I was so excited when I read about that this morning.

This is going to be a ground war, and I hope that Thales Leites makes Marquardt tap.

I think that if Thales wins, I think Thales fights Ed Herman or Joe Dork and the winner fights Anderson Silva.

WAR THALES!

I think Leites wins by SUB then gets a title shot

i think nate will win this fight and with another win or two after he might get a second crack at anderson. i think if leites wins he gets and immediate title shot with these being his fourth ufc win in a row especially beating somebody as well rounded and skilled as nate.

this could could be a nail biter. I still think leites by submission. If he could beat nate, and win two more figths against top opponents he should have a good chance to beat silva. well maybe not Anderson is a BEAST!!

he wont beat nate, but a good fight none the less!

winner of this fight should face off against okami and the winner of that fight gets title shot

winner of this fight should face off against okami and the winner of that fight gets title shot

Great Idea, except for the fact that Okami is no longer with the UFC!

Mate vs. leites will be a good fight. That card is shaping up to be pretty good, all thats missing from the superbowl weekend card is Couture vs. Noguerra

Hey Machine:

How many damn times do I have to tell you all to 4get about Machida. He will NEVER fight for a title at 205. With all the animals in the UFC LHW division do you really think Dana is gonna give a title shot to a guy that cant finish anyone? Come on, use your heads. You got killers like Wanderlei, shogun, rampage, forrest, and you want Machida to be the champ….Not a chance that will ever happen. Machida is nothing special.

As for Sokoudjou, they should have let Soko vs. Houston headline UFC 78 event. Think about it both fighters are in a simular situation. Soku came out of nowhere and destroyed Arona, and Rogerio. Houston was even less known and he came out and destroyed Sakara and Jardine. I would love to see these two fight each other. talk about Fireworks. Soko has some of the nasties leg kicks that I have ever seen and he has hands of stone, Ko’ing Arona with a nasty right hand, and Ko’ing Noguera with an onpoint left hook.

Houston is a beast in his own right who also has hands of granite and nasty knees to go along with some grown man strength. If they were in the same cage together…Wow!

Please lets all forget Machida, until he Ko’s or submits someone he is pretty much irrelevant. His own father said that he has to star finishing fights so what does that tell you?

So by your logic, a fighter is only worth his weight in gold if he wins by KO or sub? Unanimous, not split but Unanimous decisions dont count in your book? Clearly beating an opponent up & out-fighting your foe for 15min means nothing? I should forget about him? In that case, I should not only write-off Machida but a slew of other talented fighters as well.

Do you honestly have real respect for the fight game or are you simply looking to see someone’s block get knocked off? just because you personally dont like a fighter doesnt dismiss that fighters capability & skill.

Although I value your opinion I’ve gotta strongly disagree with your Machida comments. You have a right not to be enamored by a particular fighter but why all the hate? Just cuz viscious KO power wasnt built into his DNA doesnt make him any less of a fighter. He may never be champ but Flash KO’s & Lucky Punches aside, he has the skill-set to soundly beat anyone at 205 on any given saturday.

1st off…….no one respects the game more than I do. Lets get that clear off the bat. I have my favorites like everyone else, but I always speak objectively. Ko power is an element of being a great fighter, not the only element, but to some degree it is important. For example say Machida fights Baroni hypethetically. Machida could out fight Baroni for 14 minutes and 45 seconds and clearly dominate and outclass baroni, but all it takes is Baroni to land one punch. When you have no KO power and your opponent knows that, he is gonna fight you differently, he is gonna be less tense, less nervous. Knowing that your opponent cannot KO you, is a huge advantage mentally. You can fight someone clearly better than you but in your head you know that he isnt really hurting you.

Also, I wasnt talking strictly about KO power. I was talking about the ability to finish a fight. KO’s or submissions. I know Machida has submissions and is skilled but he will have to show more than what he has shown before I include him in any championship talk, especially in the UFC’s 205 lb division (which is the best out there).

I dont want to see another champion that never finishes a fight (sherk). I am the 1st person on this site to tell you how much I enjoy a long, 25 minute, hard fought WAR, with both fighters laying it all on the line. For example Rampage vs. Henderson… That was a war, neither fighter finished the other, but guess what I was on my seat for 25 minutes knowing that at any moment if Hendo lands one of his wild haymakers, or if Rampage unleashes a nasty uppercut, the fight would be over. Now that is exciting.

