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Submitted by Hustle on Saturday, November 22, 2008 at 9:37 AM EST
![]() Good lookin out for the graphics work, Noc "It's amazing.. I'm the reason everybody fired up this evening.. I'm exhausted, barely breathing.. holding on to what I believe in.. no matter what, you'll never take that from me.. my reign is as far as your eyes can see.. it's amazing, so amazing.." Kanye West returns for another intro line. This daily column-writing game is hard work, ladies and gentlemen. I'm moving ahead, though, and it really doesn't matter to me how much time and effort this is taking. I can't stop.. won't stop.. and it is, truly, so amazing. Welcome back to The HIPE. I'm the King behind the Keyboard.. the Man behind the Monitor.. indeed, it's ya boy, Hustle, locked and loaded once again. I just keep on keepin on, and speaking of that, I think it's about that time. Shall I proceed? (Yes, indeed.) Less dew eet!! Since it's Saturday morning, I'd normally have my Smackdown recap in this spot, but due to college sports, Smackdown won't be airing here until 1am or so (it's 11:35pm as I type this), and I won't be able to devote two hours to watching the show and then come back to the computer and get a recap typed up, along with the rest of the column, without falling asleep in the chair midway through. Because of that, a few things happened. First and foremost, my Smackdown recap will take place in tomorrow's edition of The HIPE, after I've actually had a chance to sit and watch the show. Also, with today's column being void of ideas, I decided to switch things up and post something today that I was originally going to deliver to you fine people sometime mid-week. For this column, I bring back my MMA Guru, Treisk, fresh off of our fine performances in predicting the UFC 91 pay-per-view. We've decided on our Top 10 Pound-For-Pound MMA Fighters list, and we'll be presenting them to you here. Again, MMA won't be a huge part of The HIPE, but it's something that I feel is a big enough sport, and it continues to get bigger all the time, so I almost feel obligated to bring the PPV previews and Top 10 rankings to the masses. Without any further adieu, let's get right into it. Not that you needed to know, but this is my color, while this is Treisk's color. Guru, do you have anything to say? What's good, MMA "Guru" Treisk here for another attempt at getting 10% of whatever Hustle makes. Yahoo! Sports and Sherdog, the "big two" in MMA coverage, have recently posted up their P4P Top 10, and I have to humbly (arrogantly) disagree with both of their top 10s. Which is mostly why I'm here. Because they're wrong. I'm just saying. Hustle, hit me with a snazzy catchphrase to kick this motherfucker off. You're not getting a cent of my money, let's get that squared away right off Jump Street. As for hitting you with a catchphrase, just know this.. you don't tell me what to do. Ever. Evereverevereverever. 10. Brock Lesnar, Rashad Evans Based on pure potential alone, Brock Lesnar has the chance to go down as one of the absolute best MMA fighters of all-time, although the haters are probably chuckling at that statement right now. His combination of size, speed, strength, and agility have never been matched in the sport's history, his world-class wrestling ability is matched by only a few, and he's currently improving his Jiu-Jitsu, which is absolutely frightening for the rest of the MMA world. He continues to prove people wrong each time he steps into The Octagon, and he'll have his fair share of haters once again when he faces the winner of the Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria VS Frank Mir fight that takes place on December 27th. He's showing an ability to tune out the negative opinions of people now, which is a far cry from the Brock Lesnar that we saw at WrestleMania 20, when he let the Madison Square Garden crown get under his skin on multiple occasions. He needs to continue focusing on his training, and not much else, and he'll be just fine. For now, he sneaks into the Top 10, and he's rising quickly. With some incredibly memorable knockouts recently, and an upcoming title bout against Forrest Griffin, Rashad Evans is one of the most promising prospects of the 205 division right now. With his only non-win coming by draw against Tito Ortiz, Evans holds wins over Brad Imes, Sam Hoger, Stephan Bonnar, Jason Lambert, Sean Salmon, Michael