An MMA Headache: UFC's Welterweight Division
What do you get when you cross one of the best fighters in the world, a man who bores his way to victory, and a group of slightly above average fighters that keep taking one another out?
You get the UFC's welterweight division of course.
Perhaps the toughest division in the UFC to figure out, the 170lb division has been at a standstill since the emergence of Georges St. Pierre as its king. It's a division riddled with talented fighters, but once you get past its number 2 (Jon Fitch), its difficult to figure out where exactly to go from there.
Dan Hardy getting a title shot? That says it all.
Let's start at the top (after GSP). Fitch has to be the clear cut number 1 contender in this division. While his bouts are the MMA equivalent of Nyquil and a Snuggie, you can't knock his ability to grind out a victory. With a 12-1 record in the UFC, Fitch has only faltered against GSP, losing a unanimous decision in 2008, but since then, he has rattled off four victories in a row.
Now, Fitch is one fight away from another title shot. The easy choice for UFC matchmaker Joe Silva is to pit #2 vs #3 and set up an eliminator bout between Fitch and his next closest competition, Thiago Alves. The problem? This match has been set up twice now, with Alves pulling out of their UFC 107 bout with a knee injury and most recently, pulling out of UFC 111 with an irregular CAT scan.
Ok ok…so as frustrating as this is, Dana White recently proposed a solution to this problem: have Fitch fight a guy right behind Alves in line, in this instance Josh Koscheck. Problem solved, right? Not so fast…Fitch and Koscheck and training buddies and refuse to fight one another, prompting White to question how badly Fitch wants to win the title.
But this prompts another question…is Koscheck the number 4 guy in the division? This is where things really begin to get muddled.
Koscheck is an exceptional fighter with world class wrestling ability, and in his fight against Georges St. Pierre, he lasted three rounds and lost by decision. But with two losses in the last year and a half, both against other contenders in the division, where does he really fall?
Koscheck's most recent loss was a little over a year ago against 11-1 Paulo Thiago, a man who is also right in the mix. Thiago has looked very impressive since joining the UFC and his only loss came against Jon Fitch. His problem is that he is punished by a lack of quality opponents (sans Koscheck and Fitch), but when a man takes care of what is put in front him, how can be faulted for that?
The two wild cards in this division come from across the pond in Paul Daley and Dan Hardy. Hardy had his shot against GSP and was dominated, but he did show that he can hang with top flight competition. It will be interesting to see how he moves forward from that fight. As for Daley, he is a different breed of welterweight, with devastating knockout power that might be unmatched in the division. If he can become a better-rounded fighter, there is no doubt that Paul Daley could make some noise in the division. His upcoming fight against Josh Koscheck will be a must-see.
And what if Jake Shields joins the UFC? Does he make a run at GSP? Is there any doubt that Shields vs. Jon Fitch would be the most boring fight in the history of MMA?
And to cap it all off, you have the second greatest welterweight of all-time waiting at the backend of that mix: Matt Hughes. While he is most likely on the victory lap of an outstanding career, he's still got something left in the tank, right? I mean, his three recent losses have come against solid competition (Georges St. Pierre twice and Thiago Alves), and while he hasn't looked like the same fighter in a long time, who wouldn't want to see him take on guys like Koscheck or Dan Hardy?
Its an ice cream headache to say the least, but if the UFC can sign Shields, it will get a fighter who can make a legitimate run in the welterweight division. That, more than anything, is what the 170lb division needs.
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