Via Sherdog
How the world changes. A year or two ago all the trolls on Sherdog could talk about was how the UFC heavyweight division was thin (and thus Sylvia and Arlovski deserved no respect), and now the UFC is picking off Pride's top heavies one by one, leaving the undisputed baddest man in the world with fewer and fewer top opponents (Fedor/Nogueira 4 anyone?).
This is a HUGE fight, classic striker VS grappler, and presents great future matchups for the heavyweight division. I almost don't care that the UFC is apparently losing Brandon Vera. I am, of course, heavily biased towards Arlovski (trained with him), but I do feel he'll pull out the win this time, although Werdum is no long shot. If Andrei can stop the takedown, it's bad news for Fabricio; if he can't, he'd better be working on submission defense and standing up. The absurdity of MMA-Math notwithstanding, Werdum was submitted by Pe De Pano in ADCC, so it's not unreasonable to think Andrei will be able to avoid tapping in this fight either, although I think he'll have a tougher time with Werdum.
As far as the division goes, it's fantastic to be adding a top grappler to the mix, especially one who is a natural heavyweight without being ridiculously jacked (Monson). Now that Frank Mir is washed up, the submission threats above 205 have been limited to Gonzaga and Monson, who haven't distinguished themselves in MMA the way Werdum has, despite Monson's title shot.
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