UFC New York is Set Up!- Breaking MMA News
By JM “Shade” Daguio
The UFC’s debut in the Big Apple is weeks away but the UFC did not hesitate in bringing the biggest bouts to announce their arrival.
Fights that are official:
Tyron Woodley Vs Stephen Thompson
Barring any injury to either fighters, this is the fight to make for the welterweight division. Tyron Woodley KO’d Robbie Lawler to get the strap while Thompson has been on an 7-fight tear before getting his title shot by defeating the welterweight elite, this is a clear Number 1 vs. Number 2 fight. Both fighters are fan friendly as well, Woodley has great wrestling but relies much on his absolute KO power and he is the more probable fighter to finish the fight earlier. Stephen Thompson though is not called “Wonderboy” for nothing, he has flashy kicks and punches, he has a wide array of strikes and has a more dynamic set of skills than Woodley, Thompson relies on accuracy, timing and feints while Woodley is a battering ram ready to shatter Thompson.
Chris Weidman Vs Yoel Romero
The middleweight division has it’s share of fighting elites and among them are these two. Chris Weidman is the former middleweight champion, the man famously known as the one who defeated long time champion, Anderson Silva, and decently defended his title for a few times but lost to another middleweight elite, Luke Rockhold. Weidman wants to avenge that loss but he has to restart his path to the title once more as Rockhold lost his title to Michael Bisping.
Now come Yoel “The Soldier of God” Romero, known to be a wrestling elite, being an Olympic silver medalist in freestyle wrestling, Romero is on a 7-fight win streak in the UFC and like Weidman has only lost once. Romero and Weidman will show either fighters weakness and strengths as both are great wrestlers but Romero has the slight obvious advantage being an Olympic-level wrestler, both fighters are good strikers but Weidman takes the cake for being the more technical striker.
Potential but unofficial bouts:
Eddie Alvarez Vs Conor McGregor (for the lightweight title)
It is circulating in the MMA world that there’s an ongoing negotiation between lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez vs. featherweight champ Conor McGregor to headline the New York event (with McGregor going up to 155), no official announcement has been made, if it does happen, the New York card will potentially be the biggest pay-per-view event in the organization’s history.
Daniel Cormier Vs Anthony Johnson (for the light heavyweight title)
Anthony “Rumble” Johnson has respectfully called out Daniel “DC” Cormier for a rematch in the big apple, Cormier on the other hand, has repeatedly voiced his opinion that Johnson deserves a title-shot and it’s his (Cormier’s) responsibility to give Johnson that.
But since Rumble’s callout, Cormier has not yet expressed whether or not he wants to fight in New York in November or push their bout later in December potentially for a New Year’s Eve special.
It is clear the UFC wants to make amends due to the string of fiasco’s that occured in UFC 200, the UFC card in New York looks really promising, a mix of entertaining bouts for the casual fans and intriguing matchups for the hardcore followers. Like I said, barring any hiccups, this could be the biggest one ever.