MMA Fights To Look Forward To In July 2017

MMA Fights To Look Forward To In July 2017
June 27, 2017
By Ryan Porzl

Note that 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. Also, card subject to change.



Michael Johnson vs. Justin Gaethje (The Ultimate Fighter Redemption Finale, 7/7/17)- This is Gaethje's UFC debut. Gaethje enters the UFC undefeated at 17-0 with wins over JZ Cavalcante, Melvin Guillard, and Brian Foster. Gaethje made his name in WSOF where he was the first Lightweight Champion and achieved several records during his dominant reign. However, many have questioned the legitimacy of Gaethje's opponents (which is common for non UFC fighters) so a win over Michael Johnson would be a great start in shutting up critics while a loss would have the critics come out and question if Gaethje was great to begin with. Johnson is coming off a loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 205 in November and is 2-3 in his last five fights. Johnson needs a win to keep his career above water and a win over Gaethje would be great for the resume. A loss would put Johnson at two losses in a row and 1-4 in his last five. Both fighters have a lot to gain but a lot to lose.

Amanda Nunes vs. Valentina Shevchenko (UFC 213, 7/8/17)- For the UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship and a rematch from UFC 196 back in March 2016. Nunes is on the roll of her career including a five fight win streak and is coming off the biggest win of her career by successfully defending the championship again former champion Ronda Rousey back in December at UFC 207. Other wins include Shayna Baezler, Miesha Tate (who she beat to win the championship), former title contender Sara McMann, and Shevchenko, herself. Shevchenko is riding a two fight win streak which includes a unanimous decision win over former champion Holly Holm and a submission win over former Ultimate Fighter winner Julianna Pena. The loss to Nunes is the only one Shevchenko has suffered to date in her UFC run and snapped a five fight winning streak. Nunes is currently on the roll of a lifetime especially coming off beating Rousey so the last thing she wants is to lose the title especially right now and to an opponent she already holds a victory over. Shevchenko has a lot riding on this fight. A win allows her to avenge a previous loss and allows her to argue that the previous loss was a fluke. A win also gives her the UFC Women's Bantamweight Title which would be the biggest achievement of her career. A loss makes it two against Nunes which means her future will be in limbo for as long as Nunes is champion.

Yoel Romero vs. Robert Whittaker (UFC 213, 7/8/17)- For the UFC Interim Middleweight Championship. Romero is coming off a KO win over Chris Weidman back at UFC 205 in November and is currently riding an eight fight win streak which includes Weidman, Tim Kennedy, Lyoto Machida, and Jacare Souza. Whittaker has been riding a seven fight win streak with his most recent win being the biggest to date when he TKOed top contender Jacare Souza at UFC on FOX: Johnson vs. Reis back in April. Romero has been pounding on the door for a title shot for what seems like forever and many have considered him the real number one contender in recent months but shenanigans involving Middleweight Champion Michael Bisping and his desire for a money fight against Georges St. Pierre has left Romero out in the cold. Winning the Interim Title would guarantee Romero the title shot he's long been waiting for. For Whittaker, a win over Romero would be his biggest and also guarantee him the opportunity to challenge for the championship. 

Fabricio Werdum vs. Alistair Overeem (UFC 213, 7/8/17)- This is the third encounter between these two men. The first fight was at PRIDE Total Elimination Absolute in May 2006 where Werdum defeated Overeem in the first round of the 2006 PRIDE Openweight Grand Prix Tournament while Overeem avenged the loss by defeating Werdum at Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum in June 2011 in the quarterfinals of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix. Both are bouncing back from losses from current UFC Champion Stipe Miocic with Werdum defeating Travis Browne at UFC 203 back in September while Overeem defeated Mark Hunt at UFC 209 in March. A lot is on the line as the winner wins the rubber match and gets bragging rights. A win would almost guarantee Werdum a rematch at Miocic who he lost the title to last year while Overeem would at least be one step closer to another shot. A loss would obviously send them down the ladder of contention.

