The only word that can be used to correctly describe UFC 186 is “circus.” With one day to go until the event, the card has turned into a gigantic sideshow, which is especially disappointing because it was looking so good in the beginning.
At first, UFC 186 was shaping up to be a very fun event. The first fight that was announced was a #1 contender’s fight in the welterweight division between Rory MacDonald and Hector Lombard. That fight was going to be bonkers, but Lombard tested positive for PEDs and was removed from the card. Instead of keeping MacDonald on the docket, the UFC decided to remove him, too, despite him being the top fighter currently training out of Montreal, where the card is taking place.
With MacDonald vs. Lombard taken off the card, TJ Dillashaw vs. Renan Barao, a rematch of the pair’s UFC 173 match, was due to be the main event and primary draw of the card. However, the UFC realized that wouldn’t be enough drawing power, so a middleweight bout between Michael Bisping and CB Dollaway and a light heavyweight bout between Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Fabio Maldonado were also added to the card to help with sales. And just in case those fights weren’t enough, the UFC added a second title fight to the card, a flyweight championship fight between Demetrious Johnson and Kyoji Horiguchi.
It’s a good thing the UFC added Johnson vs. Horiguchi to the card, because Dillashaw was forced to pull out with an injury, scratching the fight with Barao completely. In its place, Johnson vs. Horiguchi was bumped up the main event, despite Johnson tanking as a headliner in his last fight in Canada, at UFC 174 last summer against Ali Bagautinov, where the fans literally left the arena during his fight.
With Johnson vs. Horiguchi, Rampage vs. Maldonado and Bisping vs. Dollaway as the card’s top three fights, UFC 186 was already expected to bomb by media and fans alike. But then Bellator tried to block Rampage from fighting at UFC 186, and he was temporarily removed from the event and replaced with Montrealer Steve Bosse. Without Rampage on the card – by far the most recognizable fighter scheduled to fight after all of the injuries – UFC 186 was looking like it was going to set the record for the worst PPV buyrate of all time.
Luckily for the UFC and for Rampage, the courts decided to let Rampage fight, and he will now take on Maldonado. But he was pulled off the card, and presumably stopped training as hard, leading to the UFC rescheduling the fight with Maldonado as a 215-pound catchweight matchup. If you remember the last time Rampage competed in a catchweight bout, back at UFC 144 against Ryan Bader, he looked terrible and lost. So while stylistically Maldonado vs. Rampage is a fun fight for the fans, it wouldn’t shock anyone if it turns out to be a dud due to all the weird circumstances surrounding it.
What a weird event this has turned into. While once looking very solid with two title fights and a few other awesome main-card matchups for the fans, UFC 186 has now turned into a card that the majority of fight fans will be passing, especially considering that the boxing superfight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao is next week, and the stacked UFC 187 card is a few weeks after that.
With the card expected to bomb on PPV and at the gate, DISH Network isn’t even offering the event for its viewers, and the Bell Centre closed off the entire top section of the arena in Montreal due to a lack of ticket sales. That’s not a good sign of the numbers to come, that’s for sure.
UFC 186 could turn out to be a better card than we all think, but it seems the fans and media have already decided that this isn’t a good card. The UFC is going to have to do a lot of work to re-earn the trust of its fans in Montreal, because this card has turned into a debacle, and it just doesn’t seem like the UFC cares as much as it should.
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UFC 186: Johnson vs. Horiguchi (formerly UFC 186: Dillashaw vs. Barao 2) takes place on April 25, 2015 at Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
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