Monday Miyama Volume XXV

King Mo signed a multi-fight deal and is rumored to get the next title shot- is he deserved?

David: OH HELLS NO - he beats Mark Kerr and he is expected to matchup with Mousasi? Really? I know Strikeforce is thin but even if he beat Don Frye AND Kerr and Dan Severn and anyone else that fought in UFC 1-10 HE SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED FOR A TITLE SHOT! I'd rather see Bobby Southworth or even Jake O'Brien (what's he doing?)

Jake vs GM? Yeah- Let Bobby Lashley fight King Mo on the undercard - let them both fight someone relevant this DECADE before we start passing out Title fights!

Crap like this is going to kill Strikefarce.

Jason: No, he isn't. He hasn't beat any top fighter. The Mark Kerr he beat isn't the same Mark Kerr from years back. He is older, slower, and has had many documents troubles Mo should have to fight at least twice in SF to earn a title shot.

Joao: With a 5-0 record? Not a chance, doesn't deserve one. On top of that, the best fighter he has defeated is Travis Wiuff. Let us be serious.
The problem with Strikeforce's Light Heavyweight division right now is that it's thin. You've got Mousasi and Babalu (and Mousasi has already beaten Babalu). Then you've got Kevin Randleman, "Feijão" Cavalcante, Bobby Southworth, Sokoudjou (via DREAM), Mike Whitehead and they're trying to sign Ricardo Arona.
Strikeforce's roster is getting stronger by the week, even more with the partnership with DREAM. But the LHW division is still its weak spot.

Robert: I like King Mo. His career is young so this is probably better for him, signing with Strikeforce. I don't think he'd fare too well in the UFC right now. It is kind of interesting though, that he would talk about Rampage and his fights and who he can beat, etc, in that video a while back, and not try to prove he can hang with the big boys in the UFC. Good move, but interesting nonetheless. As far as a title shot? Meh. It's Strikeforce. Who else do they have? At least King Mo has a name.

Is Forrest is better matchup for Tito then Coleman?

David: Much Worse matchup- I recently watched Forrest/Tito I- and I still think FOrrest won that fight. How a judge gave Tito Round 2 is HUGELY questionable in my mind. Forrest has a decent sprawl- and unlike Coleman, Forrest can stand and bang with Tito- if anything FG is MILES ahead offensively where he was at the first matchup - his chin/heart might be a little more of a question mark. (Who would have ever thought we would say that and be serious?) Coleman would be a wrestling match for Tito- and Coleman is not known for his stamina- an easy win for Tito. Forrest is a MUCH tougher opponent.

Jason: In a word, No. Coleman is well past the age where he was the dominant fighter he once was. If Tito wanted a test coming back to the UFC then Forrest will give him more of one than Coleman would have. Tito could probably defend against Coleman's shots at this point in his career and could just pick him apart standing until he KO'd him. Forrest is at least as good a striker as Tito. I think this poses more of a threat to Tito than the Coleman fight did. I think this makes for a better fight, but I also think it poses a lot more problems to Tito and increases his chances for a loss.

Joao: Theoretically it's harder to beat Forrest right now, than it is to beat Coleman. Mark doesn't have a gas tank right now and at least Forrest is game. It's a tougher test for Tito but it is also a more interesting win (if he beats Forrest, that is).
He needs to take Forrest down and work his ground 'n pound.
But is this the best replacement the UFC could muster? I mean, I know their first fight was close (a controversial decision in many people's eyes), but we did see it. I would have liked to see Tito going up against someone else.

Robert: Better? I don't know if he's a better matchup, but I wanna see this fight more. Forrest is a far better fighter now than when he first fought Tito, so Tito better be prepared for a tougher fight this time around.

Mir is willing to meet Anderson in the cage- thoughts on that ever on PPV.

