2014 has been a pretty busy year so far for mixed martial arts. On a weekly basis, the UFC, Bellator, and World Series of Fighting have been pumping out event after event, to the point that fans and media alike have complained about the “oversaturation of the sport.” Whether those criticisms are valid or not, the cancellation of UFC 176 has given MMA fans a little bit of “downtime” in late July and early August, especially where the UFC is concerned.
Even though WSOF 12 takes place this weekend, the attention of most fans are focused on what’s to come from the UFC. This month features four UFC events, but all of them are currently being overshadowed by September’s UFC 178 card. The brawl between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier at the press conference this week has already generated more clicks and mentions than any of the upcoming cards this month. Looking at the upcoming matchups, it’s easy to see why these events are not getting their due, even though there are fights worth witnessing. Let’s take a closer look at what this month has to offer:
The biggest event this month is the UFC 177 pay-per-view. This card features two title fights featuring the champions of the two smallest weight classes. T.J. Dillashaw, after beating the odds at UFC 173, defends his bantamweight title against the man he defeated, Renan Barao. Flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson plans to spoil the challenger’s bid to score a Dillashaw-like upset when he faces massive underdog Chris Cariaso in the co-main event. Neither fighter has set PPV on fire this year, nor has the UFC put any promotional heft behind them. They’re not the biggest names in the promotion, and it shows. However, both men bring high-level games with them into the cage. “Mighty Mouse” is a special athlete who continues to clean out his weight class with dominant win after dominant win. Dillashaw showed massive improvement in dismantling the longtime divisional kingpin Barao in their last fight, and he might be as special of an athlete as Johnson is.
In addition to the two title fights, this show also has a number of other intriguing fights on the card. Bethe Correia squares off against another member of Ronda Rousey‘s “Four Horsewomen” clique, Shayna Baszler. Danny Castillo and Tony Ferguson will meet in an interesting style matchup within the lightweight division. Plus, Olympian Henry Cejudo will make his UFC debut against Scott Jorgensen. These fighters might not be considered the biggest names to the mainstream MMA fan, but they will still provide fights that should be full of action.
The three other UFC cards this August are designed to showcase the lesser-known talent on the roster, but each one features fights that are relevant to the Top 10.
UFC Fight Night 47 might be the most forgotten card of the three. Ryan Bader vs. Ovince St. Preux might be a lackluster headliner, but in the shallow light heavyweight division, the winner may not be too far off from a title shot. In addition to the main event, there are two fights that stand out: In the flyweight division, Zach Makovsky attempts to continue his career rebirth and current run towards the title at 125 pounds when he takes on Jussier “Formiga” da Silva. Former women’s bantamweight title challenger Sara McMann will welcome former Invicta FC bantamweight champion Lauren Murphy into the Octagon. Those three fights, as well as the recently-booked matchup between Gray Maynard and Ross Pearson, are important for sorting out the top portions of their respective weight classes, and should not be missed.
UFC Fight Night 48‘s main event features perhaps the two biggest stars on any of these three cards, in Cung Le and Michael Bisping. It also features the highly relevant welterweight matchup of Dong Hyun Kim vs. Tyron Woodley in the co-main. That Macau event will be part of another dual-event day, as UFC Fight Night 49 — headlined by the lightweight pairing of Benson Henderson and Rafael Dos Anjos –will take place on the evening of August 23,while UFC Fight Night 48 will kick off in the early morning. It will be interesting to see what kind of viewership and online buzz both of these cards will receive with a fight day that starts before sunrise and ends in the late night, even if there will be a significant break between the two events. After all, when it’s all said and done, it’s still potentially twelve hours of MMA in a 24-hour period.
For the fan whose appetite extends to UFC fighters in non-MMA contexts, there’s Metamoris 4, which features Josh Barnett and Chael Sonnen competing against some of the best grapplers in the world today. That is, unless the NSAC successfully prevents the recently-retired steroid offender from taking part in the competition.) Other non-UFC fights of note feature former Bellator champion Ben Askren, former DREAM champion Shinya Aoki, and former UFC poster boy Roger Huerta, at ONE FC 19 on August 29. And a regional fight worth watching has prospect Jonavin Webb looking to win his first professional title against former UFC competitor Daniel Stittgen at Cage Fury Fighting Championships 38.
The fight fan community is preoccupied with Jones vs. Cormier at UFC 178 and Nick Diaz vs. Anderson Silva at UFC 183, and for good reason. However, before we get to those bigger fights, the fights that take place in the month of August should not be overlooked. There is wealth of entertaining fights this month, and fans should try to see as many as they can.
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UFC 177: Dillashaw vs. Soto (formerly UFC 177: Dillashaw vs. Barao II) is due to take place on August 30, 2014 at the Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento, California.
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UFC Fight Night 47: Bader vs. Saint Preux is due to take place on August 16, 2014 at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, Maine.
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UFC Fight Night 48: Le vs. Bisping is due to take place on August 23, 2014 at The Venetian Macao’s CotaiArena in Macau, China.
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UFC Fight Night 49: Henderson vs. Dos Anjos is due to take place on August 23, 2014 at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
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