Five Takeaways From UFC on FOX 17

Now that the dust has settled on last night’s (Sat., December 19, 2015) UFC on FOX 17 from the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, fans can begin to digest the ramifications of the promotion’s final card of a packed 2015.

It was an amazing event that featured the impressive debuts of two potential female stars, the return to prominence of one lightweight superstar, the continued rise of a former multi-promotion heavyweight champ, and finally, a hard-hitting, telling performance from the UFC lightweight champion.

Let’s take a look back at the five biggest takeaways from UFC on FOX 17.

5.) Karolina Kowalkiewicz Will Be A Big Star:

Polish striking talent Karolina Kowalkiewicz made her long long-awaited UFC debut last night, and she made quite the impact. Defeating No. 7-ranked TUF competitor Randa Markos, Kowalkiewicz showed diverse stand-up skills as well as speed and power despite a ground game that will need some work.

That will come with training. In a division still developing like women’s strawweight is, Kowalkiewicz’s beauty and laser-precise kickboxing should make her a star soon. She already toppled a Top 10-ranked challenge, so she should debut there herself with the UFC issues the post-UFC on FOX 17 official rankings update.

Kowalkiewicz should be quite the star if she can continue winning high-profile fights, and a title bout against divisional champ and fellow Polish star Joanna Jedrzejczyk would be absolutely huge.

4.) Charles Oliveira Should Rematch Max Holloway:

The Brazilian Oliveira got back on track with yet another submission finish of former lightweight Myles Jury at UFC on FOX 17 despite missing weight yet again. If ‘Do Bronx’ can get his issues on the scale in line, he should be granted an opportunity to use his freak injury TKO loss to Max Holloway last August.

The Hawaiian combatant is coming off of a somewhat lackluster decision win over Jeremy Stephens at UFC 194, and both are on the cusp of truly breaking through into the upper echelon of featherweight challengers like Frankie Edgar, Jose Aldo, and Chad Mendes.

Only one deserves a spot among those elite competitors, however, so a true fight to legitimately decide which one should be scheduled for sometime this spring.

3.) Nate Diaz Is Back:

Diaz looked to be in amazing shape as he thoroughly outclassed formerly No. 6-ranked Johnson in Orlando, and famously used his post-fight speech to call out featherweight champion Conor McGregor in an expletive-filled rant. It would seem that McGregor’s electric drawing power and financial impact has not surprisingly motivated Diaz, who wants the biggest fights only.

There’s no denying that Diaz vs. McGregor would be a huge bout, one that possessed perhaps the most heated back-and-forth trash talk war a UFC fight has ever seen. Yet there are simply bigger fights for McGregor like a featherweight title bout with Edgar and a lightweight title fight with dos Anjos. While it could be argued that Diaz is more popular than either Edgar or dos Anjos, a belt would be on the line in both of those fights, lending a bit more weight and attractiveness.

Diaz has also been up and down in his motivation as of late, and at this point, McGregor is only going to fight the best of the best. Diaz took a step back towards being in that elite company last night, and his rise in the rankings should reflect that tomorrow.

However, he still has a lot to prove before he fights McGregor.

2.) Alistair Overeem Is Finally Fulfilling His Potential:

When Alistair Overeem came to the UFC in 2011 as the Strikeforce, DREAM, and K-1 champion, the expectation was that the hulking superstar would become UFC champion soon, and he delivered on some of that hype by destroying Brock Lesnar in his UFC 142 debut.

However, when he failed a drug test prior to his original scheduled meeting with dos Santos at UFC 146, Overeem was suspended and set off a disturbing series of bouts where he was knocked out in bouts he was winning. The UFC gave him more than sufficient chance to prove himself, but he Antonio Silva, Travis Browne, and Ben Rothwell all cleaned his clock in bouts Overeem was previously winning up until the point he got viciously knocked out.

Many were quick to write Overeem of as one of the biggest busts in MMA history, but he’s since rebounded effectively since a camp change to Jackson-Winkeljohn MMA in Albuquerque. Winning three straight over Stefan Struve, Roy Nelson, and finally dos Santos by way of impressive knockout at UFC on FOX 17, Overeem has instantly inserted himself into title contention in a shallow division and could be (finally) fighting for UFC gold in one or two more fights.

1.) Rafael dos Anjos Is The Real Deal As Champion:

Many were quick to doubt dos Anjos and pick Cerrone last night even after the Brazilian destroyed former champion Anthony Pettis with one of the most one-sided five-round showings in UFC history at March’s UFC 185.

Dos Anjos still didn’t seem to get the attention he deserved, but after he ran through Cerrone in just over a minute thanks to a bulldozing rush of lethal body kicks and accurate power punches, there was no question that dos Anjos had arrived as the true and deserving UFC lightweight champion last night, as if there needed to be any confirmation.

True, he lost to Khabib Nurmagomedov via a rather uneven and smothering unanimous decision at UFC on FOX 11 in April 2014, but dos Anjos has since stayed active and gotten much better, while ‘The Eagle’ has been nursing multiple serious injures and hasn’t fought since.

That fight obviously makes sense at some point down the line, but for now a bout with surging contender Tony Ferguson or McGregor are probably the biggest and best fights for dos Anjos right now. Especially the bout with McGregor because it would boost dos Anjos into the respect he has most certainly earned over the past two years.

You may have believed his stoppage win over Cerrone was a bit too early, but it simply can’t be denied that dos Anjos is quite the legit 155-pound champ.