Christmas is now a distant memory and the New Years greeting have already begun to wear thin. It is now time for us to make stern New Years resolutions, resolutions that we will undoubtedly break in half before February rolls around. It is time to start wishing for the things we look forward to getting from Santa Claus on Christmas for the coming year. I will start my wish list early so Santa can have a head start on my gifts for the coming Christmas. I have compiled a list of the ten things I want for Christmas for the year 2002.

Christmas is now a distant memory and the New Years greeting have already begun to wear thin. It is now time for us to make stern New Years resolutions, resolutions that we will undoubtedly break in half before February rolls around. It is time to start wishing for the things we look forward to getting from Santa Claus on Christmas for the coming year. I will start my wish list early so Santa can have a head start on my gifts for the coming Christmas. I have compiled a list of the ten things I want for Christmas for the year 2002.

#10
Pride in America
It will be great to see a huge new promotion come into America and give the UFC a run for its money. A new kid on the block may just be what the doctor ordered for the sport of MMA, to help thrust its popularity over the hump and into the homes of fans around the world. I am hoping that the show will force all the other promotions into making bigger and better shows for the coming years and drive the popularity of MMA through the ozone layer and into the stratosphere.

#9
More fighters in the light weight division.
The new lightweight division is a godsend. Contrary to popular belief bigger isn’t always better. It is about time we get to see the talents of the lighter fighters in MMA competitions. I am not saying we want to have an overabundance of weight divisions like boxing, not quite yet anyway, but it is great that the UFC is really promoting and pushing the lighter weight divisions to the forefront by putting the Jens Pulver Vs B.J Penn fight in as the Main event. I look forward to seeing the lightweight division take on more and more responsibility as a quality draw for the fans in the years to come.

#8
Heath Herring gets a real haircut.
I am not knocking the guys skills. I wholeheartedly believe that he has the tools to be among the top fighters in the Heavyweight division for many years to come, In fact I even picked him to win against Nogueira at Pride 17 ( OOPS). There is one thing that I don’t like about him though, his Hair. I am all for exciting the crowd, and that is all fine and dandy, but who does he really think he is impressing anyway. ( Besides the guests on the Jerry Springer show) There are many other ways to play to the crowd. Learning to knit or play bridge for example, might be something that he could look into. I must say is that his haircut is a little too off kilter for my liking. None the less I like his fighting style. On to number seven.

#7
Tito Ortiz Vs Chuck Liddell
This fight has been on my own private wish list ever since the two began to dominate the division in the UFC. This is a potential Blockbuster fight and building this fight is a great idea. I am more than willing to wait if that is what it takes to market this fight properly. Liddell’s mediocre performance against Bustamante and Vitor Belfort dropping out of UFC 33 threw a monkey wrench into the plans. Liddell recently disposed of Amar Suloev and now it is Tito’s turn to do his part and get past Belfort at UFC 36, if that took place a match-up would definitely be built up enough for me. The Top two fighters in the UFC Light heavyweight division are friends, but that just adds to the story line of a fight that has intrigued me for the past year. I enjoy watching both fighters and I would love to see the Showdown that many have been asking about for some time. Now………..Is anybody listening………….?

#6
Shooto in English
For those of us ( and there are many ) who are not familiar with it, Shooto is an MMA organization in Japan that highlights the smaller weight classes and is a feeder for some of the bigger promotions such as the UFC. Fighters such as Carlos Newton, Kauru Uno, Hayato Sakurai, and many others are veterans of the organization and many up and comers are working their way through the very competitive Shooto ranks. On the Nov 2001 Top Ten Fighters list, 7 of the Top Ten in the light weight division have competed in Shooto and in the feather weight class, an amazing 9 members of the Top Ten have fought or are currently fighting in Shooto.
Having just recently been introduced to the wonderful world of Shooto, I have fallen in love with the show and would love to see it come stateside. I don’t think it will happen of course, but having the Shooto dubbed in English and sold here so those of us who cannot understand Japanese can understand it, would definitely help ease the sting of never having seen an event live. I think Shooto is a wonderful organization and I hope the rumors of financial woes are false. Support Shooto !!! The Little guys are unbelievable !!!

#5
UFC or PRIDE in Canada
Laugh if you will. Being from Canada has its drawbacks. No Hometown UFC’s or Pride’s is definitely one of them. Remember, this is My wish list, so this is my own Special Selfish request from a deprived Canadian who wants a hometown show. Haven’t we suffered for long enough? Okay, so it probably won’t happen for a very long time if ever. A guy can dream right? Give a guy a break EH !!!

#4
Pro Wrestlers Banned from fighting in PRIDE.
Question : Save Sakuraba, Name one quality MMA talent that is also a Pro wrestler.

Answer : HA… Yeah Right…..
Unfortunately, names like Yoshiaki Yatsu, Alexander Otsuka, Michiyoshi Ohara, and Yuki Ishikawa are all names that we have learned to dislike. The fact is, we shouldn’t even know these names. They have been thrust upon us by unnamed matchmakers, like sacks of dirty laundry, that nobody wants to wash. Let’s cut the crap, the last Pride Card was the weakest ever, and the main reason is obvious. Need I say more?

#3
PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix
A Middleweight Grand Prix tournament featuring Kazushi Sakuraba, Vanderlei Silva , Dan Henderson, and Royce Gracie. Say what you will about the tournament format, tournaments are undoubtedly intriguing and I would love to see a tournament with some of the best talent in the MMA world all under one tournament bracket. Will this ever happen? It is still up in the air but I am really looking forward to seeing the new Grand Prix. The only thing that could make it better would be to have the UFC and Pride "Trading" fighters and having the best of the best fight each other, regardless of organizational contracts.

#2
Pride and the UFC "Trading" fighters
Chuck Liddell Vs Vanderlei Silva
Tito Ortiz Vs Dan Henderson
Igor Vovchanchyn Vs Pedro Rizzo
Randy Couture Vs Rodrigo Nogueira

Enough Said.

#1
MMA overtakes Boxing
For MMA to take over boxing as the most popular combat sporting event of the world. It won’t happen this year or the next or maybe even the next 20 years, but I hope that someday, some how it will reach the heights that we all know it can. I love watching boxing, but I love MMA much more. Is this just a pipe dream? Maybe, maybe not, in any case reaching the audience that boxing reaches would be incredible for the sport and would let me die a happy Sushiboy.

2002 is shaping up to be an incredible year for the sport of MMA. I am thrilled at the direction the sport has taken the past year, and the best is still yet to come. Here is a toast to the year 2001, to the lean years before, and most importantly the coming year and the years to come. Here is to the sport of MMA for the year 2002. Happy New Year.

This was Arnold "The Sushiboy" Lim
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