For some, there were some big shocks on the UFC 82 card, but the fact is, most of it was understandable.

We saw Anderson Silva submit Dan Henderson to solidify his position at the top of the 185 pound ranks in most minds.

We saw Diego Sanchez return to form and destroy his Swedish opponent, who I clearly overestimated.

We saw Koscheck destroy Dustin Hazelett, who everyone else seemed to have drastically overestimated.

We saw Chris Wilson take Jon Fitch the distance, but drop the fight in the end, as was expected.

We saw Andrei Arlovski pound Jake O’Brien into a bloody pulp, and many of us pointed and laughed.

We saw Heath Herring outgrapple Cheick Kongo, who seems to be showing improvement on the ground, but doesn’t seem to understand that his ground game still sucks.

We saw Yushin Okami kick the crap out of Evan Tanner, which I might not have predicted, but I’ll admit that when I saw the size difference as they squared off I considered as a possibility.

The real question is what does this mean for the future of the division.

Well, the middleweight division seems devoid of challengers. I mean, there’s the possibility of Cote or Kampmann, but I don’t think anyone expects them to beat Silva. That’s just a fact.

Silva may have to engage in a unification fight with Paulo Filho to find a real challenge, and it certainly would be, given that Filho looks like the #2 man in the division, with Henderson getting knocked off.

The possibility of Zuffa doing that unification fight seems more and more possible, as Filho’s division doesn’t seem particularly rife with talented opposition either, and it would certainly be an incredible draw.

Kongo’s loss simplifies the UFC heavyweight division, leaving us with only two serious contenders: Arlovski and Werdum. While people didn’t think that Kongo was a serious contender, I still maintain that he would have been.

I think that Kongo will fight Antoni Hardonk in his next fight, and that will be an awesome matchup. If Joe Silva doesn’t set this fight up, I’ll be seriously disappointed, as it would be an interesting striking war, the kind we really only get to see in K-1 nowadays.

Mir also seems to be looking like a legitimate contender, now that Kongo is gone, but it’s hard to really call him that when I tend to believe that he’d be destroyed by both Werdum and Arlovski. Still, I wouldn’t object to seeing Mir fight Sylvia again to try and prove that he’s really back in the division. That would make for a great rematch. The possibility of him fighting Kongo was really nullified by this fight with Herring, but I think that it’s still a possibility to see Mir fight Herring, should Herring continue to fight with the UFC.

Sanchez, Koscheck and Fitch caused perhaps the biggest shift in their division, because all three are really vying for the chance to fight Matt Hughes for a top-contender position. Personally, I think that they should give it to Fitch, given that he is still undefeated in the UFC, but they may give it to Koscheck because of his wrestling pedigree and his status as a reality show celebrity.

I’m fairly certain they won’t give it to Sanchez, because they want to see him recover a little bit first, but I haven’t dismissed the prospect of him fighting Hughes if Hughes should lose a fight to either Fitch or Koscheck. I’d like to see Diego fight Tommy Speer, but I think that such a possibility is unlikely, as the UFC wants to keep their country boy pretty.

As for Leben, I’d like to see him fight Drew McFedries, as they are both trying to get back on the contender trail. I’m also open to the idea of Leben fighting Evan Tanner, as I think that would be a cool stylistic matchup and help to get Tanner back on track if he should win.

Okami is in a very interesting position, as he’s not really deserving of a top tier position in my mind, but could hold up a solid post as a gatekeeper. I’d like to see him fight the loser of Patrick Cote vs. Martin Kampmann (which I hope would be a top contenders’ match) and see what happens from there. I’d also like to see him fight Joe Riggs, as it would be an interesting fight, but since that fight really doesn’t seriously advance Okami, I doubt Joe Silva will put it together.

The UFC is in for an interesting year, and seems to be putting together an interesting group of contenders in their lower weight classes, while working hard to reestablish the big men. UFC 82 was a good step towards that, especially for the 170 pounders and Anderson Silva. The future for all looks bright.

Next up, UFN: Lauzon vs. Florian.

Tanner’s debut fell short, nobody seems to like WWE wrestlers in the stands, Urijah Faber gets his recognition, and Anderson Silva can’t be beat. There’s a lot more, but I want to focus on a few thoughts from UFC 82 last night in Columbus, Ohio.

