If there was a title given to this weekends onslaught of Mixed Martial Arts events it would definitely be "Stacked".

With three major shows back to back to back on Friday, Saturday and Sunday MMA fans are in for a weekend of carnage starting with the AFL’s Bulletproof on Friday, May 30th. Unfortunately I have just realized that this event will not be broadcast on HDNet as I expected.

Featuring a much anticipated title fight between AFL lightweight champion, Diego Saraiva and Josh Cate, Bulletproof will be the first MMA event ever sanctioned to take place at Atlanta’s state of the art sporting venue, Philips Arena.

Next in line and scheduled for Saturday, May 31st, is the biggest event in the history of Mixed Martial Arts. EliteXC and CBS present "Saturday Night Fights", the first MMA event ever broadcast on a major network television channel.

While the big story for rookie fans will definitely be the main event between Kimbo Slice and James Thompson, hardcore MMA fans will tune in for the much anticipated battle between brawlers, Robbie Lawler and Scott Smith.

Following the primetime debut of Saturday Night Fights is a post event show that will be hosted by the legend himself, Frank Shamrock. The show titled "Backstage Pass" will feature a recap of the main card fights as well as live interviews with the event’s fighters conducted by Shamrock. It will be streamed live on ProElite.com beginning at 11pm E/PT.

EliteXC will also have some competition on Saturday night, though it likely won’t matter, as the UFC airs a new documentary titled "Ultimate Iceman: Chuck Liddell" that begins at the same exact time as "Saturday Night Fights" at 9pm.

Last but definitely not least it the biggest featherweight bout in the history of MMA between 20-1 WEC featherweight champ, Urijah Faber and former UFC lightweight champion, Jens "Little Evil" Pulver. This bout has the potential to go down in history as one of the greatest fights of all time. This card is stacked from top to bottom and features elite fighters such as Miguel Torres, Rob McCullough, Jeff Curran and Chase Beebe.

May 30 - June 1 Weekend "Stacked" Schedule of Events and Shows

• AFL "Bulletproof"
  Friday, May 30th at 8:00pm (not televised)
• EliteXC CBS Saturday Night Fights
  Saturday, May 31 (Undercard streamed live on ProElite.com at 7pm ET/PT, Main Card on CBS at 9pm ET/PT)
• Ultimate Iceman: Chuck Liddell
  Saturday, May 31 at 9:00pm on Spike TV
• Backstage Pass
  Saturday, May 31 (Streamed live on ProElite.com at 11pm ET/PT)
• WEC 34 (Faber vs Pulver)
  Sunday, June 1 at 9:00pm live on Versus

Stand by for more hardcore MMA news at a fighters pace!

With all of the new MMA organizations popping up around the world there are plenty of pretty gold belts to go around. But what exactly does the championship belt signify?

Every fighter that is serious about mixed martial arts aspires to one day have that big fat gold championship belt wrapped around their waist. As MMA grows and the fighters evolve so do the ornamental straps that signify your status as "Champion of the World".

In the early days of the UFC and Pride these belts actually said a lot about your status as champion of the world. But with more and more competitive organizations such as EliteXC, the IFL and Dream entering the picture, the weight of these belts must be measured a little more carefully.

We now have top 10 fighters competing in several different organizations which takes some of the meaning away from the phrase "Champion of the World". We are at a point in mixed martial arts now where the belt really only means that you are "Champion of your Organization". Of course some organizations (hmm…Dana) will argue that their fighters are the best in the world but that is just opinion.

There have definitely been some true world champions over the years and we know who they are. But the time has come to put into place a true world ranking system for mixed martial arts. Fortunately an organization called WAMMA is attempting to do just that. WAMMA or World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts is a new organization that is attempting to establish the first MMA world ranking system that is unbiased across different organizations around the globe.

Unfortunately for this to happen, every MMA organization will have to join forces with WAMMA. Many already have but others such as the UFC refuse to cooperate with such a proposal. Until then we will be stuck with "Champions of the Organization" and no one fighter will truly be the "Champion of the World".

