Martial arts have always revolved around respect and has been the selling point for may parents who enroll their children in arts such as karate, tae kwon do or jiu jitsu. It was no surprise to me when I watched the sport of MMA start to blossom that we witnessed the same respect seen in dojos around the world. Now the sport is pushing to become more main stream and with that push we are watching respect for ones fellow combatant slowly begin to degrade and I have to wonder why this is the case.

MMA, in it’s push to become a top tier sport, needs to ride high on the back’s of it’s best athletes. Fighters such as Fighters.com and UFC welterweight champion “Rush” Georges St. Pierre (19-2), middleweight champion Spider” Anderson Silva (25-4), lightweight champion “The Prodigy” BJ Penn (15-5-1) and Fighters.com top-ranked heavyweight “The Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko (31-1). These men are the elite in MMA and as such must carry the burden of being the face of the sport. Ambassadors to the general public as well as to the people in charge of legalizing the sport in those states that are still behind the times. People all across the country are watching and some tune-in to find out what all the fuss is about.

When a fighter such as UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar (4-1) acts more like a clown after a win like he did at UFC 100, it causes some to tune out and others to feel they were right to not support something like what they just witnessed. After beating Fighters.com third-ranked heavyweight Frank Mir (13-4) Lesnar decided to run around the Octagon and flip off the crowd in attendance at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. He got in the face of Mir as Mir was being attended to by his corner and the ringside physicians. Then after all of this he decided to blast the UFC’s main sponsor of the night, Bud Light, and talk about climbing on top of his wife. Exactly what I expected from a former pro wrestler but not what we expect to see in MMA. Yes, it is cage fighting but it has become it’s own martial art and should be respected.

I understand that fighters need to market themselves to sell fights and some take the role as villain in these pre-fight interviews we so often see. However, many of these men admit to doing just that, selling a fight. Once the fight is over these men can often be seen congratulating one another and showing much respect for the person they just went to war with inside the Octagon. Some fighters believe that your last fight should be all that is needed to sell your next fight and I tend to agree but I also see the value in whipping up a war of words. The war of words and the role of villain should end once they step inside and are prepared to fight.

Touching gloves is a pre-fight ritual that is a show of respect. It is something we see often in boxing, muay thai and other combat sports. This is where all the pre-fight banter should come to an and end. A majority of the time it does but on those rare occasions two men enter who just do not like one another and thus we do not see the touching of gloves. What I would like to point out is that during these rare fights, at the end we see them shake hands and congratulate one another. It ends there and nothing further is needed to be said. This is respect and the actions of Fighters.com second-ranked “Tobikan Judan” Shinya Aoki (17-4) at DREAM’s New Year’s Eve event, DYNAMITE 2009 was a complete lack of not only respect but class.

After breaking the arm of Mizuto Hirota (9-3) he then decided to channel his inner Lesnar and flip off Hirota and the entire audience. The breaking of one’s limb can occur in MMA when the pride of one fighter gets in the way of him tapping out. I do not think Aoki is the only one at fault for what happened as the ref should have stepped in and stopped the fight. It was the actions afterward that brought the negative attention once again to our great sport.

If MMA is to truly become a main stream sport we need ensure fighters get back to showing respect for one another post-fight rather than showing a complete lack of respect for the other fighter, the fans and the sport. This is not pro wrestling and if this decline continues the critics will continue to associate the sport with just that.

Mousasi TKO’d “African Assassin” Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (6-5) by referee stoppage at 3:43 of round two at Strikeforce in Chicago November 7.  It was a non-title fight.

Mousasi hinted to AOL Fanhouse in December that he wouldn’t return to Strikeforce until M-1 Global stablemate Fighters.com Heavyweight Champion “Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko (31-1) returned too.  Though, Fighters.com is not certain that’s exactly what Mousasi meant.

Regardless, the much ballyhooed “open contract” M-1 Global negotiated for Mousasi must be frustrating for Strikeforce.

Goodridge, a heavyweight, has lost four consecutive, most recently a first-round Kimura submission loss to Strikeforce heavyweight champion “Demolition Man” Alistair Overeem (29-10) at Glory 10 in November 2008.

Put bluntly, the match-up is pointless.  If Mousasi wins, he earns nothing.  If he loses, he loses everything.  Win, lose, or draw, if he gets injured, he devalues himself, Strikeforce, and the Strikeforce light heavyweight title.  It’s a high risk for a small, if any reward.

But, Mousasi has defended taking what seems to Fighters.com like pointless fights in Japan.  In August, Mousasi told Fighters.com about his participation in the DREAM Super Hulk tournament, “People have to see this differently. If this kind of tournament helps to make MMA big in Japan again, then its a good thing. They had very good TV ratings last time and, beside the tournament, they have very good, competitive fights on their cards. And, also in the tournament there are some very good fighters. Defeating Hong Man Choi is a difficult fight for anyone!”

