2014 has been a trying year for the UFC. The organization has had a number of premier fights fall apart due to injuries.
Injuries are a part of the sport, but for whatever reason, they have wreaked havoc on fights fans have wanted to see. In recent months we have seen Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier get pushed back, and Cain Velasquez have to back out of his UFC 180 fight against Fabricio Werdum.
I am asking any deity that will listen to curtail these injuries moving forward, because the beginning to 2015 is electric.
Within 31 days we will be treated to a slate of fights like never before. The UFC offers four events in the first month of 2015 that will deliver highly anticipated fights and spectacular action. The UFC will waste no time in providing one of the hottest bouts out of the gate.
Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier for the light heavyweight title is set as the main event on January 3. The title tilt will headline UFC 182. This is one of the hottest rivalries in the sport, and their tussle at their press event earlier in 2013 helped generate even more buzz surrounding this fight.
Almost lost in the wake of Jones and Cormier’s hatred for one another is a spectacular co-main event between lightweight contenders Donald Cerrone and Myles Jury.
The UFC’s next offering is on January 18. The UFC Fight Night 59 card is headlined by rising superstar Conor McGregor against Dennis Siver, and the co-main event may be the least talked-about blockbuster of all: Benson Henderson vs. Eddie Alvarez.
The UFC’s slate of fantastic fights marches on.
January 24 plays host to UFC on Fox 14 in Stockholm, Sweden. The two headlining bouts are Dan Henderson, in his return to middleweight, against Gegard Mousasi and Alexander Gustafsson vs. Anthony Johnson.
Those two fights are free on network television.
The month closes with UFC 183 on January 31 with the return of two of the sport’s biggest stars in what is almost guaranteed to be one of the most entertaining fights of 2015.
Anderson Silva and Nick Diaz are signed on for a middleweight clash. Both men are showmen inside the cage. Taunting, trash-talking and superior striking ability will be on display. And while this matchup gets all the attention, and rightfully so, the UFC has a great undercard beneath it.
Welterweights Tyron Woodley and Kelvin Gastelum co-main event, top-five women’s bantamweight contenders Miesha Tate and Sara McMann square off, and no one should forget bout welterweight’s Jordan Mein and Thiago Alves are signed to do battle as well.
If the injury rate slows down enough to allow all of these fights to go off in the first 31 days of 2015, we could be talking about the greatest month of fights in MMA history. It is a ridiculous way to open the new year, and the UFC would be well on its way toward delivering what fans want to see.
We are a month-and-a-half away from kicking that incredible slate off.
Fingers crossed. That is a lot of time before the calendar turns.
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