Fighters To Keep An Eye On In 2010: Welterweights

The welterweight division may just be the most complete division in the entire sport. It is a division that is littered with elite strikers like Paul Daley, slick submission specialists like Dustin Hazelett, and championship wrestlers like Josh Koscheck; the division truly offers something for every fight fan out there.

Ruling the roost of this talented division is none other than Georges St. Pierre; a man who many believe is the most complete fighter is all of MMA.

With a division that is so diverse and talented what two fighters should fans be on the lookout for this year?

Ben Saunders, UFC

While not the year that Saunders was expecting to have, he managed to gather himself after an embarrassing loss to Mike Swick and end 2009 on a high note with his absolutely brutal beating of the always game Marcus Davis at UFC 106.

Having only two fights last year makes it difficult to get an accurate read on exactly where Saunders is in his progression, but one thing is for sure, the kid has some serious potential.

The biggest question mark in Saunders’ game right now is his wrestling, and with guys like Fitch and Koscheck patrolling the top of the division Saunders will need to put a lot of focus into that area.

If Saunders can get into the Octagon at least three times this year, and he can string some victories together while continuing to improve he could find himself in the UFC top-ten mix.

Tyron Woodley, Strikeforce

2009 marked Woodley’s first year of professional competition, and what a year it was; five fights, five wins, and all five coming by way of submission.

The former All-American wrestler from Missouri has shown an utterly explosive and technical ground game and considering that he has only been training for a few short years there is no telling how awesome he will be once he learns the finer points of the sport.

Strikeforce has done a great job thus far bringing him along and allowing him to develop him game, but when you take a look of the current state of their WW division it isn’t exactly their power division. They don’t even have a champion as it stands today.

With a couple more strong performances and continued growth Woodley will likely find himself fighting for the title in the latter part of this year.

He’s not quite ready to take that step yet, but with his incredible athleticism and his sponge like learning ability he will be soon.