Where’s the Next Great Champ Gonna Come From?

I was listening to a local radio show (jigsaw or hairpiece whatever nickname you prefer) he was interviewing Bob Arum of all people and they were discussing the heavyweight division in boxing. Arum actually had something interesting to say instead of accusing the whole state of Nevada of acting against his fighters. Basically he said as long as you have guys who can make millions of dollars in the NFL(as linemen and linebackers) and the NBA you aren't going to see great American heavyweight champions. The same thing applies to MMA unfortunately. Look at all Mike Kyle (pictures) and Justin Eilers (pictures) former football players. The problem is in order to effectively compete in MMA you have to have a base of BJJ, wresting or some type of striking art. You can't pick that up from two years of training like Micheal Westbrook or Jarrod Bunch. Bob Arum has an excellent point for once in his life.
— Tablet Chino

For boxing purposes, Aram is right. Big, young, athletic kids aren’t in the gyms anymore. They’re trying to become the next Terrell Owens, or worse yet the next “AND 1” mix-tape tour star.

Apply this to mixed martial arts in the U.S. and I don’t see the same problem. There is a huge pool of heavyweight wrestlers from which to choose, and they’ll dominate the upper division of the sport until there’s enough money to attract athletes from different genres.

While PRIDE can draw upon international Olympic athletes and a growing number of K-1 fighters turned mixed martial artists, the UFC hasn’t developed a blueprint to find heavyweight talent outside the fighters competing in the sport’s lower rungs.

Most of those guys, I’d wager, have some sort of wrestling background. And unlike the best amateur boxers, there really isn’t any chance of future earnings once wrestlers NCAA or Olympic aspirations are done.

It used to be pro-wrestling or a dead-end. Now MMA provides that opportunity for so many of them.

Time to Give Up the Belt!

Josh, I’m so sick of Frank Mir. When will he be ready to fight? God, it’s been almost two years. Its too bad, I love watching him fight. He’s unlike almost every other UFC heavyweight and that’s great. But if he doesn’t fight, so what? Now he says he won’t be ready to fight in October fight against Andrei Arlovski (pictures). If he won’t give up the belt the UFC should strip him!! Seriously, they’ve done it to everyone else. Why not Mir? What are you thoughts?

I was on the “Give Up The Belt” bandwagon before Mir announced he wouldn’t be ready to fight Arlovski in October. Now, I’m driving the damn thing. And really, it makes too much sense not to do it — which is why I know it won’t happen.

There are two ways for this thing to play out:

Without a tune-up, Mir fights Arlovski (or Buentello) later this year, gets trounced and that’s the end of him.

Or, he gives up his belt in favor of getting a tune-up match, shakes the rust off, sees what happens between Arlovski and Buentello, and works from there.

I’m for option two. Mostly because it’s asinine to expect a fighter that’s been on the shelf for so long to fight a guy who’s hurt everyone he’s fought since Pedro Rizzo (pictures) in March 2002, or the best pure knockout artist in the UFC heavyweight division.

And you’re 100 percent correct when you say the UFC should strip him. He’s failed to perform as champion and they’ve taken the belt away for a lot less. I’ve never gotten a definitive answer as to what the hold up is, but I wouldn’t be shocked if it had something to do with UFC matchmaker Joe Silva’s close ties to Mir.

Anyhow, the longer this plays out, the importance of the UFC heavyweight belt, which has already lost two champions after they tested positive for steroids, will continue to be diminished.