Yahoo! Sports columnist Kevin Iole provided us with some quotes from Matt Hughes this week regarding his fight with Georges St. Pierre and his upcoming battle with Thiago Alves that I found to be vintage Matt Hughes:

On Alves: “To be honest, I like the matchup,” Hughes said. “He’s a stand-up guy. On the ground, he’s not nearly as dangerous. I’ll be stronger, I believe I’ll be the better wrestler and I like the fact he’s kind of a slow starter. I think I can wear him out before he gets going.”

On St. Pierre: “I got into a couple of positions I wanted to be in and I didn’t pull the trigger,” Hughes said. “Walking away from the octagon that night, I said to myself, ‘That wasn’t me. Obviously, Georges is a tremendous fighter, but I had a real bad night at the same time he had a real good night. When that happens, you saw what the result can be. But I did get into some good positions and I saw some things, but I couldn’t do what I knew I needed to do.”

I want to ask this question… did Matt Hughes simply have a bad night in the Octagon or is St. Pierre just that dominating in the UFC’s Welterweight division? In my opinion, it wasn’t just a terrible night for Matt Hughes in the Octagon, but a different Georges St. Pierre.

Some people have claimed that St. Pierre has become gun shy in the standup game while others claim that his superior ground skills are the easiest way for him to win each fight. Regardless, it doesn’t really matter what you perceive to be the reason he has become a crushing force on the ground. He still wins fights in unbelievably impressive fashion against top competition. Matt Hughes found that out, and I’m hesitant to believe that a “bad night” was the culprit of such an embarrassing performance by Hughes.

For Hughes, that’s exactly what he has probably called it a thousand times… embarrassing. But was it really that embarrassing? He was clearly outclassed, outpowered, and outmatched in every aspect of that fight. Do we simply chalk it up to a poor gameplan and bad night for Hughes? I don’t believe so, and I think if it were to happen a second time, it’d be much of the same power and punishment by St. Pierre.

What about Thiago Alves? Does Hughes possess the wrestling skills to make it a hard night for Alves? He does in fact possess that skill, but his quote above rubs me the wrong way in a similar way to what Parisyan stated leading up to his fight with Alves. A lot of fans underestimate Alves’s potential, and luckily for me, I’ve always found his combinations to be truly devastating to any type of fighter in that cage. There is a reason he’s known as “The Pitbull”.

Hughes is correct in that Alves won’t be as dangerous on the ground, but his leg kicks are absolutely devastating in every fight he takes. He can literally make your lead leg mush within the first round of a fight, and his power is being underestimated by Hughes. Slow starter or not, Alves still has great Muay Thai striking that could create a huge problem for Hughes. Let’s hope Hughes doesn’t have another “bad night”.

Dave Meltzer wrote a piece over at the Wrestling Observer talking about St. Pierre's move to Middleweight to take on Anderson Silva. In the article, Meltzer pushes the point that the “super fight” shouldn't happen because the UFC's top stars shouldn't fight in an uneven matchup when you refer to physical attributes. Specifically, he mentions that PRIDE tried to do the same thing with Sakuraba, and it didn't work out. He also states that St. Pierre and Silva have a large size difference, but didn't specifically talk about length, height, or build. I must say, I'm rather put off by the suggestion that this shouldn't happen, and I don't agree at all for a number of reasons.

What's at risk here? Anderson Silva has a crushing advantage over nearly any current Middleweight, and Georges St. Pierre will demolish any contender in the division. Do you really believe that Jon Fitch has a shot after St. Pierre dominated Matt Hughes, Josh Koscheck, and Matt Serra, all fighters who are specifically known for their ground games. Fitch had trouble against Chris Wilson in the standup game, and St. Pierre will have a massive advantage in both areas of the fight.

Silva hasn't got any challengers at the moment. Okami is likely to be next in line, and while I believe that it's a much tougher fight than people are giving it credit, I still would pick Silva easily to win. That begs the question as to when will Silva vs. St. Pierre happen. St. Pierre will likely have one defense against Fitch first, then the plans may become a reality.

But what is the risk? Silva is bigger than St. Pierre? That's why it's called a super fight. No belts on the line, just two of the best MMA skillsets at a catch weight against one another. Size will always be a factor in any matchup of that proportion. It's a weak defense considering fights like this have happened in the past with size differences.

The numbers for this type of event should be huge in a Canadian city. For a St. Pierre vs. Serra event, the attendance was over 21,000. Imagine if the seats were opened up, and St. Pierre vs. Anderson Silva was the headliner. The revenues could very well beat Liddell vs. Ortiz with sufficient main card fights. It's hard to say that this fight shouldn't happen for any other reason.

I wil however argue that this fight should wait another year. There isn't any competition for St. Pierre or Anderson Silva at the moment, and there could definitely be so more opportunities to build these fighters toward casual fans. The matchup could be unbelievable in a year.

The UFC makes its debut in Canada with an already sold out event in Montreal at the Bell Centre on Saturday night. The featured bout matches up Matt “The Terror” Serra against Georges “Rush” St. Pierre in a highly anticipated rematch  of their UFC 69 battle that saw Matt Serra upset St. Pierre. Rich Franklin will make his return to the Octagon after his second loss to UFC Middleweight champion Anderson Silva. He'll take on a venerable Travis Lutter who will test Franklin's submission defense. Other bouts scheduled include Canadian Kalib Starnes vs. Nate “The Rock” Quarry, Mac Danzig vs. Mark Bocek, Michael Bisping vs. Charles McCarthy, and Jason MacDonald vs. Joe “El Dirte” Doerkson, along with a slew of undercard bouts that are sure to entertain us. Let's take a look at the card.

