Quote:
Originally Posted by Cyclone792
Of the fights I picked, I went 5-1 with Cro Cop being the only loss. Actually, I should have gone 4-2 because Matt Hamill did not lose that fight last night.
I very much enjoyed the Rampage/Henderson fight, and I thought it was a pretty good fight. I'd expect Henderson to go down to middleweight now (is he fighting the winner of Rich/Silva next?) and probably stay there permanently.
Also, what's up with Cro Cop? I know he hates to cut weight, but it looks like he could use dropping down to light-heavyweight to try to get back on the winning track.
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Regarding Henderson, it'd be nice for him to stay at middleweight, you'd think he's definitely better off in that weight class, though traditionally he's fought better at 205, despite always being the smaller guy in a fight (incidentally, the Rampage fight is the ONLY time in his light heavyweight fights that he's actually approached the weight limit at weigh-in time - he came in at 204, whereas he normally is anywhere from 195-199). It'd work out perfectly for him to fight the Silva-Franklin winner if they want to unify those titles, especially since there's absolutely no clear-cut top contender after the Silva-Franklin fight. Problem is, coming off a loss to Rampage (even though a highly competitive fight), it'd be hard marketing-wise to put him right back in another main event situation, especially to newer fans that don't know much of Hendo's credentials.
Who else can possibly be the next top contender at middleweight? Paulo Filho would've been the definitive answer, but they assigned him to WEC when Zuffa absorbed his contract from PRIDE. There's an undercard fight at the Cincinnati show in October between Yushin Okami and Jason MacDonald, who are possibly the third and fourth-ranked middleweights in the UFC right now; however, if Franklin were to win the title back, there'd be a problem having him the winner of the fight so quickly, seeing as he's already beaten both of them in 2007. Evan Tanner and Dean Lister are fighting in December, and both certainly have the credentials to be a top contender, so it may be the winner of that to get the next shot - which means a chance of Franklin-Tanner III. I really don't see any other options from within the UFC currently.
Regarding Cro Cop and a weight drop, that's been a good idea for years now, but as M2 alluded to, he's just not the same fighter he was. He's always fought at 215-220, which is the same weight most light heavyweights rehydrate to after coming in at 205. But I don't think he's losing to the likes of Gabriel Gonzaga and Cheick Kongo because of size differential (taking nothing away from either of those fighters). There's more to it than that, and Mirko has spoken of retirement in the not-too-distant past, and I wouldn't be shocked if he did retire within the next year. What else are you going to do with him? Coming off two losses, who they gonna sell his next fight against? He's signed to the richest free agent contract in MMA history, so it's not like he can be written off to preliminary bouts or anything.