5 MMA Fights Fred Wants to See Happen

One of the things that Dana White of the UFC and all proponenets of MMA have trumpeted about their sport as it has grown is its desire to put together the fights the people want to see. They state that, unlike boxing where these super fights are only ever discussed or are put together when fighters are well past their prime, MMA gives the fans what they want. Well then here are 5 fights that I think would be good for MMA and it's fans.

1. Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brock Lesnar or Shane Carwin or Cain Velasquez...
Ok so that's 3 fights but basically what I want to see is Fedor fighting one of the new generation of heavyweights. People have been screaming that they want to see Fedor fight one of these guys, especially Lesnar, for some time.

Fedor's career resume is undeniable. He beat the best that the Pride heavyweight division had for years including Big Nog, Cro Cop, Mark Coleman, etc. But now there is a new generation that is bigger, faster, stronger, and just more athletic. Fedor will always be known as one of the all time greats but if he wants to still be known as the current best he has to fight these young bucks of the division because in the court of public opinion, which is what pays the bills, they are the top of the division. Unfortunately for the fans it seems that his representation with M-1 isn't worried with that at this time and it doesn't even look like we'll get him against Alistair Overeem in Strikeforce which isn't a huge deal but would have been something I guess.

2. Georges St. Pierre vs. Anderson Silva
Anderson Silva is so bored with the 185 division that once he has control of a fight he turns the cage into dancing with the stars. His next fight against Chael Sonnen promises to be the type of snooze fest that will make you wonder if you ever want to buy a PPV headlined by the one-time human hightlight knockout reel Silva anytime soon.

Georges St. Pierre has cleaned out the 170 lb. division so thouroughly that we as fans have to look forward to his next defense of the title being against the winner of the Paul Daley-Josh Koscheck fight AFTER the next season of The Ultimate Fighter. At least let's hope Daley wins so we aren't looking forward to a less than riveting St. Pierre-Koscheck rematch.

So why is this fight not happening? Both fighters are in the UFC so we don't have the issues that exist with any of the Fedor fights. Both fighters have said they'd be intersted in taking the fight. Heck, Anderson Silva even agreed to cut to 170 lbs. to take the fight which makes St. Pierre happy because he didn't like the idea of moving up in weight. Let's not forget also that this is a business and let's face it, if this fight didn't break a UFC record for PPV buys it would definitely get close. Everyone wins. The UFC makes money. The fans get a dream fight while both fighters are in their primes. The fighter's make money and are provided with a challenge that both have seemed to be lacking for some time. Dana White and Joe Silva please don't keep us waiting.

3. Chael Sonnen vs. Jake Shields
This one probably doesn't end in an exciting 1st round finish and many are probably disagreeing with me about this fight but sometimes I just love watching fights where two evenly matched guys with similar skill sets go at it to see who is better. This would most likely end up being a 3 round war. Both fighters have excellent ground control, just ask Nate Marquardt and Dan Henderson. If Sonnen loses as expected to Anderson Silva he'll be looking for a big bounce back fight. If Shields ends up in the UFC as expected he'll want to make a name for himself coming in as the Strikeforce champion and what better way to do it than by taking out the previous number 1 contender in 185 lb division.

4. Jose Aldo vs. Manny Gamburyen
The reason I put this fight on here is because Manny deserves a title shot after his impressive first round KO over former 145 lb. champion Mike Brown. While I don't hold a lot of hope that he can beat Aldo, Manny is not a fighter to be taken lightly and his toughness and strength make him a threat to anyone in the division.

On Aldo's side a win over Manny would help in expanding himself as a household name in MMA. Gamburyen has name recognition due to his stint on the Ultimate Fighter which would also help in the promotion of the fight. Building Aldo's name also helps the WEC who was successful with their first foray into PPV. In fact they should go ahead and make this the headliner for their next PPV with a Joseph Benavidez-Dominick Cruz rematch on the card as well.

5. Urijah Faber vs. Miguel Torres at 135
There was a time in the not so distant past that this was a dream fight between the 145 lb and 135 lb champions that were a combined 58-2. Cut to the present and Faber is 2-3 in his last 5 having lost the title to Mike Brown, a rematch to Brown, and then most recently losing to Brown's conqueror Jose Aldo. Torres finds himself in the midst of a two fight losing streak which is twice as many losses as he had ih his first 38 fights.

What makes this fight so intriguing to me is that I believe Faber would thrive with a drop to 135 lbs. and Torres needs a win over a good fighter to begin his climb back to the top of the division. Also I think this could be the most thrilling fight for the fans on the list as both are unorthodox, exciting fighters. I think this would be a great headliner for a free WEC card on VS.

Honorable mention fights include a Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard rematch, Randy Couture vs. Fedor Emilanenko, a Nick Diaz vs. KJ Noons rematch, Cain Velasquez vs. Brock Lesnar/Shane Carwin winner, and Rampage Jackson/Rashad Evans winner vs. Lyoto Machida/Shogun winner (In fact go ahead and have the two losers fight each other as well).