Main Event: Georges “Rush” St. Pierre vs. Matt “The Terror” Serra
UFC Welterweight title bout

Oddly enough, Georges St. Pierre comes into this bout as a huge favorite while Serra once again remains the heavy underdog. St. Pierre's destruction of Matt Hughes at UFC 79 on short notice was stunning in the capacity of being unbelievably dominating. The fact that he can outwrestle any fighter in the weight class is a testament to his training regiment and work ethic. Wrestlers with plenty of credentials to back up their “smack” continue to fall to St. Pierre's superior skills. Pierre also has dynamic striking that is unparalleled in the division, but he has shown weakness in the standup at times, namely against his opponent, Matt Serra.

Serra's abilities are underrated by many fans of the sport. He has very good jiu-jitsu skills on the ground, and his strength can become a huge factor as the fight progresses. He's very tough to defeat by a finish, and he's never been submitted in MMA competition. I firmly believe it'll be a good test for St. Pierre if it becomes a chess match on the ground. The x-factor is Serra's heavy hands. He has some decent striking skills for a smaller welterweight, and with power behind them, we've seen what they can do against St. Pierre.

Bottom line: St. Pierre should win this fight within the first three rounds. He has great power, athleticism, dynamic striking, range, reach, and is coming off a stunning performance against Matt Hughes. Serra definitely has a shot on his feet, but I don't believe he can submit St. Pierre on the floor. Serra has great submission defense, so I'd stray away from St. Pierre defeating him there, but I do believe he can work some wrestling skills to open up the striking.

Leland's Prediction: Georges St. Pierre via TKO, Round 3

Rich “Ace” Franklin vs. Travis Lutter

Rich Franklin is looking to get back on the track back to another title shot. How many title shots can one have after being destroyed the previous two tries? We don't know, but Franklin is still a formidable opponent for anyone trying to make a run at Anderson Silva. He has good power, decent striking, big blow ground and pound, and he's not half bad on the ground either. He's a well-rounded fighter, but he isn't great in any one thing.

Lutter, on the other hand, is a great jiu-jitsu fighter on the ground, but he lacks the powerful hands that Franklin possesses. The biggest problem for Lutter is getting through Franklin's submission defense, a defense that has helped Franklin remain unbeaten by a submission throughout his 25 fight career.

Franklin should take this one. He has fantastic submission defense, and has the hands to defeat Lutter on his feet or on the ground. Franklin has taken on great grapplers in the past, and has always came through with his crushing ground and pound.

Leland's Prediction: Rich Franklin via TKO, Round 2

Michael Bisping vs. Charles “Chainsaw” McCarthy

In another surprising quote from a fighter on the outside looking in, Jon Fitch was quoted as saying this little nugget:

"The thing I've noticed the most about St. Pierre in his last performances is that he's become a wrestler. Since getting knocked out (by Matt Serra), he's been unwilling to stand and trade. He had an easy win over Matt Hughes in their second fight standing, and, the third fight, for some reason, decided to take the hard road and decide to outwrestle a wrestler. To me, that shows he's afraid to get knocked out."

There are a couple of things that Fitch mentions that would baffle a rocket scientist in logic. First and foremost, isn't the point of mixed martial arts to win your bouts against any and all opponents? Certainly, a fighter doesn't wake up and say "I think I'll aim to be 20-6 in my career". Fitch's point about GSP's third fight is odd considering GSP won the fight. He not only won the fight, he dominated Matt Hughes in Hughes's own world. Why stand with Hughes when it was obvious that GSP would be defending takedowns the entire fight if he had done so?

Also, Fitch's observations of GSP's last few fights is fairly obvious to any MMA fan who watches GSP fight. This isn't a revelation to anyone. GSP has managed to win most of his recent bouts using his wrestling ability over his striking skills. He still won in fairly impressive fashion. If Fitch really believes that GSP's newfound skills to take opponents down will favor him, I think he's in for a rude awakening. GSP's wrestling skills have overwhelmed world class wrestlers, and I don't think Fitch can handle GSP.

Fitch also mentions that fact that GSP may be afraid to get knocked out. My concern for Fitch is that I highly doubt he is the man to strike fear in GSP on his feet. Fitch's standup was subpar against Wilson, and Wilson was clearly the better striker during the fight. Fitch didn't present any real danger on the feet, and he'll present even less of a threat standing against a dynamic striker in GSP.

Just another reason why I won't be betting on Jon Fitch when he takes on Georges St. Pierre.

In an interview with Sherdog.com, Georges St. Pierre's manager, Shari Spenser, let the cat out of the bag regarding St. Pierre's future goals if his reign in the Welterweight division is deemed complete.

"He wants to leave a legacy," Spenser said. "He wants to be the most dominant fighter the UFC and MMA has ever seen, and he intends to accomplish that by dominating the 170-pound weight class, moving up to the 185 weight class and then eventually the light heavyweight class."

This should have fans excited for a number of reasons. First and foremost, we haven't seen champions in lower divisions move up the ranks often. BJ Penn is a fighter who comes to mind when looking at the UFC's roster of guys who have made the trek to higher weight classes. Penn fought in the lightweight division, welterweight division, and even fought a few Middleweight and Light Heavyweight battles. He's pushed the limits of his skill through a span of nearly 50 pounds, and found success in most of those matchups.

The question is whether St. Pierre can do the same. He has one of the most diverse skillsets of any mixed martial artist in the world. His combinations of karate, wrestling, jiu-jitsu, and overall great boxing skills are tough for any fighter to deal with. Can he bring that same quickness and level of skill to higher weight classes?

