Title implications from UFC 106

Saturday night, UFC 106 showed that a card can still provide entertainment event without a title fight being on the slate. While UFC 105 at least had a fight to determine who would fight for George St-Peirre’s welterweight title, UFC 106 didn’t even have that. However, there were fights that helped to shape the UFC title landscape.

On the top of the list was Tito Ortiz, who seems to talk on a regular basis about getting back atop the light heavyweight division. In his return from an eighteen month layoff, he did nothing to show he’s ready, not now or maybe ever again, to make that run. While a split decision victory leaves plenty of room for debate about whether he actually lost the fight, his performance is what was important. In showing he is still primarily a one dimensional fighter, Ortiz continues to work his way further and further from ever getting one last shot at the title.

His opponent Forrest Griffin earned a victory, but also didn’t show he was ready to challenge again for the title he lost less than a year ago. The light heavyweight division is a crowded one, and the champion Lyoto Machida isn’t rumored to be fighting again until May in a rematch against Mauricio Rua. This leaves a lot of time before there is an open title shot available, which gives Forrest plenty of time to either fight his way back into contention, or further out of it.

Still in the light heavyweight division, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira put on power display in finishing Luiz Cane with strikes. While it was Nogueira’s first fight in the UFC, he has a ton of experience. A title shot won’t come quick for Nogueira though, as he will have at least one more fight before being offered a shot at the title. Whether he would even accept that fight is another issue altogether.

What is complicating matters further is that Nogueira seems unwilling to fight friend and training partner Machida if given the opportunity. Unless Rua beats Machida in their rematch, the chances appear slim Nogueira will be fighting for the title in the near future. This will leave Noguiera biding his time in the UFC acting as a bodyguard for the champion, knocking off contenders before they get a chance at the title.

The light heavyweight division is currently the most competitive, and fluid division, in the UFC. Nogueira seems to be the closest of the UFC 106 bunch to be ready to challenge the winner of Machida/Rua. The aforementioned circumstances however, probably indicate that if Machida retains the title, Nogueira is just as far away from a shot at it as Ortiz and Griffin.

The welterweight contender pack was also muddied a bit Saturday night. Josh Koscheck removed Anthony Johnson from the mix, while Paulo Thiago reminded everyone why he should still be part of it. The difference with the welterweight division is that several of the top guys have already been soundly defeated by champion St-Pierre.

Next up for St-Pierre is Dan Hardy, by way of Hardy’s decision over Mike Swick earlier this month. As Koscheck was kind enough to point out in his own way Saturday night, it is debatable whether Hardy has fought anyone that should put him in such a position. However, Hardy is someone that St-Pierre hasn’t beaten up yet. St-Pierre hasn’t had the chance to dominate Thiago either, but Thiago was defeated in July by Jon Fitch, who is also in the running for a rematch with St-Pierre.

The question in the welterweight division in the UFC is not about who is the best, it’s about who is second best and deserves a chance to catch lightening in a bottle against St-Pierre. Right now, there just isn’t a compelling match up for St-Pierre. While Koscheck/Hardy may be a more exciting fight than St-Pierre/Hardy, unless St-Pierre re-injures himself and pushes back his return, there’s no way Dana White allows Koscheck to act as matchmaker. Koscheck and Thiago may have won, but they’re still going to be stuck waiting in line to get their crack at St-Pierre.