While UFC 194 has received most of the attention in the lead-up to this outstanding week of fights, the UFC Fight Night on Fight Pass on Thursday and The Ultimate Fighter 22 Finale on Friday both offer an array of outstanding mixed martial arts action.
Thursday’s card consists mostly of young, up-and-coming fighters. Unusually for the UFC, which is generally good about creating win-win scenarios regardless of who emerges victorious, it features a number of matchups in which the promotion has a vested interest in one side winning. The card is full of A-sides and B-sides, and it will be better for the UFC’s future if the A-sides win.
In the main event, Paige VanZant takes on Rose Namajunas in an outstanding strawweight bout that will christen the next potential star at 115 pounds. Teen-aged phenom Sage Northcutt gets a soft step up against Cody Pfister and Canadian TUF winner Elias Theodorou fights Thiago Santos.
The co-main event features Michael Chiesa in a great fight against Jim Miller. Blue-chip bantamweight prospect Aljamain Sterling gets a chance to prove himself against Johnny Eduardo on the prelims, which are likewise stacked with great young talent.
The Ultimate Fighter 22 Finale is less stacked. The main event, however, is one of the two or three best fights of the weekend: Former lightweight champion and featherweight challenger Frankie Edgar takes on three-time featherweight top contender Chad Mendes in what should be a fantastic fight with serious implications for the future of the division. If he wins, Edgar will undoubtedly get the next shot at the belt.
Tony Ferguson takes on Edson Barboza in Friday’s co-main event. Khabib Nurmagomedov was originally scheduled to face Ferguson, but a rib injury led to his replacement with Barboza. Ferguson has won six straight and is a legitimate threat to win the title, and the matchup with the talented Barboza should produce fireworks. An action fight between Joe Lauzon and Evan Dunham adds additional interest.
There are simply too many fights between these two cards, even leaving aside the yet-to-be-announced Ultimate Fighter matchups, to cover them all in depth. Instead, I’ve selected the eight most promising fights to explore fully and provided quick picks for the rest.
Let’s dive into a cornucopia of interesting violence.