Travis Browne vs. Oleksiy Oliynyk (UFC 213, 7/8/17)- A match where winning is everything especially for Browne. Simply put, Browne NEEDS a win as he's fighting for his job since he's 1-4 in his last five fights with his one win being a controversial one against Matt Mitrione back in January 2016 which involved an eye poke. Since then, Browne has lost his last three fights to Cain Velasquez, Fabricio Werdum, and Derrick Lewis. While losing to those three isn't anything to be ashamed of, three losses in a row puts anyone's job in the UFC in serious jeopardy. It's even worse that fewer fighters have plummeted as much as Browne who has looked awful in his last three fights when he was a guy who four years ago seemed like a guarantee to be a future UFC Heavyweight Champion. Oliynyk is in a weird position as he's not fighting for his job and has done well in the UFC as he's 3-1 with his recent fight being a bounce back over Viktor Pesta back in January at UFC Fight Night: Rodriguez vs. Penn. While Oliynyk isn't in danger, time is against him. Currently, he just turned 40 years old a few days ago and has fought 62 fights while having fought on and off since 1997. Oliynyk is up there in age and has tons of milege so he can't afford any losses or any setbacks. If he wants to become UFC Heavyweight Champion then he needs to make it happen now.

Chris Weidman vs. Kelvin Gastlum (UFC on FOX: Weidman vs. Gastlum, 7/22/17)- Hard to believe the man who ended the dominant reign of Anderson Silva now has his back to the wall. Weidman is riding a three fight losing streak including his title loss to Luke Rockhold, Yoel Romero, and recently Gegard Mousasi. Like Browne, Weidman hasn't lost to anyone bad as all three are elite right now but again, a three fight losing streak is still bad and despite being a former champion, he could be dropped after four straight losses. Gastlum is unbeaten in three fights with wins over Johny Hendricks and Tim Kennedy while getting a No Contest against Vitor Belfort (originally a win but overturned due to testing positive for marijuana). The former Ultimate Fighter winner has shown potential for years but has had some setbacks this year due to the drug test failure as he was not only briefly suspended but the biggest win of his career to date against Belfort was overturned and he lost out on a huge opportunity to fight Anderson Silva. A win over Weidman would be the biggest victory of his career and potentially put him in a title eliminator fight by years end.

Daniel Cormier vs. Jon Jones (UFC 214, 7/29/17)- This is for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship and a long awaited rematch as the two previously fought at UFC 182 on January 3, 2015 with Jones handing Cormier his one and, to date, only loss of his career. A rematch was originally set for UFC 197 on April 23, 2016 and then on UFC 200 on July 9, 2016 but the fights were cancelled after Cormier pulled out due to injury and when Jones failed a drug test and hasn't fought since while being stripped of the UFC Interim Light Heavyweight Championship. Jones is riding a 13 fight win streak with his last win being over Ovince St. Preux for the UFC Interim Light Heavyweight Championship at UFC 197 in April 2016. Cormier is riding a four fight win streak with his recent win being a successful title defense against Anthony Johnson at UFC 210 this past April. It's well documented that these two hate each other and want to fight so that alone is worth seeing it. However, there's so much for both men to get with a win. For Jones, he gets to regain the championship that he never lost and get bragging rights over Cormier. For Cormier, he gets to avenge the only loss of his career and prove he is the true champion by defeating Jones who some believe he needs to beat to prove he is the champion and not just keeping the belt warm for Jones once he returned.

