December 30, 2016
By Ryan Porzl
Valentina Shevchenko vs. Julianna Pena (UFC on FOX: Shevchenko vs Pena, 1/28/17)- This fight will main event the next FOX special and is possibly a title eliminator with the winner meeting the winner of Amanda Nunes/Ronda Rousey. Shevchenko is coming off a unanimous decision win over former Women's Bantamweight Champion Holly Holm back in July. Pena is unbeaten in the UFC at 4-0 with her recent win being over former challenger Cat Zingano. Whoever wins this fight and the title fight on December 30th will also led to interesting scenarios. If Nunes and Shevchenko win, then they will have a rematch and give Shevchenko the chance to avenge a decision loss to Nunes when the two fought back at UFC 196 this past March. If Rousey and Pena win, that too will be interesting as these two have no love for each other and Pena won the Ultimate Fighter as part of Team Team opposite Team Rousey. Not only that but she was Team Tate's first female pick and took out Rousey's first female pick as well as good friend Shayna Baszler.
Andrei Arlovski vs. Francis Ngannou (UFC on FOX: Shevchenko vs Pena, 1/28/17)- Arlovski and Ngannou are in different positions at his point in their career besides Arlovski being a former UFC Heavyweight Champion while Ngannou is an up and comer. Ngannou is 9-1 and currently unbeaten in the UFC but is still looking for that name win to elevate him as his most notably win to date is against Anthony Hamilton. A win over Arlovski would be big for him as he would finally have a notable win and potentially get him more noticed by everyone. Arlovski will be heading into this fight fighting for his future. After winning his first four fights since his return, Arlovski has fallen on hard times as he's currently on a three fight losing streak including a 54 second KO loss to current UFC Heavyweight Champion Stipe Miocic, a TKO loss to former title contender Alistair Overeem, and a submission loss to former UFC Heavyweight Champion Josh Barnett. Even though Arlovski has lost to some of the best, a three fight losing streak is still very bad and it's a near guarantee that Arlovski is fighting for his job here as he could get cut with a fourth straight loss and against an up and comer. Arlovski needs to win and win impressively to show he's not done yet and can regain his lost momentum.
Jim Lauzon vs. Marcin Held (UFC Fight Night: Rodrigeuz vs. Penn, 1/17/17)- Lauzon and Held have the potential for a fun fight and both are in need of a win. The long time UFC vet Lauzon is coming off another loss to Jim Miller at UFC on FOX: Maia vs. Condit in August and prior to that has been yo-yoing with a TKO win over TUF winner Michael Chiesa and legends like Takanori Gomi and Diego Sanchez (with the Sanchez win being the first time Sanchez was knocked out). However, those wins were in between losses to Al Iaquinta, Evan Dunham, and Jim Miller. The former Bellator Tournament Winner and title contender Held's UFC debut wasn't what he wanted as he lost his debut in November at TUF Latin America 3: Dos Anjos vs. Ferguson to Sanchez. With both coming off losses they need a bounce back especially Held who wants to prove he's not just hype and can hang with UFC fighters like he could with Bellator.
Georgi Karakhanyan vs. Emmanuel Sanchez (Bellator 170, 1/21/17)- This is between vet vs. up and comer. After fighting for his job following decisive losses to Daniel Weichel and Pat Curran, Karakhanyan has racked up a two fight win streak including a quick knockout win over Bubba Jenkins in their second encounter (Karakhanyan won the first as well). A win over Sanchez would allow Karkhanyan to continue his climb back up the ladder and possibly earn him a rematch against Weichel or Curran. Speaking of Weichel, Sanchez is coming off a loss to him by split decision which snapped a three fight win streak. A win over Karakhanyan would not only get Sanchez back on track but it would also be the biggest win of his career to date. However, Sanchez probably has some pressure because I already mentioned that all three of his wins that were apart of his win streak were all split decisions. While it's great to win, Sanchez needs to put an exclamation point here instead of barely getting by if he wants to be considered a top contender.
Ralek Gracie vs. Hisaki Kato (Bellator 170, 1/21/17)- This is a classic case of grappler vs. striker. Ralek is the son of UFC co founder Rorian Gracie and the grandson of Helio Gracie. Currently 3-0, Ralek hasn't fought in nearly seven years with his last fight being against The Gracie Hunter Kazushi Sakuraba back at DREAM 14 in May 2010. Ralek will go into this fight after a near seven year lay off so it will be interesting to see what he has to offer. Since his upset win over Joe Schilling in 2015, Kato has earned a reputation of a fun fighter with a highlight reel of knockouts. Currently 7-2, all of Kato's fights have ended via knockout and he's currently riding a two fight win streak with a win over Yuta Watanabe in RIZIN 1 and then against AJ Matthews at Bellator 162. As mentioned, this is a grappler vs striker as Ralek will look to take the fight to the ground and score the submission win while Kato will want this fight standing and earn a knockout. Who will be able to get the fight where they want it? Will Ralek's long lay off hurt him in the fight or will he return in style? Can Kato prevent the take down, keep it standing, and extend his winning streak.
Paul Daley vs. Brennan Ward (Bellator 170, 1/21/17)- This is one of those fights that should be fun as both men bring it and both have knock out power. Both are also finishers with the majority of Daley's win coming via knock out while Ward has only gone the distance once win and lose. Daley is coming off a one sided loss to the new two time champion Douglas Lima back in July which snapped a five fight win streak and is on the comeback trail. Ward is coming in after bouncing back with a knock out win over Saad Awad. Very rarely are these two in a boring fight and an impressive win can get them one step closer to a title shot especially with no obvious number one contender on the horizon.
Vitaly Bigdash vs. Marcin Prachnio (ONE Championship: Quest For Power, 1/14/17)- This is for the ONE Middleweight Championship. Bigdash is making his first defense after winning the title in October 2015 from the first champion Igor Svirid but hasn't fought since due to injury as a May title defense was cancelled. Prachnio is on a seven fight win streak while he's 3-0 in ONE with his recent wins over prospect Jake Butler and former title contender Leandro Ataides. This fight is interesting as Bigdash is undefeated while Prachnio in undefeated in ONE so the question is does Prachnio suffer his first ONE loss or does Bigdash suffer the first loss of his career? It'll also be interesting to see how the time off affects Bigdash and if he can retain his championship while Prachnio is not a regular Middleweight as he went down two fights ago so it will be interesting to see if the weight cut is too much.
Martin Nguyen vs. Kazunori Yokota (ONE Championship: Quest For Power, 1/14/17)- Both fighters have had chances at either the ONE Featherweight Championship or the Interim Championship and both have fallen to current champ Marat Gafurov. Nguyen has bounced back with a three fight streak since then and a win over Yokota would be the biggest of his career while maybe allowing him another chance at Gafurov. Yokota is coming off a loss to Gafurov which snapped the DEEP Champion's 13 fight win streak which included wins over former Pancrase Champion Isao Kobayashi as well as former DEEP Champion Masakazu Imanari and gave him his first loss in six years. A win over Nguyen would get him back on track and give him his first win in ONE. At 38 years old, Yokota is at the point where he can't afford to take steps back and needs to show his loss was a temporary setback. An interesting thing to look at is Nguyen is a finisher as he's never gone the distance yet while Yokota has won the majority of his fights by decision. Will that play to Yokota's advantage or can Nguyen get the finish?
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