The welterweights have a new ruler, and he is Ruthless. Robbie Lawler has been kicking ass and taking names ever since Georges St. Pierre took a long vacation without an end date. Robbie and Johnny Hendricks fought for the vacant belt at UFC 171 and again at UFC 181, the later one marking the begining of Robbie's reign as a welterweight champion, The champ just defended his belt against Carlos Condit in an insane(yet controversial) 5 round war and is now eagrly awaitng new chalengers. So who gets to be punched in the face by a scary bald guy next?
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| This picture should be in the dictionary next to the word "scary". source |
Tyron Woodley called "dibs" on a title shot spot way back in October, however Carlos Condit squeezed in before him and now Tyron isn't all that optimistic about him getting next shot at the champ. So in case Tyron gets the back seat treatment again who get the shot? The name that pops up the most is Demian Maia. The Brazilian BJJ whiz is currently riding a 4 fight win streak and has a solid chance of pulling an upset. Other than the above mentioned fighters, there are 2 very interesting match ups coming ups in 2016. First one is Stephen Thompson vs Johny Hendricks. Johny tasted gold briefly when he won the vacant belt against Robbie Lalwer in 2014, before losing it later in that year in a rematch against Robbie. Stephen Thompson, is a young up and coming fighter and very dangerous and decorated striker. It is very likely that whoever comes out victorious in this bout gets a shot at the champ in the near future. The second bout hasn't officaly been schedueld yet, but the
impression is that it's only a matter of formality. The bout in questin is Rory MacDonald vs Hector Lombard. Rory's last fight was fight of the year award winner against the champion and Hector is coming of a decission win over Josh Burkman which was over later turned into a no contenst due to a failed drug test by Lombard. Rory has had the aura of the "young and up and coming champion to be" for year now. He started training MMA when he was 14 and had his first fight at 16. He trains with the former champion Georges St. Pierre and is constantly improving himself. A win over Lombard would put right back into the #1 spot. Lombard is a different kind of animal. Former Olympic Judoka, former Bellator MW champion, decorated grappler and an all around beast of a man. Lombard dropped down a weight class in 2013 and has been making mice of men ever since. Winning in dominant fashion against Rory would give finally get hin towards a title fight.
I would also like to mention a fighter to look out for who I am sure will be making a title run in the near future, Neil Magney. He is constanly looking to improve and learn more and is one of the busiest guys in the company, having fought 10 times in the last 2 years. He is currently riding a 2 fight win streak and there isn't any signs of him slowing down anytime soon.
Another thing tto look out for in the welterweight division this year, CM Punk. Former pro wrestler and MMA fan will make his long awaited debut in UFC(and MMA) some time in 2016, best guess is at the UFC 200 super card. Now the question that's been on everyone's mind is- who will he fight?
Well, the UFC doesn't have anyone with such a low level of fight experience on their roster, so outsourcing is need. And what better way to do it then by making a reality show! Basically, everything around CM Punk's debut is shrouded in mystery. When will he fight, will he fight, how good/bad will he look fighting, who will he fight. No one knows. Time will tell. I wrote a lenghty article about him about a year a go and I gave my take on all this CM Punk drama, so check that out.
Middelweight
Middelweight division is having it's renaissance since the long reigning champion, Anderson Silva lost his throne. Chris Weidman was cleaning out the division one fight at the time and looked very good at doing so, untill he ran into Luke Rockhold at UFC 194. Luke won the belt from Weidman in a very paitent and slowly paced fight with a brutal finish. On the same card Yoel Romer and Ronaldo Souza squared off in a potential "title eliminator" match which the former won. Yoel now rest on a 7 fight win streak and has all the right arguments for claiming the #1 spot in the division. However, I belive that UFC is looking in a different direction. On Febuary 27th, UFC returns to London and headling that card are Michael Bisping and Anderson Silva. Bisping has been in the top 10-ish spot for a long time, never quite being able to beat the top 5 fighters of his division, but sill holds some solid wins and is now on a 2 fight win streak. Anderson had a clash with Nick Diaz, which he won, early last year, buuut that ended up with both men testing positive for banned substances(more info here) and the fight is now a no contest. Still, "The Spider" is looking to jump right into the stacked division and try and get that belt wrapped around his waist once more.Which brings me back to my statment. I think this is the fight UFC is aiming at for a new contender. That, or a rematch with Chris Weidman. Because, that's the hot thing these days. Immediate rematches.
