Could TUF save the UFC’s Heavyweight Division?
By Curtis Clontz on Nov 15, 2009
The UFC is the biggest, baddest, and strongest MMA organization in the world. They have the best fighters and a seemingly limitless pool of talent, but their heavyweight division could be in serious trouble. Two of their top guys are sick! When I say sick, I mean sick sick!. Nog has a terrible staph infection and all we are being told about Brock is that he is not doing well. All we know about Brock is that it is serious! Combine these illnesses with the drop to 205 for Randy and you have yourself a heavyweight problem. The division is not very deep. Lucky for them, help is on the way, TUF could save the day.
If you take Brock, Nog, and Randy out of the 215+ equation, you are left with the likes of Carwin, Velasquez, Mir, Kongo, and Dos Santos. After that point, the talent level drastically drops off.
In steps The Ultimate Fighter! The season that was originally crowned as the Kimbo season, very well could be a saving grace for the UFC.
This is what you can expect if Brock and Nog are out of commission for awhile. Expect Carwin and Velasquez to fight (possibly around 108). The winner of that one will get the winner of the Mir vs. Kongo fight for the interim title. That will do two things. It will give Lesnar and Nog time to hear, as well as give the UFC to begin building their new heavyweight talent from TUF.
If they play their cards right, they can market at least four of the TUF guys (not counting Kimbo). They can use these brand new guys as a speed bump in the division, seemingly slowing down the movement of the division, and allowing the guys at the top to heal.
You never know if someone from the show can ramble off a few straight wins. This would only help out the UFC. Mix this new crop of talent with the current roster and a possible disaster is avoided and downgraded to a small issue.
The wild card in all of this is Kimbo Slice. I know what you are thinking, how in the world could the UFC really use this guy… Just watch, it is going to happen. He is rumored to be fighting Houston Alexander at the finale. If he wins that fight (and let’s be honest…Houston is very beatable), then you can use Kimbo wherever you want. Ask Spike, YouTube, and CBS if they think people will tune in to watch Kimbo…
Picture from UFC.com, This is also posted at The Curtis and Kyle Show.
Filed Under: MMA
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Vera needs to move back up to HW, he cannot handle the cut to 205 and is not strong enough there. That will strengthen it some. But the guys on TUF aside from Nelson are not going to make a splash right away. Kimbo will be exposed unless the UFC protects him and that will just open a whole bunch of problems. But there are some promising guys on the show that can help add some depth.
But the UFC has to stop this ADD version of MMA. There are plenty of guys who are capable fighters, but in the era of “the next big thing” the UFC is trying to have “super cards” every PPV. But now injuries and some bad breaks are causing PPV’s to go from great to weak. They need to keep guys around a little while and develop fighters more. A few more UFN’s would help to bring the younger guys up, getting them some exposure, and bring in more fans. Especially if you keep these TUF fighters on there, because fans are familiar with them. Just my opinion.
Bill