Anticipated non UFC matchups
Date: 2008-12-16 16:00:00
Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/93372-the-best-...
Submitted By: MMA Fight Dump
Afflicted When most people think of MMA they think of the UFC – and with good reason. There are 13 high level MMA events currently scheduled though March and nine of them are UFC shows if you include WEC 38. The other organizations putting on shows are Adrenaline, Affliction, K-1, and Sengogku. The best scheduled fight in most people’s minds would be 'Fedor vs. Arlovski' who are set to fight at Affliction’s 'Day of Reckoning.' However, one has to wonder if the fight card will be postponed for a second time. Golden Boy productions, which was supposedly a new partner of Affliction, has scheduled a welterweight superfight between Shane Mosley and Mexican sensation Antonio Margarito on January 24, the same date as Affliction’s pay-per-view card. The Golden boy event could siphon much of the local interest in combat sports away from the Affliction card which could deliver a fatal blow to the new organization. Two Dream matchups With that being said, let’s look at the other two best scheduled fights not in the UFC. The first two fights are at K-1’s DYNAMITE!! 2008, which is scheduled to go down four days after UFC 92, on Dec 31. It has two of the best possible lightweight fights that an MMA fan could dream of. The show will be a co-promotion between K-1 and DREAM, which are both owned by parent company FEG. The two LW fights are: Eddie Alvarez (No. 2 LW) vs. Shinya Aoki (No. 4 LW) and Joachim Hansen (No. 3 LW) vs. Gesias Cavalcante (No. 5 LW). Never before has a fight card had four fighters, all ranked in the top five of their division, squaring off against each other. The UFC will come close at UFC 92, when four of the top ten light heavyweights will collide. All four of these Dream LW are connected to some degree. Eddie Alvarez and Shinya Aoki were supposed to meet in the finals of Dream’s lightweight Tournament. Eddie Alvarez had gotten a decision win over Joachim Hansen in the quarter finals and then went on record a TKO over Tatsuya Kawajiri in the semis. However Eddie was injured in the semis and not allowed to continue. Joachim Hansen took his place and recorded a dramatic TKO victory over Shinya Aoki to claim DREAM’s lightweight title. Hansen’s win was even sweeter since it avenged a previous loss to Aoki two years prior in PRIDE. In the other scheduled fight Joachim Hansen and Gesias Cavalcante faced each other back in 2004 at Shooto – Hansen won the fight by decision. If Gesias is able to avenge his loss to Hansen and Aoki were able to win, then those two would meet for a third time. There first fight took place at DREAM 1 in the opening round of the LW tournament. It was ruled a no contest due to Cavalcante’s illegal elbows. They redid the fight at DREAM two and Aoki got the decision win.
