UFC 99

          Rich Franklin defeated Wanderlei Silva in the main event of UFC 99.  Ace is now stuck in a sort of MMA limbo.  He is the best middle weight in the world after Anderson Silva, but he just can’t compete with “The Spider”.  I’m not sure he’s a real contender at 205 either though.  He’s already lost to current 205 champ Lyoto Machida once a few years back.  Granted it was a long time ago, but Machida has gotten better since then.

          He mentioned after the fight that 195 is the perfect weight for him.  (The fight with Wanderlei was a catch weight bout at 195.)  Might he be lobbying UFC president Dana White for a new weight class?  Sherdog ran an article explaining the problems with this idea.  I disagree with them on this issue.  I think the UFC could greatly benefit from two new weight classes.  I wouldn’t go crazy like boxing has with an insane number of weight divisions, but two more would not hurt in my opinion.

          I think there is definitely room for a 195 class.  The 20 pound difference between middle weight and light heavyweight is larger than the usual 15 pound difference between most of the other divisions.  The light heavyweight division is stacked and could afford to lose some of the smaller guys who could cut to 195.  It would also benefit guys who have trouble cutting to 185.  Shortening the 20 pound gap could also be viewed as helpful to the fighter’s health, as they would have the option of not cutting as much weight.

          The other new weight class I think should be implemented is a super heavyweight division.  The heavyweight division has been historically weak so this was never an issue, but now it is becoming quite competitive.  As the larger competitors are rounding out their games the smaller guys are put at a huge disadvantage.  I think a super heavyweight division should start somewhere around 240-250 lbs.  People will of course point to Fedor dominating much larger guys with no problem, but let’s remember that most (aka none) other heavyweights aren’t Fedor.  Fighters that weigh around 220 are going to have a tough time beating a monster like Brock Lesnar, and he is only scratching the surface of his potential.  Make the heavyweight division 210 – 240 and the problem is solved.

          In other UFC 99 action, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic defeated Mostapha Al-Turk.  He has reportedly signed a three fight deal with Dream.  Some fans are feeling a bit snubbed by Cro Cop as he claimed he was going to make a run at the UFC heavyweight title this time around.  I personally think his intentions were irrelevant as he can not really compete with the best in the UFC at this point.  Ultimately the deal worked out well for both sides.  The UFC got a European fighter on the card to pump up interest in the event (held in Germany) and Cro Cop got to get his record back to .500 in the UFC.

          Cain Velasquez defeated Cheick Kongo by unanimous decision.  Cain came in highly touted, and Kongo was working his way towards a possible title shot.  Cain now moves up the latter and joins Shane Carwin in the upper tier of the division.  Hopefully the UFC doesn’t immediately match the two up.  I would like to see them both develop a bit more.  Its great how we get a lot of marquee match ups in the UFC, but its kind of a double edged sword.  These great match ups sometimes derail careers when they happen either to early in a fighter’s career or to quickly in rematches.  An excellent example of the rematch problem is Rich Franklin.  After getting destroyed by Anderson Silva he was put right back in there 1 or 2 fights later to be destroyed again.  The UFC needs to spread things out just a little more than they do.

          The rest of the card has solid matches but nothing extraordinary.  I would say it was a pretty good card considering the shadow of UFC 100 is now upon us.  That one should be fantastic.  I’ll have my predictions for UFC 100 posted sometime in the near future.  With that big event, Silva vs Griffin, Penn vs Florian, and Couture vs Nogueira all coming up it should be an exciting summer for MMA fans.

Lakers Win NBA Finals

The Los Angeles Lakers won their 15th NBA championship on Sunday.  Kobe took home Finals MVP honors.  The Lakers were able to take down the Magic in five games.  Though the Magic only won one game the series was closer than it looked.  Three of the five games were very close with two going to overtime.  The Magic’s inability to hit free throws and high turnover rate ultimately cost them in several games.

The Lake show will be clear favorites to win again next year barring a major injury.  The other contenders will have to do something to improve their rosters to compete with the Lakers.  The only team I believe that can challenge them next year as is would be the Celtics.   The Magic may lose Hedo, and without him they will no longer be amongst the elite teams.  The Caveliers need to add some firepower to be able to compete with the elite teams in the playoffs.  If Shaq ends up in Cleveland as rumors persist he will, then the Cavs chances drastically improve.

The western conference should be very interesting next year.  I think the Nuggest will end up taking a tumble much like Hornets did this year.  The Spurs have to get Ginobili healthy and add some youth and energy to their bench.  Houston and Portland could be moving up into the top tier next year.  Assuming Houston will stay healthy is a big risk.  Portland is the real wild card.  Just how much they mature after their first playoff run will determine what kind of season they have this year.  Overall I think the East may either match or surpass the West in terms of competitiveness.