Challenges for Ufc Champion Anderson Silva are a Weight Class Above

by San Diego Shooter

Challenges for Ufc Champion Anderson Silva are a Weight Class Above

UFC 78 is quickly approaching and it's main event match-up between Rashad Evans and Michael Bisping made me think about fighters who could cut weight to drop to a lower weight class. In that spirit I am going to discuss four UFC fighters who might be well served by dropping weight and fighting below their current class.



Let me start at the top, the UFC heavyweight division. There are a couple of UFC heavyweights who could make 205lbs, remember Randy Couture fought as a light heavyweight for a while, he even held the light heavyweight title. There is really only one UFC heavyweight who I want to talk about dropping weight. Brandon "The Truth" Vera just dropped a three round decision to former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia. Brandon didn't loose this match because of his skill-set. He lost because of Tim's size. Tim pushed Vera up against the fence and used his weight to close the distance, essentially negating Vera's superior kicking game. If Brandon Vera dropped down to 205lbs I feel he would be competing on an even playing field and would likely quickly move into title contention.



The UFC light heavyweight division has the majority of guys who should consider dropping weight. There are three that I'd like to discuss, they are Rashad Evans, Michael Bisping and Dan Henderson. You'll note that Bisping and Evans are the main event fighters at UFC 78. Both of these fighters are undefeated at light heavyweight.



Michael Bisping is an outstanding fighter, a good striker with an adequate ground game. However, his recent fight with Matt Hamill shows that he can be manhandled by a stronger opponent. Bisping mostly stayed on the outside in this fight and let Hamill control the action. I believe that this is because he was staying away from Hamill's strength...with is wrestling, and physical strength. We all remember on the Ultimate Fighter when Hamill was overwhelming the other fighters with his physical strength, a move to 185lbs would not only put him into title contention, but would allow Bisping to be stronger than other opponents in that weight class.



Rashad Evans has already dropped a weight class. Rashad competed at heavyweight on the Ultimate Fighter TV series and did very well, winning his division, but his recent bout with Tito Ortiz showed that Rashad, despite his superior wrestling skills is a small light heavyweight. Rashad will have no problems matching strength with Bisping at UFC 78, but when fighting the larger light heavyweights like Forrest Griffin, Wanderlei Silva and Tito Ortiz he will get manhandled, essentially negating his wrestling advantage. A move to 185lbs would likely make Rashad an immediate title contender.



Dan Henderson has already fought at 185lbs and is the current, and likely last, PrideFC 185lb champion. Dan is strong, even for a 205lb fighter and Dan probably has the best wrestling in the UFC. Dan's last fight with Quinton Jackson showed that he can have trouble with a guy who is a good wrestler, a good striker and is as physically strong as he is. There simply isn't a fighter at 185lbs with Dan's strength. With a decisive strength advantage, Dan's heavy hands and fantastic wrestling would take him not only into title contention, but in my eyes he would defeat Anderson Silva.



The UFC 185lb division is probably it's weakest. With a dominant champion and everyone else way below there are seemingly no challengers, but just above at 205lbs there are a bunch of small light heavyweight fighters who might want to consider transitioning to 185lbs.

Jon is a contributing editor at UFC Results - Come to UFC Results at http://www.ufcresultslive.com for UFC Results, UFC Predictions and UFC Fight Cards.

VoIP Provider Performance Objectives through Communication Analysis

by gregverdino

VoIP Provider Performance Objectives through Communication Analysis

Voice over Internet Protocol has gained world-wide acceptance, and competition is raising benchmark standards for VoIP provider services.  The improved performance and diversity of VoIP provider services contributes to the development of the unified communication network system that your business needs to excel and survive.

VoIP provider performance and benefits have gone through a surge of improvements with the increasing acceptance of VoIP services from both personal and business users.  Millions use VoIP services worldwide.  In fact, it‘s reported that half of the Internet users in France currently use VoIP providers for their voice communications.  VoIP services have created a billion dollar industry - and new players are constantly entering the market.  To ignore VoIP would be to ignore the potential for business growth and competitive advantages.

There are obvious performance objectives a VoIP service provider must meet.  Cost-effectiveness has been the fire under world-wide movement towards VoIP acceptance, and VoIP’s low cost will be reflected in business expenditure reports.  Clarity, dependability and reliability is a must.  A satisfactory VoIP provider should provide help support as well as software and hardware guarantees.  There should be room and flexibility for upgrades and changes.  The software and hardware should be user-friendly and serve the needs of the corporation.  But before a corporation or other business can determine if a VoIP provider can meet performance objectives, they must first determine the needs of the business enterprise.

