Tis the season for gluttony. Even if you don’t want more, here it comes.
The UFC doesn’t care that you just gorged on the epic, memorable UFC 205 and New York and Conor McGregor and so forth. Why don’t you just have a little more? And you love it, deep down inside. You love consuming MMA at levels far higher than anything you could conceivably need or want, don’t you? You love it.
That’s the spirit. It’s your spirit, and it’s my spirit; it’s made manifest in the two cards the UFC is offering this Saturday. Not one card. And not over a weekend or anything like that. Same day. Twenty-six total fights combined. Are you ready for that? It doesn’t matter.
Here are the top storylines from the two cards. Open wide!
Wait, Why Is This Happening?
Part of it is because of the company’s commitment (as of now) toward UFC Fight Pass and places like Europe.
Not long after hosting Irishman McGregor and that little history-making thing that happened with him at UFC 205, company brass now head to Belfast in Northern Ireland for UFC Fight Night 99. In the main event, middleweights Gegard Mousasi and Uriah Hall run back a fight that netted Hall a spectacular spinning-kick knockout the first time.
That card begins at 4 p.m. Eastern and airs exclusively on Fight Pass, the UFC’s subscription streaming service, and behind which the UFC has invested considerable matchmaking resources of late.
We also have UFC Fight Night 100 taking place, starting at 9 p.m. Eastern and all airing on Fox Sports 1. This one takes place from Sao Paolo, Brazil.
(Don’t underestimate the UFC’s desire to program against Saturday’s Sergey Kovalev vs. Andre Ward boxing blockbuster, either).
With new and still more or less unseen owners at the helm, who knows how much longer these aggressive event-staging, overseas-expanding and/or Fight Pass fixations will last? The answer, in all honesty, is probably nobody, not with the company sale still so fresh. To the extent that an armchair explanation is possible here, this is it.
Gegard Mousasi Seems Active
That is not your imagination. In his rematch with Hall, the Dutch fan favorite and can-he-finally-cash-in-on-his-talent middleweight will try to make it 4-0 for 2016. That’s after a 2-1 2015. This may not be amazing in itself, but given that he fought a mere three times between 2011 and 2013, it sticks out a bit.
Mousasi has looked as great as ever in handling Thales Leites and then crushing Thiago Santos and one Vitor Belfort. Now he has a chance to avenge his only loss of the past two years—that wrong-side-of-the-highlight-reel knockout from Hall back at UFC Fight Night 75.
If he can run that crowded of a table this year, he’ll be in prime position to step beyond the velvet rope in a top-heavy division.
What Else Is Happening On These Cards?
There are 14 fights at UFC Fight Night 99, and as with all UFC cards—particularly massively overstuffed cards like this one—there are good fights. Outside the main event, the one that sticks out pits Irishman Neil “2Tap” Seery against Ian “Uncle Creepy” McCall. It’s more than a clash of solid nicknames. The American’s wrestling gives him an edge in this one, but Seery’s scrappy on the ground as well as the feet. Could be a fun one.
In the UFC Fight Night 100 main event, you have a rematch between Ryan Bader and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Interested? I know, I know; you can admit it.
What you do have on that card is super-prospect Thomas Almeida showing his face in the cage for the first time since Cody Garbrandt pasted him in May. You have strawweight standout Claudia Gadelha in action. You have other top up-and-comers in Warlley Alves and Kamaru Usman—unfortunately, they’re fighting each other, but still.
Also, on the deep undercard in Brazil, a tasty battle looms between grappler Pedro Munhoz and young Justin Scoggins, who is making his bantamweight debut.
UFC 205 these cards are not. But that’s OK. No one would fault you if you got up from the table. Then again, is one more bite going to kill you?
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