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mixed martial arts insider
UFC is loaded, but good fighters elsewhere
Monday, November 19, 2007
Every mixed martial arts fan knows the Las Vegas-based Ultimate Fighting Championship has a near-monopoly on the world's top talent.
Anderson Silva, Quinton Jackson, Chuck Liddell, Georges St. Pierre, B.J. Penn and other top superstars all call the UFC home.
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Although the UFC's competition has a long way to go if it ever hopes to catch the worldwide leader of MMA, a number of organizations are promoting big names of their own.
Here are the top 10 stars (in alphabetical order) that Americans will see outside the UFC:
Carlos Condit (21-4), WEC — The 23-year-old WEC welterweight champ is a submission specialist and one of the top 170-pound fighters not competing in the UFC.
Fedor Emelianenko (26-1), M-1 Global — The restructured M-1 Global organization hopes it can charge into the mainstream with the legendary former PRIDE heavyweight champion as its engine.
Urijah Faber (19-1), WEC — Faber, the clean-cut poster boy of the WEC, has an 11-fight win streak. The featherweight champ faces a tough Jeff Curan next month.
Paulo Filho (15-0), WEC — Filho's one of the top two middleweights in the world, but can the WEC find enough competitive fights for its new champ?
Chris Horodecki (11-0), IFL — The 20-year-old Horodecki is 7-0 in the IFL and the brightest star in the struggling organization. But he's yet to crack into the lightweight division's world top 10.
Robbie Lawler (16-4), EliteXC — Finally living up to his potential, Lawler owns the EliteXC and Icon Sport middleweight titles, and he has recent wins over notables Joey Villasenor, Frank Trigg and Murilo "Ninja" Rua.
Cung Le (5-0), Strikeforce — He's the least proven and accomplished of the bunch, but this former world kickboxing champ can single-handedly sell out an event. His unique fighting style is unrivaled in MMA.
Gilbert Melendez (13-0), Strikeforce — Strikeforce has a potential superstar in Melendez. A win over upcoming opponent Josh Thomson could make the Californian the No.1 world lightweight.
Jason "Mayhem" Miller (19-5), HDNet Fights — Mark Cuban's upstart HDNet Fights organization wants to groom its own talent, but signing this popular middleweight is a smart Plan B.
Jake Shields (20-4-1), EliteXC — Shields hasn't lost a fight in nearly three years, going 9-0. He's the odds-on favorite to win EliteXC's vacant 170-pound title.
Honorable Mentions: Takanori Gomi (free agent), Denis Kang, (K-1 Hero's), Vladimir Matyushenko (IFL), Frank Shamrock (Strikeforce) and Akitoshi Tamura (Shooto).
Dann Stupp is editor-in-chief of MMAjunkie.com, a content-partner site of Yahoo! Sports. For the MMA news and UFC rumors, go to www.mmajunkie.com.
