February 27, 2017
By Ryan Porzl
I forgot to mention this is past versions but I must point out that at the time I release these, the full card of certain events have not been released so there may be other fights I would recommend but aren't announced until after I complete this.
Tyron Woodley vs. Stephen Thompson (UFC 209, 3/4/17)- This is for the UFC Welterweight Championship and a rematch from UFC 205 back on November 5th which went to a draw. Given their previous fight and the fact it is again a title fight, it should be obvious why this is on here. Prior to the first fight, Woodley was riding a three fight win streak including wins over Dong Hyun King, Kelvin Gastlum (giving him his first loss), and then defeating Robbie Lawler for the Welterweight Championship. Woodley has not lost a fight since Rory MacDonald at UFC 174 on June 14, 2014. Thompson headed into the first fight on a seven fight win streak with wins over Johny Hendricks, Rory MacDonald, Jake Ellenberger, Patrick Cote, and Robert Whittaker. Thompson has not lost a fight since losing to Matt Brown at UFC 145 on April 21, 2012. This is a huge fight for both men. For Woodley, a win over Thompson not only proves he can defeat him but can get him out of his hair for a long time if he wins impressively seeing as how this is Thompson's second straight title shot. For Thompson, this could be his last chance at the title for a while if he fails as this is his second fight in a row where he got a title shot. While losing won't drop him too far down, it could still take awhile for him to get another title shot since he got two in a row.
Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson (UFC 209, 3/4/17)- This is for the UFC Interim Lightweight Championship. Nurmagomedov is currently undefeated at 24-0 with wins over Gleison Tibau, Danny Castillo, Abel Trujillo, Pat Healy, Rafael Dos Anjos, and Michael Johnson. The former Ultimate Fighter winner Ferguson is currently riding a nine fight win streak which is the most in UFC Lightweight Division history while scoring wins over Katsunori Kikuno, Gleison Tibau, Abel Trujillo, Josh Thomson, Edson Barboza, and Rafael Dos Anjos. Ferguson's last loss was to Michael Johnson at UFC on FOX: Diaz vs. Miller on May 5, 2012. While the title on the line is an interim belt, it's still a belt being strapped around their waist if they win and this fight puts them front of the line to take on Conor McGregor whenever he comes back.
Vitor Belfort vs. Kelvin Gastlum (UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs. Gastlum, 3/11/17)- I put this fight on this list because Belfort is going on 40 years old and has been fighting for more than 20 years which means any fight can be his last especially since he already announced retirement in October before wanting to fight here. Win, lose, or draw, this could be the final fight for one of MMA's legends especially if he loses as this will be Belfort's third loss in row as he's coming off TKO losses to Jacare Souza and Gegard Mousasi. Meanwhile, Gastlum is on an opposite path as young fighter making a name for himself and is riding a two fight winning streak over Johny Hendricks and Tim Kennedy. A win over Belfort would be great for Gastlum as it would look good on the resume and the biggest win of his career to date. A win would also likely get him a top ranked opponent in his next outing.
Mauricio Rua vs. Gian Villante (UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs. Gastlum, 3/11/17)- This fight makes the list for the same reason as the latter one as Rua is like Belfort: a legend who is at the end of his career and any fight could be the last one. Though Rua is riding a two fight win streak, it's against an equally washed up Little Nog and a split decision over Ultimate Fighter winner Corey Anderson. Rua also doesn't fight much anymore as he only fought once in 2015 and once in 2016. One of the Strikeforce imports who made their way to the UFC in 2013, Villante has been a yo-yo bouncing around from wins and losses. Villante is currently in the middle of things with no big wins or losses on his resume. Meanwhile, his only win streak to date was a two fight one where he scored a win over Sean O'Connell in June 2014 and then over Corey Anderson in April 2015. He's currently coming off a win over Saparbek Saforov back in December at UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Abdurakhimov. Perhaps another reason to look out for this fight is that it can be exciting as Rua is well known for exciting fights from his first fight with Little Nog in 2005 to his classic with Henderson in 2011 while Villante has won "Fight of the Night" honors three times while his fight with Anderson won MMAjunkie's April 2015 Fight of the Month.
