A win for Randy would give him another notch of his impressive MMA Career, and another win when many fans doubt his performing ability due to age or amount of fights. Will he press Toney with kicks, and the clinch game? Will he take him down and try to submit him? If he finishes Toney in the first round will other boxers stray away from coming to MMA for fights? There are so many questions that this fight will answer for both sport because this fight can change a lot of things for both sports and we will shortly know the answer to who is superior.

A win for Toney means he kept this fight off of the ground long enough to work his very effective standup. He already owns 44 professional fight Knock outs, and he’s training hard to add one more. This will bring more professional big name boxers over to the MMA world and will help the PPV numbers as well, and may even get MMA’s best to step into a ring for some boxing matches. James already wants fights with other UFC fighters and has recently called out Brock Lesnar after watching his current performance over Shane Carwin. If he wins why not have him go against some more powerhouse wrestlers in the octagon?

This fight is Win Win for Mixed Martial Arts and the fans are really excited about all the relative unknowns about where this fight can go and how it will play out. Whoever wins it will be another top win on their long and impressive professional careers. We will also see how professional boxers adapt their game plans to the fight coming from all directions. On August 28^th, don’t miss this fight!

Fans in need of their MMA fix have much to look forward too though in the month of August. August brings back the fun with three UFC events, one WEC event and 2 Strikeforce events plus Bellator season three starts up holding 3 events this month. For those that don’t wish to count, that’s nine events in 31 days or one every 3.4 days.

Here are the top 10 fight to watch this month:

Honorable Mention: Mark Munoz vs. Yushin Okami (UFC on Versus 2)

A very solid middleweight matchup on the main card portion of UFC on Versus. Okami  is the last man to defeat Anderson Silva while Munuz since move down to 185 lbs. is undefeated at 3-0.

10: Takanori Gomi vs. Tyson Griffin (UFC on Versus)

Both coming off recent loses this fight should be a lot of fun to watch. Gomi is looking for his first win in the UFC after he lost to Kenny Florian in his debut. Griffin is taking the fight on short notice after his lose to Evan Dunham at UFC 115.

9: Jon Jones vs. Vladimir Matyushenko (UFC on Versus)

The main event for UFC on Versus 2 has the rising star Jon Jones against highly underrated Vladimir Matyushenko. Jones is trying to break into the top of the stacked Light Heavyweight division after crushing the face of Brandon Vera at the first UFC on Versus. Matyushenko is a very impressive 24-4 and is the last man to hold the IFL Light Heavyweight title.

8: Kenny Florian vs. Gray Maynard (UFC 118)

A lightweight showdown with the winner likely getting the next title shot at either Frankie Edgar or BJ Penn. Florian is 9-2 as a lightweight but those two loses were title shots against BJ Penn and Sean Sherk. Maynard is unfeated at 9-0 and holds a win over current champ Frankie Edgar. Maynards 6 fight streak of grinding out a decision win drops this fight down to eighth.

7: Junior Dos Santos vs. Roy Nelson (UFC 117)

The winner of this fight will get a heavyweight title shot against the winner of Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez. Dos Santos (11-1) holds UFC wins over Mirko Cro Cop, Gabriel Gonzaga and Gilbert Yvel. Nelson is the former IFL Heavyweight champ and also won season 10 of “The Ultimate Fighter”, he most recently knocked out Stefan Struve just 39 seconds into the fight.   

6: Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal vs. Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante (Strikeforce: Houston)

The first title fight on the list is King Mo’s first defense of his Strikeforce Light Heavyweight belt. Cavalcante is on a two fight win streak and will test the still relatively new King mo. This fight will headline the strikeforce: Houston card on August 21^st.

5: Randy Couture vs. James Toney (UFC 118)

Arguably the most interesting and intriguing fight in August, it still only hits the middle of the list for best fight. MMA vs. boxing aside this fight is being carried by the high profile names involved and not by the prospects of this being a fight of the year candidate.