Bisping, and Chuck Liddell. That's an incredibly impressive win column, and adding Griffin to that list will skyrocket his ranking on P4P lists throughout the entire MMA world. Aside from his record, who will ever forget that wicked headkick KO of Sean Salmon? Who will remember that ridiculous shot that had Chuck Liddell babbling to the doctors for three minutes after their fight? A lot of fans are truly looking forward to Griffin/Evans because it's a fight between two former underdogs, where Evans was picked to lose against Chuck Liddell, and Griffin was picked to lose against both Shogun and Rampage. But they both won those respective fights. And above all else, this fight will be a "The Ultimate Fighter" faceoff between Season 1 winner Griffin, and Season 2 winner Rashad Evans. 9. Urijah Faber, Thiago Alves Yes, he lost his most recent fight on a first-round TKO, but the fact that Urijah Faber is still ranked in most people's Top 10 P4P lists says just how talented he really is. He's been an absolute workhorse, seemingly fighting every other month over the last couple of years, and he just kept on mowing through opponent after opponent, becoming the WEC Featherweight Champion in the process. His fight against Jens Pulver back in June was a back-and-forth war, and is one of my favorite fights of the year so far. Everyone gets caught eventually, and in his fight with Mike Brown, it was Faber's time to get caught. His loss wasn't any reason to panic, though. A rematch is in the works, and Faber should come into it with more intensity and better preparation than at any other time in his career. Revenge is a powerful motivational tool. Coming off of four huge victories that put him next in line for the 170 strap, Alves has recent wins over Chris Lytle, Karo Parisyan, Matt Hughes, and Josh Koscheck. And they all came in convincing fashion. Alves has incredibly dangerous knees to round out his solid striking, which is deceptive given how good he is on the ground as well. Alves was able to do something not many fighters could do, and that's stuff Koscheck's takedowns. That's also not to say Alves wouldn't have come out on top on the ground, but you don't want to find yourself under a wrestler, especially a great one like Koscheck, so I get Alves's takedown defense to keep it on the feet. Whether GSP or Penn win their upcoming superfight, it's undeniable that Thiago Alves will be next in line for that title shot, and regardless of who Alves will fight, it will be a war that, if Alves wins, is sure to propel him up this list a few spots. 8. Thiago Alves, Urijah Faber Alves is quickly rising on my list of favorite fighters. He's exciting as all hell to watch, and he's still plenty young enough (he just turned 25) to keep getting better. His fight against Josh Koscheck was a real treat to watch (unless you had money on Koscheck and/or are a member of Koscheck's family). "Pitbull" stepped into The Octagon against a superior wrestler, but he made Koscheck look bad on multiple occasions, all while wearing Koscheck down with what seemed to be a never-ending string of leg kicks. How Koscheck could even walk after the fight, I'll never understand. He'll be watching the St Pierre/Penn fight with great anticipation, as he'll be the guy to get the winner of the match for the UFC Welterweight Title. Either fight would be a Fight Of The Year candidate, more than likely. MMA fans across the world can't go wrong with either choice. Although Faber was recently upset over the 145 crown, it's hard to dispute a few things about Faber. One, the kid is a superstar in that division, and has carried the WEC quite well during his career. Two, the kid's got talent out the ass. Three, he's got a staggering record of 21-2-0, with his first loss coming to a fighter who quickly moved up to 155, and his second (recent) loss coming as a result of him getting caught. Faber was on top of the world, and he let it get to him. But Faber has said, never again. Coming off of a 13-win streak, which included wins over Jeff Curran and Jens Pulver, it's hard to deny that despite his loss to Brown, Faber is the future of 145. Faber is the only fighter on the list this time around who is coming off of a recent loss, simply because of what he's done prior to that (coming off of 11 fights in a 2 year period), and considering the conditions of the Brown fight. The fight was postponed as a result of Hurricane Ike, which meant the fighters