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UFC's best fights policy has drawbacks

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Updated Aug 8, 2009 6:34 AM ET
     
 
Ultimate Fighting Championship understands their biggest fans and creates events with that audience in mind; whether tailoring an hour long Q&A session with Dana White himself into a sort of "MMA Town Hall" or putting 16 men into the same house with the hopes of duking their way toward a UFC contract, the Fertitta Brothers and White pride themselves on setting up fights that fans are interested in seeing.
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It's always been a recipe for success financially, but leads to some second-guessing down the line as many divisions might begin to show clear signs of dominance over one another; after Georges St-Pierre's dominant title defense over B.J. Penn, one could make the case that the welterweight division has an edge over UFC's lightweight counterpart. And with a win by Anderson Silva, it could seem that the middleweights are superior led by their champion. On Saturday, Silva faces former light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin. In professional wrestling, where the results are predetermined, there is nothing wrong with a 250-pound man fighting a 155-pound man, and it is believable that this would be a competitive encounter. In MMA, that's not always the case and while matchups can be set up "by popular demand," it's rare when they occur. With many fighters cutting much weight to make the limit for each fight, some competitors are taking a chance with and fighting at a more natural weight. It's not only the money, we know that, and we also know that White wouldn't allow a C-level rookie get in over his head. He only allows the best of the best to compete in this unique fights and catch weights and so long as nothing too serious comes out of it, these matches come off like Pride's Grand Prix, something unique to that year and not a title that was defended regularly. As part of the first mixed martial arts card in Philadelphia, UFC 101: Declaration will pit two of the world's top "pound-for-pound" fighters against foes with strong ties and histories to the program that put UFC on the map, The Ultimate Fighter with so very much on the line. The main event features a dominant lightweight champion seeking small measure of redemption (maybe even a "declaration" of sorts) after the shellacking he was subjected to at the hands of welterweight champion, St-Pierre. Long spoken of among the sport's best, Penn isn't afraid to fight at either his natural 170 pounds or the division that he hasn't lost in, 155 pounds, but he has appeared his most sharp, focused and in command in the encounters where his natural gifts cannot be countered by overwhelming strength from a larger, faster fighter, of which St-Pierre is. Penn needs a win to reassert himself among the upper echelon of combatants and his opponent in this main event, Kenny Florian, isn't being billed as the underdog either. Throughout Friday's weigh-in, the crowd appeared very split as to their support of the Boston native or self-professed "Hilo boy," but Florian already knows that if ever there was a time to catch Penn, it would be coming off such a demoralizing loss where so much of Penn's arsenal appeared neutralized. Penn's team might have saved his career by throwing the towel in after the fourth round of his championship encounter with St-Pierre a few months ago at UFC 94, but more questions were created in the process. How was GSP able to easily pass the guard of a man who so many felt was incapable of being dominated on the mat? Was Penn just fatigued? After hearing accusations "greasing" during the fight, we might have to wonder if he is starting to see the "new guard" creeping up on him in much the same way he stormed onto the seen all those years ago.

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If Florian truly sees Penn as a master that he can fell, now would be the time. In the other headlining fight of the night, Silva (another fighter that has been blessed/cursed with the tag of "best pound-for-pound") will be taking on Griffin at Silva's "natural weight" of 205 pounds. In his previous UFC battle at that weight, Silva dismantled James Irvin in just over one minute — it was a vicious, ruthless beating, one that left Irvin with a six-inch gash below his right eye and many shaking their heads at the seeming infallibility of "The Spider." Griffin on the other hand, earned his title shot via a slick submission over a gassed Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and turned that very opportunity into a decision victory over Quinton "Rampage" Jackson to capture the title. The man that is considered partially responsible for the popularity of the sport is looking for a bit of redemption himself after seeing himself soundly defeated by another TUF veteran Rashad Evans in his first title defense. If for nothing else, the light heavyweight division stands to lose the most from this event. If Silva beats Griffin in any manner other than a decision, he's probably the best fighter in the world, if ever, but it devalues Rampage (who lost to Griffin) or Rua (who also lost to Forrest) and sets up more interesting, perplexing and debatable "super fights" with other competitors who have gotten the better of Griffin. Does Silva take on Keith Jardine next? If he runs through Jardine, what about Wanderlei Silva, who ran through him and if yes, at what weight (as Wanderlei has made definite plans to move down)? There is much at stake in the Wachovia Center on Saturday night. It's not just about the belts and the titles: It's also about the careers and futures of these four unique athletes whose reputations will either rise or fall with their successes and failures in Philadelphia.

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