Title Writing: First annual UFC All Stars: 2012

Normally I would be publishing another installment of "I Coulda Been A Contender" today, as the series runs every Thursday but I've been working on something a little bigger for my next two editions in honor of Carlos Condit and Nick Diaz, who meet for the interim welterweight title fight at UFC 143. I've been an unabashed Condit fan since his spectacular third round against Rory MacDonald back at UFC 115. As for Diaz, well, he has long been the fighter I enjoy following the most. I have a lot to say about both and didn't want to profile either of them with the attention on UFC RIO 142, so "Contender" will be back next week.

I thought I'd have some fun today, inspired by the recent roster announcement of the NHL all star teams. (I'm from Vancouver and hockey was my first love. Laugh if you must, as it is suffering a little right now, but it's a fantastic sport.)

I know what you are thinking: How could you even have an "all star" event in the UFC? Much like football, MMA is by nature a very violent game that you really can't play half hearted. In fact, since I've never watched the Pro Bowl, I'm not sure how they manage. Is the game any good? Do they hit each other? It wouldn't make much sense to have a UFC all star card if the fights were going to be straight MMA. It'd be too dangerous and the fights that fans would want to see are far too lucrative to be lumped together in one event.

What about grappling? You wouldn't have to worry so much about the safety of the fighters, nor would you have to worry about weight classes, since almost every big grappling tournament has an open weight division. The UFC already puts on the occasional grappling super fight at the Fan Expos, so all they'd have to do is expand on the idea by lining up a bunch of cool grappling matches, add in some skills challenge type events (Apparently Bruce Lee could throw 7 kicks in one second. Anyone interested in seeing Anderson Silva try the "Bruce Lee Challenge"...? Joe Rogan is famous for hosting Fear Factor and for being a bad ass jiu jitsu brown belt. What about Rogan versus...? We'll get Joe to roll three minutes each with three different UFC fighters who are also BJJ black belts and see who can tap him out the most. Tell me you don't want to see Joe Rogan vs Jakob Volkmann) and voila, the makings of a perfectly entertaining All Star event.

After the jump I'll play matchmaker and share my picks for the inaugural UFC All Star card.

UNDERCARD

John Dodson vs Stefan Struve
Pretty sure this would be the biggest and smallest guys on the UFC roster going at it and would be a fitting homage to the days when Pride actually put on legit MMA fights with those parameters (biggest guy vs smallest guy).

Jon Fitch vs Josh Koscheck
A no brainer here. Dana White has been wanting to get these guys together for a fight in front of a UFC audience for years and years. Maybe this wouldn't be what he had envisioned but it's better than not ever seeing them face off.

Ronda Rousey vs Ben Henderson
Henderson is quickly gaining a reputation as the most un-submittable fighter in the world. Rousey is quickly gaining a reputation as the nastiest submission fighter in the world. Since she's a girl, I'd giver her the advantage of Henderson starting in the arm-bar position. Good luck Bendo!

Dave Camarillo vs Greg Jackson
Sure, they aren't fighters but, that is kind of the point. Neither man looks like they would be able to hold their own in an open field, much less a dark alley. Yet they are two of the most successful grappling coaches in the world and both have recently published grappling instructionals. I'd love to see these guys trade techniques on the mat.

MAIN CARD

Wanderlei Silva vs Chael Sonnen
We can be pretty sure that this grudge match is not going to happen in the Octagon. Wanderlei is scheduled to face Vitor Belfort while Sonnen has himself a number of fights lined up before he would be free to face the "Axe Murderer". Silva doesn't have the chin that he once did, making an MMA fight between the two a little less exciting than it might have been were he in his prime. A grappling match though? Yeah, it would be sweet to see Silva teach Sonnen to have a little respect for Brazil while at the same time letting hm keep his teeth.

Nick Diaz vs Nate Diaz
Another one of those fights between teammates that we'd never otherwise see. Watching the Diaz brothers at the UFC 137 open workout, (footage provided by Karyn Bryant and MMAHeat) was quite cool, but they were only going about 20 percent. Unlike Kos and Fitch, who would undoubtedly have fun with the whole thing and keep it cool, there is a chance that a 5 minute grappling match between the Diaz brothers would escalate to punches. Either that or neither of them would show up.

CO-MAIN-EVENT

Tito Ortiz vs Chuck Liddell
Chuck would be fighting still if it wasn't for his concerns with his ability to take a punch. Tito is still fighting but at this point we all know he's no longer relevant. By all accounts there is still quite a bit of animosity between the two men. This would actually be an excellent match that I think both men would take pretty seriously.

MAIN EVENT

Anderson Silva vs Georges St. Pierre
This fight is never going to happen in real life. St. Pierre has far more pressing issues to deal with in the welterweight division when he comes back from injury and Silva seems to be looking at Chael Sonnen, Michael Bisping and who knows who else before he'd be free to face Rush. Then again, this could be the moment that re-kindles the desire to see the two men face off for real. And if they never did, Dana could shrug his shoulders at the media and say "What do you want from me? They fought at the All Star card. You guys are so selfish."

So what do you guys think? If you could make your own UFC All Star event, how would you do it? If you like the idea but not the matches I suggested, who would you like to see face off?

As always, thanks for reading!