Anderson Silva or Dan Henderson could be waiting for him in the struggling Middleweight class. There is a reason that fans have mentioned Hughes or Pierre moving up to battle Silva. The division has a large gap between the title picture and the contenders. Pierre moving up to take on Silva is a solution to that problem, but also sets up future fights for Pierre if he wins. It's no secret that both the Welterweight and Middleweight divisions are struggling, especially after Pierre's domination of Hughes at UFC 79.

Pierre in the Light Heavyweight division is the most intriguing prospect from the quote. There are some very good fighters who have some strong skills that can counter Pierre. Before that even comes into play, Pierre must bulk up his physique and try to maintain his quickness to his advantage. If he can do that, he may be able to succeed against some of the middle of the pack fighters. It would be an unbelievable test for Pierre to take out some of the upper echelon fighters in the Light Heavyweight division, and it would definitely cement his legacy. We should all look forward to seeing Pierre's goals come true.

UFC 79: Nemesis has come and gone, and overall I’d say it was a pretty good event. If it hadn’t been for the lackluster Eddie Sanchez and Sao Palelei fight, the event would’ve been an entire success. The event drew the largest gate for any North American MMA show at $4.9 million, and I’m sure it was also a huge pay-per-view success.  After the event was over, I had a chance to reflect on 5 things I learned from the event.

GSP is the best welterweight in the world.

And, he may be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. He absolutely demolished Matt Hughes, and is on entirely different level than any fighter at 170lbs. He has proved that he is the total package, and I really feel sorry for Matt Serra. St. Pierre was able to outwrestle the wrestler. We saw it before in his fight with Koscheck, but I figured Hughes would give him a little bit more credit. He didn’t. St. Pierre was obviously the stronger of the two, and he was able to utilize his entire skill set to beat Hughes. He used his striking to setup his takedowns, and then he used his ground-and-pound to set up the submission victory.

St. Pierre can and will be a superstar in this sport. He has an amazing set of skills, and he is working harder than ever to improve. His wrestling has come a long way, and as long as he keeps improving his stand-up, he will be a force to reckon with for many years to come.

However, he can be beat. As dynamic as a fighter as he is; there are some holes in his game. First, his stand-up needs some work. He tends to throw very straight one-two combinations down the middle. He doesn’t use many hooks or uppercuts, but his kicks are good when he uses them. Sometimes he gets lazy with his jab, and he’s open for a counter left hook.  Also, his jiu-jitsu isn’t what it could be. He almost submitted Koscheck with a kimura, which seems to be a go to move for him, and he choked out Frank Trigg with a rear naked choke (who hasn’t?).

The type of fighter that can beat St. Pierre is a fighter with a good wrestling base, or great takedown defense, a good submission game, and good striking. As of right now, I think there are only two welterweight fighters in the UFC that present this problem: Jon Fitch and B.J. Penn. Fitch is a former Division I wrestler with decent striking and a good ground game. It would be a great fight, but I think GSP would still take it. Although B.J. Penn’s next fight is at lightweight, he has made it very clear that he wants to step up to welterweight and hold both belts at the same time. B.J. Penn and GSP have already battled once at UFC 59: USA vs. Canada. Many people (including myself) feel that B.J. won this fight, but St. Pierre was awarded a narrow split-decision victory. B.J. has the style to present problems to almost anyone. He has unbelievable dexterity, and can avoid takedowns because of it. We all know about his slick jiu-jitsu, but he also has good striking and heavy hands. He also has the ability to take a shot. I’m hoping that we get to see this rematch in the very near future.

Matt Hughes should hang them up after one more fight.

The end of the year cards are here for the sport of mixed martial arts, and nearly all of them look to deliver fantastic action on paper. The UFC's Nemesis card, however, is the clear cut winner as far as providing the most anticipation for many fans. On Saturday night from Mandalay Bay Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, we'll find out who really is better... Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva or Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell. If that isn't enough for you to wag your tail next to your television, the rubber match between Georges "Rush" St. Pierre and Matt Hughes will also be featured. The winner will take on Matt Serra for the Welterweight title. Lastly, Rameau Sokoudjou will make his UFC debut against the elusive and frustrating karate tactics of Ryoto "Lyoto" Machida. Let's take a look at this historic fight card.

Main Event
Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva vs. Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell

The historic matchup of Silva and Liddell has been years in the making. Back when PRIDE was at the top of the food chain, both sides were already talking up a potential matchup of these two explosive strikers during PRIDE Final Conflict 2003. Liddell was stopped by the eventual UFC champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson after his preliminary round win against Alistair Overeem. That was the closest he had ever been to fighting Wanderlei Silva.

Now, Silva has made the journey to the UFC, and he is in nearly the same position as Liddell. Both fighters are coming off two losses that have stopped their progression as top light heavyweights in the world. Liddell was knocked out within the first flurry on his fight with Quinton Jackson at UFC 71 and lost a close split decision to Keith Jardine at UFC 76. Silva, on the other hand, hasn't been as active lately. He was knocked out by a fierce left hand from Dan Henderson in February of this year to lose his title, and was devastated by Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic at PRIDE Final Conflict Absolute in September of last year.

With that all said, this fight still produces anticipation of being a great war between two very explosive fighters. Both men are coming off two losses, and both men will have to contemplate continuing their careers if they end up losing this battle. It should be a fight that will produce a highlight reel knockout, and there is no doubt that this fight will end by a stoppage of some sort.

