Inspired follicle formations aside, Tibau (15-5) finds himself in danger of being branded with the dreaded "gatekeeper" tag after dropping a decision to Tyson Griffin's legs and the inconsequential biomass attached to them. Wins over middling contenders like Jeffrey Cox (Pictures) and Terry Etim (Pictures) as well as Tibau's own one-dimensional style all point to him being your classic gatekeeper in the making.
A perception with an obvious yet difficult remedy -- win a big fight. The opportunity, oftentimes rare, is right in front of Tibau in the form of his non-biological "Daddy."
Of course, many would argue that the "Daddy" moniker seems a bit out of place following the backyard whupping that Stevenson (28-8) took from current lightweight dream-smasher B.J. Penn (Pictures).
While this sport values athletes with Wolverine-level recovery time, Stevenson is jumping back into the fray not even six months after a physically and psychologically exhausting bout. It was plain for everyone to see during the postfight proceedings that he was all but mentally broken by the loss, and while sympathy is a natural emotion in the moment, time has allowed concerns about Stevenson's mental resolve to seep in.
As one fighter struggles to redefine himself, the other must struggle to keep others from defining him.
Tied into the overdramatic mental struggle is the reality that these two will be cracking each other upside the head for money. If Tibau plans on doing any of that head cracking, he will have to find a way to consistently garner the top position on Stevenson, who happens to be the more skillful and dynamic wrestler.
That and the fact that Tibau isn't much of a striker or particularly skillful when working off his back makes for quite the nihilistic outlook on his chances. Stevenson gets the decidedly less Nietzsche-flavored forecast, as a "grind ‘em out" stoppage should come down in his favor late in the second round.
Cote vs. Almeida
Now that Anderson Silva is slotted for a brief visit to the light heavyweight division, the time is nigh for a contender to step forward and stake his claim to the title that is rapidly becoming synonymous with Silva.
No one should be surprised if the winner of the hotly anticipated throwdown involving Ricardo Almeida (Pictures) and Patrick "The Predator" Cote is the one waiting to turn Silva's return to the middleweight division into a rude awakening. It's a sudden possibility for Almeida (9-2), who just as suddenly walked away from the sport four years ago despite being generally regarded as the world's premier middleweight.
To no one's surprise, the novelty of an early retirement eventually wore off for Almeida. He returned to the cage with a textbook submission win over UFC greenhorn Rob Yundt (Pictures) in February, but the greenhorn buffet closes early for Almeida, who must now take on a fighter who only started fulfilling his potential once everyone wrote it off.
Once the premier prospect in the land of maple leafs, hockey and Maple Leafs hockey, Patrick Cote (Pictures) (12-4) always had the devastating punching power that earmarked him for greatness early on but never the will to make good use of his greatest gift.
Things change quickly when your employer starts looking at you as if you're no more expendable than a carton of office-room staples, and Cote took heed by rediscovering his skull-slamming ways of old with wins over Kendall Grove (Pictures) and Drew McFedries.
Newfound success has Cote back in the title picture, but he has had the benefit of facing opponents who willingly engaged him on the feet without first pondering the consequences of such actions. Expecting the same against Almeida is unrealistic at best and foolhardy at worst. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace never strays from his ground-oriented approach, and that won't change against an opponent who has shown major deficiencies working off his back.
Far more important, however, is Cote's uncoordinated takedown defense, which will make a successful takedown for Almeida all but an inevitability.
It won't be long from there as Almeida takes advantage of Cote's desperation by taking back control and ending matters with a reference-quality rear-naked choke.
Jackson vs. Griffin
After a seeming eternity of unnecessary reality TV bickering, posturing and buildup, UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson makes his return to the Octagon against "The Ultimate Fighter" alumnus and ultimate Tyler Durden analogue Forrest Griffin (Pictures).
For those of you who have somehow managed to avoid the MMA world for the past few months, these two locked coaching horns on this past season of "The Ultimate Fighter." Forrest Griffin (Pictures) pulled off the Don Nelson special, drafting the unknown foreigner who would eventually become a pretty well-known foreigner.
Amir Sadollah and his epic hair aside, Griffin (15-4) isn't sitting at home thinking about how awesome it was to "beat" Jackson at something that amounts to "Survivor" with real fighting.
Of far greater importance to Griffin is the fact that he is coming off a massive upset over Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, who was generally considered to be the world's premier light heavyweight. The standard has been set for Griffin. He must now leave behind the undisciplined jokester of the past and continue developing into the icon that the UFC so desperately wants to see him become.
Standing in the way of those best-laid plans is the man already well on his way to becoming our very own Clubber Lang. Of course, we speak of Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (28-6), who went from solid free agent acquisition to UFC franchise in record time thanks to a resounding knockout victory over then champion Chuck Liddell (Pictures).
A follow-up display of surprising technical expertise against the seemingly indomitable Dan Henderson (Pictures) showed a whole new facet of Jackson's rapidly evolving game that has flourished under coach Juanito Ibarra. Now nine months removed from his last bout and fully recovered from a series of hand issues, Jackson need only shake off the ring rust and tangle with a resurgent opponent to keep his UFC outlook rosy.
Just how rosy things turn out has a lot to do with what version of Forrest Griffin (Pictures) we get come fight time. If Griffin decides to appease the fans by going in guns blazing, his often wildly spastic striking will get him knocked out so fast he'll wish he hadn't spent so much time watching "Fight Club."
On the other hand, if Griffin comes out working behind his jab and looking for opportunities to mix up the flow of the fight, we suddenly have ourselves a legitimate title tilt.
Unfortunately, Griffin has never given us a truly disciplined showing and even got himself in trouble a few times against "Shogun" despite having a massive size advantage and the luxury of fighting an opponent with bad wheels. This one turns uglier than the Bush administration once Griffin realizes he won't be able to bull around Jackson and is forced to earn his keep on the feet before even pondering a takedown attempt.
As much as Griffin has improved on the feet, Jackson will pick him apart with ease before landing the one fight-changing blow he needs to send Griffin tumbling back down the ladder.
The freefall for Griffin comes early in the second round courtesy of a left hook from Jackson, who immediately lets out an epic howl and leaves the arena wearing both his title belt and Griffin's face as a mask.
Actually, I can only promise one of those will happen, and we all know which one I'm rooting for.