UFC 169 features five main card fights, and the 10 men competing on the pay-per-view portion of the card all have several fantastic victories.
This is a rare fight card with significant stakes in each main card bout.
The two main events will have gold …
UFC 169 features five main card fights, and the 10 men competing on the pay-per-view portion of the card all have several fantastic victories.
This is a rare fight card with significant stakes in each main card bout.
The two main events will have gold up for grabs in the 135-pound and 145-pound weight divisions. Nova Uniao’s RenanBarao and Jose Aldo are putting their titles on the line against Urijah Faber and Ricardo Lamas, respectively.
Frank Mir and Alistair Overeem will meet in a heavyweight duel that will likely see the loser cut from the organization. Flyweights John Lineker and Ali Bagautinov could be battling for a crack at the 125-pound championship. The PPV opener is a key lightweight tilt between Jamie Varner and Abel Trujillo.
Every man will try to make this his best performance yet, but for most that will be hard to do.
This is a look back at the best victories of each competitor on the main card of UFC 169.
It’s Super Bowl weekend, and I’m told that’s significant in the United States. I’m in Scotland where we’re too busy tossing cabers and eating haggis, but if this weekend is important to you, it’s important to me, par…
It’s Super Bowl weekend, and I’m told that’s significant in the United States. I’m in Scotland where we’re too busy tossing cabers and eating haggis, but if this weekend is important to you, it’s important to me, particularly with a stacked UFC 169 accompanying all the pigskin-related fun.
Saturday night’s card, coming to us from the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., features not one but two title fights. In the main event, Renan Barao defends his bantamweight title against perennial contender Urijah Faber. In addition, Jose Aldo puts his featherweight title on the line against Ricardo Lamas.
And if you’re still not on the hook, perhaps the prospect of Alistair Overeem vs. Frank Mir will bait you.
With so much to digest, I have assembled a team of experts to guide you through UFC 169’s main card. Read on for the thoughts of Scott Harris, Riley Kontek, Craig Amos, Sean Smith and me, James MacDonald.
We just wanted to give you a heads up so you don’t spaz out later today: The gigantic, hippo-rapingAlistair Overeem that you’ve come to love to is no longer with us. In his place is a noticeably slimmer guy who’s still jacked, but not suspiciously jacked. As the Reem explained to MMAJunkie:
“I actually dropped some weight. I wanted improved cardio, so obviously you want to lose some weight. That actually goes automatic. A lot more cardio and you automatically lose a lot of weight. We just wanted [my cardio] to be better.”
Overeem, who weighed-in near the heavyweight limit of 265 pounds for his first two UFC appearances, seemed to fade by the third round of his UFC 156 match against Antonio Silva, and got knocked out as a result. But then he weighed in at a relatively svelte 255.5 pounds for his August match against Travis Browne and got KO’d in the first round anyway, so who knows.
We just wanted to give you a heads up so you don’t spaz out later today: The gigantic, hippo-rapingAlistair Overeem that you’ve come to love to is no longer with us. In his place is a noticeably slimmer guy who’s still jacked, but not suspiciously jacked. As the Reem explained to MMAJunkie:
“I actually dropped some weight. I wanted improved cardio, so obviously you want to lose some weight. That actually goes automatic. A lot more cardio and you automatically lose a lot of weight. We just wanted [my cardio] to be better.”
Overeem, who weighed-in near the heavyweight limit of 265 pounds for his first two UFC appearances, seemed to fade by the third round of his UFC 156 match against Antonio Silva, and got knocked out as a result. But then he weighed in at a relatively svelte 255.5 pounds for his August match against Travis Browne and got KO’d in the first round anyway, so who knows.
UFC 169 this Saturday will not only mark one of the promotion’s biggest events of the year, but it will serve as a chance for a handful of fighters to redeem themselves.
From Urijah Faber to Alistair Overeem, the stacked pay-per-view card features an a…
UFC 169 this Saturday will not only mark one of the promotion’s biggest events of the year, but it will serve as a chance for a handful of fighters to redeem themselves.
