Up and Coming MMA Fighters to Watch

Two of the baddest men on the planet, not in the UFC, showed off their destructive tendencies this past week, and in the process proved that their names deserve to be mentioned among the world's best.

Alistair Overeem retained his heavyweight title by demolishing an overmatched Brett Rogers on Saturday at Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery in St. Louis; while Bellator middleweight champion Hector Lombard knocked out former UFC fighter Jay Silva in an incredible six seconds at Bellator 18 in Monroe, La., on Thursday.

Overeem's victory puts him on a collision course with Russian legend Fedor Emelianenko. Fedor, considered by many to be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, must first get past Fabricio Werdum in a Strikeforce event in June. That shouldn't be much of a problem. If all goes well, Overeem and Fedor could fight on CBS later in the year.

Fedor defeated Rogers in Nov., 2009, but in less impressive fashion than Overeem. The former Pride champion was bloodied up in the first round before ending the fight with a devastating right hand at 1:40 of the second round.

Overeem used ground-and-pound to stop Rogers in 3:40 of the first round. He showed a combination of speed, power and technique that should give Fedor problems.

In other Strikeforce action, Antonio Silva surprisingly out-boxed Andrei Arlovski en route to a unanimous decision victory. Roger Gracie improved to 3-0 with a victory over UFC veteran Kevin Randleman via rear naked choke, and Ronaldo Souza outlasted a tough Joey Villasenor.

Lombard appears well on his way to winning another Bellator middleweight tournament, with Dan Hornbuckle being the only obstacle. After that, you really have to think the Cuban judo expert would be the best challenger for UFC champion Anderson Silva.

Lombard was originally supposed to face Brazil's Paulo Filho on Thursday in what would have been a true super fight, but visa problems kept Filho out of the country. Silva was a last-minute replacement.

In other Bellator action Thursday, world champion wrestler Joe Warren and undefeated jiu-jitsu black belt Patricio Pitbull advanced to the featherweight tournament finals.

A must see: MMA fans, don't miss out on this one. On Friday, five-time World's Strongest Man winner Mariusz Pudzianowski takes on former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia in the main event of a surprisingly entertaining card at Moosin: Gods of Mixed Martial Arts at the DCU Center in Worcester, Mass.

If you can't make it, the event will be available on pay-per-view for $29.95.

Also on the card are former UFC middleweight contender Travis Lutter, and MMA veterans Travis Wiuff and Yves Edwards. Top female fighter Tara LaRosa will also be in action.

And if that's not enough, former Boston Bruins tough guy Lyndon Byers takes on the infamous Butterbean, who is co-promoting the event, in an exhibition fight.

Doors open at 7:30 with the first bout starting a 8. For more information, go to MoosinUSA.com.

Grudge match: UFC 114 is just 12 days away and features the much anticipated matchup between Rampage Jackson and Rashad Evans.

Evans and Jackson did plenty of trash talking while they coached against each other on the Ultimate Fighter reality series. The winner should get a shot at Shogun Rua's light heavyweight title.

Lightweight showdown: One of the more intriguing rumors circulating right now deals with a possible lightweight matchup between Strikeforce champ Gilbert Melendez and Bellator champ Eddie Alvarez, two of the world's best in that division.

Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney said he will do everything he can to make it happen, but whenever co-promotion is involved, the odds of a fight happening are not great.

Tough loss: American Top Team CT lightweight Hitalo Machado's quest for a title came up short Friday with a hard-fought loss to John Cholish at Urban Conflict Championship 2 in Jersey City, N.J.

Machado showed impressive standup technique, but was ultimately done in by Cholish's brutal leg kicks. Machado trains in Danbury while Cholish is part of the Renzo Gracie Academy in Newark, N.J.

and remember....You Can't Win, Until You STEP IN.