4: Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza vs. Tim Kennedy (Strikeforce: Houston)

The second title fight on the Strikeforce: Houston card is for the Middleweight title recently vacated by Jake Shields departure / release. Kennedy (12-2) is part of the Army Special Forces who was also training / fighting MMA while still in the military. He is now training full time and recently defeated veteran South African Trevor Prangley by first round submission. Jacare (12-2) has defeated both Joey villasenor and Matt Linland while in Strikeforce, he also hold black belts in both BJJ and Judo.

3: Thaigo Alves vs. Jon Fitch (UFC 117)

This is a rematch of two top five Welterweights who hold a combined 21-4 record in the UFC. Both have fought for the title once before, each losing to Georges St. Pierre. Remarkably, Fitch (22-1, 1NC) in his last 21 fights is an incredible 20-1 (12-1 in the UFC). Fitch defeated Alves back in 2006 by TKO in the second round, landing a brutal up kick. To get another shot at the title this fight is a must win for Alves or Fitch.

2: Dominick Cruz vs. Joseph Benavidez (WEC 50)

A rematch from WEC 42 where Cruz won by unanimous decision and earned himself a title shot against Brain Bowles. Cruz went on to defeat Bowles at WEC 47 by second round TKO, winning the Bantamweight title. Benavidez earned his rematch at title shot by winning two in a row, including a victory over former champ Miguel Torres. The thought of this fight being like their first plus adding the championship rounds is a fans dream.

1: Frankie Edgar vs. BJ Penn (UFC 118)

Three rematches in a row to finish off the top 3 is an immediate title rematch between champ Frankie Edgar and former champ BJ Penn. Their first fight was a close one that Penn looked to gas some going into the championship rounds. Excuses aside, Frankie Edgar used some solid boxing to wear down Penn then took advantage to defeat the champ. This fight should be better than the first and worthy of the top spot on the list.

Noticeable absence: Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen

Before you freak out over this fight not making the list, just remember what Silva did in his last fight and you’ll have your answer.

The leader of the team is Lieutenant-Colonel/Colonel John “Hannibal” Smith, the grizzly veteran whose plans tend to be unorthodox but effective will be played by Randy “The Natural” Couture.

 Lieutenant Templeton “Faceman” Peck is usually referred to simply as “Face”, is the good looking smooth-talking con-man.  Peck serves as the team’s appropriator of vehicles and other useful items; he will be played by Canadian Georges St-Pierre.  

The team’s pilot is Captain H.M. “Howling Mad” Murdock, who has been declared insane and usually resides in a Veterans Administration mental institution. After a long search and several top candidates including Jason “Mayhem” Miller and Junie Browning, Jackson ultimately dropped his grudge and decided on Forrest Griffin.  

Finally, there is the team’s strong man and mechanic, Sergeant First Class Bosco Albert B.A. “Bad Attitude” Baracus who of course will be played by the films writer, director and star of the original movie, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.

The highly anticipated sequel is set to release in the summer of 2011 barring any injuries or title fights. Pre-order your tickets now before they sell out!

(If you haven’t guessed this article is purely satire, hope you enjoy.)

HT: Wikipedia for the A-Team info

Walking towards the back of the Mandalay Bay the people slowly went from smoking gamblers to beach wearing men and women to a sea of fight fans sporting their favorite brands. You enter the long walkway towards the EXPO and large signs point us towards our final destination. The voices of fighters and MMA personalities get louder and louder with each step taken. Finally reaching the EXPO the doors, the fun inside beckons you to enter but I must leave them momentarily to find the back of the line.

In line the sheer number of people in front of me is insane and can only be topped by turning around to see the line that has now amassed behind me. The noise is deafening from the large screens playing the Classic fights, showing trivia and replaying the UFC 114 countdown repeatedly.  The line is moving in rows in front of me yet we are still standing waiting for the ripple to eventually reach us. We are moving now and the excitement begins to increasingly build with every new row I enter until the home stretch and land in front of the Expo doors again.

The line behind me!

