The UFC's Welterweight Division is easily one of its deepest.
With a title match scheduled for Dec. 29 between Matt Serra and Matt Hughes, here's a look at the best of the best...
Champion
Matt Serra won The Ultimate Fighter comeback show and got an immediate title shot against Georges St. Pierre at UFC 69.
He caught GSP with a nice punch, which meant game over—Serra was the champion.
Fans and other fighters were surprised, calling it lucky. As lucky as it may have been, all it takes is one punch.
Serra's first defense will come against former champion Matt Hughes. This will be his chance to show everyone he deserves to be the champ.
Serra will have his hands full with Hughes, and may have to pull off another miracle to win. He has a very good ground game and can win the fight from his back if he needs to.
Serra is just 6-4 in the Octagon. A win over Hughes will put him on top of the division without any question marks.
Top Contenders
Georges St. Pierre is the No. 1 fighter in this division—and possibly the world.
After tearing through Matt Hughes at UFC 65, GSP was set for his first title defense against Serra. The upset was a stunning one.
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GSP took on Josh Koscheck in his return bout, and put together a perfect game plan by outwrestling a world-class wrestler. St. Pierre now awaits the winner of the Serra vs. Hughes.
St. Pierre has a wealth of skills and techniques in his tool belt. Look for GSP to become the Welterweight Champion again early in 2008.
Matt Hughes is coming off a very lackluster win against Chris Lytle at UFC 68, which gave him an immediate title shot against Serra.
Hughes doesn't like Serra, and the hype surrounding their title fight in December is growing as The Ultimate Fighter season unfolds.
Hughes is possibly one of the best champions the UFC has ever had, and is very hungry to get the belt back. With a recent change in camps, he cold possibly change his game plan, but that's highly unlikely.
Hughes is the No. 3 guy in the division right now. He is 34 years old and has admitted he doesn't know how many fights he has left in him.
Will this be the last we see of Matt Hughes if he loses to Serra? I hope not—but only time will tell.
On The Cusp
Jon Fitch has a very impressive 19-2-1 record, and is 7-0 in the UFC.
He has been on a tear, and after a recent victory over Diego Sanchez is looking to move up in the division.
A fight between Fitch and Josh Koscheck may be next, but don't be surprised if he takes on the loser of the title fight. Fitch should be next in line after GSP to challenge for the title should he win his next fight.
Fitch is a deceptively strong wrestler. He's on the verge of a title shot—with one more win he should get one sometime in 2008.
Josh Koscheck boasts a 7-2 record in the UFC, with a recent loss to GSP.
A win in that fight may have secured a title shot next year.
Kos is an outstanding wrestler who has evolved into a complete mixed martial artist over the past few years. A fight with Fitch would make sense for the UFC, and would match two great wrestlers against each other.
Karo Parisyan is 25-4 overall and 7-2 in the UFC. He is coming off back-to-back wins and has been trying to climb the Welterweight ladder for some time now.
Parisyan has tremendous judo skills, and punishes his opponents with his throws and ground-and-pound skills. He has a very tough fight coming up on Nov. 17th vs. Ryo Chonan—a win will put him right in the mix with Fitch and Koscheck.
Parisyan has the skill to do very well in this sport; he just needs his big break. Let's hope for a big year from Karo Parisyan, because he never disappoints the crowd.
Two other notables are Diego Sanchez, who has back-to-back losses, and Marcus Davis, who has a nice win streak going.
There's your breakdown of the elite in the UFC's 170-pound division. All told, 2008 promises to be a very exciting year for the welterweights. Look for the title to change hands more than once.
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10 months ago
good breakdown chappy! Jon Fitch has been in the shadows too long now. With his win over diego, there is now way he can be overlooked as a future contender
10 months ago
Since GSP hasn't had a fight and has been in a holding pattern since his win over Kos, why isn't anyone pushing for him to have a fight with Fitch or someone else before the end of the year, or (gasp) even on the same card as Hughes vs Serra? That way all of the fighters would have the same amount of time to train for the Gsp vs ??? match that will follow? By not having a fight until next year won't Georges have an unfair advantage over his opponent? Would it be so awful for him to have another fight?
from 9 months ago
I don't know if GSP taking this much time off is really an advantage. You can liken it to Baseball Playoffs. Sure, the team loves the idea of having all that time off to heal up but in the end, no matter what you're doing to keep the edge, you could still show some considerable rust. Personally, I would LOVE to see a GSP fight on the already stacked Dec. 29th for GSP's sake as we wouldn't have to worry about him getting that 'rust'. I don't see it happening as GSP is one of those guys who seems to typically be on the top of his game all the time. With that said I don't see them pushing for GSP to get another match in prior to his matchup with the winner of Sara/Hughes. The division has some pretty great guys in it, but if GSP was to go down prior to his match with Sara/Hughes UFC and Dana White could find themselves scrambling to plug one of the other guys into what is likely to be a sure-fire main event match.
9 months ago
Hey Fletcher, Are we both lucky or what? Fate smiled on a lot of us with Georges taking the fight with Hughes after Serra was injured. Just keep praying for everyone to stay well and hope for the best outcome possible.
8 months ago
After GSP beats Serra in 08 he should take on Fitch. After that fight provided GSP wins and I am fairly confident he will...who is there left in the WW division for GSP? The guy is just a freak both skill wise and athletically speaking. I dont see anyone that can defeat him but himself. As he matures alittle more he will have a sound mind aswell an be completely unstoppable. The only guy with a better skill set then GSP i have ever seen is BJ Penn, but at 170 pounds he is not in GSP's class.
The only option which GSP will be faced with soon is a move up in weight class...just for the hell of it.
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