Every once in a while in the world of contact sports, you see violence. Not necessarily an attempt to injure, but a skilled open-field tackle, a hard screen, or an old-school hip check that reminds you why pro athletes wear all that body armor.

Here in no particular order are 10 athletes that I think could make it in MMA if they wanted to.

1. Ichiro: A middleweight at 170 pounds, Ichiro has the discipline of a warrior.
2. Philip Rivers: Might need to taste defeat once or twice more, but otherwise indomitable.
3. Ray Lewis: High intimidation factor.
4. Dion Phaneuf: Calgary Flames defenseman is a general on the ice.
5. Steve Hutchinson: Seahawks haven’t been the same without him.
6. Allen Iverson: Look the man in the eyes. He’d shake up the welterweights.
7. Tiger Woods: Would excel at Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Peerless conditioning.
8. Vitali Klitschko: Never knocked down as a professional. Owns a doctorate.
9. Tony Stewart: A lot of talking, but you have to be fearless to drive NASCAR.
10. Shaquille O’Neal: Think of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar vs. Bruce Lee. Now add 100 pounds.

1. Randy Couture wins the UFC Heavyweight Championship, and defends it before leaving the UFC.

2. UFC buys Pride Fighting Promotions and gains control of the MMA scene.

3. Chuck Liddell is KOed by Quinton Rampage Jackson and loses his Light Heavyweight title.

4. Matt Serra KO’s Georges St. Pierre to win the UFC Welterweight title after winning TUF 4.

5. Fedor Emelianenko signs with M-1 instead of the UFC, making the world’s best fighter non-UFC property.

6. Anderson Silva outclassing Rich Franklin twice, taking Franklin’s Middleweight belt at the same time.

7. George St. Pierre KO’s Matt Hughes to win the UFC Welterweight Title.

8. Gabriel Gonzaga KO’s Mirko “CroCop” Filipovi? with a head kick in UFC 70.

9. Brock Lesnar announces he is joining the UFC and will fight Frank Mir.

10. Floyd Mayweather announces he is turning to MMA, essentially dealing a death blow to boxing.

And because Russians rule I’ll leave you with a video of Fedor “fighting” (more like wrestling) Renato Sobral- commentated in Japanese.

Dana White and the Ferretti brothers had a busy 2007. They essentially constructed a monopoly for themselves by buying out Pride Fighting Promotions. This was a very good move for them financially, but instead of sharing the wealth, the UFC has gained a reputation of being cheap to its fighters. The pay-per-view ratings for UFC events are better than that of boxing promotions, but the fighters get paid a fraction of what professional boxers do.

Dana White has worked towards creating an MMA scene that gives fighters no choice but to fight for the UFC if they want to be considered the best. Some Pride fighters have come over to the UFC. But many of the best, like Fedor Emelianenko, have decided to fight for fledgling promotions. This is the same reason UFC Heavyweight Champ Randy Couture left the organization. Hopefully this will help create a fighter’s union.

We’re just a week away from what they’re calling the biggest MMA card of the year: UFC 79 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. It certainly doesn’t lack in star power, but if the odds are accurate, the main event won’t be very competitive. Georges St. Pierre is a –200 chalk to beat Matt Hughes (+160) for the Interim welterweight championship.

This is the rubber match between the two fighters. St. Pierre submitted to a Hughes armbar in 2004 for his first MMA defeat. The rematch at last year’s UFC 65 was all GSP; he pummelled Hughes convincingly and took his welterweight title in the process.

Fight fans are expecting more of the same on Dec. 29. In addition to Hughes, St. Pierre has defeated Frank Trigg, Sean Sherk, B.J. Penn and Josh Koscheck over the past two years. GSP’s price may be inflated by partisan Canadian money, but his body of work merits the chalk.

One of the great Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners of all-time will be in action later this month at UFC 79. Wanderlei Silva, the former PRIDE middleweight champion, will face Chuck Liddell. Also on the card are fellow countrymen Lyoto Machida, Luis Cane and Roan Carneiro.

Brazil is well represented at the top levels of the sport, but their local scene doesn’t get a lot of attention. RioHeroes may yet change that. The vale tudo promotion wrapped up its first year of operations on Tuesday with their “RioHeroes 13” tournament. Flavio Alvaro and Udi Lima survived all the way to the finals, where Alvaro won by submission to become a two-time RH champion.

This fighting style is not for the faint of heart. We’re talking old school steel cage matches – no timekeeping, and very few holds barred. But this isn’t a backyard brawl; the fighters take their craft seriously, and the promotion does not charge admission. Top that, UFC.

