October 2014 is over now, and November has begun. So far this year it’s been a great 10 months in mixed martial arts, and it promises to get better, as the eleventh month of the year features four UFC events, one big Bellator show, and even a WSOF card featuring three title fights.
Yep, it’s going to be a good month.
Let’s start with the UFC’s offerings. On November 8, the leading MMA promotion has a doubleheader on tap for the fans. The first card, UFC Fight Night 55, takes place Friday November 7 in North America, and features a five-round middleweight main event between rivals Luke Rockhold and Michael Bisping, as well as a fun co-main event, a lightweight bout between Ross Pearson and Al Iaquinta. The Rockhold vs. Bisping matchup should be a good one, and the winner of that fight will immediately jump into title talks, while Pearson vs. Iaquinta will help determine which one of these fighters is ready for the jump into the top 15 of the division.
Later that day (or the next night in North America), UFC Fight Night 56 goes down in Uberlandia, Brazil. The main event was originally supposed to be Shogun Rua vs. Jimi Manuwa, but after an injury to Manuwa it’s now Shogun vs. Ovince St-Preux, with a co-main event bout featuring top flyweights John Lineker and Ian McCall. Shogun vs. OSP, while not being a fight with title implications, is still a solid scrap between two top 15 light heavyweights, while the fight between Lineker and McCall could determine the next opponent for UFC Flyweight Champion Demetrious Johnson.
Then a week later, on November 15, the UFC ventures to Mexico for the first time with UFC 180. The main event was supposed to be Cain Velasquez vs. Fabricio Werdum, but an injury to Velasquez changed the main event to Werdum vs. Mark Hunt, which should be a great fight. Although injuries took their toll on this pay-per-view card, it still has some fun fights left on it, such as Kelvin Gastelum vs. Jake Ellenberger at welterweight and Dennis Bermudez vs. Ricardo Lamas in a battle of top featherweights. Plus, there’s a great women’s bantamweight fight between Jessica Eye and Leslie Smith, as well of the finals of TUF Latin America. So while it isn’t the card it once was, it’s still pretty damn good.
That same night, Bellator MMA runs its biggest show of the season (which also happens to be the season finale) in Bellator 131, featuring a main event between Tito Ortiz and Stephan Bonnar. While fans in the know might not care about that fight, the fact is both fighters are still big names, and the fight is likely to draw many casual eyeballs. In addition to that fight, the card also features Will Brooks taking on Michael Chandler for the lightweight belt, as well as a light heavyweight scrap featuring King Mo, and a middleweight fight between kickboxers Joe Schilling and Melvin Manhoef.
November 15 is made even more special by WSOF 15, which features three title fights. In the main event, Yushin Okami takes on David Branch for the middleweight title, while in the co-main event Justin Gaethje takes on Melvin Guillard for the lightweight belt. In addition, Jessica Aguilar puts her women’s strawweight title on the line, although her opponent isn’t 100 percent confirmed yet. It’s unfortunate that NBC chose to go head-to-head with the UFC and Bellator, because this is a solid card and deserves more attention than it’s been getting (and will get that night, as far as ratings are concerned). But either way it’s nice to have a card with three title fights on it featuring notable fighters.
And finally, the UFC has a card in Austin, Texas on November 22, UFC Fight Night 57. The main event features Frankie Edgar taking on Cub Swanson in a fight that could determine the next contender for UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo, and the co-main event is a battle of two lightweights ready to break into the upper echelon of the division in Edson Barboza and Bobby Green. This should be a solid Fight Night card, and I’m looking forward to it.
All in all, November looks like an awesome month of fights. There are a lot of good ones on deck, but my top five-must-see matchups would be Hunt vs. Werdum, Brooks vs. Chandler, Gaethje vs. Guillard, Swanson vs. Edgar and Rockhold vs. Bisping. I’m looking forward to all the cards on deck, and I expect when the month is over, we’ll all be very happy with the way the cards played out.
**********
UFC Fight Night 55: Rockhold vs. Bisping is due to take place on November 8, 2014 at the Allphones Arena in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. (Due to the time differences, the event will air on November 7, 2014 in the United States.)
Click the stars to rate how good you think UFC Fight Night 55 will be.
UFC Fight Night 56: Shogun vs. St. Preux (formerly UFC Fight Night 56: Shogun vs. Manuwa) is due to take place on November 8, 2014 at the Ginásio Municipal Tancredo Neves in Uberlândia, Brazil.
Click the stars to rate how good you think UFC Fight Night 56 will be.
Bellator 131: Tito vs. Bonnar takes place on November 15, 2014 at Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, California.
Click the stars to rate how good you think Bellator 131 will be.
UFC 180: Werdum vs. Hunt formerly (UFC 180: Velasquez vs. Werdum) is due to take place on November 15, 2014 at Arena Mexico in Mexico City, Mexico.
Click the stars to rate how good you think UFC 180 will be.
UFC Fight Night 57 is due to take place on November 22, 2014 at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas.
Click the stars to rate how good you think UFC Fight Night 57 will be.
