The Heavyweight Title picture..

[Y4J]

With Mir/Carwin and the supposedly winner of that facing Brock, and Cain's recent win, it makes me wonder about the title picture..

You know, as much as I can't stand Mir (And just recently, after his "Death threat" comments towards Brock makes me feel that he should be suspended and it be Cain/Carwin in the future) I think he's going to waste Carwin, and I really don't wanna see Mir and Lesnar again, but if he wins, I don't think he should jump right to the title match.. IMO.

I personally think that it's criminal for Cain to have to wait for Brock vs Mir/Carwin and THEN get his title shot after that. Which could be a year long wait for him. I personally think Cain deserves the shot more with more impressive wins, but Carwin is in the spot.

If it was my choice, if Mir wins, I think Brock should face Cain and the winner of THAT fight should face Mir. If Carwin wins, he goes straight to Brock and then Mir and Cain go at it, the winner facing Brock/Carwin. Personally again, i'd have Cain automatically face the winner of Carwin/Lesnar, however Mir will probably still be in the mix.

Opinions?

 

[jmt225]

I agree with you Y4J, Cain Velasquez deserves his shot against Lesnar in July/August.

The fact of the matter is, no one, and I mean NO ONE, has ever beaten Minotauro Nogueira as quick and devastatingly as Cain Velasquez did. It's one of the best, most impressive performances I've ever seen from someone in MMA. And the amazing thing is, not just six months ago, Velasquez had pretty much very little to zero ability on the feet. Not only was his stand-up sloppy as hell, but he had no power in his punches. So what does he do? Work his ass off to try and improve it, and Jesus did he do so and did so quickly. I mean, think about that... his stand-up was absolute shit just SIX months ago, and against Big Nog (someone very good on his feet), he knocked him out in just a couple of minutes, with crisp, BEAUTIFUL striking. Someone who can improve like that in such a short period of time can do anything in this sport, and he deserves a shot at the very best of the division to show just how good he is.

Frank Mir... when he beats Carwin, he'll deserve a shot, sure, but I think he should wait for it. It would benefit him, and the UFC. It benefits him because let's say Lesnar dominates Velasquez, if Mir then fights Lesnar and beats him, then he'll get credit for defeating BROCK LESNAR, whereas if he beats Lesnar in Lesnar's first fight back, then he'll get criticized for beating a sick Lesnar with "ring-rust".

So, yeah... I say book Cain Velasquez vs. Brock Lesnar now, and let the winner of Mir/Carwin get the winner of that fight. I'm sure neither Mir or Carwin will bitch about having to wait for it a little while.

 

[INDYjon22]

Cain Velasquez sure as hell deserves a title shot. I really would love to see him be the first guy Lesnar fights upon return. Unlikely or not it will make some big money.

However, there is another man that no one seems to be talking about and deserves to be named with all the above mentioned men. Junior Dos Santos is the best young gun in the Heavyweight division if you ask me. The man has fantastic all around skills from BJJ to boxing, yet he rarely gets named with the top guys. I actually rank him above Carwin and Velasquez currently, but Cain definitely makes it a closer list.

I really hope Junior gets a shot before to long because I think he could have a fantastic run as champion if and when it ever happens.

 

[Via Armbar]

I agree with everything that jmt said and add one more name into tha bag. Junior Dos Santos has show a ton of potential and honestly I think he's better standing then Velasquez is. Since there has been talk that the winner of Mir/Carwin will face Lesnar in july, i can see JDS and Cain fighting for the next shot. Mir and Carwin fight in March so it could be cutting it a little close, but Dana said that the plans if for Lesnar to face the interim champion right away.

The only problem I see with doing Cain/Dos Santos is that you eliminate a viable title contender. They might want to save JDS for down the road, perhaps the last Heavyweight title fight of the year, assuming there will be one after July. Dos Santos is going to fight Gonzaga I believe on the first Versus card, so he will be more than ready to go by say November, just in time for the HW champion to be ready. Gonzaga is a pretty damn good fighter, but is pretty inconsistent and lacks the drive and motivation it seems. So after Dos Santos beats him, i'd think he would be in contention.

 

[Frozentrash75]

Cain Velasquez sure as hell deserves a title shot. I really would love to see him be the first guy Lesnar fights upon return. Unlikely or not it will make some big money.

However, there is another man that no one seems to be talking about and deserves to be named with all the above mentioned men. Junior Dos Santos is the best young gun in the Heavyweight division if you ask me. The man has fantastic all around skills from BJJ to boxing, yet he rarely gets named with the top guys. I actually rank him above Carwin and Velasquez currently, but Cain definitely makes it a closer list.

I really hope Junior gets a shot before to long because I think he could have a fantastic run as champion if and when it ever happens.

I agree with you that Dos Santos is a really good fighter and that he will be a title contender down the road but not right now i believe that he needs one more impressive win or two on his record to get a title shot i think he should fight a kongo or a Rothwell and Velasquez definitely needs a title shot before Dos Santos.

Now with Velasquez's very impressive knockout victory over Noguiera would i would like to see him move to the number one contender spot i would actually like to see him fight the winner of Crawin Mir but i dont know if the UFC would push the title match back that far so if that cant happen i would like to see the winner of Mir Carwin fight Brock and have Velasquez fight Dos Santos to determine who will fight the winner of Carwin Lesnar or Mir Lesnar for the title.

 

[INDYjon22]

He has defeated CroCop, Gilbetr Yvel, Stefan Struve, and Fabricio Werdum. All of which are either very good talents now or were at one time. The man deserves to be in the title picture right now and the fact that he is being looked over is ridiculous. I agree he still needs a name like Nogueira or Kongo on that list but his list of wins is damn impressive and deserves a title fight.

I fully expect him to be a better fighter in the future then both Cain and Carwin because to put it bluntly he is way more talented then both of them. That takes nothing away from those guys either, but I expect him to challenge for the title by the end of the year.

 

[Frozentrash75]

He has defeated CroCop, Gilbetr Yvel, Stefan Struve, and Fabricio Werdum. All of which are either very good talents now or were at one time. The man deserves to be in the title picture right now and the fact that he is being looked over is ridiculous. I agree he still needs a name like Nogueira or Kongo on that list but his list of wins is damn impressive and deserves a title fight.

I fully expect him to be a better fighter in the future then both Cain and Carwin because to put it bluntly he is way more talented then both of them. That takes nothing away from those guys either, but I expect him to challenge for the title by the end of the year.

I agree that he will be better then Carwin in the not to distant future but being better then Cain is a little bit premature right now Cain has a victory over an elite Heavyweight and Dos Santos doesn't have that Marquee victory that he can hang his hat on right now and until he does that i don't think he can be seriously put into the title picture quite yet.