had to re-enter their camp, butchering their original plans for the fight. In a near-future rematch, Faber is expected to take it, which is no surprise to any fan of the California Kid. 7. Miguel Torres, Forrest Griffin Torres' fight with Yoshiro Maeda back in June (on the same WEC card as Faber/Pulver) is probably my favorite fight of the year, anywhere in the MMA world. I'm sure Treisk will mention it more, but their double-heel hook spot was absolutely breathtaking, and it was something that I couldn't help but to watch and just shake my head in amazement. Torres won the fight, and it looked like there were four or five of him during the fight, as he was able to strike Maeda from every imaginable position, and some that weren't imaginable. If there's anybody that can bring Torres' hot streak to a halt, it would be Manny Tapia, and golly gee whillikers.. Torres faces Tapia on December 3rd in a fight that should be a knock-down, drag-out affair. If Torres wins, he'll be Top 5 on the next edition of this list, without question. Being introduced into the fight game against all-time legend Dan "The Beast" Severn (albeit via a loss), Forrest Griffin has never taken the easy route in his MMA career, and has never turned down a fight. Before entering the UFC through "The Ultimate Fighter" season 1, Griffin fought at heavyweight, defeating Jeff Monson and Travis Fulton before cutting down to 205 to fight Chael Sonnen. Feeling comfortable at 205, he remained at this weight, albeit losing to Jeremy Horn. During his fight against Edson Paredao at Heat FC's second event, Evolution, Forrest was scouted for this hot new reality show hosted by the UFC, where the winner was promised a six-figure contract with the promotion. Forrest went on to the finals of the Ultimate Fighter, and went to war with Stephan Bonnar, winning a fight that almost solely brought the UFC to the mainstream public. He continued his UFC career with wins over Bill Mahood and Elvis Sinosic before being put in a huge fight against Tito Ortiz, which he lost. After beating Bonnar again, he moved in to fight Keith Jardine, who defeated him. After the fight, Forrest was furious at himself, and with very few words, walked out of the cage to get right back to training. He came back and dominated Hector Ramirez, putting him in a position to fight Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. In what was an absolute war, Forrest pulled out a shocking submission on Shogun, an outcome nobody could have predicted. After beating Quinton "Rampage" Jackson for the 205 strap, Griffin now awaits his next fight against Rashad Evans at the year-end show on December 27th. On top of all that, he's a huge fan favorite, and a household name among casual MMA fans. 6. Forrest Griffin, Miguel Torres Griffin, like Lesnar, has been proving people wrong whenever he steps into The Octagon. When he stepped in against "Shogun" Rua, most people thought he wouldn't stand a chance, but he basically dominated most of the fight, before stopping Rua with a Rear Naked Choke. The fact that he won the fight with an injured shoulder just makes it that much more of an impressive feat. Next up, he took on "Rampage" Jackson, then-UFC Light Heavyweight Champion (and PRIDE Middleweight Champion, before that belt was unified with the Light Heavyweight strap), and a man who was on an absolute roll coming into the fight, having beaten Dan Henderson, Chuck Liddell, Marvin Eastman, and Matt Lindland in a row. Again, Griffin was a huge underdog, and again, Griffin won, this time with a unanimous decision, and he became the new champion. In a little over a month's time, at UFC 92, Griffin defends his title against Rashad Evans, who is coming off of an absolutely amazing KO victory over Chuck Liddell. It was one of the better KOs in recent memory, in my opinion, and that KO power will present a big hurdle for Griffin. If Griffin does win, though, I've seen some people say that he should be one of the Top 2 P4P fighters based on the Rua/Jackson/Evans string of wins. I wouldn't go that far, but that's one helluva trifecta, if he can get it done. Although Bantamweight isn't the most loaded division in MMA right now, Miguel Torres is no doubt on top of it, boasting a damned-impressive 34-1-0 record. winning his last 15 fights. His only loss was a decision to Ryan Ackerman, a loss that Torres avenged almost exactly two years later with a convincing armbar submission. In his 35 fights, he's only gone to decision 6 times, only losing one of those decisions. His recent WAR with Yoshiro Maeda was one of my favorite fights of all-time, and one of the closest wars in MMA history. The fight included an absolutely insane double heel-hook, where the two tried to submit each other with the same submission at the same time for about 20 seconds. Torres moved on to win that fight by doctor stoppage, with Maeda unable to so much as open his eye. His biggest challenge yet will come from Manny Tapia in just under 2 weeks. 5. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira "Nog" is one of the most dangerous men on the planet, and for good reason. A black belt in Judo, a black belt in BJJ, and he trains with the Cuban National Boxing Team on occasion.. that's a scary combination, especially when he's a 6'3" 241-pound hunk of muscle (no homo). He's got a highly-anticipated fight against Frank Mir coming up, and while a lot of people are predicting an easy victory for "Nog", I know better than to overlook Mir like that. If he does get by Mir, though, his fight with Lesnar will be nothing short of epic, and should set some more records for the UFC as far as PPV buyrates and ticket sales go. He'll also be poised to climb in these rankings, and he might even have a chance at being in the Top 2 or so. With an ever-impressive ground game, and some above-average striking to go with it, "Big Nog" has wins over Mark Coleman, Heath Herring, Bob Sapp, Dan Henderson, Ricco Rodriguez, Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, Sergei Kharitonov (say that three times fast), Fabricio Werdum, Josh Barnett, and Tim Sylvia. One of the greatest forces to be reckoned with in the Heavyweight division may become the undisputed heavyweight champion before too long. If Big Nog walks through Frank Mir as expected, he will move on to challenge Brock Lesnar for the aforementioned undisputed heavyweight title. But the scariest thing for any challenger, Lesnar included, is that Big Nog has never been stopped, even by Fedor in their three fights (one of which ended in a no contest). His only losses were to Dan Henderson (avenged), Fedor (twice), and Josh Barnett, and all of those losses were by decision. A man who can not be stopped is a fucking scary thing to think about. Not to mention that Nog boasts almost more fight experience than any other fighter in MMA right now. 4. BJ Penn, BJ Penn Ah, my Hawaiian brethren. He's coming off of some impressive victories over Sean Sherk, Joe Stevenson, and Jens Pulver, and has plenty of motivation going into his upcoming fight with Georges St Pierre, as GSP beat him by split decision back in March of 2006. The decision was controversial in most people's opinions, but nonetheless, BJ has revenge on his mind going into the fight, and personal bias aside, I'd have a hard time betting against one of the premier Jiu-Jitsu talents on the planet. His fight against GSP is sure to be a war, and the winner will have a legitimate case to become the new #1 P4P fighter in all of MMA. I'll wait until I see the fight, see who wins, and see how they win before I make that call, but the winner should be at #2, easily, in my opinion. By the time he steps into the cage against GSP in January, it will have been almost exactly 8 months since Penn's last fight, but that hasn't got him rattled at all. Both Penn and his P4P neighbor are confident going into what should be a great war. But that's not the only reason Penn is where he is on these rankings. Another who's who of wins for Penn comes in the form of Din Thomas, Caol Uno, Matt Serra, Takanori Gomi, Matt Hughes, Rodrigo Gracie, Renzo Gracie, Jens Pulver, Joe "Daddy" Stevenson (Sorry about KenFlo, Joe), and Sean Sherk. However, the reason he's not higher on this list is the fact that he's had his share of losses. Although his losses to Jens Pulver and Matt Hughes have been avenged, his losses to Lyoto Machida and GSP have yet to be avenged. Penn is also the only man, to my recollection, to have ever gone to a tie decision (draw) in a UFC championship bout, against Caol Uno in their 2003 rematch in what was an absolute war. Here's hoping we get a similar (or superior) war between Penn and GSP, except this time, with a decision one way or the other. If Penn wins, I see him moving to #3 and GSP moving to #4. If GSP wins, I see him moving up to #2, and Penn remaining at #4. 