2016 was a good year for the UFC (aside from various suspensions by the United States Anti-Doping Agency).
The company was bought for $4.2 billion dollars by WME-IMG, UFC 202 broke the Pay-Per-View buy-rate record (with 1.65 million buys) and Conor McGregor gained even more mainstream attention after becoming the first-ever man to hold two UFC titles simultaneously (Featherweight and Lightweight).
However, there are some things that fans want to see happen in the World's biggest MMA promotion and I'm here to detail the 10 things they, myself included, expect to happen in the Octagon (in no particular order) at sometime this coming year.
1, Cormier vs Jones II
The original main event of UFC 200, the rematch between Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones from UFC 182 (this time for the Undisputed UFC Light Heavyweight Championship), looked to really draw for Dana White and co ahead of their '200'th PPV event.
However three days before the event, July 6th, Jones was removed from the card after USADA flagged him for a potential-out-of-competition failed doping test.
After it was found to a failed test, Jones was suspended for one year by USADA (on November 7th) and was stripped of his interim Light Heavyweight Championship two days later.
He also suspended by NSAC (Nevada State Athletic Commission) on December 15th for one year.
A rematch between these two has long been called for by UFC fans, as many believe that the second fight would be even closer than their slug-fest in January 2015 at UFC 182 in Vegas.
Once Jones returns from his suspension in mid-July, the first match he should be put in is the fight that should have happened July 9th 2016 but will hopefully happen a little over a year later.
Press Conference Highlights announcing Jones vs Cormier 2 is cancelled as the Main Event of UFC 200.
2, Max Holloway vs Jose Aldo (For the Undisputed Featherweight Championship)
Ever since Conor McGregor destroyed Jose Aldo in 13 seconds at UFC 194 to win the undisputed UFC Featherweight Championship, the Featherweight division has been in a bit of disarray.
True, Aldo won the interim title at UFC 200, beating Frankie Edgar via unanimous decision but there was always McGregor holding the 'real' title over the division as he pursued a second UFC title.
This would all change when the UFC stripped McGregor of his Featherweight title in the build-up to UFC 206 in Toronto on December 10th.
When the original Main Event between Daniel Cormier and Anthony Johnson, for the Light Heavyweight Championship, was cancelled after Cormier withdrew with a foot injury, the UFC organised the Max Holloway vs Anthony Pettis fight to not only be the Main Event but to be for the interim featherweight title (after Aldo had been promoted to undisputed Champion following McGregor being stripped).
Holloway beat Pettis by third-round technical knockout at UFC 206 and called out Jose Aldo in his post-fight interview.
From this, fans have been wanting a Aldo vs Holloway fight to tie up the division and with rumours of it happening on February 11th at UFC 208 at the Barclays Center in New York, the fans look to be getting the fight they want.
Max Holloway and Anthony Pettis' UFC 206 post-fight interviews.
3, Woodley vs Thompson II
At UFC 205, at Madison Square Garden, the co-main event saw Welterweight Champion Tyron Woodley make his first title defence against Stephen Thompson.
The fight was tremendous and both men gave it everything they had. Clearly this translated to the judges' score cards after the fight went to decision as the contest was scored as a majority draw (with the scores being 47-47, 47-47 and 48-47 in Woodley's favour) meaning Woodley retained his Championship.
Despite it being a great fight, with both Woodley and Thompson both earning Fight of the Night bonus cheques, fans want to see a rematch and they won't have that long to wait with the UFC announcing that the rematch with headline UFC 209 on March 4th in the T-Mobile Arena in Nevada.
Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson's UFC 205 post-fight interviews.
4, Cody Garbrandt vs T.J. Dillashaw (For the Bantamweight Championship)
UFC 207 featured two male Bantamweight fights, one between T.J. Dillashaw and John Lineker, and the other between Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz and Cody Garbrandt.
Garbrandt, the protegee of legendary MMA fighter Urijah Faber (who hated Dominick Cruz), shocked the MMA World when he beat Cruz via unanimous decision, handing the San Diego native his first loss in just under 10 years.
The fight before saw Dillashaw beating Lineker via the same result. Despite Dillashaw being the number 1 contender from his victory over Lineker, Garbrandt wants to give Cruz his immediate rematch that he deserves as a former Champion.
However, fans want to see Dillashaw vs Garbrandt for the title as they feel that Dillashaw should have been the one to face Cruz at UFC 207 (being higher ranked than Garbrandt at the time). So naturally, fans want to see Dillashaw vs Garbrandt at some point in the next year.
