MMA Middleweight Shakeup

Last night on Fuel TV, rising middleweight contender Chris Weidman (9-0) dominated and destroyed an overmatched (and in my opinion an over-ranked) Mark Munoz (12-3). The performance was impressive as the former all-American wrestler (2000-01 at Oklahoma State) Munoz could do nothing to stop Weidman putting his back to the mat.

If you listened to the post-fight UFC hype-machine on Fuel TV, brought to you by Metro (no one is REALLY going there), they would have you believe Weidman is going to next fight Anderson Silva and beat him as well.

At 9-0 in his young mma career, Chris Weidman is a prospect to watch in the next year. He will fight for a title someday, hopefully not too soon as some seasoning against tougher opponents would do him well.

The list of opponents for Weidman is overall very average:

-Mark Munoz (12-3) by R2 KO

-Damien Maia (16-4) by decision

-Tom Lawlor (8-4) by R1 technical sub

-Jesse Bongfeldt (16-5-1) by R1 sub

-Alessio Sakara (15-9) by decision

-Valdir Araujo (10-3) by decision

-Uriah Hall (7-2) by R1 TKO

-Mike Steward (8-3) by R1 TKO

-Reubem Lopes (0-1) by R1 sub

I say let Chris Weidman get in line and beat some top fighters. Chael Sonnen, Vitor Belfort, Michael Bisbing,  Hector Lombard, Tim Boetsch, Luke Rockhold, Jacare Souza, Youshin Okami have all accomplished more than Chris Weidman to-date. Beat some of those A-level fighters and we can talk about fighting Anderson Silva.

First Fedor, Now Lesnar Fall Among Heavyweight Champs

How quickly the MMA heavyweight picture has changed over the past six months. Pound-for-pound king Fedor Emianenko was submitted by Fabricio Werdum in June. UFC champion Brock Lesnar then submitted undefeated Shane Carwin in July to claim the top of the heavyweight division ranks. And now: Lesnar loses to another undefeated fighter in Cain Velazquez to again scramble the rankings.

In a most impressive performance, Velasquez may have proven one thing: any fighter can be beaten on any night. Lesnar had destroyed the one person who defeated him, Frank Mir, in a rematch and then showed he could survive adversity by coming back to defeat Carwin. All of this after nearly losing his life to a rare intestinal disorder that required surgery and nine months of recovery. But now it will be Cain Velasquez with the target on his back.

The first challenger to the UFC champ Velasquez is reportedly going to be Junior dos Santos. Expect Lesnar to get one fight (possibly a third fight against Mir) and the winners to face off.

Strikeforce champion Alistair Overeem has mostly been competing in K-1 the past year. His lone MMA fight was a dominating TKO victory over Minnesota heavyweight Brett Rogers in May. Overeem will be competing in the K-1 World Grand Prix on December 11, so expect an early 2011 return to MMA. That is the same timetable for Werdum and Emelianenko.

Strikeforce also contracts Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva in their strong heavyweight stable. Silva is expected to face Valentijn Overeem, the older brother of Alistair, at the December 4 Strikeforce event in St. Louis.

In a wide-open division, here are my unofficial rankings of the top dozen heavyweights in the world:

1. Cain Velasquez (9-0)
2. Fabricio Werdum (14-4-1)
3. Fedor Emelianenko (31-2)
4. Brock Lesnar (5-2)
5. Junior dos Santos (12-1)
6. Alistair Overeem (33-11)
7. Shane Carwin (12-1)
8. Frank Mir (14-5)
9. Antonio Rodrigo Noguerira (32-6-1)
10. Antonio Silva (14-2)
11. Josh Barnett (29-5)
12. Brett Rogers (11-2)

Fighters in red are contracted by Strikeforce.
Fighters in blue are contracted by UFC.

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Brutaal to crown two champions

On March 7, Brutaal will crown their first ever MMA champions of their Fight Night event at Myth Nightclub.

Aaron Praschack (New Richmond, WI) will battle Jesse Midas (St. Cloud) for the middleweight championship. The light heavyweight title will be handed out to the winner of the Karl Knothe-Ross Ogden fight.

Also, Brutaal will host special guest Anderson Silva, UFC Middleweight champion.