2.9 Fedor Emelianenko, Georges St Pierre This is the man that haunts people in their nightmares, folks. His domination of Heavyweight Divisions across the world is almost laughable. There are rumors that his "Russian Experiment" nickname may be more true than originally thought, as the following picture recently started circulating, raising questions about just how fair it is to put people in fights against him: ![]() I've got to admit.. that picture gives me the creeps. Imagine how it feels to step into the ring against the guy, with that picture in the back of your mind. Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski will be the next man to experience what that is like. Arlovski is, obviously, no pushover. Coming in on an impressive four fight win streak, he has the momentum and the experience needed to not be rattled by "The Last Emporer". Either way, there will be a whole helluva lot of Sambo taking place in that fight. After making Jon Bitch his Fitch (wait...) for 25 minutes of utter destruction, and compiling his own who's who win column, with wins over Pete Spratt, Karo Parisyan, Jason Miller, Frank Trigg, Sean Sherk, BJ Penn, Matt Hughes (twice), Josh Koscheck, and Matt Serra, on top of, as mentioned before, the Fitch destruction. The beautiful thing about GSP, though, is that he has zero un-avenged losses. After losing to Hughes in 10/04, he avenged it in 11/06 to win the belt from him. After losing the title to Serra in 2007 (in what's still called a fluke, and GSP has attributed to personal issues), he worked his way back through Josh Koscheck, destroyed Hughes with a brutal armbar, only to regain his title from Serra with some INSANELY brutal knees. Knees which, by the way, new UFC Heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar took note of judging by his fight with Heath Herring. To get a little more current, after his win over Jon Fitch, BJ Penn approached GSP about a fight at 170 for the belt. Noting that Penn lost to a much greener GSP in 2006, I see a very similar outcome in that fight, but we'll get to that in January. GSP's outstanding striking, mixed with his incredible ground work (and his ridiculous takedowns), GSP seems like an unstoppable force in MMA. 2. Georges St Pierre, Anderson Silva As a BJ Penn fan, GSP scares the daylights out of me, because he could probably step into The Octagon against an elephant, shoot in, and succeed in taking Dumbo down. Nothing against Jon Fitch, who I like, but damn, I could've stepped into The Octagon against GSP and put up the exact same amount of fight as Fitch did. That was as ugly as Sarah Jessica Parker, whose face looks like a foot. I have it on good authority that this is a pic of this heifer without any makeup on: ![]() Eww. What the fuck were we talking about again?? Oh, that's right.. GSP treating Jon Fitch like a redheaded stepchild for nearly a full half-hour. Some are calling it the most one-sided title fight in UFC history, while some are even calling in the most one-sided title fight in MMA history. While I definitely can't speak for all of MMA's rich, storied history, I think it would be rather difficult to find a fight in UFC history that was so lopsided. This guy has the capability and the skills to do that to anyone he fights, and like I've mentioned about a few people in this column.. he's still young (27) and has plenty of time to get even better. Scary. Proving himself to be the pound-for-pound best in the UFC, Anderson Silva has beaten every last challenger that 185 has to offer for him. So what does he do? He jumps up to 205 to make James Irvin look like a fucking joke. And Irvin is no joke. You're talking about a guy who demolished huge prospect Houston Alexander in 8 seconds, and he got tooled by Silva in just over a minute. What does that say about Silva? A hell of a lot. The reason Silva is not #1 on this list, however, is that no matter how you slice it, Silva has 4 losses on his record (albeit one by DQ from an illegal kick). Despite his embarrassing loss to Ryo Chonan's flying scissor heel hook (no, I'm not joking), he himself has a who's who of MMA victories, including Patrick Cote (albeit ended freakishly, Silva was dominating that fight), Dan Henderson, Rich Franklin (twice), Nathan Marquardt, Travis "Cardi-No" Lutter, Chris Leben, Chris Leben, and Jeremy Horn. Silva didn't get here by being a one-trick pony either, though, as, just like Fedor, he's incredibly well-rounded. With great kicks, excellent combinations, and his strong Muay Thai, on top of being an absolute monster at BJJ, Silva may yet take #1 unanimously on every list, especially if he collects wins over some better competition in the near future. If UFC re-signs Robbie Lawler, that could be a great test for Silva. A lot of speculation has also gone into a possible Silva vs. Liddell, which would probably bump him up to #1 if Fedor doesn't get Barnett after Arlovski. 