No one is happier for Patrick Cote’s success than me. I think Patrick is not only a top talent but one of the most genuine individuals I’ve met in the world of mixed martial arts – a gentleman who will be an asset to an organization in the business sense when he’s finished knocking out guys’ teeth out.

That being said, as everyone knows Patrick has exploded on the UFC scene of late with his cans of whoop-ass on Kendall Grove and Drew McFedries so he’s pretty much secured himself a spot with the UFC for the time being. What that means is it’s unlikely he’ll be back anytime soon to defend his MFC middleweight title – a title win he just happened to mention as his career highlight on the UFC website prior to turning McFedries’ lights out.

So that pretty much puts the MFC title up for grabs and I would expect that before the end of the year, Monsieur Cote will respectfully strap the belt to a new champion’s waist. And leads us to the clash at MFC 15: Rags to Riches between to fighters who could be on their way to getting themselves in the title picture.

A lot of MMA fans would be familiar with Jesse Forbes from his appearance on The Ultimate Fighter and his solid record makes him a viable candidate for contender status. Chris Camozzi may not be as familiar but he soon could be a name that people won’t be forgetting.

Of course, Brad Zazulak is among the top contenders as well especially after man-handling Shonie Carter in his last bout. Zaz’s only big drawback is his schedule – he can’t build up his record without fighting more regularly. If he can get down to business more often, I bet he could be the most serious threat in the MFC.

Forbes has shown he’s going to be a danger both standing and on the ground as he holds wins by both TKO and by submission. Camozzi, meanwhile, would look to be more of a banger have three of his five wins come by TKO and all inside one and a half rounds.

And speaking of contenders, the MFC’s ranks of title hopefuls have never been higher or better. Beyond the middleweight boys, there’s a swelling group at welterweight obviously headlined by Ryan Ford who with a win over Pete Spratt at MFC 15 seems destined to get the title shot. The light heavyweight numbers are soaring too particularly with Ryan Jimmo deciding to come down a level and fight at 205. His showdown with Craig Zellner at MFC 15 will certainly put the winner in the upper echelon but there’s bound to more head-on clashes in the future as former K-1 standout Steve Steinbeiss enters the fold and hard-punching Jason Kuchera makes some more noise as well.

No group may be more stacked than the lightweights. The Ryan Heck saga continues to roll along and the soft- but well-spoken engineering student can’t be more than one win away. Heck takes on Mike Maestas at MFC 15 as that soap opera reaches a climax.

If you don’t know the story, follow along: Ryan McGillivray makes his lightweight debut against Donald Sanchez. Sanchez wins. Heck, who is McGillivray’s best friend, steps up to the challenge and beats Sanchez. Maestas, who is Sanchez’s best friend, then bucks up and offers to seek revenge against Heck. There are out of friends so the winner not only takes the rivalry but also moves to the top of the contender leaderboard. But wait, he won’t be alone. The long-awaited MFC return of Jake “Thunder” Hattan is now more imminent than ever and he is without a doubt an instant contender and let’s not forget submission master Fabio Holanda. It’s a stacked bunch and a great champion will immerge.

Oh, yes and one more name to throw in there. Just kick it around. “Big Daddy” Gary Goodridge.

TOP DOG: Received some cool feedback on the Submission, Knockout and Fight of the Year lists that were put out. Some agree and some disagree with the findings but that’s why they’re done – to create some chatter and see who’s been watching closest.

I’m sure they’ll be some more feedback coming from this as well but after much consideration, I was able to create a list of the Fighter of the Year nominees. (I admit I wanted to put this out there a little bit ago but the hectic pace of all the goings-on in the MFC late have kept the list at bay – you know Mark Cuban and HDNet, Big Daddy – yeah we keep a little busy at MFC headquarters).

Like the Oscars I wanted to whittle it down to a short and sweet nomination list and when the smoked cleared it boiled down to a three-horse race: Ryan Heck, Ryan Ford and Roger Hollett.

Please proceed with your arguments … OK then.

Heck deserves it because of his heart and soul, dedication to the sport as he weighs in training against fifth-year university studies and part-time engineering work, and frankly, for what I believe was one of the MFC’s best fights ever when he out-dueled Donald Sanchez.

Ford deserves it because the guy is an animal, a machine, a Terminator. He destroyed Mike Sorensen, nearly tore some guy’s head off in Halifax and earned heaps of praise of a guy who’s seen many of the world’s best, Herb Dean.

Hollett deserves it because, well, the guy is a wrecking ball. He ended the careers of both Mike Maurer and Shane Biever. Now I hear all the doubters say “well, who are they anyway?” but he dropped former MFC champ and UFC fighter Victor Valimaki like a bad habit.

And the winner? After more time and thought, it goes to Hollett. It’s a shame his knee was wrecked in a year-end fight and sadly he hasn’t been able to get it surgically repaired yet but the guy popped eyes open wide with his knockout power – many of have said the he’s the most powerful striker Canada has ever produced. His KO of Maurer was replayed thousands of time across the country and he barely broke a sweat in ending Valimaki’s reign. I personally hope he comes back in top form by the end of ’08 – he is a warrior and a heck of a guy. Congrats to “The Hulk.”

HD TV: The great fans of the MFC – and the new ones who’ve jump aboard of late (and they are much-appreciated) have been sending lots of positive feedback regarding the TV deal with Mark Cuban’s HDNet. The fighters I’ve spoke to can’t wait to be part of the show and even others in the industry, like Sportsnet’s Showdown Joe, have thrown in kind words.

It’s been even more amazing to see and/or hear feedback from those who’ve never been convinced of the direction that the MFC is heading. I don’t really want to say it’s about time because everyone’s entitled to an opinion (even me, and I’ve been wrong from time to time). But it is gratifying to get a sense that the doubters are relenting.

EATING CROW: I’ll admit it. I am and have long been a huge Brock Lesnar fan. I’ve met him a couple of times and granted he’s not an easy guy to get along with but his talent is immense. But I did lose a few bets in figuring Lesnar would whip Frank Mir.

Big Brock was moments away from the win (at least I think so) and Mir certainly look worse the next day but Mir showed heart that I thought he’d lost a year ago and won the only way he could. Gotta give it to him. Still, I have my signed pic from Brock on my desk and I’ll be pulling for him next time around. Give him a wrestler/striker next time and he’ll win. He was the “Next Big Thing” in the WWE and he can be the same in MMA. He is for real.