UFC flyweight champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson has reigned supreme as the best 125-pound fighter in the world, and over the past two years he has dispatched the entire divisional Top Five.
He’s looked dominant against his co…
UFC flyweight champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson has reigned supreme as the best 125-pound fighter in the world, and over the past two years he has dispatched the entire divisional Top Five.
He’s looked dominant against his contemporaries and is set to defend his belt against the No. 8-ranked Chris Cariaso in a head-scratcher of a fight at UFC 177 on August 30. If fighters like Joseph Benavidez, Ian McCall and John Moraga can’t find a chink in the armor of Mighty Mouse, his next challenges may come from some of the talent outside of the Top Five, where there is no dearth of skilled fighters.
The emerging contenders in the UFC’s lightest men’s weight class are ready for the big stage, and fighters like Dustin Ortiz, KyojiHoriguchi and Zach Makovsky are all striving to shake up the division and earn a title shot.
With Ortiz winning a close fight against Justin Scoggins and Jon Lineker’s recent Fight of the Night battle with AlptekinOzkilic putting him back on the winning track, there is no shortage of viable contenders for Johnson.
Conor McGregor is a star in the world of mixed martial arts. Whether mainstream or hardcore fans want to admit it, the Irish star has grabbed this sport by the throat. With only two wins against competitors who are well outside the featherweight top 15…
ConorMcGregor is a star in the world of mixed martial arts. Whether mainstream or hardcore fans want to admit it, the Irish star has grabbed this sport by the throat. With only two wins against competitors who are well outside the featherweight top 15, McGregor has used his eloquent speech skills to become one of the most captivating characters in the sport today. To his luck, the UFC has thrown their weight behind them and this Saturday’s UFC Fight Night is now a proving grown for not only McGregor, but the Ultimate Fighting Championship as well.
When’s the last time the UFC has paid so much attention to a competitor that is 2-0 within the Octagon? If that athlete’s name isn’t Brock Lesnar or Ronda Rousey, then the answer was never. Until McGregor came along. He’s never appeared on a Pay-Per-View event but the Irish native is set to headline the UFC’s return to his home country. The entire card is built around his name and everyone knows it. UFC Fight Night: Dublin, as it has been tagged, sold out in mere hours. With all of this promotion swirling, the pressure is on for McGregor to produce. Luckily for the organization, he seems to be ready for the moment.
“Pressure is an illusion, but I want that illusion of pressure,” McGregor said as he addressed the media on Wednesday as reported by Sherdog. “Heap more on me. Give me more pressure so that when I put this guy away and make it look easy – which I will do – people will say, ‘How did he do that?’ Let’s jump this guy straight ahead of the queue and put him straight in for a title shot.”
Quite the diatribe from McGregor, whose two wins have come against opponents with a combined 8-5 while fighting under the Zuffa banner. Experts are overlooking the challenge that Diego Brandao brings to this contest, but odder things have happened in mixed martial arts. Just as Rick Story knows what it felt like when his hype was destroyed by Charlie Brenneman years ago. What’s different between these two situations is that the UFC needs McGregor to succeed and they need him to do so in dramatic fashion.
Many are comparing Conor to the famed ChaelSonnen for his ability to perform when the microphones are hot and cameras are rolling. Except there are two major differences: McGregor is much younger than Sonnen was when he pushed his way into the limelight and Conor has shown that he has the ability to perform in the Octagon as well. With 12 knockout victories, mainstream fans are hoping that he continues his path of violence. Realistically speaking, McGregor should be very far from any mention of a featherweight title shot—but star power talks in the UFC and it’s screaming for Conor.
UFC President Dana White has even joined in the commotion. Back in 2013, White was asked if McGregor had a lot of hype surrounding him and Dana responded “You’ve got that right, other than Brock Lesnar.” As mentioned in that MMA Mania report by Jesse Holland, there was a lot of anticipation surrounding Conor even before he entered the Octagon and he’s performed up to par to this point.