Jon Fitch had a hard time with his replacement oppononent, Chris Smith, but it was Evan Tanner who had the hardest night of them all. The middleweight fighter, absent from the octagon for nearly two years, made his comeback attempt last night against potential middleweight contender Yushin Okami. It fell just a tad short in the second round as Okami felled Tanner with a knee in the clinch. Is it the end for Tanner? Knowing his heart, I doubt it. Let’s just hope the UFC gives him a fighter who is a little more dynamic. The crowd wasn’t very excited to watch the somewhat boring Okami attempt to dance around a reluctant Tanner. But there’s a lesson to be learned - don’t underestimate the cautious fighter. Just look at Lyoto Machida.

So why don’t UFC fans like WWE stars in the crowd, but they’ll watch PPV events with WWE stars in record numbers? Brock Lesnar’s numbers from UFC 81 are showing one of the best numbers for the UFC ever, yet the fans overwhelm the arena with boos when a wrestler is given some camera time. I’m a little confused. Is there really that big of a difference between the live gate fans versus the PPV fans? As noted by the Wrestling Observer, Urijah Faber finally received some recognition from the fans. Perhaps the MMA crowd is starting to learn more about other (albeit UFC-owned) promotions?

A couple years ago, it was Wanderlei Silva who was the big name to beat. Now, it’s Anderson. After destroying Chris Leben, Nate Marquardt, Travis Lutter, Chris Leben, and Rich Franklin (twice), Silva was finally up against a new contender. Although Silva was able to submit Dan Henderson with 8 seconds left in the second round, it certainly wasn’t in dominating fashion similar to his previous five UFC fights. John Philapavage thinks an immediate rematch could be on it’s way. I’m thinking Dana White is shopping around for some more middleweights to bring in against Silva before allowing Henderson another shot at the title. Henderson, who showed that he was a formidable contender with his wrestling throughout the first round, may have to face off against Leben, Okami, Marquardt, or even the winner of Franklin/Lutter. We saw The Spider trap another opponent, but he still can beaten. Can the UFC find that guy?

Overall, the show was exciting from the PPV side of things. I was happy to learn that Arlovski stopped lay-n-pray wrestler Jake O’Brien, Heath Herring looked to be back in shape, and Leben showed his chin was still intact. I couldn’t really complain - 9/10.

Roy Nelson, Matt Horwich, and Kim Couture. Not the biggest names in the sport, but they have kicked off a busy weekend of MMA action. The premeiere of the new IFL fight team format was aired late last night on HDNet Fights, followed by the Kim Couture smoker fight. Tonight, we witness a potential fight of the year when Dan Henderson looks to take the belt away from UFC middleweight champion, Anderson Silva. I’m going to take a few minutes to talk about each event.

IFL Premiere: I’ve always tried to be positive about the IFL organization even with the old team format. Although the new team format has improved the overall production, the IFL hasn’t changed too much overall. Luckily, HDNet Fights has decent commentator to help the IFL provide a professional production. Although Bas Rutten is nowhere near as bad as Bill Goldberg, he can be a little over the top at times. Overall, the fights were interesting with the Horwich championship fight against Ryan McGivern going to full five rounds and other fights ending in less than 20 seconds. The problem with the IFL is their drawing power. Many of their fights are great in their own regard, but they don’t have any big draws to bring in the fans. If the IFL went up against almost any other televised MMA production this year, I would probably watch everything but the IFL. There’s not much there above and beyond your smaller local organizations that you can watch semi-regularly on HDNet Fights these days. Overall, I give it a 6/10.

Kim Couture Smoker: I’ll be honest and say right off the bat that I didn’t pay any attention to this until it began immediately following the IFL. I was trying to determine exactly why they were televising a smoker event in the first place. Then I found this excuse.

“This event will give fans insight into where it all starts for fighters,” said Simon. “Earlier in the evening, we will broadcast the live IFL event taking place in front of 6,000 fans and then we’ll show the contrast by going to the Smoker at Xtreme Couture in front of 300 fans.”

While I agree that it’s important to learn where fighters start, I know it’s not the reason why they aired this. If this was Sam Caplan’s wife (who also fights), we wouldn’t see anything like this. The drawing power of the Couture last name is what made this production to HDNet Fights and as long as you knew that before watching, you couldn’t be too disappointed. Good fight between Kim Couture and her opponent, Allison Clarkson, overall. If you have an hour of free time, go watch the smokers!