When this eventually does happen which I believe it will, we will truly get to see who is the number one fighter in the world. Another beautiful thing about a world ranking system is that match ups could be determined based on true world rankings which would lead to amazing fights for fans of MMA. Don’t get to excited because it will be a while before this happens. It will take a lot of pressure from WAMMA and many organizations cooperating to fold the big boys of MMA and more specifically the UFC.

Until that day comes we will be stuck with numerous "World Champions" spread out among an open field of elite mixed martial arts fighters. No single fighter will truly be "Champion of the World" until this happens and many will be left to wonder what exactly their belt means in the big picture.

In 2007 we saw some of the best match ups in MMA history. We got to see fights such as Quinton Jackson versus Chuck Liddell, Roger Huerta versus Leonard Garcia, Diego Sanchez versus Jon Fitch and the ultimate light heavyweight bout between Wanderlei Silva and Chuck Liddell.

The top promotions continued to impress into 2008 with fights like Rob McCullough versus Jamie Varner, Anderson Silva versus Dan Henderson and Gesias Calvancante versus Shinya Aoki. With all of the amazing talent out there it isn’t hard to find great match ups that will make for explosive and dynamic fights.

That being said there have been some match ups in the past that fell a little short of the mark and in my opinion should have never taken place.

Here is my list of the top 4 fights I believe should not have taken place starting with number 4.

#4 Ken Shamrock vs Tito Ortiz 3
Fight number four was the end to another pointless trilogy involving the former "World’s Most Dangerous Man" Ken Shamrock and the "Huntington Beach Bad Boy" Tito Ortiz. Like the Sakuraba Silva trilogy this was another example of a pointless third fight. If you demolish somebody twice, I really don’t see the need for a third fight unless there are extremely special circumstances. It was obvious from the first two fights that Ortiz had Shamrock’s number and his number wasn’t ever going to be in the win column.

The whole saga involving Tito and Ken started when Tito avenged his loss and defeated Lion’s Den fighter Guy Mezger at UFC 19. After the fight Tito jumped up and gave Guy’s corner the finger. Shamrock took it very personal and thus the story began. In their first fight Ken was overwhelmed and destroyed by Tito’s signature ground and pound for three full rounds. Shamrock literally looked like he stuck his head in a mulcher chipper shredder and the doctors were forced to stop the fight. After a lot of trash talk from both parties a rematch was inevitable and therefore took place at UFC 61 "Bitter Rivals". Tito took Ken down and smashed Ken with elbows. It only took Tito 1:18 to defeat Ken via TKO. The fight became controversial when Ken argued with the referee claiming the fight was stopped too early.

Whether it was or wasn’t stopped early really didn’t make a difference as far as a third fight goes. Tito clearly dominated Shamrock in both fights and there was no need for a third fight in my opinion. Everyone knew exactly what would happen when they met each other once again inside the octagon. I honestly felt bad for Ken Shamrock by the time the third fight took place. Tito had made him look bad twice. He was obviously the better fighter. Did we really need to see a repeat of the second fight which is exactly what happened.

The third fight took place at UFC "The Final Chapter" and was free for viewers on Spike TV. It’s a good thing to because the fight was over in exactly 2:23 due to , you guessed it, TKO from strikes. It was a sad finish to the trilogy for the UFC legend Ken Shamrock who had worked so hard to build his reputation as "The World’s Most Dangerous Man".

#3 Fedor Emelianenko vs Hong Man Choi (video)
Number three on the list involves one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world taking on a guy who had 1 pro MMA fight under his belt. This is probably one of the worst match ups in the history of the sport and should never have taken place. This fight transported us back to the days of Ultimate Fighting when matches like this were the norm. In the early UFC’s you wouldn’t be surprised to see a fight with a regular sized man taking on a goliath but this is now and that was then. The sport has since developed into something respectable and highly esteemed. This is the exact opposite of the way in which we would like this sport to be perceived by the public.