From Urijah Faber to Alistair Overeem, the stacked pay-per-view card features an array of well-known Octagon assets looking to cash in on second chances, or third.
But which fighter has the most to gain? With a win this weekend, which main card draw bolsters higher value than his peers?
The UFC is starting off 2014 with a bang, as UFC 169 features two fighters who are among the best ever in their respective weight divisions.
Renan Barao could go down as the best bantamweight ever, and beating Urijah Faber would do nothing to hurt that…
The UFC is starting off 2014 with a bang, as UFC 169 features two fighters who are among the best ever in their respective weight divisions.
RenanBarao could go down as the best bantamweight ever, and beating Urijah Faber would do nothing to hurt that cause. Meanwhile, Jose Aldo has already made his case as the greatest featherweight in MMA history.
Saturday’s pay-per-view will be a great showcase for two men at the top of their game.
But it’s not all about those two.
Throughout the main card, plenty of fighters will try to use UFC 169 to kick-start their careers again and try to make the climb back up the rankings. For some, this event could be the end of the line. For others, it represents the jumping-off point for greater things to come.
The three fighters listed below are heading into UFC 169 most in need of a win.
Remember when Alistair Overeem was riding high after that TKO of Brock Lesnar? It feels like a lifetime ago.
One failed drug test and two losses later, Overeem’s stock has fallen precipitously. He’s gone from a top contender in the heavyweight division to an afterthought whose UFC career is hanging in the balance.
Bleacher Report’s Chad Dundas made the stakes clear for both Overeem and Frank Mir at the PPV:
Despite the fact the UFC hasn’t been quite so quick to send fighters packing recently—lest it gets a sliver of Viacom’s $4 billion in cash!—this is still a must-win fight for both Mir and Overeem. Even if it doesn’t result in a dismissal, a loss here probably dooms either man’s chance of once again ascending into the heavyweight elite.
Of course, Mir needs a win as well, but it’s Overeem who arguably has the higher ceiling from here on out. Mir had his time in the spotlight, and it appears he’s now slowing down.
With a win, the Demolition Man can climb his way back up the heavyweight ladder—as long as he can stay clean.
Jamie Varner
Jamie Varner enters UFC 169 having lost two of his last three fights. His chance of ever competing for the lightweight title has probably already gone out the window. He’s basically a journeyman.
But there is still much at stake for Varner.
Speaking with MMAJunkie.com Radio, per MMAJunkie.com‘s Steven Marrocco, Varner said he’s planning on retiring at 32, which would be three years from now:
I only got one fight in 2013, and I see my window closing as far as being an athlete and competing at this high level. … I’ve been fighting as a professional since I was 18; I’ve got 11 years in the sport.
I started at the UFC in 2006, so that’s a long time, man. Plus, I started boxing when I was 11 years old and wrestling when I was 14. It’s a long time to be taking beatings. I want to make the most of it. I want to get three or four fights this year and three or four next year, and I’m going to retire when I’m 32.
Between now and then, Varner could get a couple of PPV fights and add a little more to his bank account.
Beating somebody like Abel Trujillo wouldn’t make Varner a top contender overnight, but it would help get him turned around in the right direction again. Maybe he could string a few more wins together and go out on a high note.
Ali Bagautinov
Ali Bagautinov is unbeaten in his two UFC fights, knocking out Marcos Vinicius in his debut and following that up with a unanimous-decision victory over Timothy Elliott.
Now, the 28-year-old has another top flyweight opponent in John Lineker.
Bagautinov’s two wins in UFC are impressive, but they’re merely the starting point when it comes to getting to the top of the flyweight rankings. He needs to beat more top competition to get a match against Demetrious Johnson or whomever the flyweight champion is at the time.
According to Marc Raimondi of FoxSports.com, Dana White intimated that this could be a fight to determine the No. 1 contender:
Should Bagautinov win, you have to believe he would be one more fight away, at most, from getting a title shot.
The numbers are beginning to pile up for featherweight champion Jose Aldo.
The reigning 145-pound king has defeated the last 16 men who have stood across from him inside the cage, and the majority of them have been disposed of in brutal fashion. The 27…
The numbers are beginning to pile up for featherweight champion Jose Aldo.
