UFC vs. Bellator: Breaking Down Each Champ vs. Champ Fight
The top two MMA promotions these days are the UFC and Bellator.
For those that are unfamiliar, Bellator is more of a tournament format promotion, as that is how all their champions and No. 1 contenders are crowned.
When the champions are waiting for the No. 1 contenders, they will partake in non-title fights, in which the champions are 12-1 so far.
As far as the UFC, we all know how that works.
So each promotion has seven champions; how would they stack up against each other?
Bantamweight: Dominick Cruz (UFC) vs. Zach Makovsky (Bellator)
1 of 8We'll start off with the little guys in the bantamweight division.
Dominick Cruz is 19-1 in his career, and he avenged the only loss of his career back in July. He is currently on a 10-fight win streak, with four defenses of his bantamweight title. Cruz's only loss was at the hands of Urijah Faber, where he was tapped out with a guillotine choke in the first round back in '07.
Zach Makovsky is 14-2 in his career. His two losses came early in his career, and were both via submission. Makovsky won his title at Bellator 32, where he won the bantamweight tournament to become the inaugural Bellator bantamweight champion. Since then, he has had one fight—a non-title bout which he won in the first round.
A guy like Makovsky could be one of the best in the world, but until he beats some better competition, Dominick Cruz (who has beaten No. 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 in his division) is going to have the edge over him.
Dominick Cruz wins via unanimous decision
Featherweight: Jose Aldo (UFC) vs. Joe Warren (Bellator)
2 of 8Next up is the other weight class that recently came over from the WEC: the featherweights.
Jose Aldo is 20-1 in his career, and the only loss was six years ago—well before Aldo was winning fights at the highest level. Aldo is known as a finisher in his career, as he has finished his opponents in 15 of his 20 victories, though not in his past two. Aldo is known for his lethal striking, and explosiveness.
Joe Warren is 7-2, with one loss coming against Bibiano Fernandes in DREAM, and one coming recently in the quarterfinals of the Bellator bantamweight tournament, as Warren attempted to become a two-division champion. It was quite a brutal one-punch knockout from wrestling stud Alexis Vila, which put Warren out cold on his back.
This fight would be very interesting, as there are a few factors at play.
Warren is a former Olympian in Greco-Roman wrestling, and Aldo has shown a slight issue with wrestlers.
Conversely, Aldo has some serious knockout power, and Warren showed in his last fight that he is, in fact, susceptible to knockout.
Due to experience, and the fact that every fight starts on the feet, I'm giving this one to Aldo. But based on how he performs against Chad Mendes, that could change.
Jose Aldo wins via first round TKO
Lightweight: Frankie Edgar (UFC) vs. Eddie Alvarez (Bellator)
3 of 8This is one of three fights that fans would likely be most excited for, as it would pit Frankie Edgar against Eddie Alvarez.
Frankie Edgar is 14-1-1 in his career, and in his last fight, he avenged the lone loss—and draw—of his career, as he defeated Gray Maynard via fourth round TKO in one of the 10 latest finishes in UFC history. Edgar is the perennial underdog, as he has been the underdog in all four of his title fights. Edgar is arguably a top three pound-for-pound fighter and the No. 1 lightweight in the world.
Eddie Alvarez is 22-2 in his career and is pegged by many as one of the three best lightweights fighting outside the UFC—the others being Gilbert Melendez and Shinya Aoki. Alvarez is one of the longest tenured Bellator champions, with the other being their middleweight champion. Since winning the title, Alvarez has defended it once, had two non-title fights in Bellator, and fought once in DREAM—all of them wins.
Alvarez has the experience factor here, and he has faced some of the top lightweights around today. But much like Makovsky, until he faces some better competition, I can't give him the nod.
Frankie Edgar wins via unanimous decision
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Welterweight: Georges St-Pierre (UFC) vs. Ben Askren (Bellator)
4 of 8This would be a matchup of two of the best wrestlers in MMA today, as Georges St-Pierre is well known in MMA for his wrestling, and Ben Askren was a former freestyle Olympian.
Georges St-Pierre is 22-2 in his MMA career and is a consensus top three pound-for-pound fighter in MMA. St-Pierre has avenged both of the losses in his career, doing so in brutal fashion both times. Currently, he is on a nine-fight winning streak, with six straight defenses of his belt.
Ben Askren is 9-0 in his career and uses his Olympic-caliber wrestling to win decisions over his opponents. Askren won the Bellator title at Bellator 33 and hasn't looked back since. First he won a non-title fight over Nick Thompson, and then won a split-decision over Jay Hieron in the first defense of his title.
