While it may not do blockbuster business, next weekend’s UFC 209 is a massive card for hardcore MMA fans. Headlined by a pair of very intriguing title conflicts, the card also features lots of fan favorites, plus several of the highly regarded prospects on the roster right now. The most important event will be the welterweight title rematch between Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson. Their battle on the huge UFC 205 card proven to be a far better competition than many expected, end in a majority draw. Woodley had the far more demonstrative moments in the fight throughout the first and fourth rounds. But, Thompson managed to back him against the cage for long stretches of the rounds, and although he did not accomplish much once there he took these rounds. The fifth saw Thompson open up on a weary Woodley and end the struggle on a solid note, but it had been only enough to get him back level on two scorecards. As Woodley and Thompson failed at UFC 205, the co-main event could steal the show as well. The interim lightweight title bout between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson comprises two of those fighters in the division who have taken the long road to their title shots. Nurmagomedov is now 8-0 inside the Octagon and 24-0 overall in his career. He’s been tapped for big things considering entering the UFC, and after overcoming a rash of severe harms, finally seems consistently fit and is favored to win the belt on March 4th. Ferguson has witnessed his own lumps in the road on the way for this particular shot. After winning the 13th year of’The Ultimate Fighter’ back in 2011, he scored three successive wins. He fell a decision to Michael Johnson in 2012 that only stopped his sanity for a moment. Since that time, he has reeled off nine consecutive wins against the likes of Rafael dos Anjos, Edson Barboza, and Josh Thomson, always putting on must-see struggles. The combo of Nurmagomedov’s dominance and Ferguson’s high-paced, all-action strategy creates their imaginations of the best bookings at the UFC in some time, and almost makes you forget that there is a guy out there holding the UFC lightweight title who appears to possess no desire to defend it. The principal card of UFC 209 also offers a heavyweight rematch between Alistair Overeem and Mark Hunt. The two fought in DREAM back in 2008 under a variety of circumstances. Overeem was only beginning his transformation to Ubereem, while Hunt’s commitment to the game was about in line with Mario Yamasaki’s want to stop fights on time. Both guys are a lot of fighters at this point, as Overeem has adopted a much more conservative style and Hunt has rounded out his game considerably. In their first fight, Overeem immediately took Hunt down and filed him, but we have not seen a lot of his offensive fighting game recently. Will this fight mark its return, or will the K-1 Grand Prix winners participate on the toes? Rounding out the main card, former light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans makes his long-awaited middleweight debut against the always sudden Dan Kelly. The currently 37-year-old Evans is 2-4 in his last six, and hasn’t won a fight since 2013. Kelly, despite turning 40 after this season, has impressed in his UFC conduct — although the level of competition has been a far cry from what Evans could have provided within his prime — going 5-1 despite being the gambling underdog in each of his UFC outings. Finally, one of the rising stars at lightweight gets another opportunity to show off his striking, although from a technical perspective this might be his stiffest test yet on the toes. Lando Vannata stormed into the UFC, almost upsetting Tony Ferguson on brief notice in his introduction, and then scoring the popular pick for 2016’s knockout of this year against John Makdessi. He’ll be facing an underrated opponent in David Teymur, who has a pair of TKO wins on his UFC resume after breaking into the business via TUF. The undercard also includes some fights to keep your eyes , as undefeated prospects Mirsad Bektic, Luke Sanders, Paul’The Bear Jew’ Craig, and Tyson Pedro create their yields. The latter two are paired together in a light heavyweight division which desperately needs fighters to grow up the rankings. Meanwhile, Bektic and Sanders face their stiffest professional evaluations against Darren Elkins and Iuri Alcantara, respectively.
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