170 problems and GSP ain't one

This got interesting.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has had or will have three of it's shows headlined by welterweights and not of them includes a guy you may know, Georges St.Pierre

You know, that French-Canadian who has dominated the 170 pound bracket like UCONN's women's basketball team in NCAA play. GSP has beaten everyone under the sun andis now matched up with interim welterweight champion Carlos Condit for a date to be announced.

The question is how does this injury help the division to be rebuilt and re-brandedwith the likes of Carlos Condit, Nick Diaz (maybe), Jake Ellenberger, Diego Sanchez, Thiago Alves and Martin Kampmann.

It's stacked and that is a damn good thing

On Saturday, Feburary 4th, 2012 the UFC held UFC 143: 'Diaz vs. Condit' and like the Joker in the 'Dark Knight', Condit took all their plans and flipped them on themselves.

Carlos Condit won a heatly debated unanimous decision that has left many wanting a rematch between him and Diaz. I have no problem with the rematch idea but i'dlike to see both compete in different match ups after the lackluster affair.

Actually, i'd just like to see Nick Diaz compete again and based onw hat we have come to know of Diaz he most likely will return to slug it out.

UFC on Fuel 1 is headlined by former Ultimate Fighter winner and former lightweight contender Diego Sanchez vs. Jake Ellenberger. This fight has possible 'Fight of the Year'written all over it with two of the most exciting fighters involved.

Sanchez, has a pace that cannot be matched by many and that includes Clay Guida. He is a 'jack of all trades but, a master of none' when it come sto fighting skills. His one intangible that seems to be his cardiovascular aptitude. We've seen 'The NightmareDream' go balls-out. It may have even stolen him some fights when he should have lost.

Ellenberger, is getting his second straight television main event and he is hoping to bank it for a pay per view headlining gig coming near to you. He is coming off a impressive smashing of Jake Sheilds at UFC Fight Night: 'Sheilds vs. Ellenberger'. His biggest assets are his hands of stone and his sprawl to avoid takedowns. He is built like his nickname 'The Juggernaut' and if you want some well, you will surely hear 'I'm the Juggernaut, Bitch!"

The fight should post the higher ranked fighter and with Jon Fitch getting knocked out at UFC 140 faster than Victor Cruz down the sidelines. I think an Ellenberger win will push him a win away from title contention or a possible rematch with Carlos Condit before the St.Pierre return this fall.

Diego Sanchez like it or not, is a top draw in this game. He was built slowly by the way of Spike TV fights following 'The Ultimate Fighter' and whenever i'm at a bar and he's on the card-people are talking. He may not be a knockout artist but he indeed made a fight with Jon Fitch somewhat exciting.

How many can say that (Except Johnny Hendricks)

Possible match ups based on a win:

Jake Ellenberger vs. Nick Diaz (A fireworks display between two top five welterweights)
Diego Sanchez vs. Johnny Hendricks (One guy with KO power and a guy who will keep moving forward)

UFC on FX 2 features two fighters who have had their ups and downs of the last bit of time. Martin Kampmann vs. Thiago Alves will surely write a lot about either ones fate at ever gaining or in Alves' case, regaining a title shot in the future.

In each fighters past five fights, Alves is a 2-3 with his loses to Georges St. Pierre (UFC 100), Jon Fitch (117) and Rick Story (UFC 130) His wins came over John Howard (UFC 124) and Papy Abedi (UFC 138). His losses were to elite wrestlers and he wasn't stopped. The bad is that he only has one win by stoppage since 2008 when he faced Matt Hughes (UFC 85).

Alves' gameplan is not that complicated and still it's hard to nulify it unless you have amazing wrestling. He was able to not get wrestled by Josh Koscheck (UFC 90) or by Matt Hughes. He has to see what worked there and he has to improve upon that. Nobody wants to stand with Alves unless you think your striking is better which in most cases it is not.

The saving grace is that Kampmann isn't a dominant wrestler but has pretty good trips and takedowns from the clinch. If Alves can bring a pace that Sanchez was able to bring he may be able to overwhelm Kampmann with his striking as it is much cleaner and crisper then 'The Dream's'. He may wnat to strike from distance and use a leg kick to batter Kampmann.

Kampmann is 3-2 in his past five fights and has losses to fomer welterweight contender Jake Shields (UFC 121) and Diego Sanchez (UFC Live: Sanchez vs. Kampmann). Many fans say he should ahve won these fights based on how close theyw ere. Kampmann holds wins over Jacob Volkmann (UFC 108), Paulo Thiago (UFC 115) and Rick Story (UFC 139).

Kampmann usually brings a smart gameplan as he has beaten a wide array of opponents and holds no outstanding flaws much like Diego Sanchez. He has good grappling as he holds a brown belt under much-respected grappler Robert Drysdale. He has skills in striking as he has 7 KO/TKO but only one under the UFC banner. He has gotten caught by Nate Marquardt at middleweight and by British slugger Paul Daley (UFC 103).

If Kampmann is wanting to win then he must avoid Alves on the feet and keep 'The Pitbull' against the cage. He hasn't lost in the UFCby submission so he should have no problem taking this to the ground. The uglier he can get this looking for the fans then he should win.

Possible match ups for either fighter with a win:

Martin Kampmann vs. Rory Mcdonald (If he wins at UFC 145) or Brian Ebersole (Rory and 'Hitman' would be a great test for either. Hitman is slowly becoming gatekeeper and that's thanks to some judges. Hima nd Rory would be afun tussle. 'Hitman' versus Ebersole also would answer a lot for both men. It will either squash Ebersole's rise through decent fighter or prove he is legit should he win.)

Thaigo Alves vs. Jake Shields/Yoshiro Akiyama winner or Dan Hardy. (Alves hasn't won back to back in over two years and if he can get past Kampmann expect the UFC to let him get back on track. Alves is a fun fighter,a fan favorite so getting him over is easy. We saw what Ellenberger could do to Shields and we all accept that Alves is at good-if not better at striking then Ellenberger. Akiyama is fun fighter and at 170 pounds may be a real deal. The possibility of Alves-Hardy would be a slugfest and Alves may prefer this fight as he has a better chin than Hardy.)

So Maniaci's whatcha think?