Stacked, sold out, set to samba! My UFC 198 Preview. 

From the early prelims, all the way to the main card, UFC 198 features a plethora of prosperous Brazilian fighters, each and every one of them hoping to put on a performance to remember in front of a sold out Curitiba crowd.

Maia and Brown square off ahead of their fight tonight.
Credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMvNU-orFio

Surprisingly, we will start off by focusing on the main event of the Fox Sports 1 preliminary fights, when the judicious Brazilian jiu-jitsu veteran Demian Maia takes on a destructive stand-up warrior in Matt Brown. Assuredly the best grappler in the UFC today, Maia's BJJ credentials are endless and this has been reinforced in his last three fights when he put an end to prosperous welterweights Ryan Laflare, Neil Magny and Gunnar Nelson's winning streaks. Possibly the most impressive of them all dating back to UFC 190 in his native country of Brazil when he submitted the high-flying 170-pound contender Magny via rear-naked choke in the second round.

Standing in his way this Saturday will be the man with a heart of stone, "The Immortal" Matt Brown. For the number 8 ranked welterweight contender, the last decade has been a roller-coaster with many twists and turns to say the least. "Clinically dead for over a minute" after overdosing on heroin, (which gained him his nickname, The Immortal) Brown bounced back exponentially to gain a title shot versus Robbie Lawler, in which he lost via unanimous decision, after acquiring a seven fight win streak. Brown's trump card in this bout is his explosive aggression and never-giving up mentality. How Maia will counter the razor-sharp Muay Thai of ‘The Immortal’ will be puzzle that remains to be solved, which proves why this match-up is the perfect beginning of a wild night of fights.

Cyborg weighed in at 139 pounds, 6 pounds under
her usual weight class.

Up and onwards to the main card, the fights continue to fuel the night's fire. And justifiably so, as finally, to all MMA fans satisfaction, Cristiane "Cyborg" Justino makes her UFC debut at long last when she faces tough competitor Leslie Smith at a catch-weight of 140 pounds. Unbeaten for over a decade, Cyborg’s fights have been ephemeral to say the least. 9 first round finishes are an astonishing figure when you realise she only has 15 wins, however many MMA fans have debated about the lack of competition she has received when fighting in the likes of Invicta and Strikeforce. Undoubtedly, Justino's striking and explosiveness is what marginalises her from all other fighters in her weight class. Now, if she can carry this abnormal power over to the most competitive MMA promotion in the world, it will certainly lay out a strong marker that Cyborg is one of (if not the) greatest female MMA fighter of all time.

Once again, like Maia, Cyborg will have her hands full in Curitiba this Saturday night when she debuts against tenacious Gracie fighter Leslie Smith. Even though a coterie of fans are backing Smith to come out victorious in this bout, that will by no means leave her disheartened. This match-up oozes many similarities to McGregor vs Diaz at UFC 196. A stand-up powerhouse, with relentless knockout power, who eradicates anyone in its way, against a fearless, huge-hearted, diverse fighter who has never been knocked out and is comfortable wherever the fight may go.

The main event of the evening is the culminate of a fantastic fight card. Newly crowned heavyweight champion of the world, Fabricio "Vai Cavalo" Werdum defends his gold for the first time against #2 ranked hard-hitter Stipe Miocic. So what is Werdum's key perk in this title fight to kick-start his reign as heavyweight champ, and what does Miocic have to do to in order to prevent that? Well, as the charismatic, energetic MMA analyst Robin Black said, for Miocic the canvas is "Hotlava! Hot lava! Hot lava!" However, the Cleveland born Miocic views on this contradict Black's as he feels he can be triumph regardless of where the fight ends up. Could Miocic prove his doubters wrong? That he will not fall into the same trap as the likes Velasquez and Fedor. Or, will 'Vai Cavalo' make Miocic yet another fallen victim to Werdum's pedant jiu-jitsu? As, Black said "Do not miss this fight!"

UFC 194: Luke Rockhold ends Chris Weidman's reign to claim Middleweight gold.

Luke Rockhold was "surprised" referee Herb Dean didn't come to Weidman's rescue at the end of round 3, and so were most people watching.

Rockhold's Rejoice.

Luke Rockhold is on cloud nine. He has proved all his doubters wrong, and has finally showed his huge skillset to the world of fight fans. Not to mention that he scooped up the 185-pound belt in the process. The nasty infection of cellulitis couldn't even disturb him from coming into this overwhelming opportunity. Now let's not be silly here. When the name Chris Weidman comes to mind, you instantly think of his outstanding wrestling ability, gritty determination and strong mind-set. Not wheel kicks. Ultimately the downfall of his own performance, the wheel-kick that Weidman threw in that third round was the cause of an onslaught of ruthless ground and pound that Rockhold was about to inflict on the former champ. Not to say that if that lethargic kick wouldn't have been attempted by Weidman that Rockhold wouldn't have put an end to Weidman's unbeaten streak, but it certainly helped.

Rockhold's vicious strikes which almost finished the fight.

New champs and fights to make.

Rockhold now joins Werdum, Lawler and Cormier as former Strikeforce fighters who currently claim UFC gold. In addition to this, the triumphs of Rockhold and McGregor on Saturday night mean there has now been seven new UFC champions across all weight classes in the year of 2015. Who'd have predicted that? And if you did, I bet it was certainly not in the fashion that it occurred. 

So what next? What fights can we put together from this shockingly surreal co-main event at UFC 194? Well, with Yoel Romero winning an extremely tight split decision over Jacare Souza prior to the co-main event of 194, calls all already beckoning for Rockhold vs. Romero in the first quarter of 2016. However, it may not be that simple, as the most recent man to beat Rockhold, Vitor Belfort, has already called him out on Instagram saying "you're still spinning" from Rockhold's 2013 KO loss to Belfort. For Weidman however, an instant rematch against Rockhold is not the case. Being thoroughly outclassed by Rockhold means Weidman will most likely have to fight the likes of Jacare Souza, or maybe even Tim Kennedy before earning another title shot. Rumours were occuring that Weidman had broken his foot in his bout with Rockhold on Saturday, but the x-rays were negative. So like Rockhold, he could potentially fight again in the first quarter of 2016. The unpredictability of the middleweight division just seems to continue in the UFC.

Rockhold embraces his emphatic win, whilst Weidman is left devastated.