UFC in New York: The Top Fights the UFC Could Book for Its NYC Debut at MSG

Common sense had UFC 200 as the crown jewel of the 2016 fight calendar.

But a late-inning curveball, flung from the state of New York, looks to have common sense swing and miss. On March 22, the New York State Assembly, at long last, lifted the state's 19-year ban on mixed martial arts. 

And with that, the UFC is poised to put on what will by all accounts be the grandest event in company history. UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta spoke on the significance of this moment, via media conference call, just after the vote went through. 

He said, per Fox Sports:

I think it's going to be an epic moment for the sport and for our company. Obviously, right now all of our focus is on trying to put together the matches for UFC 200, but when we go to New York and we eventually debut at Madison Square Garden, me and Dana (White) and the rest of the team are going to be very focused on delivering for the fans. We're going to put together the best available matches that we can. You'd have the biggest names that we can possibly put on, the biggest names that are available at the time. Believe me, we want to knock it out of the park and we want to deliver to New York in a big way. It's going to be massive and when you do massive events it takes time, it takes runway, it's going to be a tremendous amount of promotion, a ton of marketing assets, we're going to have to book the fights that make sense for there, it's going to be big. I think the fourth quarter is a good target for us. A realistic target for us.

So, first things first. The UFC will fill out the fight card for UFC 200 before planning the first event for New York, which will take place in the legendary Madison Square Garden. Only two fights have been confirmed for the main card of UFC 200, with strong speculation that the main event will feature a rematch between Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor.

Earlier, we predicted what the pay-per-view portion of UFC 200 might look like. Take it with a grain of salt, as the UFC's matchmaking strategy is anything if not unpredictable. So, prognosticating the PPV portion of an event that doesn't even have a date yet, although Fertitta mentioned the UFC is targeting the fourth quarter, is like attempting to nail your Sweet 16 bracket picks. 

As a result, we'll refrain from locking in 10 fighters for the five fights that make up a main card. Instead, we'll list the biggest fights the UFC could book if the stars align. Given that the event likely won't take place for at least six to eight months, just about every option is on the table, barring unforeseen injuries. 

We should point out that not every fight on this list will end up on the card. It's just too much goodness to cram onto one card, even if the most historic event since UFC 1. That said, Fertitta, White and the rest of the company brass will be hugely motivated for this event go down in the annals of sports history. So what they actually decide on is going to be a treat to see. 

 

Conor McGregor vs. Frankie Edgar: Featherweight Title Fight

This may not be the biggest fight on the list, but we'll start with the man of the hour.

Currently, the talk of the town is that the UFC is close to booking a rematch between Diaz and McGregor for the aforementioned UFC 200. With UFC 200 taking place in July, and the first UFC event in New York taking place in October or November, that will give McGregor a three- to four-month turnaround whether he wins or loses to Diaz.

In practical terms, a win or a loss to Diaz doesn't affect McGregor as far as moving back down and defending his featherweight belt for the first time. But there would obviously be more interest from casual fans if he came into this fight having avenged his loss.

Edgar (5'6", 155 lbs), albeit a much smaller fighter physically, would be a difficult out.

His combination of speed and footwork, volume boxing and pressure wrestling would likely push McGregor into uncharted waters. We saw what Chad Mendes, a similar fighter in some ways to Edgar, was able to do versus the Irishman on just one week's notice. And in Mendes' next fight, Edgar went out and absolutely clocked him in the first round even though he was fully prepared this time. 

It was Edgar's fifth straight win, since falling short versus then champ Jose Aldo back in 2013. Edgar and his team have been blasting McGregor every chance they get for what they perceive as the champ ducking him. Edgar's manager, Ali Abdelaziz, recently slammed him on Instagram.

From a traditional fight-booking standpoint, McGregor vs. Edgar makes all the sense in the world. But McGregor operates by his own rules, and he'll continue to book fights for himself that serve his agenda. Whether or not Edgar eventually factors into his plans remains to be seen.

 

Conor McGregor vs. TBD: A Fight in the "Moneyweight" Division 

McGregor may decide that he's done with featherweight and is just holding onto the belt he took from Aldo until the UFC decides to strip him of it. Whether the company would do that is a whole separate story. For McGregor, holding onto the belt is both great window dressing and a great "Plan B" should things go south in the heavier weight classes. 