Once the lines of communication are determined, an analysis of the hardware required to perform these jobs can be determined.  Location of the system user will need to be taken into consideration- however, it should be kept in mind that Wi-Fi and other communication lines will steadily increase their coverage areas.  With hardware selection, the capabilities of the VoIP provider and the hardware’s ability to use the VoIP provider need to be considered before purchasing or leasing your phone system.  Although there are plenty of VoIP enabled mobile phones on the market, a purchaser must be aware that select phones do not have the flexibility to use all VoIP providers or they may limit VoIP services.

A VoIP service provider needs to facilitate communication and communicate information.  As VoIP grows, so will its ability to combine voice communication with data gathering and information processing.  Information is a valuable resource that contributes to business success. But information needs to be communicated and applied before it can become valuable.  VoIP enables rapid information exchanges to be communicated for instant decision-making that contributes to increased business productivity.

VoIP provider services must meet the performance objectives of your business in order to support the long-term strategic goals of your organisation.  Forward-looking communication and information processing analysis will set the stage to determine your VoIP provider’s performance objectives.  Once your performance objectives are set, you have set the stage for improving business success.

MOBILEOFFICE is a voip provider, who offers unified business phone systems, telephone systems and voip phone systems to help your business connect and collaborate.

National Hockey League and the Stanley Cup

by clydeorama

National Hockey League and the Stanley Cup

Each team in the NHL plays 82 regular season games, 41 games at home and 41 on the road. Teams used to play all other teams in the league at least once, but this will no longer be the case following implementation of post-lockout changes. Teams will now play 10 inter-conference (that is, not in their own conference) games throughout the entire season, 1 game against each team in two of the three divisions in the opposite conference. Teams will also play 40 games against non-divisional, conference opponents (4 games against each), and 32 games within their division (8 games against each). Two points are awarded for wins, one point for losing in overtime or a shootout, and zero points for a loss in regulation time. At the end of the regular season, the team that finishes with the most points in each division is crowned the division champion. Each Conference consists of three divisions, so these three division champions and five more teams fill out each Conference's playoff field. In total, 16 teams (3 division champions and 5 additional teams, for a total of 8 from each Conference) qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.



The Stanley Cup Playoffs is an elimination tournament, where two teams battle to win a best-of-seven series in order to advance to the next round. If the score is tied at the end of the third period an overtime period is played. If the score is tied at the end of an overtime period, additional overtime periods are played until a winner is determined. Overtimes are also full periods of twenty minutes (of five-on-five hockey), rather than the five minutes (of four-on-four hockey, followed by a shootout,) in the regular season. The overtime is played with golden goal rule (sudden death) so the game ends as soon as either team scores a goal. The higher-ranked team is said to be the team with the home-ice advantage. Four of the seven games are played at this team's home venue - the first and second, and, where necessary, the fifth and seventh, with the other games played at the lower-ranked team's home venue.



One playoff that was contested in the NHL used the following format: the division winners were seeded one through three, and then the next five teams with the best records in the conference were seeded four through eight. However, the league has yet to announce the playoff format for the 2005-06 seasons, and with the new scheduling format that emphasizes division play, the league is reportedly exploring placing greater emphasis on division standings by taking the top 2 teams in each division, along with the teams with the next two best records for each Conference's playoff field. In the event of a tie in points in the standings, ties are broken first by amount of wins, and then by record against the team that is tied (disregarding the first game played at the arena of the team that hosted more games than the other during the season series, if applicable). Next, the tied team with the better positive differential between goals scored for and against is given preference, and in the rare circumstance these tiebreakers are insufficient, the Commissioner has the authority to devise some other means of breaking the tie. The first round of the playoffs, or Conference Quarterfinals, consists of the first seed playing the eighth seed, the second playing the seventh, third playing the sixth, and the fourth playing the fifth. In the Conference Semifinals, the top remaining Conference seed plays against the fourth remaining seed, and the second remaining seed plays the third remaining seed. In the next round, the Conference Finals, the two remaining teams in each conference play each other, with the Conference champions proceeding to the Stanley Cup Finals.

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