1. Anderson Silva, Fedor Emelianenko When you win a fight and people are talking about how you were a "disappointment", or that you've "fallen off", and are talking about moving you down their P4P rankings, you know you're a bad, bad man. Patrick Cote was on the receiving end of an ass-kicking, but it wasn't typical Anderson Silva fashion. In fact, Cote was the first person to fight Silva and make it to the third round since DECEMBER OF 2004! Between the fight in 04 and the Cote fight, Silva had fought a total of 11 times, with 15 rounds being the grand total time of all those fights. That's insane. People have apparently become so spoiled by Silva's success, and how he achieved it, that they overreact when he doesn't end his fights early. Like I said, Cote was beaten badly in the fight, but Silva just didn't seem to be as aggressive as he normally is, almost coming across as being lazy. It was strange to watch, to say the least. That just isn't enough for me to place him anywhere other than at #1 on this list, though. When you're as dominant as he's been, and for as long as he's been, you have your spot at the top of the P4P rankings pretty much sewed up. Also, as an added bonus, for all you ladies out there, the man fucks on the first date: ![]() That's just special right there. With his only loss coming by a cut caused by an illegal strike, Fedor has never been finished in a fight. He's never actually lost a fight, in the sense that no one has ever literally fought better than Fedor, against Fedor. His official record is actually 28-0-0 with 2 No Contests. An undefeated record like that, against some majorly stiff competition past and present, makes Fedor an absolute animal in the Heavyweight division. With convincing wins over Tim Sylvia, Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, Matt Lindland, Mark Hunt, Mark Coleman, Antonio "Minotauro" Nogueira, Kevin Randleman, Yuji Nagata, Kazuyuki Fujita, Heath Herring, Ricardo Arona, and MMA Behemoth Hong Man Choi (who came in weighing well over 100 pounds heavier than Fedor), Fedor's win column is a who's who of MMA contenders, legends, and former champions. His upcoming bout with Andrei Arlovski will leave one more bout on his Affliction contract, and that will hopefully lead to Josh Barnett, a fight MMA fans have been asking for, for years. If Fedor comes out on top of both of those (or even if he doesn't), his desire is to sign with the UFC and challenge Brock Lesnar and Randy Couture. But let's not get too ahead of ourselves. Fedor very recently expressed great interest in fighting Lesnar, though, feeling that Lesnar did not deserve to hold a title labeling him the best Heavyweight in the world. Fedor has deomlished the best of the Heavyweight division for years, with his incredibly well-rounded skillset, dominated Heath Herring and Mirko Cro Cop on the feet, and Kevin Randleman, Mark Coleman, and Mark Hunt on the ground. This makes it difficult to dispute that he has earned his #1 position. For reasons known only to him, Treisk also listed some Honorable Mentions who just missed the cut of making his list here. His HMs are: Brock Lesnar - After being in the UFC for one year, it's hard to believe Lesnar has already become Heavyweight champion. But that's what's happened. Lesnar came into the UFC wanting any fight Dana would give him, so Dana gave him former champion Frank Mir, who he was dominating until they were stood up from Lesnar hitting an illegal strike, a rookie mistake. He then made another rookie mistake, getting caught in a kneebar by Mir, the BJJ expert. So what does Lesnar do? He asks Dana for another challenge. So Dana gives him Pride veteran and Fedor-experienced Heath Herring, whom Lesnar dominated for 15 minutes, before letting him up 5 seconds before the final bell to point and laugh at Herring, who's camp had taunted him backstage prior to the fight. Lesnar got the last laugh. Dana decided that Lesnar was a monster, so when Randy Couture and Zuffa had settled their court dispute, Dana asked Randy if he'd fight Lesnar. Randy agreed, Brock agreed, and after weeks and weeks of press advertising the most marketable fight between two skilled fighters (Haha, Kimbo sucks) in MMA history, on November 15th, Lesnar demolished Couture and took the UFC Heavyweight Belt. A belt that, according to Dana, wasn't even big enough for the monster. If Lesnar defeats Nogueira, he will debut on the P4P top 10. