A GSP challenge, Spider’s paycheck web and a fight that needs to happen.
While the MMA world awaits for what many of us believe is an inevitable super fight between UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre and UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, the top pound-for-pound fighters are currently booked for bouts within their own division. But that hasn't stopped others from calling them out, or in the case of "The Spider", naming a fighter he would like to face who many believe, is quite frankly, a paycheck.
While Silva has his work cut out for him at UFC 126 when he puts his title on the line versus Vitor Belfort, he has still thrown out Michael Bisping's name, and how he would be more than happy to fight "The Count," on his home soil in England.
As it stands today, there is a current calibre gap between the two fighters and on paper, Silva should easily dominate the English poster child for MMA. While no fight is an easy fight, as it stands today, Bisping still has some flaws in his game that he will need to correct before he can tangle with his Brazilian counterpart. He is, and would be considered a huge underdog in this fight, but then again, so was Chael Sonnen, when he fought Silva last August.
I'd like to see "The Count" dispose of a few more opponents above him in the rankings before I am convinced he can take out the champ. With a sound strategy, (famous last words,) he could ground and pound Silva and earn a victory, but first, he would have to get passed Anderson's exceptional muay thai, his ever dangerous clinch and then his underrated submission arsenal. I'm not saying it can't happen, but the odds are stacked against Bisping right now. Mind you, if he can pull off the victory, championship glory could not happen to a nicer guy.
It's not uncommon for many fighters to specifically ask for opponents who on paper seem inferior to them. Take nothing away from Randy Couture, a master strategist, but when current UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua states how he would love the opportunity to fight "The Natural", reading between the lines, it says as if he is saying, "paycheck".
When this sort of stuff occurs, I can understand why so many people root for the underdog. You just want to see that magical moment when a guy has "no shot" at winning the fight, prove everyone wrong, and pull off the unimaginable.
On the opposite side of the spectrum is the bravado showcased by Brian Stann, who recently stated that if he was to fight GSP at middleweight he "would knock him out, before he puts me on my butt three times." He said this, after also saying that he has "trained with GSP" in the past. It's a fight that likely may never take place as should GSP move up to 185 lbs. he'd likely be given an immediate title shot, or at the very least, take on one of the middleweight division's top contenders.
Moving on to Strikeforce, the organization has launched an official website for their upcoming World Grand Prix heavyweight tournament, which features a stellar line-up of some of the sport's best big men.
One of them is Fedor Emelianenko, whose management M-1 Global, is hoping to convince the athletic commissions who will be sanctioning the bouts to "perform strict drug testing", as two of fighters competing have been accused of using performance enhancing drugs.
The first is Josh Barnett, who left them with a sour taste in their mouth, when he tested positive prior to getting licensing for the now infamous Affliction event, which eventually folded shortly thereafter.
The other is Fedor's next opponent, Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva, who was suspended for one year by the California State Athletic Commission after allegedly testing positive for Boldenone, an anabolic steroid.
Whether you agree or disagree with some of M-1 Global's past practices, they should be commended for making such a request, one I sincerely hope will be adopted by the commissions.
Sliding over to Japan, one-time top draw Bob "The Beast" Sapp has apparently had enough of FEG and their business practices. After current boss Sadaharu Tanikawa told a Japanese publication that the company's demise is imminent, Sapp poured some gasoline over the fire when he piped up as to why he did not compete on their recent NYE show.
He stated that once he arrived in Japan, he was asked to take a 50 percent pay cut to compete. He originally agreed to compete for $30,000 and then was asked to fight for $15,000, so he counter-offered for $25,000: No deal. His bout was pulled from the card with the organization taking shots at him during the on-air broadcast, questioning his spirit and saying that he was asking for more money to fight.
He subsequently went on to state that the promotion is taking up to six months to pay some of the fighters, stiffing others and that the company is broke.
And finally, one story I will be paying close attention to, is the feud between Charles "Krazy Horse" Bennett, and Chute Boxe's Cristiano Marcello.
The two lightweights have been feuding since December 31st, 2005, where at Pride Shockwave 2005, they got into a backstage tilt, which ended up with Marcello choking Bennett out unconscious with a triangle choke.
Bennett has recently irked Marcello and the Chute Boxe team again, when he said he once knocked out Wanderlei Silva backstage, to which Marcello responded with a special video message, where he reminded Bennett that the only time he knocked out Silva, was when he was dreaming during his brief, triangle choke-induced nap.
Dear MMA promoters: Please make this fight happen!