As a true fan of the sport I am game for pretty much anything but this was a debacle. Fedor Emelianenko, a guy who has 25 fights in a row without losing, fighting a guy with exactly 16 seconds of experience as a pro in the ring. There was a virtual gallery of fighters who would have made great match ups for the "The Last Emperor" including Josh Barnett, Ben Rothwell, Tim Sylvia, Antonio Silva and Ricco Rodriguez to name a few.

The outcome of this fight was so obvious that nearly every prediction I saw in the MMA forums was correct. Fedor Emelianenko will win via armbar. He obviously wasn’t going to stand and trade with a 7′2 352 lb giant and risk taking a blow from a fist the size of a watermelon. Even a slap from Hong Man would have sent his head flying into the upper deck of the arena. So everyone knew he would take down the giant and that is exactly what he did with a little help from Choi of course. It only took him 1:54 to topple Choi and sink in the armbar finishing the fight.

This fight absolutely never should have happened and because of this fight Fedor has since dropped in the pound for pound rankings on many of the top MMA news sites. Many fans of MMA are upset that he hasn’t fought tougher competition in recent years and that he hasn’t fought often enough. I recently lowered him on my pound for pound list to make room for Anderson Silva who is fighting top notch fighters and defending his rank.

#2 Kazushi Sakuraba vs Wanderlei Silva 3 (video)
Number two on the list is a fight that involved one of my favorite fighters of all time and a legend in his own right, Kazushi Sakuraba. Saku took on "The Axe Murderer" Wanderlei Silva for the third time in his career and once again things would turn out to be anything but pretty for the "Gracie Killer" in this third and final meeting. One thing I can say about Japanese fighters is that they will not give up no matter what the consequence as was the case at Pride Total Elimination 2003.

This triple header began at Pride 13 where Saku and Wanderlei met for the first time inside the Pride ring in March of 2001. In the first fight Silva obliterated Sakuraba with punches and kicks getting the TKO in less then 2 minutes flat. It was a complete domination and total destruction of the Japanese sensation. Silva devastated Saku with punches, knees and kicks, finishing him off with a soccer kick to the face. In their second meeting Saku held his own until finally getting viciously slammed by Wanderlei. Due to a broken collar bone, Saku could not continue the fight.

Wanderlei Silva had beaten Sakuraba in both matches. Was there really a need for a third? We all knew what was going to happen. It was basically just a matter of how much damage Kazushi would suffer in their third bout. Silva had Saku’s number and I knew once again that Saku would not give up no matter how much damage Silva inflicted. It was basically like watching one of my favorite fighters being forced into a blender that was set to "ice crush" three times. It was extremely hard to watch.

The third fight in this trilogy was no different from their first two encounters. Only this time when Saku came out he looked like he had been to war with bandages on both knees and one on his right ear. Silva knocked him out flat on his back with a big right hand at 5:01 in the first round.

#1 Royce Gracie vs Matt Hughes
Topping the list at number one is the legend himself, Royce Gracie taking on the most dominant UFC welterweight champion of all time, Matt Hughes. From the second I heard about this fight I knew it was going to be a complete disaster. Sometimes it is just better to let sleeping dogs lie and let your reputation speak for itself. Unfortunately for Royce he wasn’t about to turn down a chance to prove once again that Grace Jiu-Jitsu is still the dominant style in mixed martial arts.

Sure back in Royce’s hay day this would have been a great match up. The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu master versus the All American wrestler. But this is 13 years later and MMA has evolved in leaps and bounds. This is the era of a new type of fighter. Matt Hughes is in his prime and Royce is not the same fighter as he was back then. I think everyone pretty much knew what was going to happen in this bout. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Royce Gracie would basically be fighting for his life in this match. I was honestly upset with Matt Hughes for taking this fight. He knew what would happen and he knew what the outcome would be.

It was honesty extremely hard for me to watch, having so much respect for Royce Gracie and his family. The fight went exactly how I thought it would with Hughes eventually getting the takedown and punishing Royce on the ground. He caught Gracie in a vicious kimura but eventually let it go and finished him with punches. Hughes completely dominated the legend and made it look easy. But what do you expect? It wasn’t the same Gracie that we witnessed back in the first UFC’s.

