The Hevyweight Grand Prix (How I would Book It)

[wrestlingfan]

This is all What If?

Scenario: Okay we all know the lack of depth in UFC's Heavyweight Division and that outside of the Top 5, there's a bunch of Gatekeepers and Prospects, but let's say what if UFC finally pulled the trigger and merged with Strikeforce, and Dana White finally softened up and brought back Alistair Overeem, and using Brock Lesnar's connections in DeathClutch managed to draft Cole Konrad into the UFC's Ranks, Dana White would then decide that the ratings in the HW Divisiona re plummeting and owuld probably have to pull off another Grand Prix just to get interest back, All fights would be picked via randomizer This wouldn't happen in real life but hear me out,

Championship Bout: Cain Velasquez vs. Junior Dos Santos, This would take place in October as normal, and I see this being a back and forth battle even taking it to the ground but I could honestly see, Cain using his wrestling and varied striking to attempt GNP, and push the pace to a Split Decision

Quarterfinals (Winner of The Tourney Determines Who Fights Velasquez for the UFC Undisputed Heavyweight Championship of the World):

Jeff Monson vs. Roy Nelson-This one would be good fight on the ground and even on the feet, Nelson would attempt to use the Cormier strategy and use his striking ability to dominate the match, and would be suspective of Monson's submissions, But here's the thing, Nelson would still love to have that Fat Fighter stigma to his name, and instead of losing weight like an MMA Fighter is supposed to do, he would keep the extra weight which would only tire him throughout the fight, allowing Monson to then get the win.

Brock Lesnar vs. Cole Konrad-The fight between two friends, Cole Konrad against a man he trains with and the man that helped bring him into the UFC, This would be equal with both men being of a wrestling-submission wrestling background, and have solid striking, but Lesnar's experience with submission artisits (Mir/Herring), strikers (Velasquez, Carwin), and even other wrestlers (Couture), would've gave him a background of knowledge coming into this fight combined with his strength allowing him to get a decision.

Josh Barnett vs. Big Nog- This would be a rematch from the days of Pride, Both have adequate striking but prefer to take their fight to the ground, Nog's Judo and BJJ against Barnett's Catch Wrestling and BJJ, Nog would probably choose to stand up with Barnett, but because of his fading chin Barnett won't be at such a disadvantage, Because of his 7 wins by Knockout compared to Big Nog's 2, Nog would be at a disadvantage in the striking area, if he doesn't get knocked out He would then most likely try to take the fight to the ground, and Barnett's BJJ combined with his wrestling pedigree, may give him the superiority in this area, also, Barnet for the win. Also Barnett will be coming into this fight, knowing what Nog had planned for him last time

Daniel Cormier vs. Sergei Kharitonov-This would be a war I must say, Not Griffin-Bonnar but a war indeed, between strikers who can hold their own on the ground, I think coming into this fight Cormier instead of standing up with a noted striker in Kharitonov would attempt to use his wresling to take this fight to the ground, Little does he know, Sergei ha shad victories by armbar, is skilled in Sambo and was even a sparring partner for a while with Fedor Emelianenko, From there Sergei would attempt to go from submissions, having the edge in that area, But if Cormier couldn't achieve what he wanted on the ground he would possibly consider taking the fight back to his feet, Even though Cormier is older then Sergei he is still new in MMA and will not succeed against the experience of Kharitonov.

Alistair Overeem vs. Mirko "Cro Cop" Fillpovic- A fight between The Face of K-1, and one who is arguably the most dangerous and greatest striker in MMA of All Time, Overeem is just stepping into his prime, while Cro Cop has passed it, It's all said and done here, Overeem would probably dominate Cro Cop, on his feet or even attempt tassing him like a ragdoll to the ground in where he could juse GNP or submit him, Overeem all day. Even though this win is obviously not that important for Overeem given Cro Cop has passed his prime it does give hope that maybe he isn't a can-crusher after all.

