Three Reasons To Watch UFC 186
UFC 186 has taken knock after knock in the months leading up to the show. Tonight’s (Saturday April 25th, 2015) card has been greatly depleted since it’s inception, with the loss of both of it’s biggest fights. TJ Dillashaw vs Renan Barao 2 was bumped from the card, as was the welterweight title eliminator between Rory MacDonald and Hector Lombard.
It didn’t help that it was a failed drug test that got “Lightning” thrust from his position on the card, although you could argue it benefited “Ares” as he now faces Robbie Lawler at UFC 189 for the belt. Those points aside, the juggling of Quinton Jackson on the card probably helped towards the poor ticket sales also.
But there’s still a lot going on at UFC 186, and I could easily think of three good reasons to watch UFC 186 from Canada tonight:
“Rampage” vs “The Iron Hillbilly”
Even the way it sounds gets me hyped to watch this fight, and think of the match up itself; two heavy-handed sluggers ready to brawl until one of them drops, or stays standing in a zombie-esque display of true grit and disregard for their own wellbeing.
Quinton Jackson has a few things to prove after leaving the UFC for Bellator MMA, and Fabio Maldonado wants to cement his name in the division with a win over a former champ and Pride FC legend. Yeah I’ll be watching it too.
“Mighty Mouse” vs “The Supernova”
I’d imagine that there are a few folks out there, in fact quite a lot, who might be disagreeing with me here. The lightest weight class in the male division gets no love from the consensus, and I feel rather unfairly. The champion Demetrious Johnson is pure class, and his abilities, I feel, are yet to be fully displayed.
The challenger Kyoji Horiguchi is tough as nails, super-fast and wants to end the champion’s reign in brutal fashion. This fight could, and probably will go down anywhere.
“Diesel” vs “The Predator”
This is a great fight, and I’m genuinely pleased to see the old school Joe Riggs making a return. After a successful stint on the Bellator reality TV series ‘Fight Master’, Riggs has got to work at the MMA Lab for his feature prelim bout with Patrick Cote. Looking to get over his unfortunate neck injury against Ben Saunders in December last year.
The heavy-hitting Canadian will look to bounce back after Stephen Thompson broke his three fight streak at UFC 178, keep an eye on this bout.
There’s also Michael Bisping vs C.B. Dollaway, Yves Jabouin against Thomas Almeida and Shane Campbell vs John Makdessi on the main card. It may not be the greatest PPV (pay per view) card ever but surely it’s not the worst?
Obviously the fact that you have to pay to enjoy the goods will likely see UFC 186 go down as one of the lowest sellers of the year, but it genuinely could deliver.