To sum things up I think it was a bad decision on the part of the UFC and strictly done for $elfish reasons. They knew this fight was dangerous and they made it happen anyway. I will never forget the look on Royce Gracie’s face after he lost. I have never seen someone so dejected in my entire life.

Over the past decade we have seen mixed martial arts grow to astonishing new heights. But what lies ahead in the future for this dynamic and explosive combat sport?

Modern day mixed martial arts blasted onto the scene in 1993 with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Brainchild of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu artist Rorion Gracie, The UFC was only meant to be a one time event bringing together the worlds best fighters from each style of fighting to compete against one another in a tournament style event.

Little did we know that 15 years later the UFC would surpass wrestling and boxing with the most PPV revenue generated ever in a single years time. MMA had arrived or should I say the UFC had arrived.

Now that the UFC has had so much success and mma has grown to new levels, other promoters and business executives are duking it out for their piece of the mma pie. Upstart organizations have been popping up left and right and with more and more states succumbing to the popularity of mma by sanctioning events, it is only a matter of time before all 50 states are holding mixed martial arts events. Major players are getting involved and the fight is on to secure dominance in the world of mma promotions.

One of the first players up to bat is billionaire entrepreneur and owner of the Dallas Mavericks Mark Cuban. His organization HDNet fights debuted in October of 2007 and is on its way to becoming a major player in the highly competitive field of mma organizations. HDNet Fights will air events exclusively on HDNet and in high definition. Cuban’s HDNet Fights is constantly expanding and has already partnered with such organizations as MFC, the International Fight League and most recently Strikeforce. CEO of the company, Andrew Simon has stated that they are committed to delivering at least 24 events in 2008. HDNet Fights recently acquired UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture for a possible future fight with Fedor Emelianenko, a fight that would surely set HDNet Fights apart from the competition.

Another organization attempting to squeeze itself into the crowded landscape of mma promotions is the American Fight League. Attempting to change the face of mma, the AFL is looking to redefine the way mixed martial arts are perceived in the public eye. They plan on doing this with two main objectives. The first is to adopt a ranking and fighting system similar to that of the PBR (Professional Bull Riding circuit). In the AFL fighters will earn points throughout the season which will determine the match ups for fights as opposed to the usual matchmaker. The second objective will be improve the public image of the fighters by requiring some form of charity work in their contracts. The AFL’s goal is to produce a family friendly all-American image of their league and it’s fighters similar to that of the NFL.

The next hard hitting player in line for a piece of the mma action is Yamma Pit Fighting. Ironically this new organization was founded by the UFC creator himself, Bob Meyrowitz. This new organization is planning on unveiling a brand new fighting surface called "Yamma" at their debut show at the Trump Taj Mahal in April. The new surface which has yet to be revealed, has mma fans and fighters alike guessing. All that is known so far about the surface is that it was specifically designed to keep the fighting more explosive and continuous. In addition to this new surface YPF is bringing back tournament style events that made the early UFC’s so popular. Each tournament will require competitors to fight at least twice per night. Unlike the early UFC’s, fighters will have more time to rest before their second fight thanks to the addition of a "Masters Fight" that will be held in between bouts.

The latest organization to make a splash onto the scene is DREAM, a collaboration between FEG (K-1, Hero’s) and the former DSE staff (Pride). DREAM will also be making it’s debut in 2008 with DREAM.1, a Lightweight Grand Prix 2008 tournament featuring a match up of top ten lightweights, Shinya Aoki and Gesias Calvancanti. DREAM has already announced the schedule for 6 tournament style events that will take place in 2008 including a middleweight tournament that starts on April 29. With the collapse of Pride many old fans feel like this may be the beginning of another unbelievable mixed martial arts organization based in Japan.

