heavyweights

(Dos Santos, Destroyer of Worlds.)

Though it was previously rumored that Gabriel Gonzaga would be taking on Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in December, Fighters.com is now reporting that Gonzaga will instead be taking on another dangerous Brazilian heavyweight, Junior Dos Santos. The match isn't officially tied to an event yet, but it will likely take place at UFC 107 or 108. Gonzaga recently rebounded from his loss to Shane Carwin by scoring a controversial TKO over Chris Tuchscherer at UFC 102. Meanwhile, Junior Dos Santos has been a perfect 3-0 in the Octagon, most recently breaking down Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic at UFC 103. (Speaking of which, Cro Cop now says he's not retiring from the sport, and hopes to finish out his UFC contract, though he did want to hang himself in his hotel room after the Dos Santos loss.)

Now that Nogueira is currently without an opponent, the UFC might match him up against the winner of Velasquez/Rothwell to determine the next heavyweight title contender — or they can just give him a shot after Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin settle their grudge in November. And of course if Junior Dos Santos runs through Gonzaga, he'll be another legitimate candidate for a title shot. Wait a minute, is the UFC's heavyweight class the new "shark tank" division, like 205 used to be? Right now, it seems be the only weight-class with a deep bullpen of strong, fresh contenders who could realistically challenge for the title. How the hell did that happen?

"That was an appetizer, Dana. Let me eat."

So said undefeated American Top Team prospect Todd Duffee after his seven-second storming of Tim Hague at UFC 102. It was one of the most fearsome debuts in UFC history, and Duffee made it clear afterwards that he wanted to get right back into the cage to show fans what he's really capable of. And it looks like the UFC has found him a suitable challenge for his follow-up performance.

MMA Junkie is reporting that Duffee (5-0) will return at UFC 107 (December 12th, Memphis) to take on seasoned striker Paul "The Headhunter" Buentello (24-10). Buentello previously had a four-fight stint in the UFC in 2005-2006, where he scored stoppage wins over Justin Eilers, Kevin Jordan, and Gilbert Aldana, but suffered a knockout loss to Andrei Arlovski in a heavyweight title fight at UFC 55. Following his exit from the Octagon, he went 3-1 in Strikeforce, with his sole loss coming at the hands (and knees) of Alistair Overeem in a fight for Strikeforce's heavyweight title. Now, the Headhunter is coming off back-to-back victories in Affliction over Gary Goodridge (via decision) and Kirill Sidelnikov (via third-round TKO).

(Dos Santos makes short work of Stefan "Skyscraper" Struve at UFC 95 in February. Photo courtesy of DayLife.com.)

There are some MMA fans who will tell you that Junior Dos Santos is one of the ten best heavyweights in the world. Personally, I think he needs one more win over a credible opponent before he becomes Power Ranking-worthy, but I won't deny that he's got serious talent and potential. Which is why it's strange that for his third fight in the Octagon, he's being given someone near the very bottom of the UFC heavyweight totem pole. MMA Junkie reports that Dos Santos and Justin McCully have agreed to face each other at UFC 102 (August 29th; Portland, Oregon). So, quick MMA Math...

Junior Dos Santos wasted Fabricio Werdum, who pwned Gabriel Gonzaga, who made McCully his bitch = OMFG can this fight even get approval by the Oregon State Athletic Commission?

(Props: MMA Mania)

Above: Not only is Fedor Emelianenko a fighter (see the above video for verbal confirmation), he was also the subject of a New York Times profile yesterday. Maybe after Saturday night he'll finally start getting some damn respect around here. Below: Everything you wanted to know about up-and-coming heavyweight Shane Carwin, courtesy of his newly-launched website, Shane-Carwin.com. After the jump: Tim Sylvia talks about how bad it has sucked to watch his ass getting kicked by Fedor in a seemingly endless loop in all of Affliction's promotional videos. Also, he calls Andrei Arlovski a "douchebag" and "bad for the sport."

(If God intended for man to fly, we would all have been born with Gonzaga's foot in our gut.)

Gabriel Gonzaga and Shane Carwin have signed to face each other at UFC 96, which should make for exactly the kind of test we’ve wanted to see Carwin in ever since he knocked Christian Wellish’s mouthpiece into the peaceful night sky at UFC 84.  Carwin is 10-0 with two first-round wins by total destruction in his only two UFC fights, and Gonzaga is 2-2 in his last four fights, including a submission win over bottom-dweller Justin McCully and a TKO of one-and-done UFC newcomer Josh Hendricks.

So why is Gonzaga’s camp so convinced this fight with Carwin should earn “Napao” a shot at the winner of Frank Mir-Brock Lesnar II?

“It’s going to be a tough fight and [if he wins] Napao (Gonzaga) will have [earned the right] to face the winner of Mir vs. Lesnar,” Gonzaga’s trainer, Marco Alvan, told Brasil Combate.

The concept of having earned a title shot is already a vague one in the UFC, and only more so in the heavyweight division.  Consider that Brock Lesnar earned his shot by going 1-1 in his only two UFC fights, defeating mid-level heavyweight Heath Herring via decision to seal the deal.  Frank Mir earned his shot by beating Lesnar back when he only had one fight to his credit.  In other words, earned has nothing to do with it.