Once inside, the floor consisted of a nice mixed of everything one could think (apparel/gear) plus many you wouldn’t expect (Golf, motorcycles etc.). To say its overwhelming is not giving it justice because when you walk in, there are booths 180 degrees around you from wall to wall. Music, UFC highlights and voices fill the room and talking to the person next to you was challenging. The booths ran from front to back of the expo with the middle area holding an octagon, there was about 10 rows in all.  All the way in the back is where the massive UFC booth was and along the wall the Expo Autograph sessions took place. To the right back is where the grappler’s quest took place and to the left was the stage area where they held the Q & A’s, Hall of fame inductions and more.

Getting around the EXPO I found myself wondering around aimlessly when I attempted to find specific booths. It was actually much easier to just walk the floor row by row hitting each and every booth desired. That plan was occasionally brought to a standstill though when certain fighters were signing at booths other then the official EXPO ones. Two examples of this was Randy Couture and Georges St. Pierre who attracted such a mob that security guards were involved and walking past that area was near impossible. The beauty of the EXPO is that at any given moment there were several fighters walking the floor or sitting at smaller booths all willing to talk, shake your hand and give you an autograph.

What more could a Mixed Martial Arts fan desire then this… how about getting to do it all over again the next day!

Randy may want to step back and take a look around because there may be another opponent for him. Days after winning the light heavyweight belt Mauricio “Shogun “Rua (19-4) was interviewed by Sherdog and said that he would like to fight Randy Couture. With the fan base for each of these fighters it would not surprise anyone if Dana White and Joe Silva make this happen. We all know that when a fighter says he wants to fight someone Dana usually makes it happen at some point. Randy has defeated one top contender in Brandon “the truth” Vera (11-5) by unanimous decision and fellow hall of famer Mark “the hammer” Coleman (16-10) by submission in the second round since moving down to the light heavyweight division. At 46 years old Randy is the only fighter to win the light heavyweight and heavyweight belts on separate occasions. He is a world class wrestler with great control skills. Rua is a 28 year old Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai master with a ton of power.

What true fan would not want to see this fight happen?

Well Dana White hinted but didn’t confirm that the next opponent is going to be the winner of the Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (30-7) vs. “Suga” Rashad Evans (19-1-1). Both of these guys are coming off unanimous decisions as well as being opposing coaches on TUF 10. The two were suppose to fight at UFC 108 until Jackson decided to play movie star and ran off to film The A Team remake. Dana likely didn’t confirm who was next for the new champ because if for some reason this fight is boring or goes to a decision then he will want to put someone else in the mix, or he is waiting to see if someone else makes a better case to be the number one contender for the 205 belt.

This is a very deep division with fighters like Jon Jones (10-1), Vitor Belfort (19-8), Ryan Bader (12-0), and who can count out Randy Couture (18-10). Any of these fighters could easily step in and contend for the title. Then we have the former champion Lyoto and who is going to be next for him. Like most former champions he will probably have to have a tune up bout before getting back into title contention. Any of the previously mentioned fighters could be next in line for the dragon. Lets not forget to mention that Anderson Silva could very well move up to this division and be a future opponent for whoever the champ is. There is so many directions the UFC can go here with each, many very exciting fights that the fans will love to see.

The fight announcement / rumors are coming fast and furious this days. Check out what fights are being talked about for upcoming events.

Takanori Gomi vs. Joe Stevenson (UFC on Versus 2) – Though not signed yet the Ultimate Fighter season 2 winner Joe “Daddy” Stevenson is penciled in to take on former Pride Lightweight champ Takanori Gomi. The two will try and get back into the win column at the UFC on Versus 2 event being held August 1st in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Gomi is an unimpressive 4-3 in his last 7 fights and lost by 3rd round submission to Kenny Florian in his UFC debut. Once considered the best Lightweight in the world Gomi just hasn’t looked the same since 2007 and is now looking to salvage his legacy. Stevenson is also coming off a loss to George Sotiropoulos at UFC 110 and even though he had two wins prior, he is only 3-4 in the last 7 fights.  