Light heavyweight
impression is that it's only a matter of formality. The bout in questin is Rory MacDonald vs Hector Lombard. Rory's last fight was fight of the year award winner against the champion and Hector is coming of a decission win over Josh Burkman which was over later turned into a no contenst due to a failed drug test by Lombard. Rory has had the aura of the "young and up and coming champion to be" for year now. He started training MMA when he was 14 and had his first fight at 16. He trains with the former champion Georges St. Pierre and is constantly improving himself. A win over Lombard would put right back into the #1 spot. Lombard is a different kind of animal. Former Olympic Judoka, former Bellator MW champion, decorated grappler and an all around beast of a man. Lombard dropped down a weight class in 2013 and has been making mice of men ever since. Winning in dominant fashion against Rory would give finally get hin towards a title fight.
I would also like to mention a fighter to look out for who I am sure will be making a title run in the near future, Neil Magney. He is constanly looking to improve and learn more and is one of the busiest guys in the company, having fought 10 times in the last 2 years. He is currently riding a 2 fight win streak and there isn't any signs of him slowing down anytime soon.
Well, the UFC doesn't have anyone with such a low level of fight experience on their roster, so outsourcing is need. And what better way to do it then by making a reality show! Basically, everything around CM Punk's debut is shrouded in mystery. When will he fight, will he fight, how good/bad will he look fighting, who will he fight. No one knows. Time will tell. I wrote a lenghty article about him about a year a go and I gave my take on all this CM Punk drama, so check that out.
Middelweight
Middelweight division is having it's renaissance since the long reigning champion, Anderson Silva lost his throne. Chris Weidman was cleaning out the division one fight at the time and looked very good at doing so, untill he ran into Luke Rockhold at UFC 194. Luke won the belt from Weidman in a very paitent and slowly paced fight with a brutal finish. On the same card Yoel Romer and Ronaldo Souza squared off in a potential "title eliminator" match which the former won. Yoel now rest on a 7 fight win streak and has all the right arguments for claiming the #1 spot in the division. However, I belive that UFC is looking in a different direction. On Febuary 27th, UFC returns to London and headling that card are Michael Bisping and Anderson Silva. Bisping has been in the top 10-ish spot for a long time, never quite being able to beat the top 5 fighters of his division, but sill holds some solid wins and is now on a 2 fight win streak. Anderson had a clash with Nick Diaz, which he won, early last year, buuut that ended up with both men testing positive for banned substances(more info here) and the fight is now a no contest. Still, "The Spider" is looking to jump right into the stacked division and try and get that belt wrapped around his waist once more.Which brings me back to my statment. I think this is the fight UFC is aiming at for a new contender. That, or a rematch with Chris Weidman. Because, that's the hot thing these days. Immediate rematches.
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| And you thought I was being metaphorfical when I said he was going to"jump right in" source |
Light heavyweight
Much like the situation in the bantamweight division, this division is also all caught up in a beef between a former champion and the current champion. Ever since Daniel Cormier won the vacant light heavyweight belt at UFC 187 his title reign has been under and asterisk because, not only he didn't win the belt form the fallen champion, Jon Jones. He lost to Jon Jones when they fought. The former ruler of the light heavyweight division had a tough year. First, he tested positive for cocaine metabolites, then he was involed in a hit and run accident which forced him to forfeit his belt. But, 2016 is looking to be the year the fallen champion goes after the belt he never lost in a fight. Jon picked up an iron addiction, got swole, got a probationary sentence and is waiting on a date and place for his second showdown with the former olympian.
After this clash of titans comes to an end, a new challenger will be needed. Ryan Bader was expecting to get a title shot even before he faced Rashad Evans, however, he quickly learned that no such thing will be happening anytime soon. At the same time Anthony Johnson has been terrorizing the division ever since returning to the UFC in 2014. His only loss at lhw came at the hands of Daniel Cormier when they fought for the vacant belt in May of last year. Since then he made short work of Jimi Manuwa and is now expecting to fight Ryan Bader with the understanding that the winner of that fight will more than likely get a shot at whoever will be the champion at that time.
Heavyweight
As I mentioned before, the heavyweight division is at a stand still right now. The rematch no one asked for will finally happen during super bowl weekend and that can't come any sooner.
