Interactive Tournament: Welterweight Quarterfinals

There's only two divisions left in the Interactive Tournaments and yes, another begins today... the Welterweights.

It was often said that the Welterweight division was the best division in the UFC. I'm not sure it's still true, but we have some interesting fights in this week's tournament.

Like always, we will first check out last week's results. Last week was the finals of the Heavyweight division and Frank Mir fought Randy Couture head to head. And the result is...

Randy Couture and Frank Mir fought to a 4-4 draw.

I had anticipated that would happen at least once in the whole process. Since I'm the author, I felt most people would be frustrated that I would be the one to cast the final vote and therefore give the victory to one fighter.

Instead, I asked two B/R writers that didn't vote in the last Interactive Tournament to leave me their vote. Robert Desroches was the writer to send in his vote first and had the chance to choose the winner.

His vote was for Frank Mir, so Frank Mir is your official Heavyweight winner of the Interactive Tournament. With that said, let's begin the Welterweight Interactive Tournament.

Quarterfinals fight 1: Thiago Alves vs. Karo Parisyan

Ok, ok, I'm sorry another rematch, but the Heavyweight Interactive Tournament didn't have any, it was going to happen sooner or later, right?

Every week, I write those articles and say how each fighter can beat the other, but honestly, it's hard for me to find a way Karo could beat Alves; I think you guys can understand.

Alves has shown with every fight that he has great stand-up skills and is one of the toughest guys to take down. The last time they fought, Karo got a tooth knocked out of his mouth.

I think Alves is a better fighter, but Karo could still get a lucky punch or submission. Karo Parisyan has his chances, but could he make the best of them?

Does Alves win again? Or can Parisyan win this time?

Quarterfinals fight 2: Matt Hughes vs. Mike Swick

Mike Swick is a great fighter and a great wrestler but as far as wrestling is concerned, not much are better then Matt Hughes in the Welterweight division other than Georges St-Pierre.

Hughes has made a career of beating up opponents with brutal takedowns and vicious ground and pound.

I think Hughes still has some fight left in him, and a fight against Swick would be interesting. A victory puts him right back into the title picture.

Mike Swick is a tall and lean fighter who has great all-around skills. He's good at striking, he has good BJJ, he has good wrestling, he has good cardio, he's one of the guys at 170 who could give GSP some problems.

Swick has a huge reach advantage over Hugues and could KO Matt like he's done to so many other fighters before.

Can Matt Hughes defeat Mike Swick?

Quarterfinals fight 3: Jon Fitch vs. Marcus Davis

This is a very interesting fight because Marcus Davis likes to bang and Fitch has a metal jaw.

Fitch is the kind of fighter who is good everywhere but doesn't excel at anything in particular. His strength is wrestling, and against Davis, it could end up looking like the Davis/Swick fight, where Davis was taken down time and again and lost by decision.

Fitch is a great fighter who would definitely pose a lot of problems to "The Irish Hand Grenade."

Marcus' advantage is his heart;, this guy is what a fighter is all about. Davis is a tough fighter that has stones in his hands. Maybe Fitch was able to get back up from GSP's shots, but last time I checked, Marcus had more devastating punches than St-Pierre.

Marcus could KO Fitch with a well placed punch, but Fitch is very talented and could dispose of Marcus in many different ways.

Who wins this one?

Quarterfinals fight 4: Josh Koscheck vs. Carlos Condit

This would be a great fight. Condit is the WEC Welterweight champion and Koscheck has been a top Welterweight contender for a while now.

Condit and Koscheck are the same, they have great cardio, they have good striking skills and both men have good submissions, although I would give Condit the advantage in submissions.

Koscheck has better wrestling skills than Condit, and they could really win him the fight. In my opinion, it's a really close fight that could see a thousand different endings.

Who would win this tough fight?

Now that the quarterfinals are set, it's time to leave your votes. We have some interesting fights scheduled, and I think the semifinals will be great