- Alistair Overeem submitted Paul Buentello at 3:42 of Round 2 to become the Strikeforce Heavyweight champion.

- Jorge Santiago def. Trevor Prangley via TKO (knees) at 2:31 of Round 1 to become the Strikeforce Middleweight tournament champion.

- Cung Le KO’ed Sam Morgan at 1:58 of Round 3.

- Dennis Hallman submitted Jeremiah Metcalf (heel hook) at 1:39 of Round 1.

- Chris Drumm and Evan Esguerra fought to a No Contest.

- Alex Crispin def. Clint Coronel via Unanimous Decision.

- Anthony Figueroa def. Pete Sabala via Split Decision.

- Eric Lawson submitted Josh Neal (rear naked choke) at 0:20 of Round 2.

- Jorge Santiago KO’ed Sean Salmon at 0:24 of Round 1.

- Trevor Prangley def. Falaniko Vitale at 0:20 of Round 2.

- Luke Stewart KO’ed Bryson Kamaka at 0:19 of Round 1.

- Anthony Ruiz def. Bobby Southworth (cut stoppage) at 0:52 of Round 2.

- Lemont Davis def. Brian Schwartz via Unanimous Decision after 3 Rounds.

Elite Xtreme Combat (or “EliteXC” for short) has a show coming up this Saturday in Corpus Christi, Tex. Nick Diaz and K.J. Noons will battle it out for the new EliteXC 160-pound “lightweight” championship, one of three new divisions the company has added.

“I am very concerned in the mixed martial arts world of this drastic cutting of weight,” president Gary Shaw announced last week. “Fighters can fit better in these weight classes and fight for world titles without endangering their health.”

It makes sense on one level. By taking out the 155-pound division and adding 160, fighters will have less weight to cut. However, putting in 140 and 150 also gives fighters two more weight targets to shoot for. A natural 160-pounder will be more inclined to cut weight and fight smaller 140-pounders – consider Sean Sherk’s drop from UFC welterweight to lightweight.

Really want your fighters to be safe? Give them reasonable salaries and strictly monitor their health.

Now we leave you with a video of Nick Diaz training and fighting. Enjoy.

The kafuffle over Randy Couture’s contract status has generated interest among MMA fans regarding the UFC’s financial situation. Payouts to the fighters have been made public, and aside from the big numbers being pulled in by the top names (Couture made $1.186 million for beating Tim Sylvia in March at UFC 68, mostly in the form of bonuses), most of the payouts are tinier than Sky Lo Lo.

Eighteen fighters were on the card at last month’s UFC 77. Eight of them received four-figure payouts, although Matt Grice ($6,000) and Jason Black ($8,000) received $40,000 bonuses for being named the Fight of the Night. Rich Franklin, the former middleweight champion, received just $45,000 for his main-event title loss to Anderson Silva ($120,000).

These are, for the most part, the top MMA fighters in the world’s leading organization. Most fighters are working for peanuts in smaller promotions, but you’d expect bigger payouts in the UFC.

Randy Couture beating down Tito Ortiz (Images)

When Randy Couture resigned from the UFC, Dana White did what he always does when one of his fighters tries to stand up for himself: He went on the offensive and attacked Couture’s motives, just the same as he did with Tito Ortiz.

Below is a video from Randy Couture’s retirement press conference. Judge for yourself.

For some reason, the UFC is more interested in money than providing the best product in the world. Now that their Heavyweight Champion has left, Dana White continues to make excuses and blame others for the problems it’s having with its stable of talent. Dana White has failed to sign Fedor Emelianenko, so Couture must leave to create that fight; a fight that will easily be the most anticipated fight in MMA history.

The UFC will only maintain the top fighters if they pay top dollar, and they are obviously not willing to do that at this juncture. Perhaps if Couture was younger, Dana White might pay him what he’s worth.

On Oct. 11, Randy Couture decided to leave the UFC and drop his heavyweight title. The UFC has other ideas; president Dana White said last week that Couture “retired,” but is still the champ and remains under contract for two more fights.

The reason the two sides are in dispute is a third party: Fedor Emelianenko. The top-ranked heavyweight in the world by Sherdog rebuffed the UFC’s advances and signed a six-bout deal with M-1 Global, based in his native Russia. The contract is not exclusive, but it does contain an intriguing clause: if UFC offers Emelianenko a shot at Couture, M-1 Global has to offer Couture $1 million more for the same fight.

Will White swallow his pride and allow Emelianenko to face Couture without an exclusive UFC contract? Will Couture give up an extra million to make it happen in the octagon? The MMA world waits with bated breath.