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson - With his last 6 wins coming from huge opponents, Rampage is only left off of this list as a result of his loss to Forrest Griffin. Hitotaka Yokoi, Dong Sik Yoon, Matt Lindland, Marvin Eastman, Chuck Liddell, and Dan Henderson all fell to Rampage in less than two years' time. Had he defeated Forrest Griffin, he would have probably jumped just above Big Nog on this list. Regardless, though, of whether he's won or lost his last fight, you can rest assured Rampage will remain one of the biggest stars in the sport for a long time coming. His upcoming PRIDE throwback fight against Wanderlei Silva promises to be amazing, but many question how Rampage will do in that fight. Wanderlei won their first two encounters in Pride, which means this could be a dangerous fight for Rampage. Only time will tell, though, whether Rampage can break the habit against Wanderlei. Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida - With his sometimes-exciting, sometimes-boring, always impressive style, Lyoto Machida rounds out this list. An incredibly elusive striker that has relied on decisions to gain most of his wins, Machida managed to take the Kalib Starnes fighting style (of hauling ass), and mix in some great counter-striking to inflict damage and score points. Lyoto Machida is the definition of a point fighter, however. With 8 of his 13 wins coming by decision, a lot of fight fans are annoyed by his method, feeling that he doesn't have true "fight finishing" power. Regardless, his win column includes big names, such as BJ Penn, Rich Franklin, Stephan Bonnar, Vernon White, Sam Hoger, Kazuhiro Nakamura, Rameau Sokoudjou, and, most recently, Tito Ortiz. The downside is that Machida hasn't fought in months. His scheduled opponent, Thiago Silva (not to be confused with Thiago Alves), pulled out of their UFC 89 fight. Unconfirmed reports state that Machida/Alves will take place at UFC 94 as the co-main event with Penn/GSP. In that fight, one fighter will go 13-1, while the other will move to 14-0, as both men boast current 13-0 records. If you forced me to make a list of Honorable Mentions, they would definitely be "Rampage" Jackson, Lyoto Machida, and Demian Maia. The reason I'm just listing names, and not giving the breakdown like my Guru did, has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with laziness. Nope. Nothing at all. Guru, do you have anything you'd like to say to the people before we get the fuck out of here? Thanks again to Hustle for bringing me in to "guru" the shit out of his columns. Looking forward to UFC 92, where y'all will surely see me again. That reminds me, Noc, if you're reading this, you should totally hook it up with a sig. Surprisingly enough, Noc, I didn't tell him to say that. Swear to God. A big shout-out goes to Treisk for being a part of The HIPE once again. Dude definitely knows what he's talking about, that's for sure. I'll gladly have you back for UFC 92, bro, please believe. Click Here For The HIPE & HIPRN Archives, in case you'd like to go back and read any of my 50 or so Main Page columns What Hustle Is Listening To Right Now: "Pain No More" by E-40, The Game, & Snoop Dogg.. "Earl" by E-40 & Ice-T.. "Let It Burn" by Playa Poncho.. "Favorite Things" by Project Pat.. "Keep It Hood" by Project Pat & OJ Da Juiceman That about does it for yet another column, people and peoplettes. Believe The HIPE. It's real. I need to get the fuck out of here, but I'll be back tomorrow.. same Hustle time, same Hustle page.. with another banger that will be wrapped, packaged, and shipped out for all the fiends. Keep your peepers peepin for it. Until then, I'm the guy people love to hate, I'm from the place where the locals hate to love, and I bid you farewell. Aloha and Mahalo Nui Loa. "I'm exceedin expectations, you barely meeting quota.. I give it to em straight, you cut it with baking soda.." Hustle HIPRNFeedback@gmail.com ![]()
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