Prediction: Wanderlei Silva via second round KO

So many fans and other columnists have expressed the styles matchup as being in favor of Chuck Liddell, but there is other factors that should be considered. Wanderlei Silva is one of the strongest Light Heavyweight strikers in the business. He's overly aggressive and that has, at times, hurt him, but it has also been the pistons that run his engine. His power is unmatched, but he has had problems looping his punches in many of his fights. Look for his training at Xtreme Couture to remedy some of those problems.

I'm still going to take Wanderlei Silva for two reasons. First, Chuck may be a terrific counter puncher, but Silva does seem to capitalize on mistakes. His clinch is very strong, and it could be surprising if he happens to push Liddell much like Rampage did to him in PRIDE. Secondly, Silva's training looks to be solid, whereas Chuck still seems to train specifically in a one-dimensional manner. Striking is his bread and butter while grappling is his escape tactic. Silva has more tools combined with his striking, but whether or not he uses those other tactics is the question. I'm going out on a limb and picking Silva.

Georges "Rush" St. Pierre vs. Matt Hughes

After Matt Serra injured his back during his training for his matchup with Matt Hughes at UFC 79, St. Pierre swooped in to make this card even more exciting. It also completes the wishes of many fans to see the rubber match happen between the two fighters that was predicted by many to probably be happening in 2008. Instead, we'll get to see it on Saturday night, and it should be fairly exciting.

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Joe Schmitt is a new contributing writer to MMA-Analyst.com in the capacity of some opinion writing that will hopefully spark some conversation from all of the readers. He touts his extensive UFC DVD collection, has awareness of the recent happenings within the MMA community, and loves to get down to the details regarding matchups within the UFC's ranks. Please join me in welcoming some of his thoughts that will hopefully get the masses thinking. 

As long as you haven’t been living under a rock the past few days, you’ll know that Matt Serra has pulled out of his very first title defense against former champion Matt Hughes. Serra suffered two herniated discs in his back while demonstrating a move in practice. How serious is the injury? It’s serious enough that the UFC has signed Georges St. Pierre vs. Matt Hughes III for the interim welterweight title. 

A closer look at Serra’s injury

According to WebMD, the bones (vertebrae) that form the spine in your back are cushioned by small, spongy discs. When these discs are healthy, they act as shock absorbers for the spine and keep the spine flexible. But when a disc is damaged, it may bulge or break open. This is called a herniated disc. It may also be called a slipped or ruptured disc.

Usually a herniated disc will heal on its own over time. About half of people with a herniated disc get better within 1 month, and most are better after 6 months. Only about 1 person in 10 still has enough pain after 6 weeks to think about surgery.

The extent of Serra’s injury is still unknown and the timetable for his return is still very much in question. If it takes him 6 months to heal, I can’t imagine he’ll be in fighting shape for another 3 months after that. According to Matt Hughes’ blog, he has stated that if Serra cannot return after a year, the interim title becomes the real title.

The “TUF” effect

Before I get started, let me begin by saying that I understand the decision to put Hughes versus Serra as coaches on “The Ultimate Fighter” or as I like to call it, “The Ultimate Hype Machine.” What I don’t understand, is putting a division, arguably the deepest in MMA, on hold for a reality television show that draws below-average ratings. Furthermore, I don’t think the show is serving the purpose it once had, to draw new fans to the sport.  Plain and simple, the formula for the show is old and tired. The UFC should really be looking for the best fighters, and stop worrying about personalities that they think will make the show interesting. There are really only a handful of fighters that possess both the talent and charisma like a Quinton “Rampage” Jackson or a Forrest Griffin. The problem is, while some fans are attracted to the high charisma of Rampage, there are just as many who love Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, Chuck Liddell and Fedor Emelianenko. None of which are highly charismatic, but they garner fans by winning fights in devastating fashion. The fact of the matter is, the UFC’s plan to use TUF as a marketing machine has failed them this time.

Will we still see Hughes vs. Serra? Probably. Will it mean as much? Probably not. We know Hughes and Serra have a general dislike for each other, that’s no secret. Did it have to take 12 weeks of them taking cheap shots at each other on television to get me excited for this fight? Not a chance. Everyone has gotten to see Serra’s personality, as he was a member of TUF Season 4: The Comeback. Hughes has made multiple appearances on TUF, most notably as he coached against former middleweight champion Rich Franklin in season 2. Serra is a loud, say-anything, type of guy from New Jersey. Hughes is a Midwestern farm boy with an arrogant disposition. The two styles clash, but to be honest, this season did absolutely nothing for me. I wasn’t any more or less excited about the fight than when it was announced. I was actually a little disappointed because of all the potential matches that could’ve been made during this time. Let’s take a look at UFC 78 for example. There was no real main event, and we could have witnessed Serra versus Hughes in Serra’s home state of New Jersey. Instead, we got Rashad Evans versus Michael Bisping, another product of TUF. The only way I can agree with the UFC using TUF like this again is if the champion is injured. Let’s say next season we see Rampage and Forrest as the coaches, with a title match at the end of the season. I like that idea because we aren’t going to get to see Rampage fight in the near future due to his hand injury.

Final thoughts

The Ultimate Fighter needs an overhaul, plain and simple. The show's formula has become bland, predictable, and even downright boring. On top of that, the fans don’t get rewarded for putting 12 weeks of their life into a show that was supposed to hype up Hughes versus Serra. Don’t get me wrong, I’d much rather see St. Pierre and Hughes go at it, but as a fan, I feel that I kind of got cheated. Let this be a lesson to the UFC brass: No more title shots and holding a division stagnant for the sake of reality television. What do you think? Did this season get you more excited for the fight? Or, could you care less?

