Fleeting Dominance

     With the next two UFC pay-per-views featuring exciting, but nonetheless non-title matches for  main events, the five UFC titles are all safe for now.  Over a year ago, I wrote about how dominant all UFC champions were and how it might get boring if no one could defeat them.  Well, what a difference a year makes.  

     This year, four of the five dominant, god-like champions have all been revealed to be actually human.  Lyoto "Dragon" Machida, who was the fighter that was hit the least in UFC history, slipped and then got pummeled by Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.  Then, coming back from a debilitating bout with diverculitis, Brock Lesnar successfully retained his Heavyweight Championship, but not before he was pummeled in the first round by challenger Shane Carwin. Then, pound-for-pound king Anderson SIlva, was taken down, grounded and pounded by Chael Sonnen for four and a half rounds, before escaping with a "Hail Mary" submission less than 2 minutes before the final bell.  Finally, B.J. Penn, who had been barely challenged in the lightweight division since winning the title several years ago, lost not once but twice(!) to the diminutive Frank "Answer" Edgar.


      The question now becomes, "Why the sudden decline?"  Have those previously dominant champs lost something due to age or injury or is it a matter of the challengers figuring out how to defeat the champs?  

     Although champs like Silva and Penn are getting on in age, Lesnar possibly not fully recovered, and Machida finally encountering someone who wouldn't chase him, the two questions probably are the wrong ones to ask.  As Joe Rogan has constantly said, "Styles make fights," and I believe that was the case with all those four champions.  Each of them faced a challenger whose greatest skill posed as the champ's greatest threat.  Machida was a counter puncher, but so was Rua.  Silva may be the world's greatest striker, but Sonnen was the ultimate wrestler with excellent takedowns.  Lesnar is simple an intimidating powerhouse, but Carwin had unreal striking power.  Penn was a dominant force both with power and jiu jitsu, but Edgar was a whirlwind of a striker who Penn couldn't catch.

     Whether my theory is accurate or not will be known in the coming months, with each of the four champions mentioned getting significant tests.  Lesnar will meet fellow athletic wrestler Cain Velasquez, Silva will have his rematch with Sonnen, Rua will test his skills against former champ "Sugar" Rashad Evans and Penn attempts a welterweight comeback against Matt Hughes.  If they all come back and go back to their dominant ways, then the "Style Theory" holds true.  If not, then the UFC may be deeper than people think.  Either way, it will be good times for the UFC and fans like me. 

Too Good For Their Own Good?

     With any sports organization, the champion is the embodiment of the organization's character and spirit.  That's why it's always nice to have a great champion because the organization is only as good as its champion.  The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), then, should be mighty proud of themselves at this point.  After all, each of their champions have dominated their divisions, almost too well.  This led me to think, "Are the UFC Champions too good for the UFC's good?"  

     First, a look at the UFC's Champions' Fraternity.

Lightweight (155 lbs) - B.J "The Prodigy" Penn

Record: 14 wins, 5 losses, 1 draw

Last Fight: Defeated Kenny Florian via submission

     Despite being thoroughly dominated by George St. Pierre in their welterweight bout, Penn reminded everyone that he is human only in

 a division higher than 

lightweight.  With his domination of a game Florian, Penn has defeated all challengers deemed to have a chance against him, save for one.  With Penn's scary knockout power and his underrated Brazilian Jiu Jitsu skills, even the threat of Diego "Nightmare" Sanchez is not enough to sway the people's confidence that "The Prodigy" will remain atop the lightweight division for quite awhile. 

Welterweight (175 lbs) - George "Rush" St. Pierre

Record: 19 wins, 2 losses

Last Fight: Defeated Thiago Alves via unanimous decision

     Considered by many as one of the world's top pound for pound fighters, GSP had defeated every single challenger to his belt.  Currently on a 6-match win streak, "Rush" has made sure of defeating his legendary rivals (Penn, Matt Hughes) twice for good measure.  While an interesting fight between Martin Kampman and Mike Swick will d

etermine his next probable challenger, no one on this planet believes either would give GSP any trouble whatsoever.  His wrestling skills are bordering on legendary and his striking is not shabby either.  He is simply too skilled, too well rounded and too hard working to be challenged right now.

Middleweight (185 lbs) - Anderson "Spider" Silva

Record: 24 wins, 4 losses

Last Fight: Defeated Forrest Griffin via knockout

     The world's top pound for pound fighter as voted in by Yahoo! Sports, Silva has a

stounded everyone not only with his devastating striking but also his current UFC record of 10 straight wins.  What was supposed to be a challenge in a light heavyweight bout against Forrest Griffin turned out to be another piece of evidence supporting "The Spider's" greatness.  In fact, he has become so good that he has never had to resort to fighting a ground game (he is also a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu) in all but one round of his 10 UFC wins.  While another bout with Dan Henderson would make a good main event, UFC President Dana White and Silva himself are contemplating on a move to the light heavyweight division just to find Silva a challenge.

Light Heavy Weight (205 lbs) - Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida

Record: 15 wins, 0 losses

Last Fight: Defeated Rashad Evans via knockout

     Possessing an unorthodox fighting stance and style, Machida has befuddled all of his opponents, even those who are supposedly tough and dangerous.  Big names like Tito Ortiz, Thiago Silva and Rashad Evans have all fallen victim to Machida Karate and they have been utterly dominated.  Machida moves well, is hard to hit and lately, has shown tremendously accurate and sudden knockout power.  His own karate style combined with his study on sumo wrestling has made it tough for opponents to take him to the ground and if the fight remains a stand up one, it can only mean bad things for fighter not named Machida.  His skill has even Quinton J

ackson passing up a title shot, leaving Mauricio Rua the task of trying to solve the mystery of this Japanese Brazilian martial artist.

Heavy Weight (220 lbs) - Brock Lesnar

Record: 4 wins, 1 loss

Last Fight: Defeated Frank Mir via knockout

    

 Love him or hate him, the former WWE Superstar has proven he can fight the real fights.  People consider him largely untested with just 5 fights to his credit, but considering the quality of his last two opponents and the way he dominated them, Lesnar is for real.  A freakishly large but amazingly quick athlete, Lesnar is a difficult match up for most heavyweights.  

He has power in his hands and his wrestling skills in the octagon show why he was an NCAA National Wrestling Champion.  Perhaps his next opponent, Shane Carwin, could give him trouble with his knockout power, but Lesnar has shown he can win on the ground as well and he will have a significant advantage over Carwin there.  Perhaps the only thing Lesnar can't do in the UFC is perform an "F5" on his opponent in the octagon.

     

     With a list of dominating champions like that, it's easy to think that the UFC could get in trouble, pay per view wise.  If the champs continue to dominate their opponents with ease just like what they've been doing, then PPV buys could go down, as promotions become predictable.

     I, however, beg to differ.  Each of these fighters bring excitement to the table, despite being seemingly too good for their opponents.  From Penn's and GSP's overall skills showcase, to Machida's unorthodox movements, to Silva's creative and devastating striking, to Lesnar's quickness and power game, each of their fights promises to be worth watching.  Furthermore, despite their past domination, fights are won in the octagon, not on paper or web blogs.  A slip here, a mistake there, and any one of these champs could be taken down a notch. 

     That's why I plan on continuing to watch the UFC despite the high probability of all their champions retaining their belts.  Who knows? I'd hate to miss a historical fight.  

photos from bjpenn.com and mmajunkie.com