The reigning 145-pound king has defeated the last 16 men who have stood across from him inside the cage, and the majority of them have been disposed of in brutal fashion. The 27-year-old is notorious for making highlight-reel material out of his competition and has used a complex blend of speed, power and accuracy to get the job done.
Surging contender Cub Swanson met his end via double flying knee.
Team Alpha Male standout Chad Mendes made the slightest of mistakes as he shot in for a takedown and woke up to see Aldo crowd surfing through the frenzied masses in Rio de Janeiro.
Most recently it was Chan Sung Jung who fell victim as his body literally gave out, and with his right shoulder dangling, Aldo unleashed a vicious flurry of kicks to the the injured area until the “Korean Zombie” curled up in a defensive shell.
What Aldo brings to the table is rare, and he’s continued to evolve at a pace that is undoubtedly frightening to the opposition. That said, it hasn’t been all smooth sailing for the Nova Uniao fighter. There have been a handful of fighters who have taken the Brazilian phenom to the distance, but none have exposed any glaring weaknesses in his game.
This is due in large part to Aldo’s refusal to rest on past successes and his drive to become the best fighter to ever step inside the cage.
“I am in the gym training every day to be the best,” Aldo told Bleacher Report. “My opponents change, but that doesn’t change my work ethic or my drive to be the best fighter I can be. I want to be the best fighter I possibly can be and that requires working everyday inside the gym. I want to keep breaking records and become the best fighter in the world. I want to keep putting on exciting fights for the fans and help bring mixed martial arts to a new level.”
The next fighter to oppose his featherweight throne will be Ricardo Lamas this Saturday night at UFC 169. “The Bully” has been a ready-made contender for the past two years but has been forced to watch the promotion tip several of his peers to get the title shot he’s been seeking for so long.
Since dropping to featherweight in 2011, the Chicago native has picked up four consecutive victories over a crop of top-level competition. In his most recent outing against former No. 1 contender Erik Koch at UFC on Fox 6, Lamas obliterated the Duke Roufus product with a brutal display of ground-and-pound that left Koch a battered and bloody mess on the canvas.
Immediately following his win in Chicago, it appeared as if Lamas would receive the next shot at Aldo’s title, but that is not how things played out, and his wait continued. That said, while he was sitting on the sidelines watching other fighters pass him up for title opportunities, that didn’t stop him from endlessly campaigning for a shot of his own.
Nevertheless, the call to face Aldo eventually came, and he’ll finally get the chance he’s been waiting for this Saturday night.
“I don’t care how Lamas got here,” Aldo said. “He spoke up a lot and did what he had to do to get the fight. Basically his job is to promote himself, and he did a good job because he got the fight he wanted. It doesn’t really matter to me how he got here. But he is a good fighter, though, and I’m definitely prepared to handle what he brings to the cage.”
While Aldo and Lamas are prepared to square off in the co-main event at UFC 169, there has been plenty of talk hovering of a potential “Super Fight” in the near future. The long-time featherweight title holder was originally slated to mix it up with then-No. 1 lightweight contender Anthony Pettis in a highly anticipated showdown this past summer, until an injury forced “Showtime” off the card entirely.
The Milwaukee native eventually healed up and defeated Benson Henderson to take the lightweight strap at UFC 164 back in August, but talk of a matchup between two of the elite strikers in the game has never died down. Yet, while fans are still clamoring to see Aldo and Pettis step into the Octagon to do battle, the featherweight champion refuses to break focus on the tough task ahead in Lamas.
“I don’t really care about what people say right now,” Aldo said. “My focus is on the fight on Saturday. I have to win that fight first then we’ll talk about what comes next after this fight is over. So people can talk a lot about which fight they would like to see or who they would like to see me fight, but the only fight that matters to me right now is Ricardo Lamas on Saturday. It doesn’t really matter to me. My focus is on Lamas and the fight I have on Saturday night.”
Duane Finley is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless noted otherwise.
The UFC is starting off 2014 with a bang, as 
