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PRIDE + UFC: 8 personnel moves they should make now..

All indications suggest that the UFC plans to run PRIDE as a separate organization and make matchups between fighters from the two groups a big deal. That’s a good plan, as we’ve discussed previously. Still, there’s some fighters in both promotions that would benefit greatly from a change of scenery. Here’s my list of 8 personnel moves that the UFC/PRIDE should make right now:

–Andrei Arlovski to PRIDE: The Belorussian “PitBull” is one of our favorite fighters, but is sort of lost in the mix among the UFC heavyweight class right now. A change of scenery would do his career some good, so send him to PRIDE. He’ll no doubt be popular with the Japanese fans–if he grows his hair out he’s got a similar “wildman” persona as the late great pro wrestler Frank Goodlish, aka Bruiser Brody, who was a legend in Japan. Realistically, I don’t think he has a chance against PRIDE heavyweight champion Fedor Emelieneanko but he’s at least a new matchup for him.

–Josh Barnett to UFC: Tough call here, since “The Babyfaced Assassin” likes Japan and is popular among the fans there due to his well known status as an anime fanboy in addition to his considerable skills as a fighter. Still, UFC needs to strengthen its heavyweight division and Barnett is known to the US fans and would be a nice addition to the current mix dominated by Cro Cop and Couture.

–Matt Hughes to PRIDE: Hughes is another guy at a career crossroads. He might be more interested in retiring than revitalizing his already legendary career, but should the latter appeal to him a stint in PRIDE could be just the ticket. His power oriented style would make for some intriguing matchups, including against current welterweight champion Dan Henderson. He’s not exactly flashy, but has the kind of rugged, no-nonsense persona that could get over huge among Japanese fans. They’ve embraced countless pro wrestlers with a similar persona (Terry Gordy, Steve “Dr. Death” Williams, Stan Hansen). At the very least, the knowledgeable Japanese MMA fans would fill the seats to see a legit legend fight live.

–Takanori Gomi to UFC: This depends somewhat on the contractual status of Gomi’s opponent in his fight of the year candidate loss at PRIDE 33, Nick Diaz. Diaz is reportedly heading to Elite XC, though if PRIDE can work out the logistics a rematch with Gomi is a no-brainer. If Diaz isn’t an option, Gomi’s exciting style would be a good way to introduce the lower weight PRIDE fighters to the US fans.

–Jeff Monson to PRIDE: Monson will be the UFC’s entrant in the first PRIDE/UFC inter-promotional matchup, but it might be a good move to let him spend some time fighting in Japan. The Japanese fans (arguably more so than their American counterparts) appreciate wrestling and groundfighting and Monson is a grappling monster despite his relatively short stature at 5’7″. As I’ve said before, I’m a huge Monson fan and I’ve got this hunch that he’d be huge in Japan. He’s an intelligent guy with a very unique appearance and personality, as well as a damn good fighter.

–Phil Baroni to UFC: The self proclaimed “New York Bad Ass” has had much more success in PRIDE than in the UFC, where he lost 5 of his L7 fights. In all fairness, 4 of those 5 losses were twice each to Matt Lindland and Evan Tanner, along with Pete Sell who’s no slouch either. Baroni has become a better fighter in PRIDE, his natural “heel” persona makes it easy to promote him and his power striking style is a perfect fit in UFC. Lots of good matchups come immediately to mind (Baroni v. Rich Franklin is a natural IMO).

–Tim Sylvia to PRIDE: Not sure what’s going to happen with Tim Sylvia. The UFC is no doubt happy to have the belt from around his waist, since fans were getting tired of his conservative “fighting not to lose” style. He’s never struck me as a guy with a burning desire to be a fighter, so he may be content to retire, or fight intermittently. Should he want to revitalize his career, PRIDE might be the perfect place to do so. Obviously, he’s got as much of a chance of beating Fedor as I do but with his size he could at the very least be an attraction for Japanese fans. And who knows, without the burden of trying to defend his title he could let his hands go and become an exciting fighter. The problem is most of the US MMA hardcores consider him a stiff, so if he wants to continue as a fighter Japan might be the best place for him to do it.

–Butterbean to the WWE: As we’ve written about extensively here, Eric “Butterbean” Esch has manged to disgrace not only boxing but now MMA. He has no business in a PRIDE ring, UFC octagon, or anywhere in between. For whatever reason, he’s found a niche in PRIDE due more to his size than anything else. Japanese fans have a real fascination with size, but in the interest of MMA’s development as a sport UFC/PRIDE should send the ‘bean packing. There’s plenty of real fighters with impressive size (I’ve already mentioned two in this article) and the promotion of sideshow freaks like Butterbean (and to a lesser extent, his opponent at PRIDE 34 Zuluzinho) are counterproductive to the future of MMA. If PRIDE is going to insist on keeping Butterbean around do me a favor and put him in a matchup against the aforementioned Jeff Monson. The Bean would probably take the fight due to the size disparity and I’d at least have the pleasure of watching Monson–a 5’7″ human bulldozer–take down and submit Butterbean. Otherwise, send this guy into pro wrestling where he belongs.

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