UFC 192 Preview
There will be plenty on the line as the UFC travels to Houston for UFC 192 with three big fights that will all have a big impact on the titles in two weight divisions.
The welterweight division will see two of the top contenders face-off both looking for another shot at the title.
Tyron Woodley has never been in a title fight in the UFC but came close when he took on Rory MacDonald in a top contender fight in 2014.
Meanwhile Johny Hendricks is a former welterweight champion after beating Robbie Lawler in for the vacant title but losing the rematch.
Hendricks is currently the #1 fighter in the division and wants that trilogy with Lawler for the title while Woodley is #3 and is getting his second shot at competing for a title as he tries to make good on the opportunity this year.
The winner of this fight is very likely the next contender after Lawlor takes on Carlos Condit in January.
The welterweight division will figure something out at UFC 192 but the light heavyweight division is the one that will take the biggest focus on the night.
Not only with the title be on the line but a former champion will return to the octagon for the first time since 2013 against the hottest light heavyweight in the UFC.
Rashad Evans had beat the best of the best in the division and after winning TUF 2 and became a champion when the division was at its toughest.
Then he dropped a title defence to Jon Jones and after a second loss was beginning to rise through the rankings again in beating Dan Henderson and Chael Sonnen.
He was set to take on Daniel Cormier in his next fight in what was sure to get him even closer to a title challenge but during training he blew out his knee injuring his ACL.
Complications after the surgery kept him out of the octagon and had him thinking about retiring from the UFC.
He has a renewed passion after participating in TUF 20 as a coach on the Blackzillians team and will return to the octagon not for a swan song but to make another run at a title he held seven years ago.
That task won’t be easy though as he takes on Ryan Bader in his first fight back, a fighter who has won four fights in a row.
Bader believes that he was a better choice than Cormier to fight for the vacant title against Anthony Johnson.
He has plenty to prove as he hopes to beat a light heavyweight legend in Evans and show that he is the next top contender for the title.
Who he hopes to face will be determined later in the night when the current light heavyweight champion Cormier takes on Alexander Gustafsson for the title.
The title outlook is an interesting one especially with developments this week that former champion Jones will not go to jail following his hit and run arrest that caused him to have the title stripped.
With Jones not going to jail his return is inevitable and so far as a champion he has never been beaten, even beating Cormier easily in a title challenge before his arrest.
Jones will be given a shot to earn his title back, although he may need to go through a few fighters first, as many still see him as the UFC champion despite his arrest.
With Jones in the background with an unknown future two fighters who lost to the former champion face off for the title.
Cormier beat Johnson to earn the vacated title in a convincing win at UFC 187 and he has always been considered one of the best in the UFC.
His only obstacle was Jones who beat him handily at UFC 182, which remains his only loss in MMA as he begins his title reign.
He has a tough test in his first title defence though as Alexander Gustafsson fared much better against the only fighter to beat Cormier.
Gustafsson is still the fighter that many consider to be the biggest and best challenge to Jones after a five round war at UFC 165, a fight that some thought he should have won.
Gustafsson was the only fighter that had an equal reach and size to Jones and showed how important that is in the light heavyweight division.
If anything can be said for comparing two fighters against each other based on common opponents, it seems like Gustafsson has the upper hand.
He is the same build as Jones and that build, namely the reach, gave Cormier plenty of issues in his match-up against the former champion.
Gustafsson is not Jones though as his striking game is far less creative than Jones and is much more straight ahead than Jones is.
That lack of creativity and the lack of ability to bring shots from everywhere may give Cormier the chance to do exactly what he wants to do, put this fight on the ground.
Cormier is a former Olympic wrestler and is by far the superior wrestler in this match-up.
If the fight goes to the ground it is Cormier’s to lose while in the stand-up the reach might be too much for Cormier despite his strength.
The light heavyweight division will see a new champion after UFC 192 as Gustafsson will take the win while a new challenger should emerge in the division along with the welterweight division in a big night for both divisions.
The Sport Addiction 