UFC Options

[Robert]

Any UFC fans?
I got bored with it a long time ago but now I'm interested again.
I happen to catch a marathon rerun of the ultimate fighter show (season 8). I normally can't stand reality shows but found this one entertaining. It was interesting to get a behind the scenes look at what their training regiment is like. I ended up liking it so much, I downloaded or ebayed the other 7 seasons of the show. Now I'm really hooked on watching all the UFC fights. Back in the early glory days it was amazing to watch Royce Gracie completely outclass every opponent. Now I see the same overwhelming technical abilities in Lyoto Machida. It's amazing this guy hasn't been given a title shot yet with a 14-0 record in MMA.
He already easily beaten several previous title holders.
I guess a lot of people have complained his fights are boring. I think he's the most interesting people to watch because his style is completely different than anyone else fighting. Everything from his stance to his striking method is just so far beyond everyone else out there right now. For example he landed a perfect switch-kick in his last match, never seen that before in a UFC fight. I read on 1 site which compiles fight stats, Lyoto Machida lands the highest percentage of strike of all the fighters in the UFC. Not only that, he also has one of the lowest percentages of received strikes, where an opponent tries to hit him an succeeds. It will be interesting to see how well he fights after taking a lot of damage, because it's never happened in his previous 14 fights.

I predict once he gets a title shot in the 205lb division, he will probably set a new record for the longest winning streak.

[Robert]

I think Forrest/Silva was a marketing brainstorm by Dana White. It had to suck to me him after the last fight, without a doubt one of the best fighters in the world ( Silva ) but no one would pay to see him after 2 poor crappy back to back fights.
I'm not sure how well Forrest will do after being out for so long with a broken hand. What I do know is Forrest is one of the few in the 205lb division who is guaranteed to push Silva.
One small problem is what will happen if Machida wins his next fight because he and Silva said they will not fight each other as they as friends and training partners. So if Machida wins an becomes the LHW champ, Silva will be fighting in a weight class where he can't challenge for the belt. I would hate to see Silva keep the Middleweight belt while doing most of his fighting in the next weight class. It would be very unfair for the rest of the fighters in the Middleweight division. Same as what BJ Penn is doing in the Lightweight division. Penn holds the LW belt but rarely defends it because he is busy fighting in a different weight class.
Penn's last LW title fight was in May of 2008, his next one won't be until Aug 2009, 15 months without a title fight in the LW division. Damn unfair to everyone else in the division.
Roger Huerta was ready an deserved a title shot with his 22-1 record but Penn was busy fighting in another weight class.
I would love to see a rule where any title holder has to defend their title at least once a year or lose the belt.

I've recently started going through all of Dana White's video blogs, very interesting behind the scenes look at the UFC