera will have his second fight at 205 pounds and hopes to return to his old heavyweight form. In his first fight it looked like the weight cut really zapped him of his explosiveness and energy. He will be facing off against Keith Jardine. “The Dean of Mean” owns victories over Chuck Lidell and Forrest Griffin, but is a very up and down fighter. He beat Forrest, and then lost to Houston Alexander. He beat Chuck, and then lost to Wanderlei Silva.
This fight will decide if Brandon Vera will be able to be a force at 205 pounds. If Brandon does not figure out how to cut the weight and retain his energy and explosion, Jardine will wear him down and decision him. If the old Brandon shows up, then we should expect a quick knockout. Brandon could be very exciting to watch and has the skills to be great.
Sokoudjou looked amazing in his two fights with Pride, but is off to a rough start in the UFC. Lyoto Machida made Sokoudjou look very average in their fight, and actually finished him with a submission. Lyoto is the “Decision Master”. He does not finish very many fights by KO or submission. Luis Cane will definitely let us know if Sokoudjou is ready, or still a couple of years off from competing at the top of the division.
Luis Cane’s only lose was due to a disqualification when he hit James Irvin with an illegal knee at UFC 79. He has looked very impressive in all his fights. It will be interesting if he stands with Sokoudjou, or tries to take him down and exploit the same weakness that Lyoto did. If Luis does win this fight without taking it to the mat, it would be bad for Sokoudjou, because his stand-up is the strongest part of his game.
If you look on most MMA Fighter Top Ten list for the Light Heavyweight division, you will notice Lyoto Machida and Thiago Silva on most of them. They are both young and undefeated at 13-0. They will face off at UFC 89 and the winner will be in line for a shot at the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. Both of them have the tools to make a lengthy title reign.
Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida has been training in karate since he was four years old, Sumo since the age of 12, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu since the age 15. He has competed in many different martial arts events, and was the runner up in the 2000 Brazilian Sumo Championships. He is very well rounded and has an unorthodox style that gives his opponents fits.
In his MMA career so far, Lyoto Machida has beaten a lot of talented, well known MMA practitioners. He has victories B.J. Penn, Rich Franklin, Sokoudjou, and most recently Tito Ortiz. The only hang up with “The Dragon” is that his very style that makes him so successful also makes him very boring to the average fan. Out of Lyoto’s 13 victories, 8 are by decision, 3 by KO, and 2 by submission.
Thiago Silva looks like a younger version of Wanderlei Silva to me. He is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, but is very good at the Muay Thai game and likes to bang. He has been very dominate in his UFC career so far, and showed a lot in his last fight. He ate a high kick to the head, but still managed to clear the cob webs, come back and win by my favorite submission…strikes. That all happened in the first round.
Thiago Silva has not faced the same caliber of opponents that Lyoto Machida has, but un- like the decision master, Silva will bring the pain. Thiago knows how to end fights, and has only been out of the first round in 4 of his 13 professional MMA events. Out of Silva’s 13 victories, 10 are by KO, 2 are by submission, and only 1 by decision.
Their match up at UFC 89 will come down to the same thing all of Lyoto’s fights do. Can Thiago Silva figure out how to hit “The Dragon”? I would like to see Thiago force Lyoto to fight a fast paced, action filled fight. It would be interesting to see how Lyoto reacts when he is taken out of his game plan. If Thiago can’t figure out the Lyoto puzzle he will be out pointed by the decision master.
By:Ron Layton/ http://www.MMAtalker.com
|
