A couple of months ago, I looked at the state of the UFC & StrikeForce middleweight divisions, and proposed a few potential match-ups that made sense at the time. Since then, the climate at 185 lbs has changed quite a bit. The injury bug has been running rampant through UFC, and no weight class has been affected as hard as light-heavyweights. Fortunately, several middleweights were willing to move up a weight class on short notice. With three of the middleweight Top 5 – including the #1 and champion Anderson Silva – scheduled to take their next fight at 205 lbs, this creates an interesting power vacuum at the top of 185. And what better way to fill a vacuum in MMA than a good old-fashioned eight man tournament?
In recent history, UFC has stayed away from the tournament format, using it only on the rare occasion when a title is vacant or disputed, and capping the number of participants at four. Even with those limitations, things seem to go wrong quite often, as was the case with the scoring snafu in the flyweight opening round matchup between Ian McCall and Demetrious Johnson. So, Zuffa’s reluctance to do tournaments is understandable. However, the best thing about the tourney I am proposing is that all the first-round match-ups are already scheduled, and we even have several viable alternate bouts, in case of inevitable injuries. They don’t even have to call it a tournament, but the following four bouts all have strong divisional implications, and having the winners face each other tourney-style would result in a perfect contender for Anderson Silva, whenever he decides he’s had his share of super-fights and comes back to defend his crown. Or, if Silva retires or decides to permanently move up to 205, this series of bouts could crown a new champion:
UFC 152 (September 22)
[#14] Brian Stann vs [#15] Michael Bisping
UFC on Fuel TV 6 (November 10th)
[#10] Rich Franklin vs [#45] Cung Le
UFC 155 (December 29)
[#3] Chris Weidman vs [#6] Tim Boetsch
[#8] Alan Belcher vs [#16] Yushin Okami
And the alternate bouts:
UFC 154 (November 17th)
[#22] Constantinos Philippou vs [#34] Nick Ring
[#30] Francis Carmont vs [#49] Tom Lawlor
UFC on FX 6 (December 14th)
[#9] Hector Lombard vs [#23] Rousimar Palhares
UFC 155 (December 29)
[#20] Chris Leben vs [#119] Karlos Vemola
What do you think, readers? Does it make sense to match up the winners of Stann/Bisping & Franklin/Le, and the winners of Weidman/Boetsch & Belcher/Okami some time in the spring of 2013, then have the “finals” in the summer for the #1 contender (or vacant title, if that happens to be)?