UFC Vancouver - Maia vs Condit: The success of UFC 202 causes a killer of a card to be overlooked.

With a potential card of the year, and fight of the year occurring last weekend at UFC 202, Fight Night Vancouver will be looking to step up to the mark with some fascinating match-ups being overshadowed by last week's hecticness.

Condit will be looking to set up a title shot when he takes
on Demian Maia this Saturday
Credit: MMAFighting

Demian Maia. Eight years, twenty-three fights, and the most elite ground game you see in all of UFC to date. Carlos Condit. Seven years, twelve fights, and some of the crispest knees and elbows you will see in the UFC to date. Although Maia respectively has almost double the amount of bouts in the UFC then Condit, these pair come together this weekend in what sets out to be a number one contender fight (after Wonderboy faces recently crowned champ, Tyron Woodley). 

A lot is on the line for these two UFC veteran's, who are still peaking late in their careers, but are currently on very different paths. Maia has been on tear in recent at 170, a five-fight winning streak dispatching prospects such as Gunnar Nelson, and Neil Magny in the process. His Brazilian jiu-jitsu needs little of mentioning, it overwhelms his opponents, making his victories look effortless. Ask anyone, and most will tell you Maia's is on a different level compared to those within the UFC (bar a couple, Fabricio Werdum and Jacare Souza being the two that come to mind).

For Condit, the path has been a little more wayward leading up to this main event in Vancouver. Two steps forward one step back describes Condit's most recent UFC bouts, with only two wins from his last six, his journey has been arduous to say the least. However, that doesn't mean Condit will be discouraged coming into this one. After a back and forth five round war with Lawler in January, in which many believed he should of became welterweight champ, Condit will be looking to prove a point to the rest of the division, that he is by no means down and out of this stacked 170 weight class.

Anticipation is not lost when looking at the co-main event either. Three to four years ago, a freight train hit the lightweight division. A plethora of kicks and twists in his arsenal, Anthony Pettis' elite taekwondo skills lead him to finishes over several UFC veterans such as Donald Cerrone, Benson Henderson and Joe Lauzon.

Above: Pettis after knocking out Donald Cerrone via body kick at UFC on Fox 6.
Credit: Bloody Elbow

The highs are high, and the lows are very low. For Pettis, this could nt be such a fitting statement. Coming off three consecutive losses, all being thoroughly outclassed, many have forgotten about the force in which he once was at lightweight. Making the decision to drop ten pounds could re-ignite a spark in Pettis career, but Charles Oliveria will be looking to spoil the party. With an aggressive submission game, it is clear Pettis owns the striking, whereas Oliveria will favor this fight on the ground.

In addition to the main and co-main event, the main card for UFC Vancouver has two other fun matchups. Jim Miller takes on Joe Lauzon in their re-match of what was an end-to-end, bloody brawl in which Miller came out the victor at UFC 155.

Also strawweights Bec Rawlings and Paige VanZant kick off the main card in a match-up that contains two bulldog-like women who will bite down on their mouthpiece until the final bell is sounded.

UFC Orlando Review: Rafael Dos Anjos makes light work of Donald Cerrone to defend his belt for the first time ever.

Although he was not in attendance, Conor McGregor was the name on most people's mind at UFC Orlando.

Dos Anjos finished Cerrone in just 66 seconds to defend his belt.

There were many accusations directed towards Rafael Dos Anjos leading up to his title fight against Donald Cerrone on Saturday, but too him, they acted as motivators as he was determined to shut his critics up. Cerrone, who is often labelled as a slow starter in fights, came out apprehensive as expected. Dos Anjos landed a vicious hard knee to the liver of Cerrone, which was ultimately the beginning of the end for "Cowboy." After landing a body kick which hurt Cerrone badly, Dos Anjos showed no mercy by landing a barrage of brutal punches on the injured Cerrone, who impressively stayed on his feet and circled back into the centre of the octagon. However, Dos Anjos did not think twice about letting the dazed Cerrone recover. An attempted takedown from Cerrone allowed "RDA" to take his back, and from there he hammered away at his head and although "Cowboy" was attempting to defend himself, it was clearly not enough and Herb Dean stopped the fight.

Another win for RDA means that his unbeaten streak is now extended to five and his first title defence has proven to many doubters that he is a force to be reckoned with. A perfectly executed game plan to pressure the slow starting Cerrone straight from the off was the key to his victory. So, what's next for Dos Anjos and Cerrone? Well, Dos Anjos was just one of several fighters at UFC Orlando to call out the recently crowned featherweight champion, Conor McGregor, in his octagon interview. McGregor, who is extremely keen on moving up to 155 and becoming a duo-weight champion, has caught the eye of many fighters in the lightweight division, including RDA. "This is my division" claimed Dos Anjos, also stating he would fight McGregor "In Brazil, in Ireland, or wherever he wants." For Cerrone, a potential fight with rising star Tony Ferguson is one that is looking very promising. 

Overeem landing a hard left body kick.

Junior Dos Santos vs. Alistair Overeem was a fight that should have happened three and a half years ago, but for many endless reasons, it didn't. However, it finally did last Saturday night and it was somewhat of an anti-climax of what everyone expected. Two of the most entertaining heavyweights in the whole sport were finally going to face off, and the stage was set for a compelling match-up. However, a dull start from both fighters, with very few strikes thrown lead to quite a boring first round. Considering the knockout power of both men though, it was quite to hard too blame them for both being hesitant. The second round was more lively though, with Overeem landing a lot of kicks, and with JDS not really throwing anything, it looked like Overeem was about to secure himself another round. Eventually Dos Santos did find an opening and pinned Overeem up against the fence after landing some good punches, but "The Demolition Man" calmly circled back to the centre. Just a few moments later, Overeem unleashed a picture perfect left hook which sent JDS to the canvas and allowed Overeem to follow up with some ground and pound to finish the fight.

A somewhat "boring" first round was the key to Overeem's win, as his patience in this round allowed him to read Dos Santos, and to never let him close the distance. It was a smart game plan once again from Team Jacksonwink, and it lead Overeem to gain his fortieth professional MMA win. This was Overeem's last fight on his UFC contract, which now means he is taking the road that Benson Henderson took in becoming a free agent to play the market. It will be interesting to see where Overeem goes from here, as a win over a top contender like JDS means he could certainly be in line for a title shot, or a number one contender's fight. For Dos Santos, he has never quite looked the same after his most recent to Velasquez, so it will be interesting to see who and when his next fight is against, and to see if he can bounce back from this poor performance.