Matt Brown vs. Chris Lytle (UFC 116) – The two hard hitting fan favorites are expected to sign the contracts to fight each other on July 3rd at UFC 116. The fight would actually be a rematch, as the two fought in 2007 for the United Fight League with Lytle winning via Submission (Guillotine choke) in round 2. Their fight will already be an early nomination for the fight of the night honors, something Lytle has won 4 times. UFC 116 will be headlined by the Heavyweight title fight between Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin but the Brown vs. Lytle fight should make the main card.

Brown is coming off a tough lose to Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Ricardo Almeida at UFC 111 that snapped a 3 fight win streak. Lytle is working on a 2 fight win steak and recently defeated Brian Foster at UFC 110. No matter who wins this fight it will be entertaining and the fans will come away liking both fighters even more.

Matt Hamill vs. Keith Jardine (TUF 11 Finale) – This fight is actually official as you can see by the TUF 11 Finale poster plus it will headline the night of fights. Hamill is on a 3 fight win streak though one win was via DQ over Jon Jones, while Jardine hasn’t won since 2008 losing his last 3 fights. Jardine should be very determined to get back in the win column with only 2 wins in his last 6 fights and an disappointing 6-6 overall in the UFC. With wins over two former champs and losses to top level fighters Jardine has been given a lot of  leeway but another lose might be pressing his luck.

Randy Couture vs. James Toney (UFC 118) – Captain America wants a piece of the former boxing champ James Toney when he makes his much talked about MMA debut. The talk is they will fight on the UFC 118 card set to take place in Boston, Massachusetts in August. This fight along with the rematch for Lightweight belt between Frankie Edgar and BJ Penn could make this PPV one of the biggest in history. Getting Toney for his MMA debut could be a brilliant plan to catch Toney as a fish out of water but there is a lot of risk invloved. In fact I do not see really how this fight helps the 46 yr old Couture at another possible title run. Toney doesn’t move Couture up the ladder any with a win over an MMA rookie and a defeat would take any title shot away plus giving Boxing a little bragging rites.

 One of the first match-ups that comes to mind is Frank Mir. Mir, who is coming off a loss to Shane Carwin, would be a perfect stylistic fight for Nelson. Both are strong on the ground with black belts in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Both are also excellent strikers. Nelson has showcased his striking ability by scoring knock outs in both of his fights in the UFC. Mir has greatly improved his striking over the past two years, which became evident in his fight with Antonia Rodrigo Nogueira. Mir’s standup looked to be at its best as he was able to box with Big Nog and knock him down twice in the first round. Mir went on to become the first man to finish the former Pride Heavyweight Champion when he did in the second round. With both Nelson and Mir having the ability to win the fight either on the ground or standing up, it makes for a very exciting bout and can take Nelson closer to the top of the heavyweight division.

 Another possibility would be Gabriel Gonzaga. The former title contender has stood as a gatekeeper for the division since his loss to Randy Couture. Again, this fight is a very good match up because of the explosive power both men possess in their hands (and feet if you’re Gonzaga). Both are superior grapplers as well and have no problem taking the fight to the ground. It’s Gonzaga’s tough attitude that makes a win over him a true feat. If these two are ever facing each other from across the Octagon, don’t blink.

 So we see that one fighter is controlling all of these weight classes, though that’s not the case in the light heavyweight division. Since “Rampage” Jackson dethroned Chuck Liddell, there has been no champion to hold the belt for more that one fight. Jackson defended his title once against Dan Henderson but fell short in his next fight with Forrest Griffin as the coaches from The Ultimate Fighter squared off. Griffin then failed to defend against Rashad Evans. Evans then fell to current titleholder, Lyoto Machida. After his destruction of Evans, Machida appeared to be the next long time champ, however, when he faced off against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, he appeared on the verge of defeat as the two traded blows for five razor close rounds. In the end, Machida won the very controversial decision, but the two are set for a rematch in May. With Machida’s dominance is now in question, let’s take a look at possible future champions and when we can expect to see them at the top on the division.