Chris Honeycutt vs. Kendall Grove (Bellator 174, 3/3/17)- This is one of those "test fights" to test out a promising prospect. Since signing with Bellator in 2014, Honeycutt scored two wins before his fights with Paul Bradley which resulted in a no contest and then the first loss of his career which was a knockout loss in less than a minute. Since that time, Honeycutt has bounced back with a three fight win streak including a win over Matt Secor before moving back up to Middleweight where he defeated former tournament runner up Mikkel Parlo and Ben Reiter. The former Ultimate Fighter winner Kendall Grove debuted in 2013 and has had his shares of wins and losses including a failed Middleweight Title shot against Brandon Halsey in 2015. Grove is coming off a TKO loss to the returning former Middleweight Champion Alexander Shlemenko from October 2016 which snapped a two fight win streak over Joey Beltran and Francisco France. Grove is pretty much a gatekeeper at this point which is good as we can see where Honeycutt is. A win gives Honeycutt the chance to move up the ladder and gives him another name on his resume.
Steve Garcia vs. Joe Taimanglo (Bellator 174, 3/3/17)- This is a fight between prospect and top contender. Garcia has spent all but two fights in Bellator where he went undefeated in his first six fights before suffering his first loss at Bellator 151 on March 4, 2016. Since then, he's bounced back with a win at Bellator 162 on October 21, 2016. Taimanglo has fought in Bellator since 2013 first as a Featherweight before dropping to his natural weight class of Bantamweight. Originally stumbling out of the gate in his Bantamweight debut against Rob Emerson, Taimanglo racked up a three fight win streak which allowed him to face prospect Darrion Caldwell in a title eliminator fight. Despite coming in a 9-to-1 underdog and losing the first two rounds, Taimanglo scored a massive upset win when he caught Caldwell with a guillotine choke ten seconds into the third round and gave "The Wolf" his first loss. However, he was denied his title shot due to him coming in overweight and he was forced to face Caldwell in a rematch at Bellator 167 on December 3, 2016 which he lost. Both have so much to gain from a win while Taimanglo has as much to lose. A win for Garcia gives him the biggest win of his career to date while possibly setting him up with future fights against Joe Warren and Marcos Galvao. Taimanglo gets back on track with a win and possibly gets a rubber fight with Caldwell if he ends up winning the Bantamweight Championship in May. A loss will really hurt his standings as a top contender.
Rampage Jackson vs. King Mo Lawal (Bellator 175, 3/31/17)- This is a rematch from Bellator 120 back on May 17, 2014 which saw Jackson defeat Lawal to win the Bellator Season Ten Light Heavyweight Tournament. Since that time, Jackson has only fought twice as a contract dispute saw him back in the UFC for a fight where he defeated Fabio Maldonado at UFC 186 in April 2015 before settling with Bellator and returning this past June where he moved up to Heavyweight and defeated Olympic gold medalist Satoshi Ishii. Lawal bounced back big time by going on a seven fight win streak over the next two years including wins over Cheick Kongo at heavyweight, Linton Vassell, and three wins in Rizin Fighting Federation to win the 2015 Rizin Heavyweight Grand Prix. However, Lawal went on a skid in 2016 as he went 1-2 with a loss to Phil Davis in a close fight at Bellator 154 on May 14, bounced back with a win over Satoshi Ishii at Bellator 169 on December 16th, and a loss to Mirko Cro Cop at Rizin's Openweight Grand Prix on December 29th as he replaced an injured Wanderlei Silva. These two have had issues for years and do not want to lose to the other. A win for Jackson proves his close win three years ago was not a fluke. A win for Lawal gets him back in the winners circle and allows him to avenge a painful loss that probably still stings. A loss would also mark the first time in Lawal's career that he will be on a losing streak.