After a long weekend of uneventful MMA news, a log fell off the wagon that is the UFC. On Friday, Matt Serra was announced as sustaining a herniated disc injury that would keep him from defending his UFC welterweight title against Matt Hughes on December 29th. From an exclusive interview done by MMAWeekly, it was confirmed today that Serra did sustain two lower back herniated discs and will be out for quite some time with an injury of that magnitude.

With nearly every end of the year card comes the anticipation of a great night of great fights. This was definitely the matchup that many fans wanted to see and the UFC needed to repair the lost luster. Initial reports had Thiago Alves and Jon Fitch in the mix, but the spectacular announcement that Georges St. Pierre would take the bout created the rubber match that Hughes would eventually have to fight if he had retaken the belt. Without a doubt, this is also a fight that would line up St. Pierre for a title shot, but without the lengthy layoff that he had been anticipating.

A bit more backstory to the announcement revealed conflicting reports on how the matchup eventually happened. Hughes stated on his website that he requested Pierre because he wanted to avoid a matchup in front of Pierre's fanbase in Canada. Hughes will also have a training advantage in that Pierre has around 4-5 weeks to train, with a week of downtime toward the fight date. Dave Meltzer over at Yahoo! Sports stated that Pierre had initially called the UFC to stick his name into the mix of potential fighters. Fitch was the first to come up, but he had too much weight on at the moment to drop the weight before the bout. Fitch's camp suggested Koscheck, but the UFC skipped on that and decided to put Pierre back in the mix. Whether Pierre or Hughes convinced the UFC to create the matchup, it shortens the time considerable for a rubber match that many people felt would have happened anyway.

Interim Titles?

When the Georges St. Pierre vs. Matt Hughes fight was announced on Saturday evening, the "interim" title was tagged onto the event and uproar ensued. Why is this an interim title fight? Is Matt Serra going to be out for that long? Is the injury so bad that it could stop him from fighting? The immediate possibilities coming out of the announcement were everywhere. The truth of the matter is much more beneficial to the fans that most people think.

What is one of the biggest things that we've seen coming from some of the recent main events in the UFC? Close decisions. Case in point, UFC 78 had the TUF Alumni matchup in Rashad Evans and Michael Bisping that needed to be longer in order to decide who clearly won the fight. My intuition makes me believe that Evans would have completely gassed with two more rounds declaring Bisping the winner if he worked any kind of boxing at all. These more lengthy bouts could cause many big name fights to avoid the dreaded draw or controversial decision. By the regulations of most commissions, non-championship bouts are required to not exceed more than 3 rounds. How can you solve that problem? Slap a "Interim Title" tag onto the fight and your problem has been solved. Tell the commission that Serra's back injury is too risky to keep the belt in limbo and create the interim bout. This will allow for the end of the year rubber match between Hughes and Pierre to be a 5 round battle.

To be honest, this is actually a good decision. Although I hate the interim title tag on this fight, I do agree that this fight needs to be 5 rounds. I also want to make the case that all main event fights should be five rounds, although that would take some dealing with the commissions to make happen. This is a chance to see an epic battle between two great competitors, and nobody should be mad about the title tag on the fight. Enjoy it because the UFC somehow managed to get us 2 extra rounds of action.

The Ever-Changing Welterweight Picture

With Serra possibly out for 3 or more months without training, we could see Serra out for about 6+ months if he can't do much for the first 3 months with the injury. Add in time for training to get his strength and technique back, and then add in the training for a matchup, it could be quite some time before we see the "Interim" champion against the "Real" champion. Who else is in the picture?

Certainly, all the names that were mentioned as replacements must be in the mix. Karo Parisyan is the one name not mentioned due to his recent victory over Ryo Chonan. Parisyan won the fight despite walking into the matchup with a broken hand. Parisyan has been waiting for a title shot since his title shot last November in which he got injured during training. He has since been sitting on the shelf awaiting his next chance at the title and it looks as if he may get it soon enough.

Other fighters in the mix are Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck, and apparently Thiago Alves. Fitch has been on a tremendous tear, winning 14 straight fights with his most recent over Diego Sanchez. I think Fitch still needs another top contender fight and with Josh Koscheck on a recent loss to George St. Pierre, Fitch vs. Koscheck seems like a possibility as well. The UFC is rumored to have both fighters on the UFC 82 card, but against separate opponents. Thiago Alves's name came up as a late replacement as well, but he just recently defeated Chris Lytle in UFC 78 in a controversial fight that had many fans scratching their heads as to why the fight was stopped due to a cut that didn't appear to be that bad. Alves has been fairly impressive, but hasn't faced a top 5 contender yet. He will surely be tested in his next fight. The possibility that he may be one of the mystery opponents for UFC 82 is there as well.

Matt Serra should be back!

Let's be honest, if we polled the MMA community on the outcome of the upcoming card, the lopsidedness of the Serra vs. Hughes matchup would be fairly obvious. Many fans attribute Hughes's legendary status, wealth of experience, and overall brute strength as big keys to his success in the cage and to the success of a win over Matt Serra. I'm still not convinced that Serra is an easy matchup for Matt Hughes, and that was mainly the reason why I was a bit bummed to hear the Matt Serra had become injured.

The one reason I was giving Matt Serra a chance, and the one reason many people hate Matt Serra is because he's a fighter who can make the fight last. Many fans hate the fact that he can make fights lengthy, he can make fights stagnant, but he can also avoid being demolished by opponents that seem to have an overwhelming advantage over him. This was one distinct advantage I though Serra had, that he is tough to knockout and he would have made a go at taking the fight to the distance. Again, Hughes doesn't have terrible cardio and he's still a much more powerful fighter in my opinion. So how would have Serra mastered that aspect of Matt Hughes?