Jon Jones: Since his fight with Matt Hamill, everyone has kept an eye on Jones. He did what no one else has been able to do to Hamill. No one has ever had success fending against Hamill’s superior wrestling, but Jones handled it well and even took Hamill down with ease and quickly finished him with ground strikes. The problem was that the final strikes Jones used were illegal 6-to-12 elbows. The fight ended in a questionable disqualification but Jones found redemption in his fight with Brandon Vera where again, he used his ground strikes to put his opponent away. Dana White has spoken publicly that he wants Jones to get another year under his belt before he gets into title contention. Expect to see some big fights involving “Bones” in the near future.

Ryan Bader: Since winning season 8 of The Ultimate Fighter, Bader keeps improving his game with every fight. His biggest win to date came at the expense of Keith Jardine when he knocked out “The Dean of Mean” at UFC 110. With another big win, Bader may be close to the top as well.

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira: Little Nog has only one fight in the UFC, but that win made a statement. At UFC 106, Minotouro joined his brother and made his highly anticipated Octagon debut against Luiz Cane. At the end of the night, Nogueria’s arm was raised and earned him Knockout of the Night. Holding wins in Pride over Dan Henderson and Alistair Overeem, Little Nog is a force to be reckoned with in the UFC. He is scheduled to face Forrest Griffin at UFC 114. A win for either fighter will keep them in the mix at 205, but will catapult Minotouro up the rankings.

A fight between TUF 10 coaches Rashad Evans and “Rampage” Jackson will determine the next contender to face the winner of the Machida/Shogun rematch. The future of these prospects will be known by the end of this year so keep an eye out for them.

Jones fought in the main event against Brandon Vera who was once in this same spot, a former prospect. Jones was 9-1 entering the fight and the only blemish on his record is the Illegal elbow DQ to Matt Hamill in his last fight. Vera was to be the biggest test thus far for Jones, but the fight only lasted 3 minutes and 19 seconds as Jones rocked Vera with a vicious left elbow from top position. The impact of the elbow immediately sent Vera scrabbling into the fetal position where the fight was then stopped. Vera suffered multiple fractures of the face and will see a facial specialist this week to determine a timetable for return. Jones was impressive and another step up in competition within the light heavyweight division is in order.

Dos Santos fought in the co-main event against former title contender Gabriel Gonzaga. At 4-0 in the UFC coming into this fight Dos Santos was more raising star then up and coming prospect but this fight was still his biggest to date. Gonzaga had fought for the title before against Randy Couture and has also been ranked inside the top five previously. Dos Santos was suppose to get tested on the ground in this fight by Gonzaga only got one takedown which Dos Santos got up from right away. Once back to their feet Dos Santos took over knocking Gonzaga down and displaying some great ground and pound knocking Gonzaga out. The win moved Dos Santos to 5-0 in the UFC and 11-1 overall and likely the 5th spot in the heavyweight division.

So whats next for these two????

Dos Santos now in the top 5 of the heavyweight division could face another top 5 fighter in Cain Velasquez but I don’t think the UFC will do that fight just yet. He is likely to fight one more fight before fighting one of the top guys, mainly due to the current schedule. Mir and Carwinare fighting Saturday for the interim belt with the winner getting Brock Lesnar this summer to unify the belt. The loser of the Mir vs. Carwin fight is probably going to face Velasquez next leaving Dos Santos without a top 5 opponent for several months. A fight with follow UFC on Versus fighter Cheick Kongo is a solid fight to bridge the gap until the mini heavyweight tournament is completed.

Jones is now in line to fight a top 15 type guy within the ultra stacked light Heavyweight division. Names like Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, Rich Franklin, Vladimir Matyushenko and Luis Cane come to mind for a possible opponent. Jones is a very young at 23 and could still use to get a few more fight under his belt before he hits the big time. Jones moved to Greg Jackson camp two fights ago and the changes were easily noticeable but giving him a little move time training there is only going to be a plus. Look to see him back in the cage very soon possible against one of the names mentioned above.