After his win over Mendes at UFC 189, his own coach, John Kavanagh, said he didn't want his star pupil to make the drastic weight cut down to 145 pounds again. UFC President Dana White said so during an appearance on Fox Sports 1 (via MMA Junkie).

There have been a glut of side-by-side photos of McGregor on the Internet, comparing what he looks like following a weight cut to make 145 pounds to what he looked like in the lead-up to his fight with Nate Diaz, contested at 170 pounds, where he didn't have to cut a single pound.

Assuming that McGregor will actually go back and defend his featherweight belt any time soon (or at all for that matter) is foolish. Especially if he does rematch Diaz at 170 pounds again and his mind and body simply won't allow him to make such a drastic cut again. 

If McGregor beats Diaz in a rematch, he would have a lot more options to work with.

He could bark for a welterweight title fight versus Robbie Lawler. He could easily call for a lightweight title fight versus Rafael Dos Anjos (Dos Anjos, not Diaz, was McGregor's original opponent at UFC 196, but Dos Anjos pulled out less than two weeks before the fight after suffering a foot injury.) He could pretty much ask for any fight under the sun and likely get it. 

If McGregor loses for a second time to Diaz, then things would get more (or less) interesting.

Diaz is a good fighter but not an elite one. He's fought for the lightweight title twice in his career, coming up short on both occasions. He had a failed run in the UFC welterweight division earlier in his career. He's currently ranked as the No. 5 lightweight in the division.

There's no shame in McGregor losing to Diaz—it's just that he's losing to a non-champ. If McGregor lost and refused to go back and defend his featherweight belt, he'd then mostly likely become just another fighter in the lightweight division who's looking to establish himself. 

 

Miesha Tate vs. Ronda Rousey 3: Woman's Bantamweight Title Fight

Rousey>Tate>Holly Holm>Rousey is the current iteration of the formula lines in the woman's 135-pound division.

Tate has already lost twice to Rousey, once back in Strikeforce and then again in the UFC in 2013. Holm came along and ran through Rousey like a matador. Tate waited and waited before finally grabbing a hold of Holm, dragging her down to the ground and choking her out with 90 seconds left in their title fight in March. 

So, where does the formula go from here? Booking Rousey vs. Tate 3 is too golden of a ticket for the UFC to not cash in on. While not a guarantee by any stretch, Rousey has a better chance of reclaiming the title from Tate than Holm. And Rousey wearing gold is best for the UFC's bottom line.

If Rousey does beat Tate for a third time, then the UFC has a Rousey vs. Holm rematch back in its line of sight. Two back-to-back megafights in a row. And if Tate should foil that plan by thwarting Rousey, the UFC has a decent backup in Tate vs. Holm 2.

It just wouldn't be right if the biggest crossover star in the history of the sport wasn't competing in the biggest media market in the history of mankind. This feels like as close to a slam dunk as it gets for the UFC's debut show in New York City. 

 

The Return of GSP

Some folks think former welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre might show up at UFC 200. In our UFC 200 predictions piece, we put that chance at 25 percent. We wish we were feeling more confident. GSP on UFC 200 makes all the sense in the world since he helped anchor UFC 100 alongside Brock Lesnar. 

But if St-Pierre is seriously thinking about making a comeback, then being on the UFC's debut in New York City easily trumps UFC 200—he'd be a part of history. 

There would be so shortage of potential options for GSP, should he decide to come back.

A superfight with former middleweight champ Anderson Silva, while years past its expiration date, would still be a huge happening. He could also make a run at getting his belt back by directly going after sitting champ Lawler. 

Or he could target the winner of Diaz vs. McGregor. Perhaps that would be the most tantalizing option. GSP's head coach, Firas Zahabi, said on The MMA Hour (via MMA Mania) both McGregor and Diaz blew a huge opportunity by not calling out St-Pierre, who was sitting cageside for their fight. 

GSP has not stepped inside the Octagon since his November 2013 split-decision win over Johny Hendricks. After the fight, he decided to step away from the sport, and ever since, pundits and fans have speculated on if and when he'd return. GSP has a sense of history. If he were to ever come back, he's not going to get a better opportunity to make a grand re-entrance than at MSG.

