Which UFC/Pride fighters are the next big thing

Okay so I'm sitting around thinking about each division, and found myself wondering which fighters are the next big thing in each weight class.

HW- Vera
LHW- You would have to say Sokoudjou, and Rua
MW-Nate Marquardt, I beliebve he's going to beat Anderson Silva and be the new champ.
WW- Jon Fitch the man is underappreciated and can pretty much make a fight of it with anyone in the division.
LW-Roger Huerta, rough around the edges but once polished I believe he will be a force

These are just some of my opinions

Kendall Grove

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Posted by hathcock32

Kendall Grove

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i agree...he looks better everytime i see him.....

good striker..
long reach.....
great wrestling....
great takedown defense..
great Jiu Jitsu
great conditioning

others is Frank Edgar...Huerta..

Edgar/Huerta would be an awesome fight!....

Sokoudjou and Jon Fitch stand out for me.

HVY- Vera
LHVY- Sokoudjou
MDWT- Filho
WWT- Fitch
LWT_ Edgar

I have become a Sokoudjou nuthugger after his two explosive wins over two top 10 light heavyweights. Like the guy went from losing to some nobody 6 months ago to doing two back-to-back upsets. Damn!

I am also a big fan of Heurta, this guy fcking brings it! His last fight was nothing short of spectacular. I am starting to love the lightweight division now.

hvy- vera
lhw- sokoudjou for pride and lyoto machida for ufc
mw- filho without a doubt
ww- serra? maybe... but more likely koscheck
lw- definitely huerta for ufc, and melendez for pride if he doesnt already count

I dont really watch Pride so i dont know much about their fighters. so for the UFC heres my votes.

HW: Vera
LH: Rashad
MW: Kendall Grove
WW: Serra/Koscheck
LW: Robert Huerta

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Posted by roncomanjason

LHW- You would have to say Sokoudjou, and Rua

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Do you mean Shogun? He's been a big thing for a couple of years now.

Zelg Galesic - he had a disappointing loss at 34, but he is you nd and IMO he will quickly come into his own... I've stated it before, but could you imagine if CC had trained MMA since his early twenties! (as appose to just kickboxing)

Gilbert Melendez - Even though Gilbert Melendez has been around for a while, he has an immpressive record and will soon make a huge impact in the LW div...

I have to agree with Fitch, Huerta, and Sokoudjou as well... Lots of young talent in the sport, we're seeing more and more kids growing up and dreaming to be MMA fighters as appose to quarterbacks or center feilders.

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Posted by AchillesHeel

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Posted by roncomanjason

LHW- You would have to say Sokoudjou, and Rua

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Do you mean Shogun? He's been a big thing for a couple of years now.

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Shogun hasnt begun his reign of terror as champ...yet...


Huerta is gonna be good at LW.

Grove is improving fast all the time too, I really liked his performance at the last UFC event.

Some up and coming fighters have been disapointing recently but heres mine -

HW - Vera
LHW - Bisping, Shogun, Thiago Silva(just signed for UFC)
MW - Kendal Grove, Nate Marquardt
WW - Fitch and Karo
LW - Huerta, Stevenson, Tavares

Good to see the love for Melendez, I think he's awesome and certainly one to be challenging for the title soon.

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Posted by Mastodon2

Shogun hasnt begun his reign of terror as champ...yet...

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I don't think winning a belt is a requirement to be "big", although I will say that a lot of UFC fans (as opposed to MMA fans more generally) probably don't know Shogun at all.

I think Dana White actually said "nobody in the States knows who the [bleep] Shogun is", and he's probably right. I thought Nogueira got a pretty tame reception from the UFC 69 crowd, and it seems like a lot of people think Arlovski is going to walk through Werdum.

So, from that perspective, the "next big thing" in the UFC could be all of the former Pride fighters that many casual or new American fans have never heard of. Cro Cop and Rampage could surprise some people, and even Heath Herring and Jens Pulver should raise their games dramatically after horribly underestimating the caliber of fighters in the UFC.

Yeah I was disappointed by Nogueira's reception, it was clear 80% of the crowd didnt have a clue who the hell he was. Hopefully now he will get the recognition he deserves, when he starts beating all of the UFC's golden boys.

We will see "the next big thing" emerge at UFC 70 when Werdum takes out the ex champ Arlovski. Staying at HW we will finally get to see if Vera is that damn good now that a lot of Pride HWs are coming over.

I want to see Bisbing take on a very good wrestler to see where he stands.

At LW there are to many guys to name. I like that people notice Melendez. I think he could take out Gomi right now.Stevenson, Huerta, Edgar, and Griffin are all looking great.

Pride 183 has two guys comming up quick.. Dennis Kang was damn close to fighter of the year in 2006, and is a true MW. Paulo Filho was equally impressive in 2006, but should move to 170, and is a threat right now to anyone in the UFC at that weight.

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Posted by johny_rotten

I want to see Bisbing take on a very good wrestler to see where he stands.

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He and Matt Hamill have exchanged some sidelong glances.