{"id":37453,"date":"2011-04-22T11:12:55","date_gmt":"2011-04-22T18:12:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.capperspicks.com\/blog\/?p=37453"},"modified":"2011-04-22T11:12:55","modified_gmt":"2011-04-22T18:12:55","slug":"ufc-champions-title-preview-best-fighters-22411","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/fight-club\/ufc-champions-title-preview-best-fighters-22411\/","title":{"rendered":"2011 MMA Handicapping: UFC Title Picture Update"},"content":{"rendered":"

Best UFC\/WEC\/Strikeforce Fighters – UFC Title Picture Update<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The last year has been an interesting one for the UFC. With the WEC and Strikeforce merging under the UFC\u2019s ownership umbrella, it can be tough to keep track of who has which belt.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an updated look at the current UFC title picture. It includes the advent of two new weight classes from the WEC. <\/p>\n

Ready to Bet on UFC 129 Odds at BETUS.COM?? We’ll give you $75 FREE if you join today – CLICK HERE NOW!!!! Enjoy all the UFC 129 <\/a>matchups folks!<\/a><\/h3>\n

HEAVYWEIGHT (206-265 lbs.)<\/strong>
\nChampion: <\/strong>Cain Velasquez (9-0)
\nTop contender(s): <\/strong>Junior Dos Santos, Brock Lesnar
\nWaiting in the wings: <\/strong>Alistair Overeem<\/p>\n

Though he\u2019s recovering from shoulder surgery, Cain Velasquez is sitting pretty. Aside from one early-fight scare against Cheick Kongo, he\u2019s been positively untouchable in his MMA career. Junior Dos Santos is the most dangerous contender because of his heavy hands \u2013 but does he have the takedown defense to win the title? He\u2019ll have to beat wrestler Brock Lesnar to earn his shot against Velasquez, another wrestler.<\/p>\n

Eventually, Strikeforce champ Alistair Overeem may get his shot, but probably not for another year.<\/p>\n

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT (205 lbs.)<\/strong>
\nChampion: <\/strong>Jon Jones (13-1)
\nTop contender: <\/strong>Rashard Evans
\nWaiting in the wings: <\/strong>Quinton \u201cRampage\u201d Jackson<\/p>\n

Jonny \u201cBones\u201d Jones proved his development was even further along than many bettors thought when he manhandled and even outstruck the prodigious striker Shogun Rua to win the light heavyweight title. Next up, he\u2019ll face his former training partner, Rashad Evans, a man who can match Jones in speed and wrestling ability.<\/p>\n

\u201cRampage\u201d Jackson could get the next shot if he beats Matt Hamill in May. Randy Couture could be in the picture if he beats Lyoto Machida and decides not to retire.<\/p>\n

MIDDLEWEIGHT (185 lbs.)<\/strong>
\nChampion: <\/strong>Anderson Silva (28-4)
\nTop contender: <\/strong>Yushin Okami
\nWaiting in the wings: <\/strong>Michael Bisping<\/p>\n

No division has a greater skill gap between its champion and the challengers. Anderson Silva, now 13-0 in the UFC, may not always mentally show up for fights but, when he does, there\u2019s no one more spectacular. The boring, tentative Yushin Okami and Michael Bisping are just the types of fighters that won\u2019t engage Silva enough to take the belt.<\/p>\n

WELTERWEIGHT (170 lbs.)<\/strong>
\nChampion: <\/strong>Georges St-Pierre (21-2)
\nTop contender: <\/strong>Jake Shields
\nWaiting in the wings: <\/strong>Jon Fitch \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Georges St-Pierre\u2019s air of invincibility is almost on par with Anderson Silva\u2019s. There may not be a more well-rounded fighter in the history of the sport than GSP. His striking is superb and his wrestling is the best in the business.<\/p>\n

Jake Shields is the most dangerous submission specialist to battle GSP yet but his remedial striking makes him a major underdog in the April 30 title fight. The next possible challenger is probably Jon Fitch (once his shoulder heals), who has already taken a beatdown from the champ.<\/p>\n

LIGHTWEGIHT (155 lbs.)<\/strong>
\nChampion: <\/strong>Frankie Edgar (13-1-1)
\nTop contender: <\/strong>Gray Maynard
\nWaiting in the wings: <\/strong>Anthony Pettis, Clay Guida<\/p>\n

After coming from behind for a draw with Gray Maynard when it looked like he was toast, Frankie Edgar will defend his belt against Maynard again in May. The winner of that will probably get the winner of final WEC champion Anthony Pettis and journeyman Clay Guida \u2013 though Edgar has discussed dropping down to featherweight.<\/p>\n

FEATHERWEIGHT (145 lbs.)<\/strong>
\nChampion: <\/strong>Jose Aldo (18-1)
\nTop contender: <\/strong>Mark Hominick
\nWaiting in the wings: <\/strong>Frankie Edgar?<\/p>\n

Also is on the fast track to the world No. 1 ranking. He\u2019s a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt and the speed and power of his strikes are light years away from the competition. Could the underrated Mark Hominick, a dynamite boxer, be his match? We\u2019ll see on April 30. The next possible contender could be Edgar if he drops down.<\/p>\n

BANTAMWEIGHT (135 lbs.)<\/strong>
\nChampion: <\/strong>Dominick Cruz (17-1)
\nTop contender: <\/strong>Urijah Faber
\nWaiting in the wings: <\/strong>Brian Bowles<\/p>\n

Dominick Cruz has been dominant at bantamweight but his next opponent is the one man to beat him in his career: Urijah Faber. Former champ Brian Bowles could get another shot soon if he comes up with another win or two.<\/p>\n

If the UFC hasn\u2019t gone mainstream yet, it will on April 30 in Toronto. With more than 40,000 fans expected to attend at the Rogers Center in Toronto, UFC 129 will shatter the promotion\u2019s attendance record. The UFC has a lot riding on this card, which has two title fights and a truckload of Canadian fighters. BET NOW!<\/p>\n

Looking for the best site online\u00a0for UFC gambling<\/a> matchups?<\/strong> <\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here\u2019s an updated look at the current UFC title picture. It includes the advent of two new weight classes from the WEC, TOP contenders, the best fighters and more in a 2011 MMA Handicapping article…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":195,"featured_media":36785,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1436],"tags":[28750,48581,3544,48587,15634,48594,48593,48595,41942,48589,48588,48591,1930,48582,48592,48590,48583,48586,48584,48596,48580,23331,2931,48597,48576,2105,1942,48577,48574,48579,48578,37755,48575,48585],"class_list":["post-37453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fight-club","tag-28750","tag-2011-ufc","tag-anderson-silva","tag-bantamweight","tag-best-mma-fighters","tag-best-strikeforce-fighters","tag-best-ufc-fighters","tag-best-wec-fighters","tag-cain-velasquez","tag-dominick-cruz","tag-featherweight","tag-frankie-edgar","tag-georges-st-pierre","tag-heavyweight","tag-jon-jones","tag-jose-aldo","tag-light-heavyweight","tag-lightweight","tag-middleweight","tag-mma-handicapping","tag-strikeforce","tag-top-contenders","tag-ufc","tag-ufc-129","tag-ufc-champions","tag-ufc-picks","tag-ufc-predictions","tag-ufc-preview","tag-ufc-title-preview","tag-ufc-top-performers","tag-ufc-weight-class","tag-wec","tag-weight-classes","tag-welterweight"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/195"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37453"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37453\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37499,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37453\/revisions\/37499"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}