UFC 194 Preview
The busy week of fights ends with another double title fight as this time a rivalry is finally solved and an overlooked champion tries to put his name among the greatest.
Another month means another long anticipated fight as last month saw Ronda Rousey fight, and lose to, her greatest challenge yet.
This month sees two rivals finally face-off in the octagon after almost two years of talking and plenty of media buzz.
Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor will finally get to fight and determine who the best fighter is in the featherweight division.
There is one other big fight on the night though and it is beginning to be a theme for one fighter as it is not being talked about as much as it should.
Chris Weidman was at one time one of the most promising prospects in the UFC and took on the greatest fighter the UFC had ever seen.
Anderson Silva had taken the middleweight title in 2006 when he beat Forrest Griffin at UFC 64 and that win began a title reign that lasted until 2012.
He was the most dominant fighter in UFC history but he got too cocky when he took on Weidman and instead of fighting he played around trying to get Weidman to commit and counter him.
Weidman came in but instead of a counter Silva was knocked out losing his first fight in six years and a few months later broke his leg in his rematch with Weidman.
It was a big shift in the UFC and Weidman was the man leading the way but since his two fights with Silva he has rarely been mentioned among the best in the UFC.
It is often said to be the best you have to beat the best and that is what Weidman did but he is often ignored when talking about the best champions.
A lot of it has to do with the fact that he has struggled to be active in the UFC as this will be his third fight in two years.
He has been forced to withdraw from multiple fights due to injury and hasn’t been as active as many champions.
So the division does not stay in the limelight as contenders continue to fight each other waiting for a chance at the belt whenever Weidman is healthy.
At UFC 194 Weidman will get back on track fighting in his second title defence this year while the next contender will be determined earlier in the night.
Yoel Romero and Ronaldo Souza will face-off in a highly anticipated match that will determine the next contender after Weidman faces off with his next challenge in Luke Rockhold.
Rockhold came into the UFC as the Strikeforce champion but got a harsh reality check in his first UFC fight losing to Belfort.
He was considered a contender immediately but the loss set him back to work his way to the title which he did winning his next four fights ending all of them early.
Now he gets a shot against Weidman to earn the UFC title that he seemed sure to be headed for when he joined the promotion.
Weidman is looking to get another win and continue his own run in hopes that he gets a little more recognition for continuing to eliminate the competition like Silva did during his six year reign.
One fighter that gets that recognition is Aldo who is considered one of the most dominant champions in the UFC and rightfully so.
His one and only loss came a decade ago in a Brazilian promotion and since then he has spent his career beating every challenger in his way.
In the UFC he has been unbeatable with great Jiu Jitsu and great striking that includes some of the best kicks in the UFC.
There are not many fighters that have challenged him but when McGregor came into the UFC things changed as he was impressive from the start.
Like Aldo, McGregor has never lost a fight in the UFC but he has done so with some very impressive performances finishing all but one of his fights.
He also has made plenty of noise as the loudest fighter in the UFC consistently insulting his opponents and calling out Aldo every step of the way.
It all came to a head in the build up to UFC 189 when the UFC put on a world tour featuring both fighters to promote their main event.
McGregor and Aldo continued to build a rivalry throughout the world tour but Aldo was injured just before the fight and instead McGregor faced Chad Mendes for the interim belt.
Now all of that build finally leads to a fight where McGregor looks to make good on his assertion that he is the best fighter in the division and Aldo tries to shut up the loud Irishman.
McGregor has done something that no other fighter has done already though as he has gotten under Aldo’s skin.
Aldo is usually the picture of professionalism but when in the same room as Aldo it seems to go away and the anger seems to build.
Both are great fighters but each has a way to win this fight and for McGregor it could be that he is in the head of the champion.
For Aldo it is as easy as taking this fight to the ground where McGregor has struggled in the past and is sure to struggle against a black belt Jiu Jitsu practitioner.
With such a glaring weakness in his game McGregor won’t win this fight as both champions will retain their belts after Weidman beats Rockhold and Aldo beats McGregor.
The Sport Addiction 