 

Jon Jones vs. Anthony Johnson: Light Heavyweight Title Fight 

Jon Jones is a native New Yorker. That alone would make him a good candidate to fight on the UFC's first event in the Empire State. And if he's able to recapture gold versus Daniel Cormier in their rematch at UFC 197 on April 23, adding Jones to the fight card seems like an obvious move. 

In fact, even if Cormier ends up beating Jones in their second go-around, it would not be out of the question to book the trilogy for Madison Square Garden. While Rousey and McGregor may be more popular than Jones, he's the best fighter on the planet. Not having him on New York City's fight event would actually just be wrong.

 

Chris Weidman vs. Luke Rockhold 3 (Middleweight Title Fight) or vs. Michael Bisping 

Like Jones, Chris Weidman hails from New York. He dropped his middleweight title to Californian Luke Rockhold in the fall of 2015. The two are set to rematch at UFC 199 in June. If Weidman should win and get his belt back, it would set up a trilogy bout for New York City. 

If he loses, it would still make sense for Weidman to compete on New York City's first fight card.

That's where Michael Bisping would fill in nicely. The British-born fighter and Weidman have never fought, and Bisping would make a marketable foe for the crestfallen New Yorker. If for whatever reason Bisping isn't available, the UFC could tab someone such as Vitor Belfort or Lyoto Machida. (Either matchup would constitute a rematch.)

 

CM Punk vs. TBD

In our UFC 200 predictions, we put down CM Punk vs. Mickey Gall as being highly likely. Highly likely now stands at "10 percent," according to Punk himself. When talking with Ariel Helwani on Monday's MMA Hour (warning: NSFW language), Punk went into great detail about his recent injury woes that's left him not knowing when he'll actually make his promotional debut.

He did, however, express his interest the MSG card stating, "In my mind, that card at [Madison Square] Garden [in November] would be a nice second fight, but I don't know how realistic that is, because again, I don't want to say things that people are going to be taking to heart."

A nice "second fight" at MSG? It looks like we'll have to wait and see when and where his first fight lands. But for now, it appears highly likely that it won't be taking place at UFC 200. 

Sorry, haters.

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What are the chances that the UFC books the likes of McGregor, Rousey, St-Pierre and Jones all on one fight card? Next to impossible, right? 

The UFC has only held three title fights on the same event once in company history (UFC 33). Most top-flight PPVs only boast two title fights. Even the record-breaking UFC 100 featured only two: Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir 2 and St-Pierre vs. Thiago Alves.

But if there were ever a time the UFC would go back to three, or an inconceivable four, title fights on the same card, its first event in New York City at MSG would be the one. 

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Jon Jones, Daniel Cormier and the State of the UFC Light Heavyweight Division

Way back in 1997, as the UFC was entering what fans called "the dark ages," a single bright light shined with an intensity then unknown in the world of mixed martial arts. In 16 seconds, Frank Shamrock did more than submit Olympic gold medalist Kevin Jackson, more than win a newly created UFC championship.

In those brief moments between takedown and armbar, Shamrock also set a new standard for all UFC light heavyweight champions to follow. In the years that followed, even after Shamrock's sudden retirement from the UFC, the division stood apart from the rest of the pack. Its champion and challengers, traditionally, were the sport's marquee fighters on two continents.

The list of light heavyweight stalwarts isn't a collection of mere champions. These are the men who defined the sport. Tito Ortiz. Chuck Liddell. Wanderlei Silva. Randy Couture. 

And Jon Jones.

Love him or not, Jones absolutely belongs right alongside the very best this sport has ever seen. Five former champions in a row fell to his hand, and he defended the belt a record eight times in a row before taking some time to get his life together. Whether that sticks or not, Jones has already established himself as the top competitor of his era.

 

The Champions

Jon Jones (21-1)

Jones, the best fighter in the world, is just 28 years old. Unless fate, or his own recklessness, strikes him down, he should carry on the legacy of the men who preceded him ably, the rightful successor to a position that has only been occupied by the best of the best for almost two decades. 

You may have noticed, however, that Jones is not listed as the UFC's official champion at 205 pounds. A series of incidents, from a positive cocaine test to a hit-and-run traffic accident, forced the UFC to strip official recognition from its top athlete. 