Add the fact that Serra's ju-jitsu skills have been known to be great at times, it makes for a lot of possibilities that fans may not be seeing. Case in point, Hughes has been susceptible to flexible ju-jitsu opponents on the ground. BJ Penn and Dennis Hallman are two names that come to mind immediately. Hughes seems to have a weakness for slick ju-jitsu games, and depending on which Matt Serra shows up, he could provide some tough technique to counter. Although I believe Hughes still wins that matchup by power, I think it would have been much closer than people would think. Either way, I think Serra will recover and be back to prove that he can hang with some of the best.

Final Thoughts

Regardless of what you thought about Matt Serra's TUF performance or his lackluster boring fights during his TUF stint, fact of the matter is, Matt Serra always has a chance to win if he can extend the length of a fight. His ju-jitsu and flexibility on the ground pose threats to someone like Matt Hughes who has been susceptible in the past to that type of fighter. Although I think Hughes wins it by pure strength, I think the fans are giving less credit to Serra than he deserves. Give the guy a chance, he did beat St. Pierre is a fight that was considered one of the most lopsided easy wins for Pierre and probably a gold mine fight for the UFC.

Don't complain about the interim title tag, embrace it! After all, it's giving us two extra rounds of fighting for essentially another name for a #1 contender tag. Whoever wins the fight is the #1 contender. If you can put up with casual fans saying Pierre or Hughes is the champion for a few months without really knowing what has been going on, then it's not a big deal. If you are the MMA elitist who MUST outknowledge every fan in your path, welcome to hell. Fact is, the UFC found a loophole to get a longer fight for the end of the year event, and it was a nice find indeed. It allows for the possibility of an epic bout between two great combatants.

Lastly, the UFC's welterweight divisions looks to be fairly healthy coming into the new year. With 3 or 4 up-and-coming fighters beginning to look in on the mix at the top, we have some potential matchups for the title shaping up as well as a plethora of possibilities for contendership bouts and bouts to determine who gets into the top-tier of the welterweight division. It's looking to be very healthy in the Welterweight division of the UFC.

MMA-Analyst.com had an illness this past weekend, a very horrible fever, that sidelined me from writing or responding to emails. I'm finally out of that horrendous ordeal and will be answering all of your emails and comments this week.

Randy Couture came, he saw, he conquered... all at the tender age of 44 years old. He once again proved to this MMA fan, and to many other MMA fans that betting against Randy Couture is not the smart thing to do. Randy Couture stopped Gabriel Gonzaga by TKO in the 3rd round to defend the UFC Heavyweight Title and put to rest the claims that Couture may be getting too old for this sport. With that said, let's take a look at the evening's fight card with some insight on the improvements we saw and the key factors that each fighter will need work on for their upcoming bouts in the future.

Main Events
Randy Couture vs. Gabriel Gonzaga

An overall stellar gameplan by Randy Couture cemented the victory in the 3rd round to defend his UFC Heavyweight title. Couture used a great combination of pace, quick tempo, dirty boxing, and pure strength and clinching skill to get in close on Gonzaga and pound him. Gonzaga came out fast with a two punch combo he landed on Couture, but Couture shot back and landed a heavy punch to Gonzaga, who backed away after the hit. The two fighters traded a few more shots when Couture tried to take Gonzaga down, and Gonzaga showed his balance and fought it off. Couture came back with a left hook, catching Gonzaga and then clinching him from his waist and throwing him to the canvas. Gonzaga was able to get up fairly easily from Couture's takedown early, but then used the clinch to throw Gonzaga down and pound him as he tried to stand back up. Couture landed numerous blows while Gonzaga tried to regain his feet. Gonzaga was able to land a flush elbow in one exchange and back it with a quick right that rattled Couture for a second before he ran Gonzaga into another clinch. Couture was able to then lift Gonzaga in the clinch and slam him. This resulted in Couture's head butting Gonzaga's nose and breaking it. A definite turning point for Gonzaga as he now was unable to breath out his nose and was panting heavily through his mouth. Gonzaga recovered, but was put back into a clinch. Couture landed numerous blows to Gonzaga in the clinch with his dirty boxing. A very effective win in round 1 by Randy Couture.

The second round was no different. Couture continued to throw quick combos and then push the clinch into the fence. Gonzaga was able to land some blows in the quick exchanges they did have, but the smart Couture punched and quickly countered Gonzaga's blows with a shoot to tie up Gonzaga. Around the 3:50 mark, Gonzaga complained that he could not see due to the broken nose flooded his eyes. The fight was stopped for a moment in which it was explained to Gonzaga that he could not stop the fight for that reason. Herb Dean continued to fight in the clinch and Couture continued to keep the clinch and reign punches on Gonzaga. Gonzaga was deducted a point for holding onto the fence about 10 seconds after his stoppage. Holding the fence didn't help Gonzaga fend off the assault that Couture was imposing on his opponent. It was clear that Gonzaga was losing his breath and was gassing out as Couture continued to land blows to Gonzaga's head.

Third round began and a standup battle began. Gonzaga was able to land a stiff head kick that somewhat stunned Couture. Gonzaga tried to capitalize, but Couture put him back into the clinch. Couture was then able to take down Gonzaga. At this point, Gonzaga was so tired and so beaten that it was only a matter of time. Couture reigned blows on Gonzaga's head and Gonzaga could only cover up. Dean called the fight since Gonzaga was not trying to escape the beatdown and barely able to defend the punches.

