11/13 News

Still not sure how I feel about the possibility of Matt Hughes facing Renzo Gracie at UFC 109. Hughes is one of my favorite fighters. His comeback wins amaze me on so many levels. There's part of me that feels like he could still be a somewhat viable contender in the Welterweight Division. Facing a 42 year old Gracie, who hasn't fought in an MMA cage since February 2007, seems like a waste of time. On the other hand, it's an interesting fight with lots of subplots. For the UFC, it is a smart move. Hughes recently signed a new contract and they need him to remain a draw. If he goes out and loses badly to Josh Koscheck or Jon Fitch, his stock drops through the floor. A win against Gracie would at least build some momentum for a future fight with one of the younger Welterweights. Okay, apparently Fedor's injury was not as bad as Scott Coker thought. Lets call it 2 months instead of 4-6. Either way, I still think he's on the sidelines until April or May. Rushing him back for a fight with Fabricio Werdum would not make sense. Fedor proved himself against Rogers to the American audience. Let him face the winner of Werdum/Overeem. Someone recently asked me about MMA's popularity. My answer was, "It's extremely popular with a decent amount of people." The fact Chuck Liddell's drunken behavior is a non-story to ESPN proves my point. Could you imagine if a well known athlete from Baseball/Football/Basketball did this? I think the moment something like this shows up on ESPN is the time I start losing interest in the sport. I like that it is sort of a big cult and most people still don't get it. What's with Randy Couture's scarf? Six months ago I wasn't sure Shane Carwin knew how to talk. Now the guy never shuts up. I hope the UFC comes up with another big fight for their end of the year show, because as of today it's lacking something special. Last year we had UFC 92, which featured Rampage/Silva, Nogueira/Mir, and Evans/Griffin. In 2007, it was Liddell/Silva and St-Pierre/Hughes. In 2006, Liddell and Ortiz fought for the second time (rest of the card was suspect). There aren't many choices for the promotion. Everyone is either booked or injured and we're only seven weeks out. If I was in charge, I'd switch Florian/Guida (UFC 107) with Griffin/Miller (UFC 108). That would make the end of the year show more appealing to the ticket buyers in Vegas.