By the time he steps into the cage against Daniel Cormier at UFC 197 (if he does), it will have been more than 15 months since Jones competed in a UFC bout. For the first time in more than five years, he will enter the cage first—the challenger at least in name.

 

Daniel Cormier (17-1)

While Jones was, to borrow a quote from the man himself, "getting his s--t together," Cormier ably filled his shoes, beating slugger Anthony Johnson for the interim title and then beating Alexander Gustafsson in his first defense.

Twice an Olympian, Cormier has developed into one of the most intelligent and diverse fighters in the game. He's developed a solid striking game and remains a threat to take any opponent down on a whim. It's a time-tested combination, but one few have executed better than Cormier.

His stellar light heavyweight career, however, has been contested in Jones' giant shadow. Unless or until Cormier can beat the man, he can never truly be the man. 

 

The Contenders

Anthony Johnson (21-5)

After losing to Cormier in a bout for the UFC light heavyweight interim championship, Johnson has picked up right where he left off—knocking fools out right and left. Most recently, he ended Ryan Bader's latest run at the championship with a left hand that turned a contender into a pretender in fewer than 90 seconds.

Johnson's uncanny power makes him a threat to any fighter in the division, including Jones. No skill set or master plan can contend with the kind of punching prowess that potentially makes a single mistake your last one.

 

Glover Teixeira (24-4)

A pupil of Liddell's coach John Hackleman, Teixeira had won 20 consecutive fights before Jones and new Bellator star Phil Davis handed him his first losses in nine years. 

Teixeira has since returned to form, scoring consecutive finishes against what passes for rising stars in this moribund division. But, at 36, Teixeira's time at the top is surely coming to an end. His next title shot, most likely, will be his last. 

 

A Long Way to Go

Alexander Gustafsson (16-4)

Gustafsson did an admirable job reinventing himself after a 2010 loss to Phil Davis. Instead of giving up, he went to train with the man who vanquished him, joining Davis in San Diego and becoming one of the best fighters in the division.

But, at this point, it's fairly clear that Gustafsson falls just short of the elite. He's lost to Jones, Cormier and Johnson. No matter who emerges from that trio as champion, it will be hard for the sport's top Swede to make a reasonable case for the title.

 

Ryan Bader (20-5)

Five consecutive victories, including wins over former champion Rashad Evans and Davis, had Bader on the verge of contention. But the hype train was brutally derailed by Johnson's fearsome punching power and Bader, once again, was sent back to the end of the line.

At 32, Bader is right in the middle of his fighting prime. Unfortunately for him, his skill set makes him ill-suited to compete with the best fighters in the division. He's a gatekeeper. A darn good gatekeeper, granted, but a gatekeeper nonetheless.

 

Ovince Saint-Preux (19-7)

At some point, Saint-Preux stopped being the division's top prospect and became a mid-tier fighter instead. But after eight years in the sport, and with his 30th birthday in his rearview mirror, it's clear at this point that Saint-Preux is what he is—and that's something less than championship material.

 

Rashad Evans (19-4-1)

Old man Evans, a veteran of the second season of The Ultimate Fighter way back in 2005, has only fought once since 2013. That bout, a lackluster decision loss to Bader, did little to convince anyone that Evans has a bright future, no matter how glorious his championship past.

 

The Prospects

Nikita Krylov (19-4)

The 24-year-old Ukrainian karate fighter has become a cult favorite thanks to his exciting style and inexplicable love of American gangster Al Capone.

One the plus side, all 19 of his wins have come in the first round. That they've all come against the division's lower tier means it's not yet time to declare Krylov a future champion.

 

Corey Anderson (8-1)

Anderson was the winner of one of the seasons of The Ultimate Fighter you didn't watch. That's OK, no one else did either. 

Anderson beat someone named Matt Van Buren in that season's finale, which, in the current state of the division, was enough to qualify him as a prospect. That status is being reconsidered after a lackluster win over veteran Tom Lawlor earlier this month.

 

The Last Word

For the first time in MMA history, the future looks bleak in the sport's most important division. Cormier is old, Jones is in a constant state of self-destruction and Johnson has spent several years alienating many of the UFC's female fans.