Cody Garbrandt's UFC 207 post-fight interview.
5, A decision made on CM Punk
On September 10th at UFC 203 in Cleveland, Ohio, former Professional Wrestler CM Punk (a.k.a. Phil Brooks) made his MMA debut against Mickey Gall, 21 months after signing with the UFC.
Punk lost to Gall in 2 minutes and 14 seconds of the first round via rear-naked choke.
After the fight, Dana White said that if Punk wanted to fight again, which he does, it probably shouldn't be in the UFC.
However, Punk then said on the MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani that him and Dana had been working on an idea for Punk's second fight. Punk also added that he wanted to fight in January or February.
Either way, fans want to see Punk fight again soon and prove he's got something to offer the UFC or see him move to another promotion.
CM Punk on the MMA Hour.
6, Diaz vs McGregor III
When then UFC Lightweight Champion Raquael Dos Anjos pulled out of a title defence 11 days before a title defence at UFC 196 against then Featherweight Champion Conor McGregor, the UFC panicked.
McGregor had all the momentum in the World after knocking out Jose Aldo in 13 seconds and the UFC needed a blockbuster replacement.
Enter Nate Diaz.
After beating Michael Johnson on a December 2015 FOX card, Diaz called out McGregor, stating "you're taking everything I've ever worked for mother*******." So naturally the UFC slotted Diaz into the Main Event at UFC 196.
Then Diaz shocked the World and beat McGregor by second-round rear naked choke,
McGregor, like any normal fighter, bugged the UFC for a rematch and he got it at UFC 202 (although it was originally scheduled to be the Main Event of UFC 200 before McGregor refused to fulfill some media obligations in the initial build-up).
The build-up was unlike anything MMA had seen before, with the duo having a big clash of personalities.
It escalated to the point were McGregor and Diaz were throwing water bottles at each other, for which the Irishman was fined $150,000 and made to do 50 hours of community service.
McGregor won the rematch at UFC 202 via unanimous decision and ever since fans have called for a conclusion to the trilogy.
Whether it be at welterweight, like their previous two fights, or at lightweight is up for debate but what surely isn't is seeing a third fight between these two.
Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz's UFC 202 post-fight interviews.
7, Conor McGregor vs Khabib Nurmagomedov (For the Lightweight Championship)
Khabib Nurmagomedov has been a force to be reckoned with in the UFC. With an undefeated record of 24-0, with eight of those coming inside the Octagon, Nurmagomedov has risen to contention for the UFC Lightweight Championship when Conor McGregor returns after the birth of his first child.
This was helped by Nurmagomedov's comments after his fight with Michael Johnson (the same night that McGregor won the Lightweight belt from Eddie Alvarez in the Main Event.)
It's been announced that Nurmagomedov will fight Tony Ferguson at UFC 209 for the interim title and, failing a massive upset, Nurmagomedov win the interim title and will (along with fans) call for an Undisputed Lightweight title fight with McGregor, soon rather than later.
Khabib Nurmagomedov's UFC 205 post-fight interview.
8, A decision from Ronda Rousey
On December 30th, at UFC 207 in Las Vegas, Ronda Rousey made her return to the Octagon after 13 months away from the cage following her first career loss to Holly Holm at UFC 193 in November 2015. She faced Amanda Nunes for the Women's Bantamweight Championship in the Main Event.
Then lost in 48 seconds.
Rousey clearly hadn't worked on her striking in her preparation for the 'Lion-ness' and this showed when she barely landed a punch on the Brazilian.
Adding to the fact that Rousey did no media what so ever during Fight Week, UFC fans don't really know how to feel about the inaugural Bantamweight Women's Champion.
She later released a statement saying that she would take some time to consider her future. Regardless of what she does, UFC fans want to see Rousey made a decision soon (i.e. under a year) or retire from MMA all together.
Ronda Rousey's Instagram post that has sparked further debate over her MMA future.
9, The return of GSP
Georges Saint-Pierre, or just GSP, is widely considered as one of the greatest MMA fighters of all-time (along with Anderson Silva, Chris Weidman, Jose Aldo, Daniel Cormier and Chael Sonnen among many).
However, the former two-time Welterweight Champion hasn't fought since November 2013 against Johnny Hendricks at UFC 167, after which he voluntarily vacated the Welterweight Championship.
Now around six months, it was rumoured that various fighters were going to face GSP at UFC 206. These included UFC Middleweight Champion Michael Bisping, UFC Hall of Famer BJ Penn, Nick Diaz and UFC Welterweight Champion Tyron Woodley.
