No 1 contender fight: Kampmann vs Hendricks

[Cbear]

Fresh contenders? Team AKA has been dethroned with Koscheck and Fitch no long anywhere close to elevating above gatekeeper status. And BJ Penn might as well retire, so there are plenty of new challengers for GSP. Lets not confuse welterweight with middleweight.

Im confused. Kampmann and Hendricks are welterweights and both are in line for GSP after Condit. At least they are until one of them drops the other in the ranking. Not sure what you mean about middleweights. And no, there arent alot of fresh welterweight challengers for GSP, at least not serious ones.

[LordZardoz]

Im confused. Kampmann and Hendricks are welterweights and both are in line for GSP after Condit. At least they are until one of them drops the other in the ranking. Not sure what you mean about middleweights. And no, there arent alot of fresh welterweight challengers for GSP, at least not serious ones.

There are no immediately obvious challengers right now, but its not like we lack for events that can be used to build up people just outside obvious contender status.

After Kampmann, you have Rory MacDonald, Diego Sanchez, Jake Ellenberger, Brian Ebersole, Siyar Bahadurzada, Dong Hyun Kim, Jay Hieron (if he gets out of his Bellator contract), and Rick Story. There is also Nick Diaz waiting out his current suspension (assuming he does not stick to the 'I am retired' decision). Throw in Josh Koscheck, and Jon Fitch, and you can put on quite a few decent matches within that pool. So we do GSP vs Condit, then you let the winner of Hendricks vs Kampmann have his shot. Many of the names in that pool can get in 2 fights during that time and end up coming up as a credible contender. Gusy like Hieron and Rick Story probably need at least 3 or 4 fights depending on how good those fights are.

I am not worried about Welterweight.

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[Mephisto]

Im confused. Kampmann and Hendricks are welterweights and both are in line for GSP after Condit. At least they are until one of them drops the other in the ranking. Not sure what you mean about middleweights. And no, there arent alot of fresh welterweight challengers for GSP, at least not serious ones.

Name a serious middleweight challenger outside of obviously Chael Sonnen and maybe Michael Bisping.

[Cbear]

There are no immediately obvious challengers right now, but its not like we lack for events that can be used to build up people just outside obvious contender status.

After Kampmann, you have Rory MacDonald, Diego Sanchez, Jake Ellenberger, Brian Ebersole, Siyar Bahadurzada, Dong Hyun Kim, Jay Hieron (if he gets out of his Bellator contract), and Rick Story. There is also Nick Diaz waiting out his current suspension (assuming he does not stick to the 'I am retired' decision). Throw in Josh Koscheck, and Jon Fitch, and you can put on quite a few decent matches within that pool. So we do GSP vs Condit, then you let the winner of Hendricks vs Kampmann have his shot. Many of the names in that pool can get in 2 fights during that time and end up coming up as a credible contender. Gusy like Hieron and Rick Story probably need at least 3 or 4 fights depending on how good those fights are.

I am not worried about Welterweight.

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I guess I see it the opposite of you in that I dont see but a couple serious threats to GSP in the whole bunch.

Rory is pals with GSP and I dont see that fight happening. Most likely GSP is retired due to recurrent injuries before he is asked to fight Rory.

Fitch is coming off total destruction loss to Hendricks and now seems quite fragile.

Koscheck lost to Hendricks.

Diego lost to Ellenberger.

Ellenberger just got lit up by Kampmann.

Ebersole is always fun and does have a string of wins so maybe he is in line behind Kampmann and Hendricks.

Crazy Nick is done; look for him on the triatholon circuit from now on so he can smoke dope.

Shields already had his shot and only has a win over Sexyama.

Rick Story has lost 2 in a row so he needs a bunch of wins before talk of a title shot begins.

So, I dont think the division is all that hot with contenders in the near future. You have Condit, Hendricks and Kampmann on deck and either the Hitman or Hendricks will eliminate the other--so you have 2 challengers on deck and thats it. Not very deep in my opinion.

[Cbear]

Name a serious middleweight challenger outside of obviously Chael Sonnen and maybe Michael Bisping.

Dude, I am seriously confused. I have been talking about welterweights and you are talking about middleweights. How did we get our wires crossed here? But, on the subject of middleweights I agree that Shell is the only serious challenge to Dancin Andy. Yeah, Bisping will get the next shot after Shell but he will get eaten alive. After the Shell rematch, Andy could call it a day and retire as there just arent any mountains left to climb but if he wants to stick around and make money I can certainly respect that too.

By the way, I loved your heel work back in the 70's and 80's.

[LordZardoz]

I guess I see it the opposite of you in that I dont see but a couple serious threats to GSP in the whole bunch.