An upset win for Diego will not boost his career as much as it would diminish that of McGregor‘s and the perception of who the UFC decides to promote. Mixed martial arts is still teetering between being described as a form of sport or entertainment. McGregor is an athlete but his star power has been developing purely by the entertainment side of the industry. A failure at Saturday’s event would be akin to an actor flopping in a bad movie and a highly touted prospect blowing a big game all at the same time.
The UFC is struggling to build personalities that fans care about. Conor has done most of the work for them and now has an entire country in his back pocket. His main event spot at UFC Fight Night: Dublin is a testament to the current state of mixed martial arts. The UFC will never admit it, but they have a rooting interest in this fight. As they should because ConorMcGregor has the potential to blow the doors off of this sport.
At UFC Fight Night 46 in Dublin, Ireland, hometown favorite Conor McGregor will look to move closer to a featherweight title shot when he takes on Diego Brandao in the night’s main event. McGregor is 2-0 inside the Octagon and faces a dangerous o…
At UFC Fight Night 46 in Dublin, Ireland, hometown favorite ConorMcGregor will look to move closer to a featherweight title shot when he takes on Diego Brandao in the night’s main event. McGregor is 2-0 inside the Octagon and faces a dangerous opponent in The Ultimate Fighter Season 14 winner Brandao.
Before McGregor and Brandao throw down in the featherweight headliner, there are a number of fighters competing who haven’t looked so good lately and may need a win if they want to stay in the UFC.
Here are the fighters who may be fighting for their roster spot at Fight Night 46 in Dublin.
Ian McCall
McCall is in an interesting spot. He has one victory in his four UFC fights, so he definitely wants to avoid going one for five. A win over Brad Pickett would be huge, as Pickett is thought of as a future title contender in the flyweight division and could earn himself a championship fight if he beats McCall.
A loss would put “Uncle Creepy” in a bad position, either cut from the promotion or in an undeniable “must-win” for his next outing. But if he could get past Pickett, he’d find himself back in the title conversation in a flyweight division that has nearly been picked clean by its champion Demetrious Johnson.
Phil Harris
The only reason Harris isn’t staring down a potential three-fight losing streak is because his most recent opponent, Louis Gaudinot,tested positive for diuretics coming out of their fight in London back in March. Gaudinot stopped Harris at 1:13 of the first round with a guillotine, but the positive test caused the UFC to change the result to a no-contest.
Prior to that, John Lineker put Harris away in the first round with a devastating body shot. His fight with Neil Seery is a rematch from BAMMA in 2010, where Harris took home a unanimous-decision victory.
Seery proved in his UFC debut against Brad Pickett that he can take a punch and keep coming forward.
Flyweight is one of the more shallow divisions in the UFC, so neither of these guys would be in dire straights with a loss. Harris has one victory in four Octagon appearances, and another stoppage loss would not do him any favors.
Trevor Smith
Smith got finished in 45 seconds by Thales Leites in his last fight, and has lost four of his last six fights. He lost to Ed Herman in his UFC debut but rebounded to pick up his only victory inside the Octagon when he won a split decision over Brian Houston.
He faces Tor Troeng at Fight Night 46, and a loss wouldn’t give the UFC much of a reason to keep him on the roster. He needs to emphatically defeat the Swede to justify his spot in the division.
Cody Donovan
Donovan went winless in 2013, suffering back-to-back stoppage losses at the hands of Ovince St. Preux and Gian Villante. He needs to avoid a three-fight losing streak if he wants to leave the cage confident he’ll still have a job after Saturday.
Light heavyweight isn’t a deep division, and Donovan may very well be kept even if he suffers his third straight loss in Dublin.
Nikita Krylov
Krylov had one of the more disappointing UFC debuts in recent memory, with Dana White referring to his UFC 164 fight with SoaPalelei to reporters as resembling a “tough-man” contest.
His drop to the light heavyweight division has yielded mixed results. He stopped Walt Harris by TKO in 25 seconds in January, but got put to sleep with a Von Flue choke by Ovince St. Preux at UFC 171 in March.
