DISCUSS THIS STORY IN THE TOTAL-MMA.COM FORUMS

By Marc Staehling

There are only eleven men actively fighting in the UFC, who have never tasted defeat in the Octagon. Last week we looked at the lightweights and welterweights, this week we take a glance at the middles and heavy.

Middleweight

Martin Kampmann

Overall Record: 15-2 UFC Record: 3-0

Danish export Kampmann hasn’t fought in nearly one year due to a serious knee injury, and is one of two active middleweight fighters with perfect records in the UFC. Kampmann has shown to be fairly adept with submissions, despite being a kickboxer by trade, as he finished two of his three opponents with chokes. Before putting Drew McFedries to sleep with an arm-triangle he proved the strength of his chin in weathering the wild-swinging Miletich fighter’s onslaught. His biggest victory is easily the decision win over Thales Leites(who hasn’t lost since, and has looked very good in the process), although neither men looked all that strong in the bout.

There are a lot of questions surrounding Kampmann. He’s not a very big middleweight, so a move down to welterweight is a possibility. How he looks upon his return to the octagon post-knee surgery is anybody’s guess. He completely tore multiple ligaments in his knee, so it will be interesting to see if he has any lingering effects from the injury. He trains with an excellent camp, Extreme Couture, and is still a young man, but maintaining his undefeated run against the big boys at 185, or moving down to shark-infested waters at 170 will be a tough task, likely too tough.

Anderson Silva

Overall Record: 20-4 UFC Record: 5-0

I don’t think I need to go into details about Anderson Silva’s run thus far in the UFC. To put it simply, since debuting in the UFC in June 2006, “The Spider” has been the most devastating and dominant fighter in the promotion. 5-0. All stoppages.

So the question is, who will stop this man? We may very well find out on Saturday March 1st, as Silva faces the toughest challenge of his career against Dan Henderson. Henderson has the tools to topple the middleweight champ, but it is a fight that is too close to call. While Henderson’s wrestling credentials are top-notch, he has a habit of getting into slugfests and putting himself in precarious situations. If he can fight a smart fight, and constantly put Silva on his back, then victory might be his, but it isn’t that easy. Silva has shown that he has the power and accuracy to hurt someone with a single shot, and the patience and skill to finish them off. In a twenty-five minute fight, Silva will have at the very least five opportunities to stand and strike with Hendo, which just may be enough to land a blow that leads to a finish. Neither of these warriors have ever been finished via KO or TKO, and a submission is highly unlikely, so it looks like we’re in for a historical first ever finish, or a five round war. Either way this fight has classic written all over it.

Heavyweight

Jake O’Brien

Overall Record: 10-0 UFC Record: 3-0

The lone heavyweight is former Purdue wrestler Jake O’Brien. Only one of his three wins have been televised, which was his decision win over Heath Herring in January ‘07. Since then O’Brien has dealt with serious injury concerns, but appears to be back on track, and is slated to fight Andrei Arlovski at UFC 82. O’Brien is one of the few strong prospects in the heavyweight ranks, posessing an excellent wrestling base to build on.

I think the Arlovski fight will end O’Brien’s streak. Heath Herring did not look good against O’Brien. He looked lethargic and slow, yet he managed to rock him on a few occasions. If Arlovski has one thing, it’s speed and athleticism, and I think he’ll hit and hurt Jake O’Brien often and early. Now that I’ve said this, I’m sure O’Brien will likely outbox Andrei and take him down at will en route to a decision…

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHTS NEXT TIME!!!