Two friends face off to open the main card of UFC 205: Tate vs Pennington

To kick off the main card of Madison Square Garden’s first ever UFC event, two seasoned bantamweights will look to set an example for others to follow in what is a beyond talent-packed event. As former champ, and now #1 contender, Miesha Tate looks to eradicate what was a ‘bad day at the office’ when she lost UFC gold to Amanda Nunes at UFC 200. Number 8 ranked Raquel Pennington hopes to pounce on an opportunity which could extend her three fight winning streak and make a strong claim for a title shot.

Tate suffered a brutal loss at the hands of Amanda Nunes
back at UFC 200 in July.
Credit: The Guardian

 With so many monumental match-ups under the spotlight, it is hard to believe Miesha Tate, who (in a hectic turn of events) headlined what was dubbed to be “the biggest event in company history” back at UFC 200 in July, is fighting on UFC 205. Her bout with Raquel Pennington is the first time in almost 2 years that Tate will not be appearing in a main, or co-main event of the evening, which itself speaks leaps and bounds about the current depth of this New York card.

It’s not often a fighter who has recently lost the belt will face such a low ranked contender in their division, but it was not like Tate had defended the belt several times, it was her first defense, and she fell short. It’s similar to the Werdum v Browne 2 situation. However, I think a re-match with Cat Zingano (who lost to Juliana Pena on the same night as Tate at UFC 200) or a bout against Shevchenko who is ranked third would have made more sense. Pena is out of the question as White recently announced she has been turning down fights.

One big factor that could play into Tate’s favour (and potentially Pennington’s) is that back when she was a coach on TUF 18, she chose Pennington to be on her team. Although they were only with each other for a few months, it obviously gave both competitors a rough idea of each other’s training methods, and fight styles.

Pennington's most recent win came vs Elizabeth Phillips
at UFC 202 in August.
Credit: MMAJunkie

In a recent interview with Ariel Helwani, Tate credited Pennington as extremely ‘durable’ and very ‘physically strong’ however she was also surprised about the match-up. Not pushing aside Pennington’s abilities, Tate was expecting a potential re-match with either Holm or Zingano, however she acknowledges the ‘great match-up’ with Pennington and was ‘honored’ to take this fight.

Standing with very similar frames, there will be no height or reach advantage for either woman in this fight. Another similarity these women share are their well-rounded fight styles, both have adapted their game to suit wherever the fight ends up, however Tate may hold a slight advantage with her extensive wrestling background. Nevertheless, it will be a fun way to fuel the first ever UFC event in NYC, and will hopefully set up for what is ‘destined’ to be another historic card.

UFC 205: Khabib vs Johnson - As a menace continues his resurgence, an eagle salivates over his next victim.

Freak show? Bullshit? Call it what you want, but Khabib Nurmagomedeov is not getting the title shot in which he felt he had rightfully earned a long time ago. Instead, he will face a revitalized man, fresh off a win at Fight Night Hidalgo, Michael Johnson aims to accomplish what no fighter has been able to do, and that’s defeat “The Eagle.”

When Khabib announced on his Twitter account he had received “a very generous birthday gift” from the UFC, things looked to be set in stone for a title fight at UFC 205 vs. Eddie Alvarez. Not so fast. As we know now, Alvarez will fight McGregor, Khabib will fight Johnson. Not the best birthday present after all.

Johnson recently put an end to Dustin Poirier’s four fight and win streak, and made a great comeback from his loss to Nate Diaz.
Credit: abcnews.com

We hear it all the time, classic striker vs grappler match-up. Johnson often credits himself as the ‘fastest’ in the lightweight division, whereas no such statement is needed from Khabib to advertise his grappling skills, as we all know they are beyond high level. It would be comical to say if Johnson can keep the fight standing, he can trouble Khabib with his sharp 1-2, and swift in-and-out movement. Because so far, no-one has been able to fend off the grittiness of Khabib.

However, it is worth noting that although his record stands at an impressive 23-0, other than his win over Rafael Dos Anjos, Khabib doesn’t hold a win over any high-level fighters in the UFC. For me, the likes of Pat Healy and Gleison Tibau just don’t fall into that upper echelon.

