Like a desert mirage, these big-time UFC pay-per-views have a way of looking different from up close.
Take UFC 187 for example. We once thought Jon Jones would be there, defending his light heavyweight championship for the ninth time. For a while, we even thought Khabib Nurmagomedov was coming to Las Vegas to claim the No. 1 contender spot at lightweight.
When the event actually happens on Saturday, however, the landscape will be much different.
Jones is suspended indefinitely, having been ordered to get his life together after he was allegedly involved in a hit-and-run accident in New Mexico. Nurmagomedov is injured again.
Instead, we’re getting Daniel Cormier and John Makdessi, respectively, and what once looked like a potentially historic card now merely looks really good. But really good is still really good, right?
As always, bold predictions are required. Here, MMA lead writers Chad Dundas (that’s me) and Jonathan Snowden take their best shots at predicting the unpredictable.