Next Generation Fighters

...or as I think of them First Generation MMA fighters. What I am talking about is guys who excel standing and on the ground. When you have that ability the fights become more of a chess match and you see guys weighing their relative strenghts against opponents relative weaknesses. Not to take anything away from Matt Hughes or Diego Sanchez but there really isn't much chess there. You know what they are going to do....can you stop them? Hughes might be getting the short end of the stick here since his striking is hardly ever called upon but then that's the point isn't it? I don't blame the guy for sticking to his bread and butter but neither can I applaude his diversity. Similary is Chuck Liddell. Don't get me wrong I am not trying to say Chuck is a striker and that's all he is but the fact is his greatest non-striking skills are his ability to stay off the mat (i.e sprawl) and to get back off the mat. Not exactly excelling I would say. So here is my list of the guys who can do the job wherever it needs to be done.

Rich Franklin
Probably the benchmark for these guys. Yes he'll stand and trade with you. Trade his darting away from your shots for your eating his hammer hands! If it goes to the ground though Ace goes right to work on submissions and he can ground and pound as well. He even does that stand over a guy and pound on a guy ala Ken Shamrock....hell he did it to Ken Shamrock! And this guy is a workout warrior so ever round he's going to be bringing it. Oh and every round you have to stand up against him for at least a little bit. Hahahahahahaha

Nick Diaz
The guy has a serious attitude problem and to be honest I am not sure I want him polluting the pure thing we have right now in MMA. I do hope he gets his head on straight though because he is a very good all around fighter at a young age. He rolls well, boxes well, has at least some knockout power and is aggressive. Teach the kid some honest respect and the world could be his in a few years.

Andrei Arlovski
Okay so he's the heavyweight champ at 6'3 245, has the punching power you would expect from a guy that size, has like no body fat and has some of the best footwork in MMA?! Damn right it's not fair. He's a lot like Franklin and just like him the chink in his armor, so some proclaim, is a weak chin which may or may not be true but what's not open for debate is the all around skill he brings to the table. The Sylvia fight was probably the best display of that with a nice punch that knocked the big fella down and then finish with the ankle lock. Really it's too bad that Mir lost his fight because I was looking forward to seeing the two roll.

Forrest Griffin
Does the 'hillbilly' get too much publicity for too little accomplishment? Maybe.....maybe even probably but does he have an all around game? Definitely. Maybe more than anyone else. Griffin can box (some), can take a punch (many), works in the clinch (well), has some nice takedowns and is really more of a grappler! He took it to Elvis who is pretty much a veteran grappler, if not a great one. The Bonnar fight really showed some great flashes though. How about when he threw Bonnar off of him, against the fence and then through what could have been a vicious right hand. It looked tentative to be honest but if he had but some mustard on that and meant it.....wow...cue the Sportscenter theme. The guy has a mountain of potential.

David Loiseau
I agonized over this one, really. From what I have seen his ground game consists of really good defense and some ground & pound which makes it debatable on whether he belongs in this group but as he did beat Evan Tanner on the ground I feel obligated to throw him in there.

Brandon Vera
From what little I have seen the guy has a good standup game and is supposed to be better on the ground so I am taking a little bit of a chance on him. He looks well rounded though.

Stephan Bonnar
He's got Golden Gloves boxing trophies, can eat a punch or three and is a jiu-jitsu guy so yeah he fits. He's not as fluid as Griffin nor as good at takedowns but he can win standing or with a sub so he belongs. I do have some questions though, like can he ground and pound and can he knock someone out? If he doesn't have those things maybe he doesn't belong, we'll see.

GSP
The kid shifts fluidly from striking to takedown to grappling and it looks seemless. He seems to have an nice array of punches and kicks but does he have KO power? That's about the only possible hole in his game I can see. As far as transitioning smoothly fron one thing to the other i'd say he's right up there with Rich Franklin and Andrei Arlovksi with Griffin a half-step behind.

Honorable Mention (more to follow)

Nathan Marquardt
Spencer Fisher
Christ Leben