David: Doubt it. I really can;t see Mir below 220 and Anderson would almost have a beer gut over 215- he simply doesn't have the frame. I think Mir wins this - if it ever happens, he is just too good on the ground and has the chin to get close. Forrest forgot how to clinch for some reason. If Lutter can get Anderson to the mat- Mir can. But this fight simply won't happen- well over 40 pounds of difference- it would be like Faber vs Anderson.

Jason: I think Mir wants this fight, because it's the highest profile fight he can get right now. Not sure what weight they would fight at though. Mir would obviously have a decent size advantage, but I think Anderson is a much better striker and at least, if not better, than Mir on the ground. I don't really like this matchup, because I think Anderson simply keeps this fight on their feet and beats Mir quite easily standing.

Joao: Will never happen. And I don't know what is the logic in Frank Mir saying this. Why did he say this? There's a massive weight advantage and it's not really a fight fans would like to see. If anything, fans want to see Anderson vs GSP or vs Machida. Not the Spider against Mir.
Frank has been on a roll lately. A roll of bad comments. This is just another one to add to the pile.

Robert: Anderson Silva wins, Round 2, MDK. In all seriousness, Anderson would have a great chance at defeating Mir. I think it would be stupid to try such a large jump in weight, but I would pay to see
it. So would you.

Both Randy and Nog are looking to move to Light-Heavy - should the UFC consider a 225 division for fighters such a Mir/Vera/Nog/Randy etc?

David: I hate the splits of the Boxing Division- move 3 pounds and you are in a new weight class in the lower levels- thankfully the world of MMA isn;t that stupid. I do however think it is time to make a 255 division and move the upper levels of Heavy to 270 or 275. Fighters like Brock and Cain will not have to drop as much. Look at the Brock/Mir fights- these two are as different as Hughes/Penn looked at UFC 46. I think proper scouting could bring in some legit fighters walking around at 300 that could fight- and not outweigh Mir or Randy by 60 pounds come fight night.

Jason: This is a very interesting question and I think the one reason people are bringing it up is because of Brock Lesner. Nobody was complaining when Tim Sylvia was the champ. I think there is a very simple reason behind this. Nobody thought Tim Sylvia would be the champ for long, and nobody saw him as unstoppable. Now, that is not to say I think Brock is unstoppable. He's already been submitted, so to say that would be silly. However, I do think that people believe there is no way people like Randy, Mir, and Nog have a chance of beating someone as big and strong as Brock with his skill set. My big problem with this is people already complain that the UFC's HW division is weak. If you make the HW division 225 and the Super HW over 225 there are only going to be about 10 fighters that are Super HW. 205-265 is a lot of range for a division to cover, but I just don't see how you could even justify the Super HW division with only a handful of fighters.

Joao: I haven't heard anything about Minotauro moving down to Light Heavyweight; in fact, all I have read is that he's stiking to the Heavyweight division. His brother Minotouro (or Lil Nog) is the one fighting at 205, making his UFC debut against Luiz Cané.
Randy, on the other hand, is moving down to 205 to face Brandon Vera (interesting fight in my book).
But I have never been keen on adding new weight divisions between those that already exist. Yes, I know this leads to endless amounts of debate, but I simply don't like the idea.
I like to have 5 champions in the UFC, not 6, 7, 8, 9, and so forth.
In my opinion the weight divisions are good as they are. Besides, let us imagine you create a 225-pound division for the fighters that were mentioned (among others). Not only is that division going to lack talent, being a thin division, but you're also removing fighters from the Heavyweight division. And let us be honest, the UFC's Heavyweight division isn't exactly a deep pool of talent right now. It would only become more depleted that what it already is.

Robert: And here we go. This is a tough question. At first I was completely against adding a Junior Heavyweight division. But the more and more I think about it, with the sport gettin bigger and bigger, eventually I think they will have to. The reason not now is because MMA doesn't have enough large heavyweights to fill out 2 heavyweight divisions. But as time goes by more and more large people will train and start to fill out the ranks. It's just the natural progression of the sport.

Submitted 10/19/2009

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