I was never a fan of women's boxing, but always found it ridiculous that the two best athletes never bothered meeting one another. If promoters can't find the big fish in a little pond, why should fans even bother? That kind of transparent matchmaking just doesn't cut it.
Carano is the "face" of female mixed martial arts and she's proven her mettle with some gutsy performances, but there are a host of women that could give her some sleepless nights. Chief among them is LaRosa (15-1), widely considered by knowledgeable MMA observers as the top female in the sport.
The UFC has a monopoly on two of the most prestigious divisions in the sport: welterweight and light heavyweight. Titlists in each class can be dubbed "world" -- not simply UFC -- champions without controversy.
The only absentee contender from those rosters is EliteXC's Shields, pretty much the lone non-UFC contender remaining for the steamrolling St. Pierre. The fight could become a glaring omission down the road when archivists look back on St. Pierre's career.
Most fans of the lightweight division are desperate for a rematch between Penn and his counterpart from further across the ocean,
Takanori Gomi (Pictures).
Gomi, unfortunately, hasn't been very active as of late, which dulls the spark of that fight considerably. I'd sooner see Penn matched up against Aoki, who is currently invalidating claims that Penn's grappling is the best in the sport.
Smart money says that Penn's aggression, takedown defense and accomplished striking would be too much for Aoki. Of course, the same was said of Aoki's chances against mini-gorilla
Gesias Cavalcante (Pictures) in April. Aoki beat "JZ" by unanimous decision.
The fights that create the most tension inevitably come between two athletes who appear -- at the time -- to have concrete constitutions, seemingly impenetrable defense and a clash of styles that give oddsmakers fits.
With a 6-0 mark in MMA, Le is an obvious challenger to Silva's reign in the UFC's middleweight division. Problem is, those wins came in Strikeforce, not the Octagon -- which the UFC would have you believe makes them irrelevant.
Le's striking is so radical that it might serve as an antidote to Silva's sniper-accurate attacks. And while Le's ground game would likely be swallowed up by Silva's jiu-jitsu, the Brazilian would have a tough time getting the fight to the mat.
Thirty-eight fights between them and only two losses. Stellar wrestling, vicious striking, athleticism on a par with anyone in any sport and they are barely scratching their thirties.
A Yamamoto-Faber fight is like a recipe on how to build a homemade bomb.
They also exhibit the folly of trying to assemble a reasonable rankings system. How do you value Faber's dominance in the WEC over Yamamoto's crushing, Hulk-smash style overseas? Faber took it to
Jens Pulver (Pictures) on the feet, but Yamamoto dug in and went the distance with K-1 phenom Masato in a fight so electric it practically shorted my television.
Even the notoriously self-aggrandizing Dana White has made no secret of his desire to see Yamamoto in the U.S.
The WEC is rumored to have eyes on transitioning to pay-per-view. This is the fight that justifies it.
For comments, email jrossen@sherdog.com
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