The problem is that UFC now has two very serious title contenders on it's hands in Stipe Miočić and Alistair Overeem. Stipe knocked out Andrei Arlovski in the very begining of the first round and Alistair knocked out Junior Dos Santos in the second round. With Stipe literally screaming at Dana White's face after the fight, demanding a title shot and Alistair contemplating free agency and expecting a title shot, should he chose to resign. The question that imposes itself now is "who goes next"? This is what happens when unneeded rematches get booked. They create chaos in the division. Overeem is already window shopping for a potential new org and Stipe is demanding he gets the next shot at the champion. So what now? Well, if this was WWE, a triple threat match at Wrestlemania would be booked an the problem would be solved.
Unfortunately, UFC doesn't practice threeway matches(yet) so the only other logical way is that Stipe and Reem agree to fight each other and pray that Werdum/Velasquez doesn't end up being a trilogy.
By the time this whole drama cleares and everyone fights everyone, the winner of Ben Rothwell and Josh Barnett fight will have a pretty solid argument for being next in line at the champion or at least at a top 3 opponent. Josh is a former champion, and fought Roy Nelson back in September and needs just one or two solid wins to get a shot at the champion or one of the contenders. Ben Rothwell is having a pretty amazing career resurgences with back to back finishes of Alistar Overeem and Matt Mitrione. If Ben can get past the War Master he deserves a fight for the belt when the current drama ends. Also worth mentioning is that Mark Hunt is nearing the end of his 6 fight contract which he stated will be his last one. Ever. So, 2016 might be the last year we enjoy seeing Mark Hunt send men into comas with casual uppercuts and lethargic walk offs,
end of part 2...
In the third and final instalment of this article I will look at the Women's divisions and what does 2016 bring in terms of free market agency and how will the MMA scene look outside the ever expanding UFC branch. Talk too you later people!
Oh, and check me out on twitter, instagram, facebook and on Viral MMA
After this clash of titans comes to an end, a new challenger will be needed. Ryan Bader was expecting to get a title shot even before he faced Rashad Evans, however, he quickly learned that no such thing will be happening anytime soon. At the same time Anthony Johnson has been terrorizing the division ever since returning to the UFC in 2014. His only loss at lhw came at the hands of Daniel Cormier when they fought for the vacant belt in May of last year. Since then he made short work of Jimi Manuwa and is now expecting to fight Ryan Bader with the understanding that the winner of that fight will more than likely get a shot at whoever will be the champion at that time.
Heavyweight
As I mentioned before, the heavyweight division is at a stand still right now. The rematch no one asked for will finally happen during super bowl weekend and that can't come any sooner.
The problem is that UFC now has two very serious title contenders on it's hands in Stipe Miočić and Alistair Overeem. Stipe knocked out Andrei Arlovski in the very begining of the first round and Alistair knocked out Junior Dos Santos in the second round. With Stipe literally screaming at Dana White's face after the fight, demanding a title shot and Alistair contemplating free agency and expecting a title shot, should he chose to resign. The question that imposes itself now is "who goes next"? This is what happens when unneeded rematches get booked. They create chaos in the division. Overeem is already window shopping for a potential new org and Stipe is demanding he gets the next shot at the champion. So what now? Well, if this was WWE, a triple threat match at Wrestlemania would be booked an the problem would be solved.
I would totally pay to see a Reem/Stipe/Werdum triple threat match
By the time this whole drama cleares and everyone fights everyone, the winner of Ben Rothwell and Josh Barnett fight will have a pretty solid argument for being next in line at the champion or at least at a top 3 opponent. Josh is a former champion, and fought Roy Nelson back in September and needs just one or two solid wins to get a shot at the champion or one of the contenders. Ben Rothwell is having a pretty amazing career resurgences with back to back finishes of Alistar Overeem and Matt Mitrione. If Ben can get past the War Master he deserves a fight for the belt when the current drama ends. Also worth mentioning is that Mark Hunt is nearing the end of his 6 fight contract which he stated will be his last one. Ever. So, 2016 might be the last year we enjoy seeing Mark Hunt send men into comas with casual uppercuts and lethargic walk offs,
end of part 2...
In the third and final instalment of this article I will look at the Women's divisions and what does 2016 bring in terms of free market agency and how will the MMA scene look outside the ever expanding UFC branch. Talk too you later people!
Oh, and check me out on twitter, instagram, facebook and on Viral MMA
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