6. UFC 98 – Matt Hughes vs Matt Serra

Prior to this fight former Welterweight champion Matt Hughes was on the first losing streak of his career. Georges St-Pierre beat him for the second time with an armbar submission to win the interim Welterweight championship and six months later Thiago Alves annihilated Hughes with a flying knee in the second round. Hughes proceeded to run a clinic on Serra and take a “Fight of the Night” unanimous decision victory. Hughes went on to win his next two fights in exciting fashion reinvigorating his long standing career.

5. Dream 1 – Mirko Cro-Cop vs Tatsuya Mizuno

Mirko Cro-cop dropped two fights in row in the UFC prior to his Dream battle with Tatsuya Mizuno. One was a jaw-dropping headkick knockout heard round the world to Gabriel Gonzaga and the other a decision to Cheick Kongo. Cro-Cop managed to look like his old self in this fight and earned a TKO stoppage against Mizuno with a barrage of punches. After two more bouts outside of the UFC, Cro-Cop returned with a win against Mostapha Al-turk.

4. UFC Fight Night – Nate Diaz vs Melvin Guillard

Nate Diaz’s UFC career has been a rollercoaster ride but he always comes to fight. Prior to this battle with the ‘Young Assassin’ Melvin Guillard, Diaz lost back to back fights against Joe Stevenson and Clay Guida. In the beginning of the fight it looked like Guillard was well on his way to a dominant victory dropping Diaz with strikes in the first round. Diaz maintained his composure and pounced on a routine mistake by Guillard. Catching Guillard in a beautiful guillotine choke to win the fight. Diaz went on to loss him next fight but win the following two.

3. UFC 123 – BJ Penn vs Matt Hughes II

After losing his Lightweight belt and the subsequent rematch to Frankie Edgar, Penn was facing the potential of going 0-3 for the second time on his career. The first time he dropped back to back losses to Georges St-Pierre and Matt Hughes. Penn came into this fight crisp and motivated and knocked out Matt Hughes quickly in the first round. This fight earned him a Welterweight title eliminator match against Jon Fitch at UFC 127.

2. UFC 129 – Lyoto Machida vs Randy Couture

The once unstoppable Lyoto ‘The Dragon’ Machida found himself coming off the first two losses of his career. His first came at the dangerous hands of Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua. Rua took Machida’s Light Heavyweight title with a vicious striking combination leaving Machida unconscious on the mat. Machida then went on to battle Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson at UFC 123 losing a controversial split decision. Randy Couture came into this fight on a three fight win streak looking to test himself against the elusive former champion. In the second round Machida landed an Anderson Silva-esque jumping front kick knocking Couture out cold. Machida is now considered back in Light Heavyweight title contention.

1. UFC 132 – Tito Ortiz vs Ryan Bader

The once dominant Light Heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz has had it rough for the past decade. Being plagued by injuries and lapses in motivation, Ortiz hadn’t won a fight in six years. His prior losses came against Chuck Liddell, Lyoto Machida, Forrest Griffin, and Matt Hamill. He also fought to a draw with Rashad Evans. UFC President Dana White was very vocal saying that if Tito lost this fight his UFC career was over. Tito dropped Bader with a short right hand and latched onto a guillotine choke securing an upset victory in the first round. Tito is now slated to face off against Rashad Evans again at UFC 133 in a fight with serious title contention consequences.

Fedor’s Retirement

In most top level MMA organizations three losses is enough to earn you your walking papers. There are rumors that Strikeforce might be releasing Fedor in which case he should retire from MMA. The UFC will certainly not pick him up and it would just be unsettling to watch him fighter in lesser organizations. Fedor’s body of work speaks for itself and he will still go down as a true legend of MMA.

Fedor Continues in Strikeforce

This seems like a very unlikely option on many levels. Fedor’s marketability has dropped significantly after three straight losses. The Heavyweight division’s elite are all tangled up in the Grand Prix which Fedor was eliminated from not too long ago. The once anticipated super fight between Fedor and Overeem has no chance of happening now that Overeem was released from Strikeforce last week.
This only leaves a group of no-name heavyweights left to fight an aging and slumping Fedor.

Henderson gets new Strikeforce contract

If Henderson were to resign with Strikeforce there would be a few potentially interesting bouts. The first that comes to mind would be against Gegard Mousasi. Mousasi, the current Dream Light Heavyweight champion and former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight champion, has been on a winning streak lately barring his draw against Keith Jardine. Mousasi could pose a significant threat to Henderson on his feet but Mousasi’s achilles heel (wrestling) is Henderson’s strength. Another interesting fight would be against another former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight champion ‘King Mo’ Muhammed Lawal. Lawal, a seasoned wrestler, was on a seven fight professional win streak until losing his belt to Rafael Cavalcante.

Henderson gets a UFC contract

This would be an extremely interesting change of events that could lead to some potentially great fights. Henderson said in his post-fight interview that he wants a Light Heavyweight title unification bout which would be his third attempt. He lost his first title unification bout against Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson and his second against Anderson Silva. Current Light Heavyweight champion Jon Jones is slated to defend his belt against Quinton Jackson in September. This spells for a potential Jones vs Henderson or Jackson vs Henderson unification battle. If Henderson were to resign with the UFC there are also a few interesting non-title fights that could come to fruition including Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans, or Phil Davis.

