Unstoppable Main Events: Road to UFC 200

By JM “Shade” Daguio

The UFC presented it’s slew of fight cards with a tag entitled “UNSTOPPABLE” last March 4, 2016 in the eve of UFC 196. These fight cards will serve as appetizers that will lead to the yearly celebration of international fight week and it’s piece de resistance: UFC 200. All cards are relatively stacked and feature some of the best matchups for the first part of 2016 and will also determine the title landscape of the next half of the year since some of the fights are title fights or have title implications, here are a few:

UFC Fight Night: Ben Rothwell Vs Junior Dos Santos (Zagreb, Croatia), April 10, 2016

No. 4 ranked Heavyweight fighter Ben Rothwell will clash versus former heavyweight champ and No. 5 ranked Heavyweight Junior Dos Santos. This fight has clear title implications since both fighters are within the top 5, either fighter’s would like to make a statement to inch closer to that belt. Rothwell is in a 4-fight winning streak and all wins came by stoppage, another win versus a former heavyweight champ will make Rothwell the undeniable challenger and may even bypass the often-injured former champ Cain Velasquez, however standing in Rothwell’s way is Junior Dos Santos, the 32-year old former heavyweight champ and the only fighter to defeat the current champ Fabricio Werdum via KO, starts his campaign in Croatia, Dos Santos’ will reassert himself as a threat to the title again if he defeats Rothwell, however, if Dos Santos comes up short he may be relegated to the fringes of the top 10 and may need a solid win streak to get a title shot again since he is coming from a KO loss versus Alistair Overeem.

UFC Fight Night: Khabib Nurmagomedovs Vs Tony Ferguson (Tampa, Florida) April 16, 2016

Khabib Nurmagomedov is an absolute beast, a grappling machine, the man they call “the eagle” makes his opponents wilt under the pressure. Nurmagomedov is undefeated in his career; However, the Dagestani had been sidelined due to training injuries close to two years, this time, he’s healthy and will face surging lightweight Tony “El Cucuy” Ferguson, who is ranked 4th in the lightweight rankings and enjoying a 7-fight winning streak. Both fighters are virtually one win away from a title shot.

UFC 197: Daniel Cormier Vs Jon Jones & Demetrious Johnson Vs Henry Cejudo (Las Vegas, Nevada) April, 23, 2016

For the main event, current light heavyweight champion, Daniel “DC” Cormier will face his most heated rival in former light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones for the 205-pound strap. This is a rematch of their first meeting last Jan. 2015 where Bones came out the winner via unanimous decision. After that clash, Jon Jones was slated to defend his title versus Anthony Johnson but Jones was involved in a hit-and-run incident in Albuquerque, NM. The UFC stripped Jones of his title and matched Anthony Johnson with Daniel Cormier. Cormier defeated Johnson via rear naked choke to take the title. Cormier was able to defend his belt versus perennial light heavyweight Alexander Gustafsson, which set-up another meeting with the linear champ in Jones.

The co-main event of the card presents Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson, the flyweight division’s first and only champion to date. Arguably, the best fighter pound for pound along with Jon Jones and the most complete fighter in the UFC, Johnson is on a 9-fight winning streak and has defended his belt 7 times. Henry Cejudo however, will be Johnson’s next challenge. Cejudo, an Olympic gold medalist in freestyle wrestling is undefeated with a record of 10-0, Cejudo is poised to counter Johnson’s dominant wrestling which may be the key for Cejudo to capture the flyweight title.

UFC Fight Night: Alistair Overeem vs. Andrei Arlovski (Rotterdam, Netherlands) May 8, 2016

Team mates Alistair Overeem and Andrei Arlovski would have to set aside their friendship for one night to fight and advance in the heavyweight ladder. Both fighters are decorated as Alistair Overeem is a former Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion, DREAM Heavyweight Champion, K-1 World Grand Prix Champion and the only fighter to have held an MMA and kickboxing title simultaneously. Arlovski is no slouch either, he is a former UFC Heavyweight Champion with absolute KO power. Both fighters want to be in the mix of a somewhat shallow heavyweight division.

UFC 198: Fabricio Werdum Vs Stipe Miocic (Curitiba, Brazil) May 14, 2016

The premiere heavyweight match for the first half of the year is between current heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum and Stipe Miocic. Werdum is the destroyer of former 2-time former champion Cain Velasquez and the who’s who of heavyweight elites, will look to expand his legacy by adding another notch to his belt. Miocic, on the other hand, is a longtime top contender, will definitely bring it against the Brazilian in his home crowd. The rest of the fight card also features Brazil’s greatest fighters, no doubt this will be a homecoming to remember.

UFC Fight Night: Thomas Almeida Vs Cody Garbrandt (Las Vegas, Nevada) May 29, 2016

Up-and-coming featherweights will look to stake their claim in a stacked division. Thomas Almeida, a finisher with an undefeated record, has become quite the fan favorite due to his exciting finishes, he will look to break into the top-5 of the featherweight rankings which will further put the division ruled by Conor McGregor into a logjam. Almeida’s opponent is another upstart who is also undefeated; Cody Garbrandt will look to upset Almeida and propel himself in the top-10 of the division, it may look like Almeida’s fight to lose but Garbrandt, who relies on his grit and wrestling prowess, will surely make matters worse for Almeida.

UFC 199: Luke Rockhold Vs Chris Weidman (Los Angeles, California) June 4, 2016

Although the complete fight card is yet to be completed, the anticipated rematch between two of the best middleweights in the world will take place once more. Luke Rockhold defeated Chris Weidman to become the middleweight king last december of 2015. Now, Weidman will seek revenge as he will attempt to reclaim the belt he lost. The previous fight was close enough but a sloppy mistake by Weidman, which was capitalized by Rockhold, ended with blood on the former champions face. The middleweight division is at its weakest since the loss of longtime champion Anderson Silva to Weidman, it would not be surprise if Rockhold and Weidman will get a third fight since they are the consensus 1 and 2. A middleweight shakeup is in order.

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