Frank Mir vs. Fabricio Werdum- A fight between two submission artists who both are working on their striking, Both fought the hype trains of their kind, Mir fought Lesnar, Werdum fought Overeem, both 1-1, but I would give Mir the win here, Werdum has shown good striking jsut recently with Overeem, but I'm afraid to say Mir has better striking, in Muay Thai, Kenpo Karate, Boxing and Mir has a love/hate relationship with Wrestling, I do see Werdum being outstruck and then again flopping to his back hoping to draw in Mir, but little does he know Mir is a submission artist himself, A black belt in BJJ and will probably know how to scramble and get a submission of his own, But Mir is an Analyst, he knows Werdum is 2 degrees above him, so he won't try to submit him, He will most likely use his improved wrestling to keep the fight standing and take it from there

Shane Carwin vs. Antonio Silva-A fight between the man with nuclear bombs in his hand, and against the monser himself, Bigfoot reminds me of an improved version of Lesnar, Bigfoot is training with Black House now, and even before that had decent level striking and knockout power, He is a more technical boxer then Carwin, and when Carwin can't knockout, Bigfoot, he's going to rely on his wrestling, and of course from the ground, Bigfoot can easily submit Carwin, Win goes to Bigfoot, This could easily be Carwin-Lesnar 2.0

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OOC: Gonna take a break now, Semi Finals should be up tomorrow.

 

[wrestlingfan]

Quarterfinals Round 2:

Josh Barnett vs. Frank Mir- A fight between two people who prefer to grapple, buth have solid standup, also, Mir has improved his striking over the years and so has Barnett, but I give Barnett has more experience in the striking area given more wins by knockout, and Barnett would always use his experience in submissions to scramble away from Mir, to GNP him.

Sergei Kharitonov vs. Jeff Monson-A Rematch from the days of Dream, Sergei is primarily a striker but isn't afraid to take it to the ground, however I see Sergei getting the win here, He'll becoming into this fight knowing what Monson has planned for him and will most likely use his training in Sambo to negate any takedowns, let alone submissions then pound Monson to either a Knockout or a Decision.

Alistair Overeem vs. Brock Lesnar-A fight between possibly the two biggest hypetrains in the sport right now that are ready to back up the hype, Former UFC Heavyweight Champion vs. Former Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion, This is indeed a dream bout, Lesnar will use his striking to close the distance only to shoot in for a takedown, But Overeem isn't some ragdoll, Lesnar will be able to throw around, They are of similar sizes now and Overeem may just be able to keep the fight standing leaving Lesnar in a dangerous place, If the fight does go to the ground then Overeem's 19 submission victories compared to Mir's 8 will help him out. So Overeem for the win

Antonio Silva won't be getting a round due to there being no opponent, He will return in the Finals.

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Semi Finals:

Josh Barnett vs. Sergei Kharitonov- The destined bout that is concurrent with the real life Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix, Right now I reallly want Sergei to win but against Barnett it's looking iffy, Barnett has more experience with strikers and grapplers both, Even with Sergei coming in with new TDD (pure speculation), Barnett has improved striking nad will use that to setup takedowns, then submissions from there, This could very well be Barnett-Rogers 2.0 so I give the win to Barnett

Antonio Silva vs. Alistair Overeem-The match that was destined to be, Both are sufficient on their feet and on the ground but I believe Bigfoot will derail the hype train this time, Overeem is used to tossing his opponents like ragdolls, Bigfoot is someone closer to his own side and he won't be able to toss around, Big Foot also has Knockout Power, Good Takedowns, and GNP, not to mention he has way better cardio then Overeem, who has a questionable chin to add to that. Overeem also has questionable striking, given Werdum had an almost-equal footing when they fought last time, It may be a close fight but Silva, has the tools to beat the Reem

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Finals:

Josh Barnett vs. Antonio Silva- I would love to see Bigfoot pull out the win here and with his GNP he could, But again Barnett still has the experience factor, It may not be easy for Silva to be tkaen down but if he is, it may be all over from there, Barnett's Submissions and Wrestling will overtake Silva in this case but I expect it to be a close fight, (I'm wary on this one so it's open for debate)

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Championship Bout:

Cain Velasquez (c) vs. Josh Barnett (Winner of Grand Prix)-This would be an awkward matchup, Wrestler vs. Submission Artist, Cain may have the advantage in the striking department, but there's still controversy behidn that given it took him a while to deal with Kongo, On the otherhand Barnett does have over 5 victories by Knockout but he's no slouch either, Cain does have tremendous GNP, but so far he hasn't faced any note worthy submission artists, and if the fight does get to the ground I can easily see Barnett picking up the win. Experience will play a big factor, and it's not like Barnett is past his prime anyway so I give the win to him.

End Scenario: Dana has now brought a new taste of flavor into UFC's Heavyweight Division, outside of the Top 5 and this would bring alot of viewers.