Sergei Kharitonov vs. Chase Gormley (Bellator 175, 3/31/17)- Kharitonov had one of the most disastrous debuts of any MMA company in history when he was knocked out in 16 seconds from one punch back in November from Javy Ayala. At 36 years old, more than 35 MMA and Kickboxing fights, and has been fighting for 17 years, the question now is whether Kharitonov just simply got caught which happens especially at Heavyweight or if he has begun to decline. This was the first knockout loss Kharitonov has suffered in ten years after suffering back to back TKO losses to Alistair Overeem and Alexander Emelianenko. Kharitonov NEEDS to either win or give the fight of the year if he wants to remain in Bellator and have any chance of competing for the Heavyweight Championship. He needs to prove that he just got caught and is not declining. Gormley stumbled out of the gate in his Bellator debut when he was upset by Dan Charles in September 2015 but since bounced back with a pair of split decision wins over Joey Beltran and Bobby Brents. Though Gormley doesn't have much to lose, a loss still sends him down the ladder while a win gives him the biggest win of his career to date by far.
Blagoy Ivanov vs. Shawn Jordan (WSOF 35, 3/18/17)- This is for the WSOF Heavyweight Championship. Ivanov is currently riding a three fight win streak including a win in his WSOF debut against Smealinho Rama to win the WSOF Heavyweight Championship and two successful title defenses against Derrick Mehmen & Josh Copeland. Jordan debuted at WSOF last October with a win over Ashley Gooch at WSOF 33 which earned him this title shot. Ivanov has only lost once so far in his career and that was three years ago at Bellator 120 when he lost to Alexander Volkov in the Bellator Heavyweight Tournament Finals. A loss would give Ivanov his first loss in three years and it would hurt Ivanov's career to lose to a UFC gatekeeper in Jordan. Jordan is best known for his run in the UFC but didn't go far and nowhere near the UFC Heavyweight Championship. Now, he has the chance to win a Heavyweight Championship and a win over Ivanov would be one of the biggest wins of his career.
Lance Palmer vs. Andre Harrison (WSOF 35, 3/18/17)- This is for the WSOF Featherweight Championship. Palmer is coming off regaining the championship in an immediate rematch against Alexandre Almeida by majority decision. Harrison is making his WSOF debut after a hugely successful run in Titan FC where he won the Titan Featherweight Championship and holds a win over former Bellator tournament runner up Des Green. Harrison is also 15-0 and will enter the fight undefeated. Harrison has so much to gain and lose as a win will give him another name on his record and another championship for his trophy case. A loss will sting given this is his debut and nobody wants to stumble out of the gate and it will also mark his first loss. Palmer just regained the championship in an extremely close fight and doesn't want to follow that by losing it in his first defense.
Bekbulat Magomedov vs. Timur Valiev (WSOF 35, 3/18/17)- This is for the WSOF Bantamweight Championship which was vacant following the departure of inaugural champion Marlon Moraes. Magomedov is 17-1 while Valiev is11-2. Both are bouncing back from losses back at WSOF 33 this past October. Neither has any major win under their belt and neither have held a championship before so this is an opportunity for both to get their first MMA Title wrapped around their waist and get their name out there.
Angela Lee vs. Jenny Huang (ONE: Warrior Kingdom, 3/11/17)- This is for the ONE Women's Atomweight Championship and a battle between two undefeated women. Lee, who has spent her whole career in ONE, is 6-0 and is coming off becoming the inaugural ONE Women's Atomweight Champion by defeating JEWELS and former Valkerye Champion Mei Yamaguchi. Huang is 5-0 and has spent all but her debut fight in ONE. This is one of those fights where not only a championship is on the line but so is an undefeated streak. Lee is becoming a star on the rise in ONE and a loss would hurt that. Huang can get more eyes on her by winning the championship and handing Lee her first loss. This can also be a very fun fight as well as Lee's last fight with Yamaguchi was very well received and won MMAjunkie's May 2016 Fight of the Month award.
Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke vs. Joshua Pacio (ONE: Warrior Kingdom, 3/11/17)- These two fighters have a lot in common. Both have been involved in ONE Strawweight Championship fights, both only have one loss in their respective careers, both lost to the same exact fighter and the same exact way. Dejdamrong was ONE's first Strawweight Champion until losing that title back in May to the undefeated Yoshitaka Naito via rear naked choke. Pacio is coming off challenging Naito for the championship back in October but also lost by rear naked choke. Both have a lot to gain as the winner has a good chance to get a rematch which not only allows them a chance to win the Strawweight Championship but also avenge their loss to Naito and hand him his first loss.
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