nice post.

i feel the same way aboutthe pitbull

By Kevin on Jan 23, 2008

Thanks…love your shoe site.

I have a weird feeling that Arlovski will end up staying when it’s all said and done.

By Ariel Helwani on Jan 23, 2008

to be honest i can see him leavin, he can make more money elsewhere.

i could see arvloski/fedor while we wait for the legal eagles to battle it out for randy.

i could honestly see a fight like that being interesting, arvloski hasnt fought in quite sometime and fedor hasnt fought a quality fighter in ages.

could go either way.
probably fedors way, but i dont think it would be a onesided bout.

By Kevin on Jan 23, 2008

Of course – of all the possible choices out there for Fedor’s next fight, Arlovski would definitely be the most intriguing and would present the toughest test.

It definitely is a great time to be a free agent in MMA so you might be right…

By Ariel Helwani on Jan 23, 2008

Good Post Ariel.

UFC 80 was a great card. Rapid Fire was an apt title and the fights delivered more so than I think anyone expected. BJ Penn is literally the Swiss Army Knife of MMA. So many weapons and tools he possesses its actually quite frightening what he can be capable of.

I think Fedor’s biggest test is actually Josh Barnett. Who I believe to be a top 5 HW in the world. Josh is pretty much just chilling on the sidelines waiting for somebody to make a move. M-1 if they want to establish themselves as a serious organization they need their Top Draw to fight the best fighters out there. Not the Giant Khalis of the MMA world(I’d take Khali over Fedor BTW).

As for the UFN I found all the fights good except for the Swick/Burkman fight. Which reeked of Arlovski/Werdum where both guys were pretty much scared of the other mans power and just skirted around the issue for the most of the fight. Pellegrino/Crane was a good scrap and Kurt got a canyon put under his lip. The other fights were good too.

Montreal is seriously representing for ya Ariel.

By Matt on Jan 24, 2008

Some great lines coming from you today Matt.

Khali > Fedor? You can’t be serious my man.

I love the swiss army knife nickname for Penn. Rest assured I will be stealing that line (although I think GSP is even more versatile than he is).

I thought UFN 12 was a mixed bag. Tavares-Omigawa might win worst match of the year, Burkman and Swick were both unimpressive and I even thought Pellegrino-Crane was a tad dull too despite the occasional big shot.

Of course, I LOVED the Cote fight and am very happy he is going into 4/19 on a 4 fight winning streak (3 in the UFC). It did feel a bit weird to root against McFedries considering all that he has had to deal with lately, though.

Diaz was very impressive too but other than that UFC 80 was a much better show (I was expecting the opposite).

By Ariel Helwani on Jan 24, 2008

Tavares/Omigawa proved to me that I hate the “classic” BJJ vs Judo match ups. They tend to stray into stale mates. Omigawa needs to move to WEC and fight at featherweight his more natural weight. He has given both Tavares and Wiman a hard time.

I think Penn vs St Pierre is the most interesting bout left inside the UFC. The last bout left a sour taste in everyones mouth I think. I think you can argue that both fighters have gotten better in what they lacked in that fight. Penn-Cardio(arguable i know) GSP-Mental.

The Montral UFC Card is shaping up to be more stacked than any card in recent memory. I hope they give Cote someone top tier but it seems as if all of them are already booked for fights on that card. I wouldn’t mind seeing Sakara’s MW Debut in a slug fest with Cote. Maybe Thales Leites or winner of Marquardt/Horn?

PS.
Fedor would take Khali. Merely a joke that got lost in translation.

By Matt on Jan 24, 2008

I had a feeling you were joking about Fedor/Khali but I just had to make sure…

Though wouldn’t it be awesome to see Khali-Choi? I guess Choi would be the favorite but what a sight that would be.

Great points all around although there are still a ton of intriguing bouts left for the UFC to offer. Rampage-Griffin should be great, Penn-Sherk, Shogun against anybody, Hendo-Silva and I would still love to see Serra-Hughes.

Cote-Leites sounds very intriguing but who knows when Leites will return from his injury.

I think Tavares and Omigawa were just off yesterday. Both have shown they have what it takes but sometimes styles simply don’t mesh – I guess that was the case here.

By Ariel Helwani on Jan 24, 2008

Thanks!,

By Vqnddxak on Dec 13, 2008