Post-UFC 126 Thoughts: Anderson Silva, Jon Jones, Japanese MMA, and More

Just like Dennis Green said, they are who we thought they were. Whether Anderson Silva in the discussion of pound-for-pound greats or Jon Jones in the discussion of the future of mixed martial arts, well, crown them... and so on.

Anderson Silva possesses an unreasonable combination of technical skill and creativity which we just don't see elsewhere. Vitor Belfort had a couple nice moments and was able to connect, but Silva's head movement (and, of course, his footwork) was the difference when it mattered and ultimately presented the sort of lull in the action which opened up the fight-ending technique that we observed. It's not actually the first time we've seen that sort of a hellish front kick effectively end a bout in MMA, but I am only able to think of one other instance off the top of my head.

Jon Jones receiving a title shot in the light heavyweight division is obviously huge. Mauricio Rua is one of the best fighters we've seen and his skill set has potential to cause problems for any fighter. Plainly though, I'm fairly certain that Jon Jones can get that fight to the ground and I am equally certain that that is a huge problem for Mauricio Rua. I don't want to speak as though Jon Jones becoming the divisional champion is a foregone conclusion - it's far from that. We do have to consider what a victory for Jones in Newark might mean down the road, however. As soon as the announcement was made, I couldn't help but think of where this could all head. You have the issue of his teammate Rashad Evans, Jones' seemingly inevitable eventual move to heavyweight, and all sorts of notions surrounding the weird space a young fighter whose skill set is still developing occupies when he is also the divisional kingpin.

What's more, with Forrest Griffin's win tonight and bouts like Lyoto Machida vs. Randy Couture and Quinton Jackson vs. Thiago Silva on the horizon, there are some interesting possibilities out there in the light heavyweight division. As for Rich Franklin, as long as that left arm doesn't give him any more trouble, I'm still interested in seeing him in there against the top notch fighters. About the only thing that I was right about tonight was the fact that there were openings for Franklin to throw a lead right hook. There were some good exchanges in that bout and Franklin can definitely hang with just about anybody.

With Michihiro Omigawa and Norifumi Yamamoto both losing tonight, it was definitely a sad night for Japanese MMA. That said, I don't think that we can rightly claim that this is indicative of some wholesale inability of fighters polished through the Japanese system to compete. Hatsu Hioki would give trouble to anybody in the featherweight division. Taiki Tsuchiya is a very exciting prospect at featherweight. I wouldn't even say that these losses are indicate of the particular fighters' inability to compete - Omigawa is still a viable threat to most everybody at featherweight and I think Yamamoto could find some success at bantamweight. Beyond that, I'll probably take a look at a couple of the overarching themes of Japanese fighters caught between struggling domestic promotions and American promotions looking to make in-roads abroad here in the next few days.

Jake Ellenberger remains a force in the welterweight division, although perhaps not the dark horse sort of character that many of us were thinking. As for Carlos Eduardo Rocha, he has what could be a really bright future and it's great to see a grappler with that sort of transitional ability.

Chad Mendes really does have to be somewhere near the top of the featherweight division. He has made enough progress with his striking that it's going to be an issue for a lot of opponents, and that certainly just boosts what is already there with his wrestling ability. It looks like Miguel Torres is benefiting from his time at Tristar, even if his bout against Antonio Banuelos let a lot of people down. Donald Cerrone is a really good fighter that can get caught over the top when he's coming in. Paul Taylor and Paul Kelly - whether in victory of defeat - are both scrappy British fighters. Of course, we're always glad to see somebody come through with a head kick like Taylor was able to. Mike Pierce is quietly throwing a little win streak together, as is Kyle Kingsbury. I'm hoping that we'll get to see Ricardo Romero back relatively soon.