The New Breed to Challenge Brock Lesnar

With Frank Mir out of the way for now, it looks like the new breed of UFC heavyweight have finally stepped up to challenge for the title. Junior Dos Santos, Shane Carwin and Cain Velasquez have all had phenomenal results lately and look poised to challenge for Brock Lesnar's title. Each of them seem technically superior to Lesnar but ultimately it is Brock's power that will determine how far they can go against him. Carwin has the size and technical ability to compete with Brock. He's also a smart fighter who seems to apply strategy effectively. Lesnar is a great athlete but not yet a great MMA fighter. All of these challengers will have a legitimate shot at dethroning Brock. Remember, Lesnar himself is probably more of a neophyte in the sport than any of these guys.

No Serious Challengers in the UFC for Georges St. Pierre

It looks like Georges St. Pierre's only real welterweight challengers are in Strikeforce. Namely, Nick Diaz or Jake Shields. GSP has already beaten Thiago Alves and Jon Fitch who are the two top guys behind him. Anderson Silva is the only fight of interest at middleweight but St. Pierre has already indicated that Silva may be too big for him. Besides, Silva is talking about fighting at heavyweight let alone challenging a welterweight.

Dana White may be able to sign Jake Shields whose last fight on his Strikeforce contract is coming up this year against Dan Henderson. Assuming Henderson wins, Strikeforce may sign back Shields to move him to welterweight for a challenge against Nick Diaz. If Shields wins Strikeforce wouldn't want to lose their current middleweight champion and would fight to sign him back. Either way, the UFC would want to get Shields to move him to welterweight and challenge GSP. Shields himself wants to be a welterweight.

The growth and phenomenal talent in Strikeforce is going to become a major thorn in Dana White's side. Strikeforce has top three caliber guys fighting at lightweight (Gilbert Melendez / Shinya Aoki), welterweight (Shields / Diaz), middleweight (Henderson), light heavyweight (Gegard Mousasi) and heavyweight (Fedor Emelianenko). In some cases, this is creating a major void in MMA. St. Pierre is one example while Fedor at heavyweight is another.

St Pierre Wins Boring Fight and Mir Brutally Knocked Out

Georges St Pierre had to go five rounds with Dan Hardy and was frustrated as he couldn't finish off Hardy despite getting a solid arm bar and kimura on two separate occasions. Hardy showed heart by not submitting but St Pierre should have taken his arm off for that. Regardless of how boring and painful the fight was a win is a win. Georges was clearly superior to Dan Hardy who had no place in the ring with him. In the co-main event Shane Carwin dismantled Frank Mir with a brutal knockout. Carwin showed his power by backing Mir up against the cage and eventually creating space to land several powerful uppercuts that eventually dropped Mir. Carwin jumped on him on the ground and pounded until the referee stopped the fight. Overall, it wasn't a spectacular event for the UFC. The biggest result was the Carwin result which will set up a fight with Brock Lesnar now.

Marcos Maidana Knocks Out Victor Cayo with Vicious Body Shot

Marcos Maidana took another step forward in the light welterweight division by knocking out future contender Victor Cayo with a solid body shot in the middle rounds. Cayo looked good in the fight but seemed to be weary of Maidana's power. Maidana ultimately caught Cayo with a great body shot that put him down for the ten count. Cayo looked impressive at times during the fight but didn't have the mature defense to hold on against Maidana. Maidana now needs to stop fighting young contenders and find a truly established light welterweight to battle against. Amir Khan is too young, still maturing his defense and, quite frankly, has better options out there. Maidana needs to fight a Timothy Bradley or Ricky Hatton type mature top fighter now who might need this fight to get back into title contention or generate more interest (Bradley).

Andre Dirrell Wins by DQ Over Arthur Abraham

In an interesting fight of styles Andre Dirrell pulled out the upset DQ win against Arthur Abraham when Abraham hit him while he was down after he slipped to the mat. Dirrell was winning on points with his significant speed and punch output when Abraham started to come on in the later rounds. Dirrell showed great resiliency and a phenomenal chin after taking some hard shots. In the end Abraham made a crucial mistake of hitting Dirrell while he was down. Dirrell seemed to be knocked out after the punch although immediately after he seemed okay. All of a sudden he went down and started twitching as if he was badly out cold. My initial reaction was that he was faking but after seeing the replay it certainly was a clean shot that hit him and he could have had a legitimate delayed reaction. Regardless, the punch landed while Dirrell was down - Abraham deserved to lose the fight by DQ. Dirrell now gets 2 points for the win and will move on to face Andre Ward in his next fight. Abraham will be stuck at 3 points after his great KO of Jermain Taylor in the first round of the Super Six Tournament.

UFC 111: Georges St. Pierre Ready for Challenge from Dan Hardy Tonight

GSP and Frank Mir look to take it to the next level tonight against relatively new challengers Dan Hardy and Shane Carwin tonight. GSP is the heavy favorite against Dan Hardy who really only has a punchers chance being a solid striker according to most pundits. Frank Mir and Shane Carwin should be a much more interesting and, in theory, evenly matched fight although it might not last as long. Carwin is a power puncher with great wrestling skills while Mir is an experienced striker and ground fighter. I expect both GSP and Frank Mir to win but upsets are certainly possible. St. Pierre claims to be more ready for this fight then ever before so it will be interesting to see the strategy he uses against Hardy. This UFC 111 card is definitely worth peaking into.

Jon Jones stops Brandon Vera

Jon Jones has officially entered the elite of the UFC light heavyweight division by stopping Brandon Vera in the first round after a vicious elbow to the temple last night. Vera had been an outstanding prospect for a long time but never materialized despite wins over big names like Frank Mir. Vera's efforts have been inconsistent to say the least. Jones now becomes a truly top notch prospect who will demand fights with the elite of the division moving forward.

In other action, Junior Dos Santos knocked out Gabriel Gonzaga in a great effort. Gonzaga should have taken him to the ground but didn't and suffered the consequences. Dos Santos in one of the best heavyweight strikers in the UFC but hasn't been greatly challenged on the ground yet. Gonzaga could have been the guy to take him to the ground and test his abilities there but missed the opportunity.

Overall, this card sets up some interesting potential fights for both Jones and Dos Santos moving forward.

Wladimir Klitschko takes on Eddie Chambers tonight for the Heavyweight Crown

Wladimir Klitschko is fighting the best heavyweights out there. Chambers is certainly one of them despite being a huge underdog. Not sure how interesting this fight will be but it is available online instead of on television PPV for anyone interested. The fight is being held live in Germany (5pm EST time). The heavyweight division is currently ruled by Wladimir Klitschko and his brother Vitali Klitschko. There aren't any serious threats out there at the moment but smaller heavyweights like David Haye and Alexander Povetkin have made some noise. Until someone seriously challenges them we'll have to watch the brothers fight the Chambers of the world and hope for some excitement in the process.

Amir Khan ready to take New York by storm against Paulie Malignaggi

Amir Khan makes his long awaited American debut against Paulie Malignaggi on May 15th in Madison Square Garden. Khan's time to shine is now at the ultimate boxing venue. Malignaggi is a New Yorker so will have home court advantage but Khan will have the speed, power and talent on his side. Expect Khan to take advantage and propel himself into super stardom. Boxing has the potential to make worldwide superstars like no other sport. Khan is the type of guy that can take advantage of that. Handling the pressure will be essential to determining how far the 23 year old can go. Manny Pacquiao, Khan's training partner, has done superbly well in becoming the pound for pound king of boxing. Khan has the same trainer and similar talents. He just needs the experience. May 15th will be his next growth opportunity against a guy who is a solid talent in his prime.