However, on October 16th 2016, GSP's lawyer said that talks between his client and the UFC had broken down and that he would be signing for another promotion as GSP was no longer under contract.
Dana White has threatened to sue GSP if he signs with another promotion, as the UFC President says that GSP is still under contract.
Regardless of this whole situation, fans just want to see GSP return to the Octagon in 2017 for a big-money fight (possibly against Nick Diaz?), even if it is his last-ever fight.
Thanks @chaelsonnen for inviting me to train in the @bellatormma cage! Learned so much new stuff under the supervision of @neilmelanson pic.twitter.com/ndsnS60AaK— Georges St-Pierre (@GeorgesStPierre) November 20, 2016
GSP thanking Chael Sonnen for inviting him to train at Bellator.
10, A Change to Contracts
At UFC 200, Mark Hunt took on a returning Brock Lesnar in a blockbuster of a co-Main Event that saw Lesnar win via unanimous decision.
However, it was uncovered shortly after by USADA that Lesnar had failed two drugs tests (one on June 28th and on fight night, July 9th) for the anti-estrogenic agent Hydroxy-clomiphene.
The NAC (Nevada Athletic Commission) suspeneded Lesnar for a year following this and also fined him 10% of his UFC 200 fight purse ($250,000). USADA also issued a one-year suspension.
Mark Hunt feels that enough isn't done to erase cheats from the Sport, Lesnar in this case, and has subsequently sued UFC President Dana White, Brock Lesnar and the UFC's parent company Zuffa LLC for $2.5 million.
Some of the allegations include racketeering, fraud, negligence, and breach of contract.
Speaking to ESPN, Hunt said "I want the UFC to understand it's not OK to keep doing what they're doing," "They're allowing guys to do this. They had a chance to take all the money from this guy, because he's a cheater, and they didn't.
He added "What message is that sending to the boys and girls who want to be a fighter someday? The message is, 'You just have to cheat like this and it's OK.' In society, if you commit a crime, you pay. Why is it different in MMA? It's hurt the business, so it's even worse. They need to be held accountable for this."
This is the third time Hunt has had his opponent test positive for performance enhancing drugs (Antonio Silva, Frank Mir and Brock Lesnar).
It's good what USADA do in catching those who cheat in the UFC but there should be more done to protect the fighters that see their fight turned into a no-contest.
Alot of this may depend on the outcome of the Hunt/UFC-Lesnar lawsuit but fans, myself very much included, are sick of seeing fighters' careers, like Hunt, suffer because of the cheats in the Sport.
There should be a change in contracts were a fighter would get an agreed percentage of the others purse if they are found guilty of doping by USADA.
As I say, a lot depends on the outcome of the Hunt vs UFC-Lesnar lawsuit so this may take some time to come to fruition.
Mark Hunt asking Alistair Overeem for a fight at UFC 209 and making a joke about his lawsuit against the UFC and Brock Lesnar.
11, A unified Women's Champion
The inaugural UFC Women's Featherweight Champion will be crowned at the Barclays Center, New York, on February 11th at UFC 208 as former Bantamweight Champion Holly Holm and Germaine de Randamie face off in the promotion's first-ever Women's featherweight fight.
Aside from this interesting match-up, fans want to see a unified Women's title fight, with the winner of the UFC 208 Main Event facing off against the UFC Bantamweight Champion Amanada Nunes.
Nunes herself has stated this via Twitter and she could very well become the first-ever two-weight Women's champion.
Speaking to MMAJunkie, the Brazilian said "“Conor McGregor did it,” “Why can’t I? “Everybody got so excited when Conor did it. I think, with me, I think they’ll be excited too.”
She also mentioned her stunning win over Rousey “I defended (the belt) already, with the most dominant athlete on the planet,” she said. “Forty-eight seconds? I think deserve it if I ask for it for the next fight.
“I think the fans want to see it – a female fighter go to another weight class and take the two belts.”
With Nunes' drawing power skyrocketing after her destruction of Rousey, it seems inevitable that Dana and co will book this mega fight sooner rather than later.
I'm ready to make wmma history.... I want the winner. @danawhite @ufc @seanshelby vamos Fazer historia no mundo quero lutar com quem ganhar. pic.twitter.com/VQXyp4SCaO— Amanda🦁Nunes (@Amanda_Leoa) January 15, 2017
Amanda Nunes calls to face the winner of Holm vs De Randamie.
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