With all the upsets looming

[dallaskd]

Do you think Matt Serra has any shot at beating Matt Hughes?

[LEONARD]

yes

[IX_Equilibrium]

I believe the reason for all of the upsets this year is that MMA is undergoing a significant evolvment. The disparity in skill level among fighters is shrinking.

Take Serra for example. Everyone knew his BJJ was great, but nobody gave him much credit standing up. He obviously knew that he had to bring his standup closer to the level of his ground game. To do this, he trained extensively with Ray Longo, and it showed. He looked very comfortable, confident, and aggresive on his feet, and beat GSP.

Same thing with Gonzaga. Everyone knew that he was proficient on the ground, but he proved to the world he is no joke on the feet.

Guys started realizing how well rounded you need to be for a while now, and I think we are starting to see the fruits of the efforts of fighters who have been trying to make their game as complete as possible.

Also, I think Randy Couture is setting the standard of intelligently analyzing an opposing fighters style and coming up with the smartest gameplan possible. You hear less and less of guys saying, "I'm not doing anything special in my next fight. I'm just going to go out there and fight my fight like always."

I think these things combined are why we are starting to see the upsets we have this year.