Conclusion

Both fighters have some important decisions to make with their management and organizations. Fedor should strongly consider retirement if he doesn’t have to desire to fight anymore. If he does still have the desire he may have some serious roadblocks ahead of him getting another big fight in Strikeforce. Dan Henderson needs to consider what may lie ahead for him after two or three fights. If he resigns with Strikeforce is there anything left for him after a fight with Mousasi or Lawal? The time to sign with the UFC is now. His stock is high after his past three performances and he would be thrown immediately into the mix in the UFC. Henderson and Dana White may have their differences but Dana knows what the fans want and does what he can to give it to them. And that is Dan Henderson in the UFC.

Let me start by saying that I am a fan of both Chris Leben and Mark Munoz. I think they are great fighters and this is a good title eliminator match up. Its just not five round main event good. In one corner you have an exciting striker in Leben who will win (or lose) the fight in the blink of an eye. In the other corner you have a methodical wrestler with his last three out of four fights ending in decision. This fight is likely to A) end in the first round via KO or TKO by Leben or B) get dragged out to a 5 round take-down fest if Leben cant stop Munoz’s shots. Regardless of the scenario that plays out, this is a three round fight. Period.

Five round main events are reserved for the Silva versus Sonnens’. The Edgar versus Penns’. The GSP versus anyone (going to be five rounds anyway..). Not Leben versus Munoz. Five round fights decide champions. Until you get that far you should finish your work in three.

It’s not always easy being a Kongo fan. Kongo will show overwhelming dominance in one fight and turn around and get dominated in the next. Up until this point in his UFC career he has remained at best a heavyweight gatekeeper. Routinely defeating mid to lower rank heavyweights but always falling short against the divisions elite. A unanimous decision win over an aging Mirko CroCop being his most high profile win in the UFC to date. This followed by losses to former heavyweight champion Frank Mir, current heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez, and a durable Heath Herring.

On the plus side, no one can deny the power and technique of Kongo’s stand up game. Kongo boasts an extensive kickboxing record including 21 wins with 12 knockouts prior to his migration to MMA. Eight of his past Eleven MMA victories have been by knockout, technical knockout, or submission by punches. But Kongo’s Achilles heel has always been his grappling and submission game. Frank Mir and current heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez wrote the book on how to defeat Kongo. Cain beat Kongo up against the cage and drilled him with takedowns while Mir landed a big shot and synced up a choke in the first round.

After the losses to Velasquez and Mir it’s assumed Kongo realized he will never become apart of the heavyweight elite unless he developed a grappling game. These improvements were showcased in his fight against Paul Buentello. Although this fight was marred with rule infractions on both sides Kongo clearly dominated the fight while keeping it on the ground. Riding a win into his next fight with Travis Browne, Kongo manages to backpedal in progress and muster a draw. One step forward and one step backward in typical Kongo fashion.

While last night’s main event was very exciting it still leaves us with a lot of questions regarding Kongo. We know Kongo’s stand up is top of the heap in the division. We know Kongo has tenacity and resilience being the only man to go three rounds with Cain Velasquez and knockout Pat Barry after being essentially knocked out twice moments before. We have seen moments of technical competence on the ground but only when initiated by Kongo. Kongo needs a top opponent in his next fight and needs to win decisively. No more punching bags (Al-Turk, Buentello) or guys suited specifically to play into Kongo’s game. Give Kongo a top 10 opponent and lets see what he can do.

While the Korean Zombie isn’t in line for a shot at UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo’s belt there are still some very intriguing match ups that can be made.

First let’s slim out the list by removing fighters with an upcoming fight. Rani Yahya, who the Zombie was scheduled to fight back in January, is slated to fight undefeated Chad Mendes at UFC 133 in August. Mike Brown and Nam Phan who are both coming off losses in their last fights are also scheduled fight on that same UFC 133 card in Philadelphia. The red-hot Erik “New Breed” Koch is slated to fight Ultimate Fighter Season 12 winner Jonathan Brookins at UFC Fight Night in September.

Now lets run down a list of potential opponents that are coming off a win or high profile match ups. George Roop, who holds a head kick knockout win over the Zombie, just defeated Josh Grispi a few weeks ago and is looking great. A rematch between the Zombie and Roop has tons of potential to be an excellent fight. Dustin Poirier who has looked great lately is coming off of wins over Jason Young and Josh Grispi in his first two UFC fights. Poirier’s record sports 11 wins with 5 knockouts and 3 submissions all by armbar.

Diego Nunes, who recently came off a hard fought loss to Kenny Florian, could also be a potential fight of the night. Nunes’s speed, power, and submission prowess would surely push the Zombie to bring his A-game. And finally the fight I’d personally love to see, Korean Zombie vs Mark Hominick. Shortly after Hominick’s loss to Jose Aldo the Zombie issued a challenge to Hominick via Twitter to which Hominick said he would “glady accept”.

Clearly there are no shortage of tough fights available at 145lbs for the Zombie and whoever the next opponent materializes to be, we expect nothing less than a war.