2012 MMA crystal ball: Who?s a UFC champ 12 months from now?

2012 MMA crystal ball: Who?s a UFC champ 12 months from now?

We keep hearing about mixed martial being in a period of dominant champions. Is that really true? Try to project the champions in each UFC weight class for the end of 2012 and see what you come up with.

Yahoo! Sports' Kevin Iole, Frank Trigg and myself debated four of the UFC's title belts during our "The MMA Insiders" show on ESPN1100/98.9 FM in Las Vegas.

My choices are:

125 pounds - Joe Benavidez

135 pounds - Urijah Faber

145 pounds - Jose Aldo Jr.

155 pounds - Gray Maynard

170 pounds - Georges St-Pierre

185 pounds - Anderson Silva

205 pounds - Jon Jones

Heavyweight - Junior dos Santos

Trigg and Iole disagreed with me on 155 and heavyweight. They also came up with a few deep sleepers at lightweight and welterweight.

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/2012-MMA-crystal-ball-Who-s-a-UFC-champ-12-mont?urn=mma-wp11094

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Georges St. Pierre named as one of 2011?s ?Most Overhyped Athletes?

Typically being ranked alongside the likes of Tiger Woods, Floyd Mayweather Jr., and LeBron James wouldn?t be a bad thing. However, the appeal decreases signifcantly when the group in question relates to a major sports outlet?s ?Most Overhyped Athletes of 2011? list. Such is the company Georges St. Pierre found himself in this week with [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/12/24/georges-st-pierre-named-as-one-of-2011%e2%80%99s-%e2%80%9cmost-overhyped-athletes%e2%80%9d

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GSP overhyped? A Canadian website says so after tough 2011

GSP overhyped? A Canadian website says so after tough 2011

It's been a lousy year for Georges St-Pierre and he can't even turn to his boys in Canada for a little moral support. Well, it's only one writer's opinion, but Aaron Lefko of Sportsnet.ca included GSP on his "Most Overhyped Athletes of 2011" list.

And even before his injury, St-Pierre was taking verbal shots from the public, the media and fighters for his inability to put away opponents.

He grabbed the international spotlight in April for headlining the first UFC card in Toronto, producing GSP mania. A record UFC crowd of more than 55,000 packed the Rogers Centre to finally see the conquering Canadian hero and he went the full five rounds with Jake Shields in what was more of a clinic on how not to lose a fight than actually win it.

Keep in mind, St-Pierre won the fight against Jake Shields back in April. Since then he's battled injuries all year with the worst coming a few weeks back when he suffered a torn ACL. The fight at UFC 129 is really stuck in the writer's craw.

It was boring at best and continued a pattern of St-Pierre going the full distance without delivering the knockout blow or submission. Heck, the fight before it on the card was way more entertaining than the main event.

We're not exactly sure why it's a bad thing for the undercard to outperform the main event. Plus it seems tough to overhype a guy who's been inactive for eight months.

Check out the rest of the list. Is there anyone on there who's been a champion? Seems a little harsh to put GSP, a legitimate champion, on the list just because he doesn't win the right way.

Is GSP overhyped? Maybe this guy and Nick Diaz are onto something.

Frank Trigg, Kevin Iole and myself discussed the St-Pierre topic on the latest "The MMA Insiders" on ESPN1100/98.9 FM.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/GSP-overhyped-A-Canadian-website-says-so-after-?urn=mma-wp11086

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Source: http://www.fighters.com/12/22/hockey-fight-of-the-day-brandon-dubinsky-vs-david-clarkson

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Source: http://www.fighters.com/12/28/dana-white-addresses-%e2%80%9cfastest-knockout%e2%80%9d-record-in-latest-ufc-141-video-blog

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UFC on Fox 2: Wineland and Sass Injured, Nik Lentz In Against Evan Dunham

Nik Lentz has replaced an injured Paul Sass and will face Evan Dunham in a lightweight matchup at UFC on Fox 2, while an injury has also forced bantamweight Eddie Wineland to withdraw from the Jan. 28 event in Chicago.

Source: http://mmafrenzy.com/26976/ufc-on-fox-2-wineland-and-sass-injured-nik-lentz-in-against-evan-dunham/

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Hockey Fight of the Day: Adam McQuaid vs. Raffi Torres

Boston and Phoenix are two vastly different cities in terms of culture and climate. And, after watching this battle between the Boston Bruins’ Adam McQuaid and Phoenix Coyotes’ Raffi Torres, it’s not hard to tell which of the two towns embraces the concept of fighting as McQuaid puts an absolute beatdown on Torres leaving the [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/12/29/hockey-fight-of-the-day-adam-mcquaid-vs-raffi-torres

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