He needs to do something impressive against Donovan, not only to keep his job, but to prove that he can compete with UFC talent at any level. A loss to Donovan would most likely bring about the end of the 22-year-old’s UFC career, at least for the time being.
Note to prospective challengers: Do not fight Takuya Eizumi unless you’re prepared to face this face.Yusei Shimokawa found this out the hard way after losing a unanimous decision to Eizumi on June 29. The GIF surfaced more recently and is simultaneousl…
Note to prospective challengers: Do not fight TakuyaEizumi unless you’re prepared to face this face.
YuseiShimokawa found this out the hard way after losing a unanimous decision to Eizumi on June 29. The GIF surfaced more recently and is simultaneously hilarious and more than a little creepy.
When Charles “Do Bronx” Oliveira threw a fight-changing illegal knee to a downed Nik Lentz during their lightweight fight at UFC on Versus 4 back in June of 2011, the crowd at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh came unglued, and not in …
When Charles “Do Bronx” Oliveira threw a fight-changing illegal knee to a downed NikLentz during their lightweight fight at UFC on Versus 4 back in June of 2011, the crowd at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh came unglued, and not in a good way. Referee Chip Snider may have been indifferent to the foul, but the viewing audience knew right away what had occurred.
Oliveira’s win was changed to a “no-contest” by the Pennsylvania Athletic Commission, and both men have since moved down to 145 pounds. They are set to rematch at UFC Fight Night 50 on September 5, and this fight is Oliveira’s chance to break into the top echelon of the division.
Now 11 fights into his UFC career, and having come up short against the division’s elite, the 24-year-old is looking for his third straight win when he takes on “The Carny” at Foxwoods.
Both men have earned three victories since moving down in weight, and both have gone to battle with the very best the featherweight division has to offer. Oliveira suffered back-to-back losses to Cub Swanson and Frankie Edgar, but the fight with Frankie was an instant Fight of the Year candidate in 2013.
Lentz went the distance with the current No. 1 contender Chad Mendes, who had emphatically finished his previous four opponents.
In their first fight, Oliveira was taking Lentz to the woodshed with a constant barrage of knees, front kicks and punches and kicks to the body. Had he timed that ill-fated knee strike a little better, he could have had added another legitimate submission win to his pro record.
At times he’s shown the greenness of most young fighters, but also the determination and finishing instinct of a polished, high-level mixed martial artist.
The rematch with Lentz is the next step up the ladder for Do Bronx, and this fight is pivotal for the featherweight division. The title fight between Jose Aldo and Chad Mendes is penciled in for this fall, and Cub Swanson has rightfully earned the next crack at the winner. Frankie Edgar is waiting in the wings for a big fight, as is Dustin Poirier.
With the return of “The Notorious” ConorMcGregor against Diego Brandao, and “The Korean Zombie” gearing up for a rebound, there are a lot of high-level fights on the horizon for Oliveira should he have a similar performance this time around against Lentz.
Oliveira proved against Hioki that he is can finish even the most durable fighters, and against Lentz he’s got an opportunity to stake his claim as one of the division’s best fighters.
Contrary to what our short-term memory wants us to believe, BJ Penn will still go down as the most dominant UFC lightweight champion ever.
We shouldn’t remember him as the guy who fled his native division after dropping back-to-back losses to Fra…
Contrary to what our short-term memory wants us to believe, BJ Penn will still go down as the most dominant UFC lightweight champion ever.
We shouldn’t remember him as the guy who fled his native division after dropping back-to-back losses to Frankie Edgar. We shouldn’t remember him as the guy who was woefully outboxed by a bigger and stronger Nick Diaz.
We shouldn’t remember him as the guy who was dramatically undersized against a younger, faster Rory MacDonald. We shouldn’t remember him as the guy who came out of retirement after a two-year absence to face Edgar at 145 pounds.
We might have to try hard, but hopefully we won’t remember that questionably stiff and overly upright striking stance he had in his last outing.
We have plenty of reasons to still consider him one of the best lightweights to ever compete inside of the Octagon. Continue reading to see the top five.
