Welcome to the Next Generation

Going all the way back to the beginning of televised mixed martial arts, the goal has always been to be the best. To be able to defeat your opponent by using any array of techniques and strikes. At first, most of the "fighters" competing in MMA were big guys who resembled bouncers at a night club. They didn't necessarily have a background in wrestling, or karate, or even boxing, but more often than not were just a big bastard who had been in a few fights in his day. This allowed guys like Tank Abbott to rise to the top of the sport. While all this way going on, the next level of fighting was also just beginning.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu ace Royce Gracie entered the UFC as one of the smallest competitors in their first show. A thin, lanky old-looking man wearing a gi entered the Octagon in November 1993, known by hardly any; by the end of the night, he was probably the most feared man in the entire building. It took Gracie a combined 5 minutes and 2 seconds to defeat three opponents that night in the UFC's first tournament, finishing all of them by submission, including Ken Shamrock.

Gracie's dominance on the ground showed people that you didn't need to be able to knock someone out to win a fight. This opened the doors for guys like Mark Kerr, Mark Coleman, Randy Couture, Kevin Randleman and many others wrestlers to enter to sport, using their strength to drag opponents to the mat and overpower them. But once again, the sport evolved.

Fighters trained their takedown defense extensively, knowing that if they were able to keep the bout standing, they would have a better chance against these wrestlers who weren't known for having much punching ability. Fighters like Chuck Liddell, Mirko CroCop, Wanderlei Silva, Andrei Arlovski and Takanori Gomi took the MMA world by storm with their vicious knockouts and ability to keep the fight where they wanted.

As we saw this slow process of fighters becoming knowledgeable of both the ground game and stand-up aspect of the sport, there were some fighters who were already working on multiple aspects of their game. Right around 2005, there suddenly arose a new level of competitor in each of the weight classes. Guys like Georges St. Pierre, Anderson Silva, Shogun Rua, and Fedor Emelianenko exploded onto the scene, showing impressive ability in a multitude of disciplines, with each of them capturing the title in their respective division.

Similar to times past, after this sudden evolution, we witnessed a slow process of more and more fighters training various backgrounds of martial arts. It is commonplace is the sport nowadays to see a fighter with a BJJ black belt and experience in Muay Thai, or a college wrestling background with amateur boxing experience. The sport has now gotten to the point where Fedor is no longer invincible, where Anderson was recently pushed to the brink of defeat, and where GSP is criticized endlessly for being unable to finish his opponents. But it's okay everyone, the next generation is now upon us.

Now Joe Rogan hinted at this when Machida won the LHW title, saying "Welcome to the 'Machida Era'," meaning we would lay witness to a long period of domination by Machida due to his unique and dominant style. Not quite Joe, but close. I think it is safe to say that the time has officially arrived. The MMA world is about to go through another phase of evolution and people need to start getting excited.

The first step of the evolution has already happened, with Cain Velasquez's destruction of Brock Lesnar. Velasquez exhibits a strong boxing game, tremendous wrestling, amazing agility and speed, and endless cardio. One of the most well rounded fighters since a prime Fedor, Velasquez is easily one of the best in the division. His only serious competition comes from JDS, who has a strong background in BJJ, as well as explosive hands capable of putting anyone away. I honestly don't see anyone on the same level as these guys in this division. We'll have to see how the Strikeforce HW tourney unfolds to determine who's still legitimate.

Very shortly after Velasquez was dubbed the HW king, the WEC was absorbed into the UFC. Now although Jose Aldo has been the featherweight champ for some time, now that he is in the UFC, he will receive the exposure he deserves. This kid IS the future. He has some of the best kicks, knees, punches, elbows, and overall stand up we may have ever seen in the sport. No one has come close to taking him down, his speed is mind boggling, and he hasn't shown any sign of ever tiring. No one looks even close to being able to take Aldo right now.

The LW division seems to be the most promising at the moment. With "Showtime" Anthony Pettis entering the UFC, as well as gifted prospect Edson Mendes Barbosa, the UFC lightweight division is going to be insane in 2011. A division currently dominated by ground specialists (Edgar, Maynard, Sherk, Jim Miller, Sotiropoulos), it will be very interesting to see if these young guys can really mix it up and flip this division on it's head. There's literally nothing but amazing match ups to be had in the lightweight division, so let's hope they can resolve this Maynard-Edgar bullshit and give Pettis his shot.

Now, on to the most exciting division in the sport: the light heavyweights. So as I'm sure everybody now knows, Jon Jones and Ryan Bader are set to square off in less than a month. These two guys are probably the top two prospects not only in the division. but maybe the whole UFC. The winner of this will surely be on the fast track to a number 1 contender bout. My money is on Jones. He has shown incredible creativity, ingenuity, and crazy dexterity inside the ring. With the longest reach in the UFC, Jones is a beast standing up, and has lethal elbows, knees, kicks, and throws. The sky is the limit for Bones.

Now let's not forget there is also this other guy, Phil Davis, who isn't too shabby himself. Unfortunately left in the shadow of Bader/Jones, Davis has slowly been making his way up the UFC ladder, knocking off each fighter place in his path. He is next slated to take on Matt Hamill, which will be Davis' first true test, and it will be against another wrestler to boot.

With each of these guys rapidly rising through the division, let's not forget who has already cemented themselves near the top. Shogun, the current UFC LHW champion, is still only 29, meaning he probably has still has several years left in the tank. We also have Rampage, Machida, Rashad, Thiago Silva, Forrest Griffin, and other guys like King Mo(29) and Gegard Mousasi (25) who still have lots of fights left in em. This division will continue to put on amazing fights for years to come, but be sure to keep your eyes on Bader, Jones, and Davis, as any of those three could find themselves atop the division by the end of 2011.

Unfortunately, the MW division still seems to lack any promise. With Anderson Silva close to clearing out the division, which many people feels he has already done, it wouldn't be surprising to see him make a move up to light heavyweight. This could make that division even more incredible. The thing is, who the hell will be his successor at 185? Nate Marquardt is good, but not great. Sonnen is a druggie. Okami is good, but boring as can be. The only real up and comers are CB Dollaway, who has looked extremely unimpressive, and Mark Munoz, who has looked pretty good but not great. The division is very weak, and no one really stands out from the bunch. It's only a matter of time before that next level fighter appears and takes over the throne which the Spider will most certainly vacate by the end of 2011, whether through defeat or by switching weight.

So get ready folks. A lot of times it's easy to look back on a year and give it a name or a theme. For instance 2007 was widely recognized as the "Year of the Upset". Quick recap: Sokoudjou KO's Lil Nog and Arona in the first round, Hendo KO's Wand, Nick Diaz submits Gomi, Couture returns to HW and defeats Sylvia, Matt Serra TKO's GSP, Gonzaga headkicks CroCop, Rampage KO's Liddell, Jardine decisions Liddell, and finally Forrest Griffin submits Shogun. Hectic, I know. But now we actually have a theme that we can watch unfold. We just have to kick back and enjoy as each of these young up and comers mentioned above works their way through their respective division, dismantling opponents and setting the stage as the next level of MMA fighters.