Interactive Tournament: Heavyweight Quarterfinals

Welcome to another edition of the interactive tournament. The Lightweight and Light-Heavyweight divisions are a thing of the past, and now only three divisions remain. This week, the heavyweights compete for your votes.

Before we start, let's take a look at last week's results. Last week, the finals of the Light-Heavyweight division was between Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida.

To my surprise, Rampage won the vote 10-6 over Machida.

Rampage Jackson is your winner of the interactive tournament Light-Heavyweight edition. Lucky for you, a Rampage vs. Rashad fight should take place soon, maybe at UFC 100, after Rampage beats Jardine.

Now, I'm happy to announce that there are no rematches this time in the tournament, so enjoy:

Quarterfinal fight 1: Frank Mir vs. Shane Carwin

Wow, how about this fight, interesting isn't it? Frank Mir is the current UFC interim Heavyweight champion and Carwin is an up-and-comer in the division. This is an unpredictable fight.

Frank Mir seems to have the advantage on the ground. He has proven over the years that he is one of the greatest submission fighters in the heavyweight division.

I would have to give Shane the wrestling and ground-and-pound though. Carwin is stronger and could push Mir around a bit and take the fight to the ground and try not to get caught in a submission.

The interesting part is the stand up. Mir showed a different side of himself against Nogueira and displayed great boxing skills. Carwin is no stranger to the striking game and as to who would get the advantage is what I'm interested in.

Carwin has shown his power and I am sure he can KO Mir, while Mir probably can't KO Carwin. Both men have their strengths; it's about who executes his gameplan the best.

Who do you think wins?

Quarterfinal fight 2: Gabriel Gonzaga vs Cheick Kongo

This is a fight I have been wanting to see for a while now. Both men are talented fighters and have shined in the UFC, but they never made it to the top.

They both have a victory over Mirko Cro Cop and both have disappointing losses, "Napao" against Werdum, and Kongo against Herring.

Both men have been on a roll lately, Kongo has shown some very impressive kickboxing skills against Dan Evensen and Al-Turk. His ground game hasn't been tested much, so his BJJ skills are unknown. One thing is for sure, Kongo is primarily a stand-up fighter.

Gabriel Gonzaga is a very talented BJJ fighter that has submitted some very good fighters. Gonzaga has also shown some very good kickboxing skills in his impressive victory of Cro Cop and in his fight against Couture. It would be interesting to see who would get the better of the stand up part.

Who do you think would win?

Quarter Final fight 3: Antonio Nogueira vs Junior Dos Santos

Antonio "Minotauro" Nogueira was one of the best Heavyweight fighters in MMA. He was probably the best ground specialist in his division and has fought the best.

Unfortunately, in his last fight, he was dominated by Frank Mir. Mir showed great boxing skills and was able to do what no man has ever done, finish off Nogueira.

Junior Dos Santos was probably feeling the pressure of having to fight Fabricio Werdum, especially considering that not much people where giving him a chance. Werdum was considered one of the best fighters in the division and surprise, he was KO.

Dos Santos showed great boxing skills, the same boxing skills that finished off Nogueira in the first place. We don't know what is going on with Nog; did he have a bad night against Mir, or maybe he's just at the end of his career?

One thing is for sure, Nogueira would have to be train hard for Dos Santos's boxing skills.

What do you think?

Quarterfinal fight 4: Randy Couture vs. Cain Valasquez

Randy and Cain have a similar style when you look at it. Both men are good everywhere, but their main strength is their wrestling and imposing their will. Cain is undefeated in the UFC and has shown alot of promise in his last fights.

Randy Couture was away from the octagon for a while and when he returned, he was beaten by Brock Lesnar and lost the Heavyweight title.

As to who would be better where, it's hard to say, like I said both men have a similar style and it would probably end up being who has the better gameplan.

Couture or Valasquez?

The quarterfinals for the heavyweight division is set, I think it's very interesting fights so be sure to leave your votes.