Packed summer brings MMA's best, more important bouts to date

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Top heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko (above) will take on Josh Barnett at Affliction "Trilogy." Darryl Dennis/Icon SMI Josh Gross's Mailbag Submit a comment or question for Josh. Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND

Starting with UFC 100's gigantic fights, this upcoming summer stretch is the busiest and most important in the history of the sport. Maybe we're saying things like that too much lately, but they're true.

Here are the 10 best fights -- based on relevancy, stature of fighters, importance of the bout and promotional platform -- over the next three months, along with a bunch of others worth catching:

1. Fedor Emelianenko (30-1, 1 NC) vs. Josh Barnett (24-5)

The Aug. 1 fight is the best heavyweight battle to happen in a long time, one that makes a monumental series of bouts in the division special. Barnett, who, at 24, was the youngest heavyweight champion in UFC history, has long been thought of as the man to test top-ranked heavyweight Emelianenko. Barnett's submission-heavy style, aggression and experience must pay dividends. Otherwise he'll be the 27th consecutive fighter to come out on the bad side of a test of wills with the Russian.

While it's taken several years to get the friendly pair in the ring, this feels like the proper time for a fight. By all rights, the title clash should happen in Japan, where both spent the majority of their careers. Instead, this marks the third straight fight for each in Southern California, as Affliction continues to promote near its home base, at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.

Not only will we see if Barnett is the man to dethrone Emelianenko -- far and away the most dominant mixed martial artist of this decade -- the future of Affliction as a viable mixed martial arts promoter could be hanging in the balance. Despite being repeatedly shot down by Affliction executives, rumors have persisted that this third card could be the clothing brand's last as a promoter of MMA. It will take Emelianenko and Barnett drawing a strong number on pay-per-view -- no easy feat -- for Affliction to convince doubters it can sell top-shelf fights.
SI.com's Rating: 5 stars

2. Georges St. Pierre (18-2) vs. Thiago Alves (16-3)

Hard to imagine there's a better welterweight matchup in store for 2009 than this July 11 bout on the UFC 100 card. St. Pierre has run through a gauntlet of challengers, and Alves ranks pretty high on that list. Victory would put a vacuum seal on G.S.P.'s pound-for-pound status. Should Alves, an aggressive striker at heart, pull the upset, it would mark a significant shift at 170 pounds.

With St. Pierre's Gatorade campaign heading to the U.S. this week, the French-Canadian mauler could be on the verge of full-fledged global stardom. A win over Alves -- no matter how he earns it -- will produce another strong gust behind G.S.P.'s sails.
SI.com's Rating: 5 stars

3. Frank Mir (12-3) vs. Brock Lesnar (3-1)

A compelling and hyped heavyweight fight has all the ingredients in this championship rematch at UFC 100. Unless one of these guys fights Fedor before year's end, this is likely 2009's most marketable tilt between big boys. With Lesnar and UFC president Dana White involved, it's hard to argue otherwise.

On the line, officially, is the UFC heavyweight championship. Unofficially: the future of promotion's biggest draw. Winning would propel Lesnar into the stratosphere. Losing? Well, that would make him 3-2 in five fights.

Mir, meanwhile, stands poised to write one of the best turnarounds in MMA history. After winning and never defending the UFC title in 2004, Mir was out for a year and a half following a terrifying motorcycle accident that mangled one of his legs as badly as it did his career. Today, the limb and vocation are doing wonderfully. Come July 12, though, anything can happen.
SI.com's Rating: 4 1/2 stars