The Breakdown

Couture was a pure joy to watch. He was able to utilize the clinch to absolutely dominate Gonzaga in the fence. Gonzaga's only strength seemed to show when the clinch was a non-factor and Gonzaga was able to throw a few combos. Couture, as smart as he is, was able to see the fact in past fights that his standup game isn't the best in MMA. He stayed away from trading punches, and closed in on Gonzaga. A very good gameplan and he was able to stick to it. He never gave Gonzaga a chance to use his ju-jitsu either because Couture was mainly throwing Gonzaga down near the fence in order to stay on his feet and use the fence to prop Gonzaga up so he could land shots easier. It was an amazing feat.

Improvements

Gonzaga needs to beef up his power. He was being manhandled in the clinch. He had good balance when Randy tried to take him down, but he wasn't able to power Randy off of him at any moment. Ju-jitsu is a great ground game, but if you have nothing to stop the clinch or at least squirm out of it, you will be tied up for hours when fighting Randy Couture. Gonzaga showed glimmers of a standup game, but his head was concentrating too much on landing punches and not enough on whether or not Randy was going to counter with a takedown. When Randy did counter, Gonzaga had zero defense against it.

Couture's clinch is world renowned, and he looked very powerful. I will say his standup game still needs to improve a bit, but he was trading shots with Gonzaga. Overall though, a very well rounded fight by Couture. I didn't see one bit of this fight that I could honestly say Couture could have been better in.

Georges St. Pierre vs. Josh Koscheck

Georges St. Pierre showed that his mental toughness was intact this evening. St. Pierre and Koscheck came out at the beginning of this fight to huge cheers for St. Pierre. As the fight began, Koscheck threw a number of combinations that completely missed Pierre and left Koscheck open to a takedown early in the fight. From the takedown, Pierre began to work his strikes in on Koscheck, and nearly passing his guard early in the fight. Pierre was able to actually stand in Koscheck's guard and rain punches down on Koscheck, but eating a few strikes from Koscheck in the process. With about 2 minutes left in the first round, Koscheck was able to get off the ground and make an attempt to take down St. Pierre. Pierre held himself in a sprawl while Koscheck lifted one of Pierre's legs off the ground in order to unbalance him for the takedown. Koscheck suddenly exploded into the fence taking Pierre with him in a brutal takedown. Pierre was able to tie up Koscheck for the rest of the round after the takedown. Koscheck was unable to mount any significant attack out of the late round takedown and I gave St. Pierre the round.

St. Pierre came out in the second round looking even quicker than he did in the first round. Koscheck wasn't making Pierre pay for his attempts at punching and kicking Koscheck early on. After a flurry of attempts by Pierre, he was able to easily grab Koscheck's leg and take him down in amazement of the crowd. Pierre had been taking Koscheck down at will so far during the matchup and Koscheck doesn't seem to have an answer. Pierre's fakes and constant mixture of standup and shoots is definitely confusing Koscheck. Pierre attempted a kimura during the ground battle that ensued. Koscheck was able to pull out of it only to have Pierre create another opportunity for a kimura after the first attempt. Pierre switched gears and passed Koscheck's guard into side control and began to strike at Koscheck's head. Pierre was very impressive in his takedown game during this round. Numerous attempts by Koscheck to get off the ground were met by Pierre's tenacity. Koscheck would roll onto his feet only to be met by Pierre's grip. He was ultimately kept down on the ground in every escape attempt by Pierre's perseverance. At the end of the round, Pierre again was able to catch Koscheck in a side mount and try for the kimura. He was unable to finish it, but he dominated Koscheck on the ground in a will crushing way that Koscheck could not have possibly expected.

The third round became a standup battle in which Pierre was able to use his range to keep Koscheck away while he put together some nice combinations that landed. Koscheck grabbed Pierre's leg and went for the takedown, but Pierre reversed it and put Koscheck on his back... again. The fight continued as Pierre tried to land punches while on top of Koscheck. The fight ended with Pierre almost pulling a leg lock, but the bell rang as Koscheck slammed his fist down in complete disgust.

The Breakdown

This fight proved once again that Georges St. Pierre is on top of his game again. The entire pre-fight discussions involving this fight all revolved around Georges St. Pierre's mental toughness and became borderline absurdity when some fans questioned his character. St. Pierre came out and dominated a fighter that was better than him in one area of the MMA game. But did St. Pierre stay away from that? No, he went after Koscheck on the ground and was able to even reverse a few takedown attempts and stifle Koscheck's escapes. He put on a takedown clinic against an accomplished wrestler and it begs the question, does a NCAA Division I championship really guarantee success at the top of the MMA divisional ranks? It certainly helps in some cases, but Georges St. Pierre doesn't have a wrestling championship. He trains his ass off, and it showed at UFC 74

Improvements

Koscheck has the most obvious flaws in his game out of the two fighters. Koscheck should take one thing away from this battle. He should really think about learning a ju-jitsu game and using it. The idea that he will own the world on the ground is over for him. He went against someone who basically threw him down at will, and he was unable to counter whatsoever during the entire fight. If Koscheck had an intermediate level ju-jitsu game, he would have been able to at least fend off some attacks and possibly catch Pierre with a submission hold. It wouldn't be guaranteed if he could submit him, but it would definitely make St. Pierre think about standing it up. But.. then the rub hits again.. Koscheck's standup was easily dwarfed by Pierre's standup regiment. Yes, very true. Pierre has a vast skillset he can use. He tied combos together effortlessly, and he mixes it up. Koscheck threw rehearsed combos that were easily predictable after the first round. Koscheck needs to add some standup skills to his game along with some additional ground skills if he really wants to be in the top 5 of the welterweight division. Even with an added standup factor, he could potentially sit in the top 3. Sherdog has him listed in the top 5, but after this performance, I beg to make an argument that some of the guys below him may overtake those spots.

