5oz’s of Fury: UFC 76 Fallout

Columns, News

I don’t know what’s funnier, the fact that CondomDepot.com is an MMA sponsor, or the fact that some of the fighters have CondomDepot.com advertised on the ass of their shorts.

Anyway, it was a wild UFC 76 that was just lousy with surprises and upsets, and I went back to my streak of going one for five in predictions. Let’s take a look at five of the winners and losers, and see where they go next.

FORREST GRIFFIN
I think Forrest had the biggest win of the night. Shogun Rua is/was considered by many to be the #1 light heavyweight, and Forrest didn’t just beat him, he choked him out. That was a huge win, combined with Griffin’s popularity and Dana White’s love of money; I could easily see Rampage Jackson vs. Forrest Griffin as the next fight. Then, after that, either a rematch against Tito Ortiz or Keith Jardine. Speaking of whom…

KEITH JARDINE
Defeating Chuck Liddell via a split decision is in no way a small winner either. Jardine went from dominating Griffin, to getting dominated by Houston Alexander, to a victory over who ESPN has been selling as the biggest star in the league. I think since Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva was more than likely scheduled for December, they can easily sell Silva vs. Jardine.

JON FITCH
For those of you wondering, Jon Fitch was the only winner I had predicted all night. With a win over Diego Sanchez, I don’t think there will be any more non-televised fights or Ultimate Fight Nights for him. This cat’s a PPV attraction now. Unfortunately, the welterweight division is really in a holding pattern, waiting for Georges St. Pierre to take on the winner of Matt Serra vs. Matt Hughes. Karo Parisyan would be a good next opponent for Fitch, but I think better would be Marcus “I Have the Coolest Nickname in the History of Nicknames” Davis. It’d be a fight of the two greatest welterweights who you probably don’t know.

DIEGO SANCHEZ
I thought Diego took his loss like a man, admitting that the better man won that night. What’s next for Diego really depends on Diego, because there are reports that he’s considering a drop to lightweight. If he can do it, I think it’d be a great move. The welterweight division is really jacked right now, and a Diego Sanchez vs. BJ Penn fight would be huge.

CHUCK LIDDELL
I’ll be honest, if Chuck Liddell really retires after two losses, I’d lose a little bit of respect for him. Wanderlei Silva is coming off of two huge losses too, but you don’t see him quitting. Hopefully Liddell sticks around, because I think he owes it to himself to see who would win vs. Silva, vs. Shogun, and vs. Dan Henderson. More importantly, he owes it to us. :-)