Fight Week December,
2015
The UFC’s biggest fight card of the
year takes place on December, 12th and it is the last of three great
nights of MMA. The UFC kicks off Thursday night, with a card to air on Fight Pass,
headlined by young Strawweights: Paige Vanzant and Rose Namajunas. Friday night
the action moves to FS-1 for The Ultimate Fighter Finale, which will feature
Frankie Edgar battling Chad Mendes in a Featherweight Main Event. Finally on
Saturday two titles are on the line: Jose Aldo and Connor McGregor will get
into the octagon for a heavily anticipated Featherweight Championship fight and
former Strikeforce Champ Luke Rockhold challenges Chris Weidman for the UFC Middleweight
strap.
With all
these fights in just one weekend it will be easy to lose track and miss history
being made, but don’t panic. Get out the scotch tape and fix those reading
glasses, right here is the week’s brief breakdown.
Fox Sports-1 Thursday:
Paige Vanzant is 6-1 on her career with two Submission and
one KO win. Last fight “12 Gauge” Submitted Alex Chambers in the 3rd
round by Armbar (1:01).
At just 23
years old Rose Namajunas and the 21 yr. old Vanzant may prove to be the future
of the Strawweight Division. “Thug” comes into the bout 3-2 with all three wins
by Sub. Her last a first round Rear Naked Choke at 2:47 over Angela Hill
(10/3/15).
The Co-Main features 32 yr old Jim Miller taking on 12-2
Michael Chiesa. Miller is looking for his second straight win in the
Lightweight Division. His last fight was a split decision over Danny Castillo
(7/25/15).
Michael “Maverick”
Chiesa is 5-2 in the UFC with 3 Subs. The 28 year old’s last fight was a UD
over Mitch Clarke (4/4/15).
Also on this card is UFC’s hottest prospect, Sage Northcut.
Northcut was discovered on the show Looking For a Fight staring Dana
White. Then the 19 year old Stormed into the UFC in October with a 0:57 win
over Francisco Trevino. “Super” Sage has finished all of his six fights, to
date, 4 KO’s and 2 Subs. He takes on 12-4 Cody “The Pfist” Pfister.
11-0 Elias “The Spartan” Theodorou takes on dangerous, 11-3 Thiago
Santos. Santos’ last fight lasted 0:29 before he head-kicked Steve Bosse to
sleep. The win was his sixth first round stoppage of his career.
TUF Finale Friday:
Frankie “The Answer” Edgar has won his last 4 fights. In his
19-4-1 career he has won 10 decisions 5 KO’s and 4 Subs. He has a list of
victims to include BJ Penn, Urijah Faber and Cub Swanson that have fallen to
his relentless pressure.
TKO loss to
Interim Champ Connor McGregor was the last time Chad Mendes stepped into the cage,
but that was a short notice replacement. “Money” had only lost to Jose Aldo
(twice) prior to the McGregor fight. At 17-3 with 7 KO’s Mendes comes to the
Octagon sporting 100% Takedown defense.
The Lightweight division sees Tony “El Cucuy” Ferguson riding
a six fight win streak with 1 KO and 3 Subs matching up with Edson Barboza. The
pair own 19 KO wins between them (10EB, 9TF). “El Cucuy” also has 6 Sub wins to
Barboza’s 1. Look for Ferguson to lean on his ground skills in this one.
Also on this card: Joe “J-Lau” Lauzon brings his 25-10 record
to face 16-6 Evan Dunham. Of Lauzon’s 25 wins only one has been by decision,
6KO’s and 18 Subs to his credit. There is a reason he always earns those bonus
checks.
PPV Saturday:
Finally the day will come, Jose Aldo
and Connor McGregor will face off to unify the UFC Featherweight Championship.
Aldo comes in the Champ at 29 years old and 25-1 on his career. The owner of 14
KO and 2 Sub wins, Aldo has beaten everyone they’ve put before him. His last
loss was in 2005. That’s 10 years and 18 opponents undefeated.
Connor
McGregor, the challenger, is 18-2 with 16 KO’s and 1 Sub and currently on a 14
fight win streak with 13 finishes. Last fight TKO win over Mendes (4:57 2nd)
for the Interim FW Championship.
The Co-Main features a fight many
are calling the best Middleweight Championship matchup ever. Chris Weidman
looks to defend his title against former Strikeforce MW Champ Luke Rockhold.
The two come in with similar: age, height and records on the stat sheet. At
13-0 the 31 yr. old Weidman has 6 KO and 3 Sub wins. Rockhold comes in also 31
with a record of 14-2 with 3 KO’s and 9 Subs. 3 of those Subs came in his last
3 consecutive fights: Lyoto Machida RNC (2nd 2:31 4/18/15) Michael Bisping
Guillotine Choke (2nd 0:57 11/7/14) and Tim Boetsch Inverted
Triangle/Kimura (1st 2:08). Weidman comes in undefeated with his
last fight a first round TKO of Vitor Belfort (2:53 5/23/15).
Another bout that needed
rescheduling is finally here Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza brings his 22-3-1 record to
face Olympic Silver Medalist Yoel Romero. Both fighters are on hot streaks “Jacare”
is on an eight fight win streak with seven finishes (5 Subs 2 KO) Romero is on
a six fight run with five KO’s. Expect excitement in this MW Contender bout.
In the Welterweight Division the #12
ranked Gunnar Nelson takes on 21-6 Demain Maia. Both fighters come in with 3 KO
and 10 Sub wins each on record. Two grapplers each with developing stand up
skills will likely slug it out on the feet for three rounds.
In the FW division Max Holloway
takes on “Lil Heathen” Jeremy Stephens. Stephens has powerful striking, the
owner of 16 KO wins, KO’d Dennis Bermudez in the 3rd (0:32) in his
last bout. Holloway is on a 7 fight win streak with 4 KO and 2 Sub wins. Look
for Holloway to roll right over Stephens in this one. “Lil Heathen” looked
outclassed versus DB, but landed a hard shot to change his fate. Heavy punchers
always have a chance, but…
Urijah Faber is also on this card
with a 32-8 record Faber has seen it all. He takes on 11-2 Frankie Saenz, who
is riding a seven fight win streak (3 of those in UFC).
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