Cris Cyborg vs. Tonya Evinger (UFC 214, 7/29/17)- This is for the vacant UFC Women's Featherweight Championship after inaugural champion Germaine de Randamie was stripped of the championship after refusing to face Cyborg. Evinger is a last minute replacement for Megan Anderson. Cyborg is riding an eighteen fight unbeaten streak (17 wins, 1 no contest) with her last loss being her debut fight twelve years ago. Since then, Cyborg has become the most dominant women's featherweight of all time with dominant runs in Strikeforce and Invicta while holding both companies championships and never lost either one. Cyborg last won against Lina Lansberg at UFC Fight Night: Cyborg vs. Lansberg back in September. Evinger is making her UFC debut and is unbeaten in eleven fights (10 wins, 1 no contest) with her recent fight being a win over Yana Kunitskaya at Invicta 22 this past March where she retained the Invicta Women's Bantamweight Championship. Despite her success, Cyborg has had her share of critics especially during Ronda Rousey's dominance and the fact the superfight between the two never materialized. By winning the UFC Women's Featherweight Championship, Cyborg would shut up many of her critics by winning a championship in the UFC. Also, winning the title would make it hard to question whether Cyborg is the best Women's Featherweight to date and could make a great arguement to perhaps being the most decorated women's fighter of all time being a champion in Strikeforce, Invicta, and the UFC. This is the biggest fight of Evinger's career and could be the biggest she'll ever have. If she wins, she'll pull off one of MMA's biggest upsets by handing Cyborg her first loss in twelve years, get one of the biggest wins in MMA history, and become a UFC champion all in her UFC debut. 

Joe Warren vs. Steve Garcia (Bellator 181, 7/14/17)- This is a classic case of old guard vs. new blood. Warren is coming off a stinging loss to Eduardo Dantas by an extremely close majority decision back in December at Bellator 166 which prevented him from defeating Dantas a second time and once again becoming Bellator Bantamweight Champion. Garcia is coming off a win over Ronnie Lawrence at Bellator 162 back in October which was a bounce back from the first loss of his career to Ricky Turcios at Bellator 151 in March 2016. As mentioned, Warren has faced Dantas twice with each having a win. A decisive win over Garcia would allow Warren to argue for a title shot in his next fight especially since his loss was a majority decision. On the other hand, Warren is 40 and doesn't have long to go. Warren has maybe one more chance to become a champion and he can't afford a loss especially to a prospect like Garcia as the question would be if Warren's time has gone. For Garcia, this would easily be the biggest win of his career by far, give him his first name win, and make an excellent argument for a title eliminator fight in the near future.

Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Hideo Tokoro (Rizin Fighting World Grand Prix 1st Round, 7/30/17)- This is the first round of the 2017 Rizin Bantamweight Grand Prix. Horiguchi is currently riding a four fight win streak with his recent fight was a win over former two time DEEP Flyweight Champion Yuki Motoya back in April at Rizin 5 which was his Rizin debut and his return to Japan. Tokoro is coming off a win over Erson Yamamoto at Rizin World Grand Prix: Final Round on New Year's Eve which was a bounce back from a loss to Kron Gracie back in September. As mentioned, this is the first round of a tournament so the winner advances and is one step closer to being the grand prix winner. Despite the bracketts not being filled yet, both men have to be considered favorites as Horiguchi is the former Shooto Bantamweight Champion and a former UFC Flyweight Championship contender while Tokoro is a former DREAM Grand Prix winner. This fight should also be exciting as Horiguchi is one of the best fighters in the world while Tokoro is one of the most fun to watch as he puts on a show win, lose, or draw as shown in his 2015 Fight of the Year Candidate against LC Davis.

Kairat Akhmetov vs. Adriano Moraes (ONE Championship: Conquest of Kings, 7/29/17)- This is to crown the undisputed ONE Flyweight Champion and is a rematch from ONE: Dynasty of Champions back in November 2015 when Akhmetov defeated Moraes to win the championship. Akhmetov is undefeated at 23-0 with his last win being his title win over Moraes as he's been out of action since. Moraes is riding a two fight win streak since the title loss with his recent win being over Tilek Batyrov back in August at ONE Championship: Heroes of the World which earned him the interim title. A title on the line can make any fight big but the last fight was a close split decision as well which means there are people out there who don't think Akhmetov should've won. Not only does Akhmetov get the chance to retain his title but also can prove his win wasn't a fluke and that he's capable of decisively defeat Moraes. For Moraes, he regains the championship while proving the loss was a fluke while also being the first to hand Akhemtov a defeat. Also, Moraes could be sent to no man's land with a second loss and may take a long time to get back in title contention.