The fantasy MMA World Cup came to a close last night with one amazing upset – Alistair Overeem won heavyweight gold in a razor close decision over UFC champion Cain Velasquez. Overeem was the only top winner who isn’t the current UFC champion in his weight class. That tells me two things:
1. Hardcore fans are ready to see Overeem in the UFC in a big way
2. For the most part fans recognize the UFC as home to the best fighters in the world and acknowledge that UFC matchmaker Joe Silva does a good job challenging the champions. They are all recognized as legitimately the best man in the weight class.
As expected, the United States was the big winner followed by Brazil. In the rest of the world though, things are getting interesting. Europe seems to have supplanted Asia as the third best region in the world, and as the Japanese MMA market continues to implode, this difference will only get more stark. Canada finished fifth, largely on the strength of Georges St. Pierre and the Russian states struggled for even the 10 points they earned.
The final tally may also be a result of American fans (who did the bulk of the voting) being less familiar with the Asian and Russian fighters who compete mostly overseas.
The Results:
Heavyweight
Gold: Alistair Overeem (EU)
Silver: Cain Velasquez (USA)
Bronze: Junior dos Santos (Brazil)
Fourth: Fedor Emelianenko (CIS/Assorted)
Light Heavyweight
Gold: Jon Jones (USA)
Silver: Mauricio Rua (Brazil)
Bronze: Gegard Mousasi (CIS/Assorted)
Fourth: Alexander Gustaffson (EU)
More Results after the break
Middleweight
Gold: Anderson Silva (Brazil)
Silver: Chael Sonnen (USA)
Bronze: Yushin Okami (Asia)
Fourth: Michael Bisping (EU)
Welterweight
Gold: Georges St. Pierre (Canada)
Silver: Jon Fitch (USA)
Bronze: Thiago Alves (Brazil)
Fourth: Dong Hyun Kim (Asia)
Lightweight
Gold: Frankie Edgar (USA)
Silver: Shinya Aoki (Asia)
Bronze: Dennis Siver (EU)
Fourth: Mark Bocek (Canada)
Featherweight
Gold: Jose Aldo (Brazil)
Silver: Chad Mendes (USA)
Bronze: Mark Hominick (Canada)
Fourth: Hatsu Hioki (Asia)
Bantamweight
Gold: Dominick Cruz (USA)
Silver: Brad Pickett (EU)
Bronze: Takeya Mizugaki (Asia)
Fourth: Waggney Fabiano (Brazil)