Well once again work and other things have kept me from posting as much as I would like. This is just going to have to be one of those things where my levels of effort making need to rise and I promise that is what I'll do. Since a lot has gone on in MMA since my last post I'm just going to post a bunch of quick thoughts and come back with some more well-planned and detailed articles, as well as some contributions from Billy and Brian.
The Strikeforce Heavyweight tournament rules have been announced and I think the biggest surprise is that Overeem's title will not be on the line. The winner of the tournament will get a shot at Overeem's title, which seems silly to me considering Overeem could win the tournament, thus leaving no title match to set up, or Overeem could not win the tournament, meaning he lost a fight at some point yet remained champion. The Strikeforce Heavyweight title doesn't have much legitimacy as is, and this set up could only make things worse.
Junior Dos Santos and Brock Lesnar will be the coaches on the next season of the Ultimate Fighter, which will be an all welterweight season. The coaches will then fight at the end of the season to determine who will face Cain Velasquez for the UFC Heavyweight Title when the champ returns from injury. I have two thoughts when it comes to this decision: 1) It's a brilliant move by the UFC to put Lesnar in as a coach. While he is still fairly new to the sport he will bring monster ratings to a show in need of help and just because he has limited experience, he will bring a stellar cast of assistant coaches from the Minnesota Mixed Martial Arts Academy. 2) I'm not sure why Lesnar is getting the chance for another title show so soon, especially since he lost the title in a very one-sided fight. Also, if we learned anything in the fight between Cain and Brock it was that Brock doesn't take a punch to well. Not being able to react well to getting hit is something that might come back to bite Lesnar once again as he will be facing the UFC's most dangerous heavyweight striker.
Earlier this week I bought a ticket to UFC 128 which will take place in Newark, New Jersey, and will feature a Light-Heavyweight Title fight between Shogun Rua and Rashad Evans, Urijah Faber's UFC debut against Eddie Wineland, Brendan Schaub versus Mirko Cro Cop, Jim Miller versus Kamal Shalorus, and Yoshihiro Akiyama versus Nate Marquardt. I'll be tweeting live during the fights so be sure to follow me at @JustinCohee.
Rumors have been going around that Shinya Aoki is considering retiring from MMA after his KO loss to kickboxer Yuichiro Nagashima in an exhibition match at K-1 Dynamite!!! 2010. Aoki has always had a bit of an attitude problem, so hearing this really doesn't surprise me, but I'll be shocked if he actually goes through with it. Aoki didn't seem to take the fight to seriously and he paid for it, but I have trouble believing he'll end his career on such a sour note.
Shane Carwin is set to return to the UFC after successful neck surgery at UFC 131. Carwin's opponent has yet to be announced, but options are looking limited. Lesnar and Dos Santos are obviously tied up with each other, Carwin already walked through Frank Mir, and Roy Nelson is rumored to be facing Mir next anyways. Carwin is coming off a loss, but it only came after he dominated the then-champ for a round. I'd like to see Carwin take on Cheick Kongo next. Most of the top guys are already tied up and a fight with the imposing Kongo would be easy to sell. Kongo isn't my favorite fighter in the world, but it's hard to deny that he's a talented striker with big power.
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