Machida has to become a finisher 1st, before ever reaching champion status. There havent been many champions that couldn’t finish fight. There is a reason for that. The Nakamura fight was his best showing in a while, but still come on man, you give 95% of the champions clean shots that Machida was landing, and lights out Kazahiro.

And by the way, KO power is something you can improve on so it is his fault. He has the tools, but he should improve his power. Now if you were to tell me that Machida could or would become champion at 185 I would listen because lets be real, all he has to deal with is Silva, on any given night a high caliber fighter can beat any other High caliber fighter. But you want to talk about Machida champion at 205, I aint buying that. I will tell you right now that will NEVER happen. Theres Rampage, Wanderlei, Forrest, Shogun, Jardine, houston. Machida cant even get past Liddell, so come on you can like the dude but be real… Not at 205. If he drops to 185, possibly, but no way is it ever gonna happen at 205. Sorry.

I think Nate Marquardt should win this fight. Thales is a very good prospect and this fight will be his first real obstacle. Losing to Marquardt will help him in the end.

I am very eager to see the return of Martin Kampmann. It wasn’t long ago you know that he was scheduled for a # 1 contender match up with Rich Franklin. Ya just gotta believe that since his injury, he has been training hard. Any idea on a future opponent ?

Maybe Patrick Cote or Jason MacDonald who just came off of a loss ?

Ever since Thalas lost to Kampmann I just picture him how he was in the 3rd round, looked like he got in a drunken bar fight, stumbling around barely walking with his face all bloodied up and swollen. That was a clinic by Kampmann at the end.

I think Nate Marquardt should win this fight. Thales is a very good prospect and this fight will be his first real obstacle. Losing to Marquardt will help him in the end.

I am very eager to see the return of Martin Kampmann. It wasn’t long ago you know that he was scheduled for a # 1 contender match up with Rich Franklin. Ya just gotta believe that since his injury, he has been training hard. Any idea on a future opponent ?

Maybe Patrick Cote or Jason MacDonald who just came off of a loss ?

I agree with everything. Great post.

I think Nate Marquardt should win this fight. Thales is a very good prospect and this fight will be his first real obstacle. Losing to Marquardt will help him in the end.

I am very eager to see the return of Martin Kampmann. It wasn’t long ago you know that he was scheduled for a # 1 contender match up with Rich Franklin. Ya just gotta believe that since his injury, he has been training hard. Any idea on a future opponent ?

Maybe Patrick Cote or Jason MacDonald who just came off of a loss ?

Hey Kevin Kelly: is Kampan healed from his injury? Because I am also dying to see him fight again. He was very impressive against Mcfedries. He took some Nasty shots from Mcfedries, he then whethered the storm and finished drew with a great arm triangle choke. I am also curious to see who they will match him up with in his first fight back. Kevin, If you hear somethiong keep me informed.

I am very eager to see the return of Martin Kampmann. It wasn’t long ago you know that he was scheduled for a # 1 contender match up with Rich Franklin. Ya just gotta believe that since his injury, he has been training hard. Any idea on a future opponent

Kampmann has been missing for way too long. 8 months and counting!

Marquardt has never looked good to me.

Just wanted to clarify this statement. He has never impressed me, especially considering all the hype he had coming into the UFC. And then he get a title shot by winning 3 straight untelevised preliminary fights? What a joke.

I think Patrick Cote is going to move up, only wins from here on out.Big trouble for anyone who fights him.
I know it’s off topic but I saw his name mentioned above and as far as next fight for anderson obviously not cote but just saying cote over anyone in the middleweight division right now until he gets a title shot maybe late 08.
as far as Marquardt vs leites good fight I’m going for Marquardt.

WOW, now this is an awesome awesome fight, i love this…i can’t really see thales winning, but its still gonna be an awesome fight to watch, damn i can’t wait to see this one…

excellent fight if leites pulls this off he has to fight silva next,
but looking forward to the fight, should be explosive

I think Nate wins this fight, but I think if Leites wins then he gets a title shot.

I am assuming Franklin vs. Kampmann in early 2008.

Leites won’t fight Kampmann since he lost to him already.

We’ll see what happens.

What about Terrell? Maybe a Kampmann vs. Terrell match up is in the works. Maybe the UFC is fed up with Terrell.