(a) Even Sapp was dwarfed by HCM;

(b) Did he suddenly grow a set and decide he’s not deathly afraid of taking a punch? If not, he’d be lucky to last as long as Zuluzinho in the ring with Fedor.

If you’re gonna be stuck with one heavyweight and the few independents out there, well, Antonio Silva vs. Mighty Mo/Sergei Kharitonov/Josh Barnett/Alistar Overeem/Ben Rothwell/Jeff Monson/Pedro Rizzo/Alexander Emelianenko/that Fedor guy aren’t necessarily bad matchups for fans or hardly unwinable for Antonio.

Still searching that article where it backed up his claims of “hearing from sources that Arlovski was offered 2 fights and turned them down”.

The situation rumoured to have happened in the article and the one he claims to be circulating are pretty damned far apart.
*One is him turning down fights on his own volition, which would be directly opposite of what he and pretty much every other credible source have been saying and paints him as the sole person at fault for sitting on the sidelines for the last 11 months of his contract.

*The other is a preliminary offer of a fight that could just as easily be “ass covering” on the part of the UFC to say that they offered fights to him and didn’t merely sit him on the sidelines.

Pretty big difference in my opinion.

He got clipped with bomb of a punch by a 300lb super heavyweight with history of having extremely heavy hands. He immediately pulled guard and was defending – it was an absolutely HORRENDOUS stoppage. To say that’s evidence of a glass chin is pretty silly.

Granted his resume is not the strongest out there, but just from seeing how he puts it all together and moves so amazingly for a big man, I honestly don’t think there’s a HW currently in the UFC (other than maybe Sylvia with his reach and MO) that could take him now that he’s dropped down to the 265lb limit.

Dude the heavyweight division in boxing isn’t pushed like it was in the past. In boxing, they’re marketing the hell out of all these smaller fighters now. The four biggest PPV drawing fights in 2007 consisted of guys in relatively small weight classes. De La Hoya/Mayweather 154, Mayweather/Hatton 147, Cotto/Mosley 147 and Manny Pacman’s fight at 130. They have world heavyweight title fights on regular HBO.

Let me start off by saying that I am not a fan of Heavyweight Boxing or MMA. It is too slow and typically boring…..

Now, it is fiscally irresponsible for any MMA organization at this time to go out and get all of the top Heavyweights. Most of the Heavyweights have priced themselves out of being affordable, and it has hurt the sport as a whole. This is just not a UFC issue. This is a MMA issue. One organization with all the Top Heavyweights would be bankrupt in a few years.

First, give me an organization other then the UFC that constantly puts together top rated Heavyweights against each other. There really are none. We might get a Werdum/Aleksander fight here. Or a Rothwell/Ricco fight there. But no organization can afford to constantly put on Heavyweight fights that cost $100,000 to $500,000+ per fight. Not to mention that Heavyweight fights, even amongst top tier guys, are typically slow and boring.

Even K-1 has stayed away from legit Heavyweights for the most part. They couldn’t afford Fedor. They have concentrated, just like the UFC, on the fights that make the fans come to watch the events… And those are Light Heavyweights and below.

Not to mention that MMA Heavyweights have no appeal like Boxing Heavyweights. In boxing, this is the big division that is always under a microscope. Not so in MMA. The Light Heavyweight & Welterweight Divisions have always been the money makers. They have always been the big draws. The stigma of having the best big man has never really been a huge thing in MMA.

So before people bash the UFC for screwing up the division… Keep in mind that K-1 has also stayed away from it. So has any smaller MMA organization in Japan. Strikeforce has Alistair Overeem as their champion, and we all know he isn’t close to being the best in the world. EliteXC has Antonio Silva and that is it. And he might have a glass jaw. The IFL lost Rothwell, and their champion isn’t a big contender right now. So really, no MMA organization is able to promote the Heavyweight division.

This fact alone really should make all fans take a step back and realize that when a guy like Andrei Arlovski wants a huge pay increase…. That even if he gets it with another organization… It might mean 1 big fight, and then a bunch of no namers for years to come…. So much for the UFC messing things up… More like the Heavyweights themselves messing things up.

You called him a liar. I showed a link where he may have got that information from. The rumor shows that Arlovski was not “iced” by the UFC. Nowhere did I try to discredit you. But hey, let’s twist it around so you’re the victim.

Which would be great if you would establish what your point is and what the purpose is of your opinion. Going, “WELL GUYS, WHY SHOULD YOU EXPECT THE UFC TO DO ANYTHING YOU WANT THEY ARE A PART OF A CORPORATION THEY CAN MAKE MONEY TOO,” isn’t a point. It doesn’t invalidate any criticism levied to it in terms of its business practice. It establishes what everyone already knows and simply thumbs its nose at the concept of MMA becoming, you know, a respectable sport instead of fringe spectacle. If your point is to show that the UFC isn’t as big as the NBA, well, wow man, what a revelation. You mean a single promotional entity in the sport of MMA isn’t as big as the established major league of a team sport? That’s just mind blowing.