There is a different between having a contender to challenge for he belt, and someone who can be a legit threat. For guys like Anderson Silva, GSP, and probably Jon Jones now, you cannot count on finding someone who obviously poses a real threat to them. Lightweight is the only division where the belt is going to stay relatively mobile and where any given contender is a competitive threat.

Koshceck and Fitch are longshots but they can be used to re-hab the records of potential contenders coming off a loss. If Kos or Fitch keep knocking them down, maybe set up a shot (or use as a late injury replacement). Guys like Diego and Ellenberger are no more than to solid wins away from getting right back into contention. Story needs a bunch of wins, but there are enough other warm bodies in line to let Story get some wins together.

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[Cbear]

There is a different between having a contender to challenge for he belt, and someone who can be a legit threat. For guys like Anderson Silva, GSP, and probably Jon Jones now, you cannot count on finding someone who obviously poses a real threat to them. Lightweight is the only division where the belt is going to stay relatively mobile and where any given contender is a competitive threat.

Koshceck and Fitch are longshots but they can be used to re-hab the records of potential contenders coming off a loss. If Kos or Fitch keep knocking them down, maybe set up a shot (or use as a late injury replacement). Guys like Diego and Ellenberger are no more than to solid wins away from getting right back into contention. Story needs a bunch of wins, but there are enough other warm bodies in line to let Story get some wins together.

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And not a money fight in the bunch. Seriously, there isnt one contender who can draw a dime against GSP. Its all on Georges shoulders to sell ppvs because there are no Penns, Hughes, or other big names who can help sell a fight. Kampmann is the biggest name around to help draw and he isnt a money draw. Crazy Nick vs GSP was the best chance to make alot of money and its in the ****ter and not likely ever to happen.

I guess you can throw enough no-names at Georges hoping ennui sets in and he gets "serra'd" again and perhaps it can happen. But there are no dream matches left in the division. Seriously, is there anyone who wants to pay $50 to see Ebersole/GSP?

[Jeff Mondo]

^ You could be right about all of that, but how many people honestly believed years ago that Jon Jones would one day be behind a 700k ppv?

There is always potential for someone to break through and capture a significant audience. If GSP falls, then you bet that all of Canada will jump right behind Rory. And if the boy stays as hot as he's been, he'll garner a crowd. Seriously, if GSP can carry the $$$ as you imply, then there are so many other, more interesting and dynamic fighters who could one day do so.

[Mephisto]

Dude, I am seriously confused. I have been talking about welterweights and you are talking about middleweights. How did we get our wires crossed here? But, on the subject of middleweights I agree that Shell is the only serious challenge to Dancin Andy. Yeah, Bisping will get the next shot after Shell but he will get eaten alive. After the Shell rematch, Andy could call it a day and retire as there just arent any mountains left to climb but if he wants to stick around and make money I can certainly respect that too.

Does GSP have more legit challengers than Dancin Andy is what I was getting at, and I believe he does. I wish Dana had more leverage to make Condit defend his interim title before GSP returns otherwise it's just a "wait for GSP" title otherwise. As much grief as fans give Rashad, he did take a fight with Phil Davis waiting for Bones to return, so I respect him for that. We saw the chaos that resulted in the lightweight division with the holdup resulting from the constant rematches between Edgar and Maynard and how it stagnated the entire division. Those two precedents make it really hard to justify Condit waiting while two guys fight for a #1 contender title when they should both be fighting against either an interim champ or the real (not Ric Flair) champ.

As for the wrestling comment, I thought I was a pro wrestling nerd but I hadn't heard about that promotion or those guys at all, so I clearly bow down to your more indepth knowledge.

[Cbear]

Does GSP have more legit challengers than Dancin Andy is what I was getting at, and I believe he does. I wish Dana had more leverage to make Condit defend his interim title before GSP returns otherwise it's just a "wait for GSP" title otherwise. As much grief as fans give Rashad, he did take a fight with Phil Davis waiting for Bones to return, so I respect him for that. We saw the chaos that resulted in the lightweight division with the holdup resulting from the constant rematches between Edgar and Maynard and how it stagnated the entire division. Those two precedents make it really hard to justify Condit waiting while two guys fight for a #1 contender title when they should both be fighting against either an interim champ or the real (not Ric Flair) champ.

As for the wrestling comment, I thought I was a pro wrestling nerd but I hadn't heard about that promotion or those guys at all, so I clearly bow down to your more indepth knowledge.

That was just a small promotion but I had to toss in The Great Mephisto since your name is similar. He was a heel wrestler in the 70's and then a mangager later on. I saw him several times when he came to the Texas territories.