Look for each of these new organizations to make waves in 2008 as they grow with each and every fight. Each one has their own unique spin on how the game of mma should be played. In a time where the UFC is still considered a sport and not an organization it is cool to be different. These upstarts have to take risks and stand out from the crowd or else fall by the wayside and get brushed under the rug as the UFC continues to gain momentum and steamroll the competition.

2008 is shaping up to be one of the biggest years ever in mixed martial arts. As if 2007 wasn’t crazy enough with big upsets, big paydays, and the biggest match in UFC history, Chuck Liddell vs Wanderlei Silva.

Well I personally believe 2008 is going to be bigger and better. First of all Fedor has stated that he will be fighting Randy Couture in 2008. It’s not in stone but Fedor is adamant that the fight is going to happen. Anderson Silva, rated #2 pound for pound in the world, will be fighting Dan Henderson at UFC 82 for the Championship.

BJ Penn will be taking on Joe "Daddy" Stevenson for the interim lightweight title.

Let’s take a look at each of these bouts and also some bouts that I would like to see happen in 08. There are quite a few really good fights that could happen this year. Either way it is going to be really exciting in 2008.

Fedor Emelianenko vs Randy Couture - This is the fight that everyone is talking about and by far the biggest possible mixed martial arts event that could happen in 08. I think it is probably going to happen but you never know. Both fighters have stated that they want this fight to happen. It is just a matter of the stars lining up at the right time and place. If this fight happened it would no doubt be the biggest fight in the history of mma.

If anyone had a chance against Fedor it would be Couture in my book. He has shown time and time again that he has what it takes to overcome diversity and accomplish anything that he sets his mind to. This would be the ultimate match up but Couture would have to have the perfect game plan. Even then I don’t know if he could pull it off at his age. He definitely couldn’t strike with him. He would have to use his clinch and ground game to pull it out. If he ever got in range of Fedor’s heat seeking missile’s it would be lights out for sure. If he did take down Fedor it would be hard to stay there. It is next to impossible to keep Fedor on his back. He is so good at escapes and reversals. I can’t see Couture holding him down for very long. Basically there are only two ways Randy Could win this fight. He could win by decision if he can control him on the ground and use some gnp. Or he could win by lucky punch which every fighter has a chance of. There is no way he will submit Fedor or stop him with punches.

Anderson Silva vs Dan Henderson - This will be a very exciting fight. Both fighters are very aggressive and both are well rounded. I would look for Silva to keep it standing and Hendo to clinch and take him down. Silva has very good take down defense though so I think it will be hard for Hendo to get the takedown. Especially in the later rounds. He might be able to in the first round if he sets up his shots nicely which I am sure he will. If it does go to the ground I think Silva definitely has the advantage, at least submission wise. Hendo is a great wrestler but even if he is controlling the ground, I still think Silva can submit him. He will have to just unload so Silva can’t even think about submissions.

I am going to predict a stand up war in this one. I think Hendo will get a few takedowns but I think Silva will turn it into a slugfest. I think unfortunately Hendo will oblige and with his shorter reach get picked apart from a distance.

BJ Penn vs Joe Stevenson - I think this will be one of the best fights of the year. Both fight at an extremely high pace. I think this fight will boil down to conditioning. It will all depend on Penn’s cardio. We all know what he is capable of, but if it goes the distance, will he still be there in the end. Joe Daddy is always in phenomenal shape and will no doubt have the cardio to go the distance if need be. I just hope BJ’s cardio is there.

This fight will basically be non-stop madness from start to finish. I think BJ has the better stand up but I think it will be close on the ground. I think BJ will stand for a little and then look for the takedown. I think Joe will be looking for the takedown immediately after the bell rings. I can’t help but think back to the Penn Pierre fight. That was the most damage I have ever seen inflicted in that amount of time.

Here are some match ups I would like to see in 08

1. Nick Diaz vs Georges St. Pierre
2. BJ Penn vs Shawn Sherk
3. Jon Fitch vs Georges St. Pierre
4. Cung Lee vs Anderson Silva
5. Ken Shamrock vs Frank Shamrock