Both of these fighters are well known in MMA for their wrestling, and unfortunately for Askren, that's all he's known for. Askren would be beaten and picked apart on the feet by GSP.
Georges St-Pierre wins by unanimous decision
Middleweight: Anderson Silva (UFC) vs. Hector Lombard (Bellator)
5 of 8Next up would likely be one of the most competitive of the champion vs. champion fights, as Anderson "The Spider" Silva would face off against the Bellator champion, Hector Lombard.
Anderson Silva is 31-4 in his career and is 14-0 inside the Octagon. Silva is one of the most experienced fighters around today—not just in his number of fights, but in the magnitude of each fight. Silva has destroyed his competition inside the Octagon, finishing 12 of his 14 opponents. Silva is also a black belt in BJJ, judo, taekwondo, muay Thai and has a yellow rope—the equivalent of a black belt—in capoeira.
Hector Lombard is 30-2-1 [1 NC], and nearly matches the number of fights of Anderson Silva. The one thing that Lombard has that Silva doesn't is a longer unbeaten streak. Lombard has gone 24 fights—more than five years—without a loss. Lombard also has a decorated history, as he was an Olympian in judo in 2000. In addition to a black belt in judo, Lombard has a black belt in BJJ as well.
This is one fight where I'd really like to say that the Bellator champion can pull out the victory. Lombard certainly has the skill set to do it, but he doesn't have the names on his resume to justify the hype behind him.
Anderson Silva wins via first round TKO
Light Heavyweight: Jon Jones (UFC) vs. Christian M'Pumbu (Bellator)
6 of 8This is easily the easiest champion vs. champion fight to make a decision on, and you'll see why.
Jon Jones is 14-1 in his career, and the lone loss was a DQ due to illegal elbows. Jones is being heralded by many as "the next big thing" in MMA. Jones has submissions, striking, wrestling and the intangibles to be the greatest of all time, and has started his path to doing so. He started off in MMA as mainly a wrestler, but he has grown by leaps and bounds each time he has stepped inside the cage.
Christian M'Pumbu is 18-4-1 in his career, and do you remember back on the intro slide where I said that Bellator champions are 12-1 in non-title fights? M'Pumbu is the one. He lost his last fight via unanimous decision to the journeyman Travis Wiuff. Although M'Pumbu was impressive en route to winning the light heavyweight belt, if Bellator brings in any real talent for the next tournament, M'Pumbu will likely be dethroned.
This would clearly be a one sided beatdown, with Jon Jones swinging the hammer. M'Pumbu ended up on his back against Travis Wiuff, and the same would happen with Jones.
Except Jones would proceed to maul him with elbows and punches.
Jon Jones wins via first round TKO
Heavyweight: Cain Velasquez (UFC) vs. Cole Konrad (Bellator)
7 of 8The funny part about these two matching up is the fact that they've competed against each other in the past. Both were NCAA wrestlers, and the former Minnesota Golden Gopher Cole Konrad got the better of Cain Velasquez during that time.
Cain Velasquez is 9-0 in his career, and eight of those victories have been via (T)KO; he's known as "The Terminator" for a reason. He won the heavyweight title at UFC 121 when he defeated Brock Lesnar, but a rotator cuff injury has kept him out of the Octagon since. He will make his return to the cage to face off against Junior dos Santos this Saturday, in the UFC's historic network debut on Fox.
Cole Konrad is 8-0 in his career, and five of his victories have come via decision, without that same killer instinct that Cain possesses. Konrad won the heavyweight title at Bellator 32 in August 2010, and had a non-title fight against Paul Buentello in August 2011. Konrad now awaits the winner of the heavyweight tournament final so that he can attempt to defend his title.
Konrad may have gotten the better of Velasquez when it was only wrestling, but MMA is a whole different game. Cain has the cardio and the striking to put Konrad away.
Cain Velasquez wins via second round TKO
Recap
8 of 8So, basically to recap, the UFC champions all won.
- -Dominick Cruz defeats Zach Makovsky by unanimous decision.
- -Jose Aldo defeats Joe Warren by TKO.
- -Frankie Edgar defeats Eddie Alvarez by unanimous decision.
- -Georges St-Pierre defeats Ben Askren by unanimous decision.
- -Anderson Silva defeats Hector Lombard by TKO.
- -Jon Jones defeats Christian M'Pumbu by TKO.
- -Cain Velasquez defeats Cole Konrad by TKO.
I guess that's why the UFC is the best MMA promotion in the world today—they have the best fighters, and there's only a select few outside the UFC who can challenge them.
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