After a week off, the UFC is back in action with a Fight Night card headlined by featherweights Max Holloway and Charles Oliveira.
It’s an event packed with local talent like TUF: Nations standouts Olivier Aubin-Mercier and Chad Laprise alongside veterans like Patrick Cote and Sam Stout, and it’s specifically designed to highlight the UFC’s post-Georges St-Pierre reinvestment in Canada.
Needless to say, while nobody on this card can comfortably take a loss, some are in direr situations than others.
So who most desperately needs to win on Sunday at UFC Fight Night 74 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan? Who can’t stand another “L” on their record? Read on!
Nikita Krylov
One of the biggest problems with today’s light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions is the complete lack of upcoming talent.
Everyone on the heavyweight top 10 is over 30 years old. The light heavyweight division isn’t much different, with Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson being the only fighters who haven’t exited their prime athletic years.
In that way, Nikita Krylov is a precious commodity. The 23-year-old is the proud owner of a 100 percent finishing rate and is the kind of fighter who, theoretically, could be a factor near the top of the division for years to come.
Is he a factor today, though? That’s a question that will be partly answered when he faces Marcos Rogerio de Lima.
If he can pick up another big win against the Brazilian, he may be sniffing the top 10. If he can’t, he will become another lower- to mid-level player in the middle-heavy 205-pound division.
Maryna Moroz
Maryna Moroz is in a position rarely seen in the UFC.
Brought aboard to do the job for Joanne Calderwood, which would set up a lucrative title fight in her hometown of Glasgow, Scotland, Moroz threw a wrench into everyone’s plans by scoring an impressive 90-second submission win over the fan favorite.
Now, much like Junior Dos Santos and Joe Lauzon after their respective debuts, she must prove that she is as legitimate in the cage as she is on paper.
She faces an underrated Valerie Letourneau. Letourneau has not looked especially fearsome in the Octagon, with both her fights ending as unremarkable decision wins. With that said, she is perhaps under-appreciated and underrated, given the considerable strength of competition she has dealt with throughout her career.
With an emphatic win, Moroz can begin working toward a title fight with Joanna Jedrzejczyk. If she can’t take the “W,” however, she may wind up being brushed off as a fluke and forgotten at a time when the UFC is hand-picking fighters to push at 115 pounds.
Neil Magny
Neil Magny became an unexpected addition to the upper echelon of the welterweight division when he broke off five wins in 2014. Unfortunately, his momentum was stopped cold at UFC 190 when he was manhandled by Demian Maia.
Now, the sole survivor of TUF 16 finds himself in a high-risk, high-reward fight with Erick Silva.
Replacing an injured Rick Story, Magny could regain his footing as an upper-echelon welterweight with a strong win. A loss, however, could send him plummeting into the quagmire-like middle of the welterweight pack.
This is a do-or-die fight for Magny. Back-to-back losses can wreak havoc on the career of any fighter, but it would be an especially devastating blow for somebody who has generally been unable to jell with fans.
If he can’t get through Silva, it will likely mark the end of his dark-horse run.
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