As I posted before, UFC President Dana White has made statements saying that should current Welterweight (170lb) Champion Georges St. Pierre defeat #1 contender Jake Shields, then he would vacate the title and move up to Middleweight (185lb) to fight there full time and face the division's champion Anderson Silva. Prior to the recent UFC 127 event in Sydney, Australia, White had also announced that the winner of the main event between 2x former champion BJ Penn & longtime contender Jon Fitch would become the new #1 contender to face the possible winner of the title match, though this seems to have changed due to the result of this bout.
The Welterweight title contender elimination bout that took place at UFC 127 ended with a Majority Draw which means there is no winner of the bout. The GSP vs Shields title bout is April 30, which from this point is plenty of time for the UFC to come up with a contingency for this situation. Should St. Pierre defend & vacate his title, and no contenders set to take his place, that would leave the division without a champion. There have been plenty of fighters clawing at the chance to fight for the title, and with so many mishaps occurring with injuries forcing fighters out of important bouts and Draws appearing as the outcomes of such important bouts, the UFC has a situation that is confusing them & fans. An obvious proposal that could happen is simply have Penn & Fitch rematch to finish the bout with a victor and either have that be for the title if St. Pierre wins, or have the winner fight Shields should he win.
Another possible measure to take if St. Pierre were to leave the division with one final title defense would be to have a Grand Prix tournament to decide the true successor of the previous champion. Seeing as Zuffa, the company owned by the Fertitta brothers and parent company to the UFC, bought out the famous PrideFC and disolved the promotion, it would bring back the feeling of real action fans have missed. The UFC is home to the biggest names in the 170lb division including: Jon Fitch (longtime contender), BJ Penn (former champ), Jake Shields should he lose (former Strikeforce champion), Josh Koscheck (collegiate wrestler), Martin Kampmann (experienced Thia fighter), Carlos Condit (former WEC 170lb champ), Thiago Alves (experienced Thai fighter), Dong Hyun Kim (undefeated Judo expert), & Dan Hardy (experienced striker) there are plenty of top Welterweights that can compete in a tournament. Five of the listed names have even fought St. Pierre for the title already.
Scheduling is all that stands in the way as Koscheck is out for five months recovering from nerve damage sustained from fighting St. Pierre, Kampmann is fighting Diego Sanchez who could take his place at UFC Live 3 on VersusTV, Condit is recovering from a knee injury, Alves is scheduled to fight Rick Story who could replace him at UFC 130, and Hardy is scheduled to fight Anthony Johnson who could replace him at Fight Night 23. With the UFC having the deepest roster of Welterweights, there are plenty of fighters who can earn a spot & serve as alternates should a winner in the tournament become to injured to continue. Such alternates could include Nate Diaz, Mike Pyle, Ricardo Almeida, Jake Ellenberger, Diego Sanchez, Brian Ebersole, Rory MacDonald, and many others.
With the UFC putting on more shows, either two major events a month, along with a one every month break, and plenty of Fight Night events that can include TUF Finales, there is plenty of promotion and time to spread the tournament across several months. With a Grand Prix involving such talent and big names recognized by devoted MMA fans, the UFC could promote it to be one of the best tournaments in MMA history.
This is only a one fan's suggestion at the moment and has not been discussed or maybe not even thought of by Dana White or matchmaker Joe Silva. If fans support, then please comment and refer to this blog.
No comments:
Post a Comment