By Bryan Levick 
With everyone talking about the UFC 109 aftermath, whether or not they are going to pay $44.99 for WEC 48 and what to expect at UFC 110, I wanted to try something off the wall.
Allow yourself to imagine, that for one night, Dana White opened his heart and his mind, and put together an event of epic proportions.
On one side you have the best the UFC has to offer, champions Brock Lesnar, Georges St. Pierre, and Lyoto Machida, going up against the best Strikeforce has to offer.
It doesn’t necessarily have to all be champion vs. champion, but whatever fights that make the most sense.
We all know the hell would have to freeze over before this happens, but we can dream can’t we.
I won’t be taking into account the partnership that Strikeforce has with Dream. I am going to use the fighters who are for the most part only associated with Strikeforce.
A lot of names were left off because there just isn’t a place for them. Who on the Strikeforce card would be a worthwhile opponent for Penn and Anderson Silva.
I am looking for exciting, competitive match-ups here, not two minute destructions or one-sided affairs.
Dan Henderson vs. Nate Marquardt:
This is a bout that was talked about after Henderson defeated Michael Bisping at UFC 100, and after Marquardt was victorious over Demian Maia at UFC 101.
The two were considered the top contenders for Anderson Silva’s middleweight championship. Although both men had been soundly defeated by The Spider, they were looking for revenge.
Marquardt is considered strong in all areas, obviously this theory was debunked on Saturday night after Henderson teammate Chael Sonnen put Marquardt on the seat of his pants, and kept him there for 15 minutes.
It’s still a match-up that I would like to see simply because Henderson doesn’t seem to utilize his wrestling as much anymore. This one could be a stand-up war.
Nick Diaz vs. Georges St. Pierre:
Champion vs. champion. No matter what anyone says, Diaz may have the weirdest striking this side of Keith Jardine, but it is effective.
Could Diaz utilize his long reach to thwart St. Pierre’s takedown attempts? Probably not, but it would be really fun to watch.
St. Pierre uses his superb striking to set up his takedowns, and once he has his opponent on his back he unleashes a fury of punches and elbows. Diaz is a high level grappler, but how well would he work off of his back?
At this point there isn’t a whole lot of competition for St. Pierre, but in my opinion Diaz would certainly make St. Pierre work extremely hard for this victory.
Nate Quarry vs. Scott Smith:
This would be a fun bout between two strikers who don’t know the meaning of the word quit.
Both men have been on the verge of defeat against Pete Sell and came back out of nowhere to knock “Drago” out.
This fight would have no meaning other than to entertain the fans, and neither man has ever had any trouble in doing just that.
Gilbert Melendez vs. Kenny Florian:
Let’s face it, there is no fighter on the Strikeforce roster who can hang with BJ Penn.
In fact I think it would take their top two guys to even give Penn a run for his money!
So we take the Strikeforce lightweight champion, a very good fighter in his own right, and put him against the man that is widely considered to be the second best lightweight in the UFC.
Florian’s striking and grappling are better than Melendez’s, but that doesn’t mean it would be a one-sided affair. Melendez is tough, and can take a hit while still moving forward.
Maybe they can put the title on the line so Florian would finally get his chance to wear some gold around his waist.
Jon Jones vs. Muhammed Lawal:
Now this is a fight that any mixed martial arts fan would love to see. Lawal and Jones are two of the brightest prospects in the entire sport.
They both have solid wrestling backgrounds, but the advantage has to go to Lawal in that department.
Jones gets the nod in the striking department for his variety of spinning back elbows and for just being overall hard to gameplan for.
Add Phil Davis to these two and you have three of the the next decades best light heavyweights.
Gegard Mousasi vs. Lyoto Machida:
Another bout between the two organizational champions. These two are very good strikers who use a totally different style and approach.
Machida has a karate base while Mousasi’s strength is in traditional boxing.
Neither man is that accustomed to the canvas, but they aren’t afraid to let the fight hit the floor.
What better way to judge just how good Mousasi really is, than by putting him in there with one of the best.
Brett Rogers vs. Junior Dos Santos:
Here we have two very young, exciting strikers, each with just one loss on their records.
Dos Santos certainly has the edge on the ground due to his training with the Nogueira Brothers, but he would be giving up a decent amount of size.
The only time anyone would be hitting the canvas was after being punched in the face.
Ronaldo Souza vs. Demian Maia:
There is no way we could leave this one out. Fifteen minutes of pure grappling at a level very rarely seen unless you are watching the ADCC’s.
Maia’s list of grappling credentials in a mile long. He has won four Submission of the Night awards in just seven career bouts in the UFC.
Souza is no slouch either. He has won at the ADCC’s as well and his nickname, “Jacare” was given to him due to the vice like grip he puts on his opponents.
Josh Thomson vs. Joe Stevenson:
There is just something about the two of them that I feel would make for a good scrap.
They are both good grapplers who aren’t afraid to stand and trade.
Stevenson has the edge in the wrestling department, but Thomson can get by pretty well.
These two never quit, and the site of their own blood does not discourage them from pushing the pace even further.
Brock Lesnar vs. Fedor Emelianenko:
This bout is what the whole card is based around. A lot of great fighters have been left off of this event for a variety of reasons, but not these champions.
When the UFC was pushing so hard to sign Emelianenko it was with this matchup in mind.
Can you imagine the buy rates it would pull off. Put on a card by itself, the expectations would have to be over 2 million pay-per-view buys.
I realize some big names would be sitting on the sidelines. Randy Couture, Anderson Silva, BJ Penn, Jake Shields, Robbie Lawler, and Cung Le are nowhere to be found.
It doesn’t matter, because with Lesnar and Emelianenko, the other fighters would be completely overshadowed.
