It wasn’t supposed to be this way.
When the mad scientists at Zuffa headquarters fired-up their matchmaking supercomputer months ago and asked it to synthesize an awesome card for UFC 177, the machine huffed and puffed, spit out reams of paper and then said in its creepy sentient computer voice: “Optimum main event: Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson.”
That’s how they book these cards, right?
Anyway, it was a nice idea.
We all know what happened: The Jones-Gusty rematch eventually got pushed back to UFC 178. The UFC tried to throw Demetrious Johnson vs. Chris Cariaso on this Saturday’s card, but then Gustafsson got injured and Jones got injured and Johnson vs. Cariaso, too, got moved to UFC 178.
And so here we are, with a version of UFC 177 headlined by a bantamweight title rematch between T.J. Dillashaw and Renan Barao. It’s a fight card that on paper threatens to be one of the worst of 2014 and not much better news is expected at the box office.
Still, that’s not going to stop Bleacher Report lead MMA writers Chad Dundas (that’s me, y’all) and Jonathan Snowden from making some bold predictions.
Set your bold-predicting supercomputers to stun and let’s go …