So it will be interesting to see Khabib face some serious competition in Johnson, and dealing with the rapid hand speed adjoined with the fast footwork will by no means be a ‘cruise control’ night for Khabib, like so many of his fights have been.

Khabib outclassed former champ Dos Anjos back when the pair fought in April 2014. 

Credit: fightsday.com

I see this fight panning out to be fight of the night.

That’s a bold statement to make on such a monumental, talent-packed card, but I believe many people will be surprised on how this fight turns out. Much similar to the way McGregor was pushed to the limit for the first-time, in his recent five-round thriller with Diaz, I see Khabib being troubled by Johnson’s athleticism, and the take-down not coming as easy as he may think.

That doesn’t mean that it won’t come, because it will. Khabib’s sambo skills are unlike any we have ever seen, so the fight is undoubtedly going to hit the canvas, and when it does Khabib will be in his element. However, all fights start standing up, so Johnson will have his fair share of success too.

UFC 204: Can Bisping put a downer on Hendo’s final straw?

 
Following the unusual circumstances of UFC 203, you would think there is no way that the next pay-per-view could be as strange. Or could it. Henderson vs Bisping 2 for the middleweight championship. A guy who isn’t even ranked in the top 10 leapfrogging multiple contenders for the shot. A combined age of 83 years old. I think UFC 204 is living up to the bizzarity of 203, but for all the right reasons.

The last of a dying breed. With an opportunity to go out on top. Dan Henderson has found himself in a position that virtually no other fighter can say they have been in before. Born in the Pride days, raised in the UFC, Hendo is one of the few long serving greats in MMA that is still fighting to this day, and a title shot this late is his career is by no means a fluke. A head kick followed by a ruthless right elbow saw him put away Hector Lombard on the very night Michael Bisping became middleweight champ, just days later, the re-match was on.

Bisping has become the posterboy for British MMA.
Credit: Fighters Only Magazine

An ’energetic and lippy’ kid, Bisping’s persona has by no means changed as he grows older. From paving to plumbing, Bisping has fought his way up to become the flagbearer for UK MMA.  Starting relentlessly on the local scene, Bisping quickly accumulated a flawless 13-0 record in just over two years, all wins of which coming by stoppage. He was a force to be reckoned with, and all of this took place in light heavyweight.

Confident and ferocious, the only paving Bisping does today is laying a path for his fellow nation to follow.  Dispatching Luke Rockhold on two weeks’ notice to finally claim his first ever piece of UFC gold, Bisping was awarded a re-match with the very man who gave him his most brutal loss of his career.

To take a look at how these veterans match-up against each other, there is no better place to look then their first fight. We all know how it ended, due to Hendo’s much famous signature being his whole bodyweight smashing down into Bisping’s face, but let’s take a look on how we got to that ever so historic knockout.

When you think of Bisping’s fighting style to date, you think of constant movement, a high volume of strikes and relentless pressure. Surprisingly, it was Hendo who was conforming to Bisping’s traits in their first outing. Headhunting throughout the fight, Hendo narrowly missed the huge overhand right on several occasions, but little did Bisping know his defence of leaning back to avoid the punch would eventually be his downfall.

An inside low kick to get into range, and then much like Lombard, Bisping found out the harsh way that whether it’s an elbow or a punch, Hendo’s right has devastating consequences.

The punch which quickly became Hendo's logo.
Credit: MMAMania

According to “The Count”, this title fight should not be labelled as a ‘re-match’, because they are both “completely different fighters” compared to when they met seven years back at UFC 100. Convinced he is going to make Hendo feel “old and slow”, the champ feels he will ‘toy’ with Henderson for two rounds, then ‘knock him out cold’ in the third.

For the casual spectator, this “rematch” is not the only fight to look forward to this Saturday at UFC 204.

Prior to Bisping’s first title defense and Hendo’s last octagon battle, Vitor Belfort and Gegard Mousasi the two seasoned middleweight contenders with great contrasting styles will look to entertain the Manchester crowd. As well as England’s own Jimi Manuwa taking on fellow power puncher Ovince Saint-Preux in a light heavyweight bout.