Main Card Fights
Joe Stevenson vs. Kurt Pellegrino

Stevenson wasn't completely dominant in my eyes, but you could make a case that he was. Pellegrino was only able to use his ju-jitsu to fend off Stevenson from otherwise pounding him out early to squeak this fight to a decision in which Stevenson won unanimously. Stevenson, like many previous fights, had numerous guillotine choke attempts. Pellegrino came out punching, but in the later rounds was mainly stuck on his back while Stevenson pounded him. Stevenson was able to suplex Pellegrino in the first round and immediately take his back again. Pellegrino had one instance where he was able to take Stevenson down, but it didn't result in really any damage done. Stevenson and Pellegrino traded punches for much of the second round. Pellegrino was going for quantity instead of quality while Stevenson looked for a good punch. Stevenson was able to control a few takedowns while Pellegrino looked to be gassing late in the second round. The most decisive round was the third round domination by Stevenson. Pellegrino was clearly gassing and Stevenson pushed the pace and took down Pellegrino against the fence. Stevenson was able to stay standing and jab at Pellegrino while he was down nudged in the fence. He scored many blows and Pellegrino was doing little to defend against them. Stevenson won via unanimous decision, a very good fight by Joe Daddy.

The Breakdown

Better cardio and impressive takedowns and escapes by Stevenson dominated this fight. Pellegrino didn't look too bad in the beginning of the fight. He was throwing punches and landing a few, but Stevenson was bobbing and weaving like he was a pure boxer. Pellegrino wasted some energy throwing a lot of punches, and was vulnerable to the takedown early. Stevenson was able to get some big hits on Pellegrino while on top of him, and had numerous guillotine attempts early.  By the second round, Pellegrino started to gas and get frustrated at having Stevenson escape all of his takedowns. Stevenson locked it down in the third round with a good takedown and ground n' pound against the fence to finish the fight off and secure a victory of himself. Impressive cardio and escapes by Joe "Daddy" Stevenson.

Improvements

Stevenson looked good, with great ju-jitsu he utilized to control Pellegrino on the ground, and some impressive defense in his standup game. He picked his shots and conserved energy early when standing. He also had a number of good reversals and escapes that Pellegrino definitely grew frustrated with. If Stevenson wants to get into the upper echelon of the division, his standup could use some explosiveness. His takedown defense isn't the greatest even though Pellegrino is a very accomplished wrestler. Stevenson didn't seem to be using the sprawl when he could have, and definitely could have used it more to control Pellegrino and possibly get him into submission attempts.

Pellegrino needs to add more cardio to his game, the most obvious flaw in his fight. He also needs to tighten up his standup and learn to throw quality punches instead of wasting energy throwing a lot of punches for low percentage hits. He seemed to be sticking his fists out there to stop Stevenson from shooting, but it didn't work at all during this fight. Pellegrino did have some flashes of greatness in his wrestling game, but he allowed Stevenson to escape numerous times. Pellegrino could work on his body control techniques a bit more to stop Stevenson from doing so, or it could possibly all revolve around his bad cardio.

Roger Huerta vs. Alberto Crane

This fight was a disappointment for me. I was hoping we would see a quality contender against Huerta, and in most respects, it was for the first round. However, I did not expect Crane to gas so quickly and literally fall apart dead in the last round. The highlights of this fight are few as Huerta laid a ground n' pound smack down on Crane from the get go as Crane scrambled to pull off an upset submission throughout the fight. It was evident early that Crane wanted to take it to the ground while Huerta wanted to keep it up. Crane eventually took Huerta down, but Huerta impressed the fans with escape after escape after escape. Eventually, Crane grew tired and his strength was very low compared to Huerta's power. Crane had a few attempts in the second round that would have garnered a victory if he had any strength at all, but Huerta just held on and escaped each time. Huerta threw huge bombs down on Crane when he escaped and was able to ground and pound Crane. Crane had a huge mouse under his left eye for most of the match, but the real story was Crane's cardio. About a third of the way through the second round, Crane was nearly asleep. He was barely able to stand and was trying to take the fight to the ground with very weak takedown attempts. At times, he was able to get Huerta down, but any attempt to submit Huerta was met with an easy escape transitioning to a ground n' pound on Crane's face. Crane lost via TKO in the third round due basically to the fact he was so tired he couldn't defend himself.

The Breakdown

Huerta's escapes transitioned into ground n' pound tactics that literally smeared Crane all over the mat. Huerta looked stronger, had more cardio, and was downright hateful in his striking on the ground. There isn't much of a breakdown other than I can't believe Crane lasted till the 3rd round.

Improvements

Obviously, if we see Crane in the UFC again, he needs to improve his cardio vastly. He also needs some type of standup game, anything to help him takedown opponents better and transition easily into submission holds. When he did take Huerta down, he was expending a lot of energy trying to defeat Huerta's sprawl. It'd be much easier for him had Huerta needed to look for a stray punch to the face. Those are two huge hurdles he will need to jump to even compete. He has a great ground game as we saw he transitioned too many different attempts, but he didn't have the strength to pull them into a complete submission.

Huerta looked better in this fight. It was a true ground test for him, and he was able to pass with flying colors. He showed his skills in escaping various ju-jitsu submission attempts and was able to easily transition to his own game. I will say that he wasn't tested that intensely since Crane basically became limp after the midpoint of the 2nd round. I look to see Huerta fight someone like a Guida who is a cardio machine to really test his energy and power.

To be continued tomorrow...