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The UFC’s welterweight division now looks like a thrilling grab bag of opportunity, with so many possible ways to match up top fighters. So what’s the logical next step at 170 pounds? And would a prime Georges St-Pierre stand any chance among this field?

All that and much more in this holiday edition of the mailbag. To ask a question of your own, hit up @BenFowlkesMMA.

@EyeofMihawk: How would you match up welterweight? Its so hot right now. I would throw Garry in with Islam, give Morales another seasoning fight with Usman and Shavkat an injury-return bout with Prates, though all three have already earned it. JDM-Brady and Leon-Buckley for bounce-back fights

First, a disclaimer: many years ago, when I did a story on the UFC matchmakers (back when it was still just Joe Silva and Sean Shelby doing it all) they shared one of their biggest frustrations about MMA fans.

“The public, they think these [UFC fighters] are just chess pieces,” Shelby told me. “You move them however you want. And it's not like that.”

All of which is to say, how I’d match up the welterweights assumes a perfect world that does not actually exist. It assumes that everyone is healthy and ready to accept any fight at any time of year. It does not take into account stuff like injuries or holy holidays or planned family vacations.

That said, I think it ought to be Islam Makhachev versus Shavkat Rakhmonov for the welterweight title. On the same card, I’d book Ian Machado Garry versus Michael Morales in a five-round co-main event (and it also provides some backup options in case something happens to one of the guys in the headliner). I’d have Carlos Prates fight either Belal Muhammad or Sean Brady.

You’ll notice that Kamaru Usman is missing from my list. That’s because I cannot understand how he even got in this conversation at this point. As great a champion as he was in his time, he’s won one fight in the past four years. That’s not enough to get you into the contender sweepstakes. Especially not when the division is this stacked.

@Paquet90: We are about to Hit a 42 Day drought without UFC events . Is this the longest time without a UFC event in Modern UFC History?

I’m no encyclopedia when it comes to the overall stats, but I can tell you that the UFC had a longer drought than this during the pandemic. There was a UFC Fight Night event in Brasilia, Brazil (in an empty arena due to local restrictions) on March 14, 2020. After some failed attempts to move events elsewhere, the next one happened 56 days later on May 9, 2020, when UFC 249 went down (at another empty arena) in Jacksonville, Florida.

This is the time of year when we usually see the UFC take a break. It wasn’t always the case. For many years, the company tried to stage an event as close to New Year’s as it could get without actually doing it on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day.

But the past five or six years have seen the UFC adopt the strategy of wrapping up in mid-December and then returning in mid-January, which makes sense. This way, everyone gets to have the holidays at home and the UFC doesn’t have to compete with endless college bowl games and family time or whatever.

@joannadangerfd: 1. What is your take on the idea that today's MMA athletes have exceeded past athletes, that GSP Islam debate from a few days ago?

2. Any thoughts or stuff on combat sports from the perspective of visual arts? As opposed to literary arts I suppose. thread below:

As a whole, I think the fighters of today are much better all-around than the fighters of a couple of decades ago. But I think that becomes less true when you look at the outliers as opposed to the averages. Could a prime Georges St-Pierre show up in the UFC of today, with all the modern techniques and training, and compete with the very best in 2025? Absolutely he could. Could some of the dudes he beat on his way to the top beat some of the dudes Makhachev beat? Ehhh, maybe not.

As for the second part, I see your thread references George Bellows’ awesome boxing paintings. He has a few that really capture the spirit of the sport. His most famous is definitely the Jack Dempsey and Louis Firpo painting, but I think my favorite is “Introducing John L. Sullivan.”

I also happen to know a couple great artists who have done some MMA work. Chris Rini and Marco Bucci are both worth checking out, and for far more than just their fight art.

@Rage_Potato_902: If you had to witness an aggressively spirited Thanksgiving verbal sparring match between two retired, older generation fighters, and two currently active, younger fighters, who would they be and what's the topic they're arguing about?

If you sat Don Frye and Mark Coleman down across from Ilia Topuria and Ian Machado Garry, you’d get an argument before you could even pass the rolls. I can imagine any number of topics they might disagree about. But if you happen to be the kind of person who likes stirring the pot, maybe start by asking them which generation of fighters is tougher and meaner.

@Chapperton: Can we pour one out for the big homie, singin and dancin, second chancin, girlfriend romancin, (woo!) soon to be freelancin, Jack Hermansson?

He beat Jacare that one time!

He did do that. He also beat Kelvin Gastelum and Joe Pyfer and shut down the UFC’s first attempt at rehabilitating the Edmen Shahbazyan hype train.

But man, this latest knockout loss to Myktybek Orolbai was hard to watch. Jack Hermansson looked too slow for welterweight. At age 37, going down in weight is rarely a good idea. He says he woke up still in love with this sport, so we’ll see where it goes from here.

@DangerBrooks: Do you think the White House card and the UFC's increasingly prominent connection to Trump reflect ownership's belief that its audience has expanded as far as it is going to? Have we reached Peak UFC?

I think the UFC has run the numbers and decided it’s more profitable to be thought of as a right-wing sports brand, even if that drives away some viewers, because of the many different ways this political identity can be easily monetized. As in, advertisers who are looking to get right with the American right will flock to the UFC, so who cares if some viewers get sick of the ICE ads and Trump worship and end up tuning out? 

Plus, when you’re friends with a president who is really willing to do favors, it comes with certain perks. Just ask new UFC middleweight champ Khamzat Chimaev, who only got his title shot once his visa issues suddenly vanished.

@RealFakeSamDunn: How would Gable Steveson fare in a PRIDE rules openweight GP against all comers? He’d surely beat the vast majority of randomly-selected opponents due to sheer athleticism and size — but who would be your odds-on favorite to give him the most *exciting* fight?

First of all, we do need to calm down just a bit on the whole Gable Steveson thing. Yes, he’s big and athletic and looks like he can do it all. But it’s so hard to gauge talent early on in a heavyweight’s career. The people he’s fighting — and easily demolishing — do not present particularly meaningful tests. They don’t tell us much about him. Mostly, they are just there to get styled on, and have so far done their jobs perfectly.

As for the most exciting fight? Screw it, give him Fedor Emelianenko. I’d skip my best friend’s funeral to see that one.