How to Beat : Current Champions

Tim Sylvia
Tim's style is straight up boxing. One two, one two. With his reach, knockout power and a pretty good sprawl that's all he's really needed.

How to beat him : Use leg kicks to soften up those long legs of his then when he's softened up and sluggish take him down and put him on his back, see how good his guard is, i'd bet not that great.

Biggest threat in the division : Might be Monson. The two are polar opposites in size and style. If Sylvia can defend the takedown then he'll knockout the Snowman at some point. But if Monson can use his low center of gravity to shoot in and grab a leg then he'll get Sylvia in a submission, just a matter of time.

I have to wonder if things would have been different if Andrei Arlovski had taken him to the ground and went for GnP or a sub attempt. Interestingly Andrei's kicking is good enough to wear out the legs of Sylvia he just didn't do enough in the regard. I think Andrei was too worried about how he wanted to win rather than if he could win.

Chuck Liddell
Chuck's preferred method is, gasp, to knockout his foe. He's willing to give his opponent a target to throw knuckles at so that he in turn can throw his own. And we know who hits harder, don't we? When things get slow he's more than willing to open up his hands, drop them a bit and even at times look to his corner; All with the intention of inviting his opponent to swing so he can counterpunch. Hey, it works.

How to beat him: Randy Couture proved you can beat him with more technical boxing and in the clinch but he also got KO'd twice trying to do it, so it's a gamble to be sure. If you were to fight the Iceman you'd want to take him down and neutralize his best weapon, that right hand, but it's proven a very difficult task to get him down and even more so to keep him down.

Biggest threat in the division: Coincidently it's his next opponent, Tito Ortiz. I think at this stage Tito has better takedowns than Randy so there is that chance he can get the champ down and we know what happens when Tito gets you down. I think it best to mixup standing and trading with shooting, make him wonder when the shoot is coming and use it to get some punches our kicks in then shoot. Easier said than done but not impossible, especially for Tito who has all the tools he needs already.



Anderson Silva
Well it's a good thing I procrastinated on this blog as long as I have or I would have Rich Franklin here instead of the Spider, and how foolish would that look. Then again we would be able to see if I was right. I wouldn't have been. I would not have said Silva would demolish Franklin in the clinch. No way, never.

Silva has great standup, hits hard and is very, very accurate with the strikes. Silva has pretty much every middleweight in the UFC at a disadvantage on the standup.

How to beat him: Take him down. Silva has his BJJ black belt from 'Minotoro' Nogueira so he's not pushover on the mat but I do think he's a little less dangerous there. Take him down, control him and pound on him and I think he can be beaten.

Biggest threat in the division: Tough call. There doesn't seem to be one guy that embodies the weaknesses that the Spider possesses like in the HW and LHW classes. Maybe Marquardt but I think more than him would be Franklin when he gets going on his comeback.

Franklin didn't work to attack Silva's areas of weakness, he wanted to beat him at his own game and we see that this was not effective. Franklin's GnP would be perfect for taking out the new champ.


Matt Hughes
While he has a complete game Matt sticks to his bread and butter as much as possible. Taking his man down and pounding on him until the referee steps in or until a submission opening arises.

How to beat him: Stuff the takedown attempts like BJ did and instantly you have Hughes scratching his head. Be quicker than the champ and use striking to your advantage and if it has to go to the ground be on top, test his guard.

Biggest threat in the division: BJ Penn & George St. Pierre. Both have the strength and grappling technique to defend teh takedown as well as have the quickness to give Hughes fits. Not to mention they both have superior striking skills as well. Hughes says he wants to KO someone so use his ego and try to get him to prove he can do it.

It would also be interesting to see Hughes versus Sanchez. They have similar styles so it would be a matter of who can dominate who. Interestingly Sanchez could be undefeated when they do finally meet up.



Sean Sherk
Sherk is a Matt Hughes clone but with faster hands and less of a submission game. He wants to take you down and beat on you with elbows and that's about it. His standup looks better than Hughes' albeit not as varied. Sherk relies on the old one two and little else.

How to beat him: Like any wrestler, put him on his back. Test his guard. In the GSP fight he was on his back and got beat down. Stuff the takedowns, ala GSP and you'll be in his head for sure. Then just use superior striking to pick him apart. No kicks though, please.

Biggest threat in the division: I think Spencer Fisher is the best lightweight in the UFC but his skillset actually plays into Sherk's hands. Sherk would most likely take him down pretty easily. Fortunately Fisher's guard is dangerous. Spencer's judo takedowns could counteract Sherk's wrestling ones but I wouldn't bet the farm on it.

Sherk isn't unbeatable by any means but at the lightweight level there doesn't seem to be anyone ideally suited to beat him. I'm not saying Fisher can't beat him just that he's not best suited for it. If BJ Penn comes back down to lightweight I think he could get the belt fairly easily.