UFC 82: The UFC couldn’t have set up a better event to lead into UFC 83. While 83 has been considered one of the most stacked UFC cards in a while, UFC 82 shouldn’t dissapoint many. With big names like Dan Henderson, Anderson Silva, Evan Tanner, Chris Leben, Cheick Kongo, Heath Herring, Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck, and Andre Arlovski, there should be no shortage of true MMA action tonight. Aside from the main event, there’s a few other important matches to really watch as well. Can Arlovski bring back the excitement after his boring UFC 70 fight. Can Heath Herring get back to wining like he did in Pride? Will Chris Leben show everyone his heavy hands again? I’m excited to see what happens tonight as it will dictate a lot of what the future will hold for the middleweight and heavyweight divisions later this year.

MMA Fightline is reporting that Dana White does have plans to re-sign, not resign, well-known fighters Andre Arlovski and Josh Koscheck. Did the recent EliteXC/CBS deal scare Dana White into re-signing fighters that he may have dropped earlier this year? After the news broke that EliteXC has temporarily filled the void of MMA on prime time television, other organizations like the IFL are praising Gary Shaw and his organization for making a move in the right direction. Other guys, like Dana White, are probably not so happy with rival organization. Here’s the full short article.

Amid confusion about the status of UFC fighters Andrei Arlovski and Josh Koscheck, Dana White has recently announced the he plans to resign the two of them. Arlovski’s career has been in limbo since UFC 70 when he last fought to a snoozer decision win over Fabricio Werdum. The Belrusian fighter’s next fight is this Saturday against Jake O’Brien.

Welterweight contender Josh Koscheck who is also on the UFC 82 undercard will also be resigned as well.

“When I want a guy, I’ll get it done,” said Dana White.

About Arlovski, Dana White had this to say, “Andrei’s a guy that I want, so I think we’ll get it done,” he said.

I guess White wanted to get it done now before Arlovski gets a bid from another organization after his final fight on Saturday night. Nothing would make White and the UFC look worse than losing a fighter to the newest contendor on television, EliteXC. It’s bad enough that Arlovski has been patiently waiting to fight again after his decision win over Fabricio Werdum during UFC 70. Although Arlovski did manage to grab the decision over Werdum, fans were not happy with the fight overall as boos echoed throughout the arena in Manchester.

I expect to see other fighters to be re-signed by the UFC before they can be scooped up by rivals EliteXC, IFL, and M-1 later this year. With the IFL premiering their new format tonight on HDNet Fights, MMA fans may finally have a choice when it comes to watching MMA on a weekly basis. Bad for the UFC, good for everyone else.

It just doesn’t happen often enough; a fight where I am so uncertain about who is going to win that I am flip-flopping about my pick as I am starting to write. Honestly, I haven’t been this unsure about a pick since Fedor vs. CroCop. I’ve been wrong, but I haven’t been unsure.

The fact is, Anderson Silva and Dan Henderson make for a fight that we cannot, with any real certainty, call, and the odds are proof of that. The UFC and Pride Champions are locked even and I doubt that even Wanderlei Silva vs. Rampage Jackson would have been considered this tight of a matchup if it had happened instead of the Henderson fight at the end of last year.

I’ve already talked about why it is that Dan Henderson and Anderson Silva are forces to be reckoned with in the middleweight division, why it is they are both dominant and devastating, and why it is that I so rarely bet against either of them when they are competing in this weight class.

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A Look at the UFC’s 185 Pound Champion

Leading up to the fight with Dan Henderson, I think it’s appropriate that we take a look at what makes the fighters great. I’ll definitely spend a little time talking about the numbers, but I’m going to try and focus on the technical aspect, give you some things to watch about the all-around game and the specifics of the way they fight.

I’ll definitely look at Henderson as we approach fight time, but I think that it’s only appropriate to start with the reigning champion of the UFC’s middleweight division, not just because of his status as champion, but also because of how he has been regarded by professional analysts (most notably the ones that the UFC has had do their “analysis.” (I put it in quotes, because it’s not really analysis as much as it’s hyping the fight)

Anderson Silva is not infallible. He is great, and certainly one of the most devastating fighters of his generation, and it wouldn’t be far fetched to say that he’s one of the greatest users of the traditional vale tudo combination: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai.

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