But, it would be hard for Mousasi to defend Goodridge as “a very good fighter” this time.

The bottom line for Strikeforce is that everytime Mousasi steps into an MMA fight anywhere in the world he puts the Strikeforce 205-pound title on the line, whether technically up for grabs or not.

Strikeforce faces a similar dilemma with Overeem, who hasn’t defended his Strikeforce title for two years, though he finds time to fight everywhere else in the world.

Overeem has accused American fans of Amerocentrism, not understanding that there is a combat sport fan base outside of North America.  That’s not what Fighters.com is arguing.  Let Mousasi fight “Brazilian Tiger” Ricardo Arona (14-5), “Ely” Paulo Filho (17-1), or “King Mo” Muhammed Lawal (4-0) in Japan, but at least someone in the same MMA league.

UFC President Dana White has long stayed clear of open contracts.  One wonders if Strikeforce is reconsidering its policy as it attempts to go head-to-head versus the UFC.

Misaki strangled judoka Kazuhiro Nakamura (13-10) in a guillotine at 3:03 of round one at Sengoku Ninth Battle in Tokyo August 2.

Manhoef is coming off of a first-round submission loss to eighth-ranked “Ely” Paulo Filho (16-1) at DREAM.10 north of Tokyo July 20.

Eigth-ranked “Crusher” Tatsuya Kawajiri (25-5-2) has drawn Kazunori Yokota (9-2-2) at the same event.

When the collaboration between DREAM and Sengoku at Dynamite!! was announced last month, Aoki slighted Hirota by telling the press conference he had never heard of Hirota.

Aoki tapped out fourth-ranked “Hellboy” Joachim Hansen (18-7) at DREAM.11 in Yokohama October 6, avenging a loss he suffered in 2008.

Hirota won the Sengoku title by TKOing Satoru Kitaoka (24-9-7) at Ninth Battle in Tokyo August 2.

Kawajiri TKO’d “Barracuda” Melchor Manibusan (1-1) at DREAM.11.

Yokota won a UD over Eiji Mitsuoka (15-6-2) at Eleventh Battle in Tokyo November 7.

Sanchez has certainly fought in some of SpikeTV’s most memorable fights, including his most recent split decision victory over perennial gatekeeper “Carpenter” Clay Guida (25-10) at The Ultimate Fighter 9 finale in Las Vegas June 20.

But, UFC lightweights fifth-ranked “Bully” Gray Maynard (8-0) and sixth-ranked “The Answer” Frank Edgar (10-1) are more deserving of a title shot, though admittedly less well-known to casual UFC fans.

Maynard won a split decision over another unranked, but popular UFC lightweight “El Matador” Roger Huerta (20-3-1) at UFC Fight Night 19 in Oklahoma City September 16.

Edgar will follow-up his unanimous decision over former UFC champ ninth-ranked “Muscle Shark” Sean Sherk (33-4-1) at UFC 98 in Las Vegas May 23 versus “Batman” Kurt Pellegrino (15-4) at The Ultimate Fighter 10 finale in Las Vegas December 5.

Diaz beats unrelenting, but beatable Guida and gets a title shot versus Penn.  Edgar beats the former champ Sherk and is notched down to fight Pellegrino.  Explain that…

Sherk was scheduled to fight Gleison Tibau (16-6) at UFC 104 in Los Angeles October 24, but withdrew with an injury.

Most recent UFC title challenger, seventh-ranked “KenFlo” Kenny Florian (11-4), will swap opponents with Diaz when he fights Guida at UFC 107.

Meanwhile, across the Pacific second-ranked DREAM champ “Tobikan Judan” Shinya Aoki (17-4) avenged his most recent loss in the division with an armbar submission of fourth-ranked “Hellboy” Joachim Hansen (18-7) at DREAM.11 in Yokohama October 6 and is already slated to defend his title from eighth-ranked “Crusher” Tatsuya Kawajiri (25-5-2) at Dynamite!! 2009 north of Tokyo on New Year’s Eve.

Third-ranked Eddie Alvarez (16-2) and tenth-ranked Katsunori Kikuno (5-0-1) will fight at DREAM.12 in Osaka October 25 for the next DREAM title shot versus the winner of Aoki v Kawajiri.

Fighters.com’s October Lightweight Rankings

1. “Prodigy” BJ Penn (14-5-1)

2. “Tobikan Judan” Shinya Aoki (17-4)

3. Eddie Alvarez (16-2)

4. “Hellboy” Joachim Hansen (18-7)

5. “Bully” Gray Maynard (8-0)

6. “The Answer” Frank Edgar (10-1)

7. “KenFlo” Kenny Florian (11-4)

8. “Crusher” Tatsuya Kawajiri (25-5-2)

9. “Muscle Shark” Sean Sherk (33-4-1)

10. Katsunori Kikuno (5-0-1)