The future doesn't just seem to pale in comparison to the glorious past. Worse, it's almost nonexistent. There is no heir apparent to Jones and Cormier. Our only hope is that the former champion gets his head on straight and continues to prove what many of us have known for years—that he's the best fighter the world has ever seen.

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Jon Jones Arrested: Latest Details, Mugshot and Comments on UFC Star

One day after revealing he was cited for multiple traffic violations, UFC superstar Jon Jones was arrested Tuesday for violating his probation.   

According to TMZ Sports, Jones turned himself in to New Mexico police after a judge issued an arrest warrant for drag racing last week. 

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Miesha Tate Questions Ronda Rousey's UFC Future After Rowdy's Suicidal Thoughts

UFC women's bantamweight champion ​Miesha Tate believes the fact that Ronda Rousey had suicidal thoughts after her defeat to Holly Holm was a sign of "mental weakness" and questioned whether Rowdy will ever return to the Octagon.  

Rousey, 29, has not fought since she lost her bantamweight title to Holm back in November, after which she admitted on the The Ellen DeGeneres Show to "thinking about killing myself" (via MMAjunkie).

Tate beat Holm earlier in March to claim the bantamweight belt, and she had some harsh words about Rousey's considerations of suicide, per SI Now’s Maggie Gray:

I thought that was a big sign of mental weakness, to be honest. 

I’ve been down and out in this sport, too, obviously losing my fight to Ronda. That was really, really hard for me. But my mindset is to get back in the gym and get better, get stronger and learn from it and come back, and now here I am with the world title. 

It makes me wonder what kind of a fighter will return when Ronda, if Ronda, does return.

Rousey and Tate have met twice before in their careers, with Rowdy prevailing on both occasions, and there is no love lost between the pair.

Most recently, they met at UFC 168 in 2013, having fought the year before for the Strikeforce women's bantamweight championship—see highlights below: 

A third meeting has been mooted by UFC President Dana White for later this year, with Tate defending her title and Rousey making a comeback, per ESPN (via the MailOnline's Martin Domin).

The 29-year-old Tate said she is confident she can now beat her nemesis, but she is not completely sure whether Rousey will ever return to action, per Maxim:

I'm very confident. I was telling everyone that Ronda Rousey is not this unbeatable woman, and then Holly Holm went out there and kicked her head off, and I was like, "See? I told you she was only human." And then I went out there and choked out Holly. It just goes to show you on any given day that someone can go out there and win fights. I wanna rematch her. I'm so excited I have the belt. I’m supercharged, and I’m confident.

She's definitely been exposed for sure. I really question her mentality. I know the first thing I want to do when I come back from a loss is to get in the gym and get better. She said she wants to have kids with Travis Browne. I don't know where her mind is. Is this a comeback fighter? We’re questioning whether she’ll ever fight again. She's in a weird mental state.

Rousey's defeat to Holm in Melbourne was fairly devastating. It was the first loss of her professional MMA career, and it came via a brutal kick to the head, per BT Sport UFC:

She was a heavy favourite before the fight, but there is now no guarantee she can get back to her dominant best if and when she returns to action in the UFC.

However, there was a time when she was considered unbeatable, per Eurosport's Liam Happe.

She has beaten Tate twice before already, thus she should be confident of prevailing if they meet again.

Rousey was clearly shaken by her defeat to Holm, and Tate's confidence after becoming the champion is sky high.

It would be a fascinating fight were they to come together again for Tate-Rousey III, and MMA fans everywhere will be hoping that Cupcake is incorrect in questioning whether her fellow American will return to action.

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Conor McGregor 'Sold His Soul,' Is Hated by UFC Fighters, Says Fabricio Werdum

UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum has defended comments he made on Instagram in which he suggested Conor McGregor is a prostitute. He also claims the Notorious is hated by his fellow UFC fighters and has "sold his soul."

Speaking to MMA Fighting's Guilherme Cruz ahead of his bout with Stipe Miocic at UFC 198 on May 14, the Brazilian said McGregor has gone too far with his antics outside of the Octagon and that he was glad to see McGregor lose against Nate Diaz at UFC 196:

Conor McGregor started well with his marketing, he talks a lot and is a great fighter, we can't deny that, but I think he crossed the line. It's too much now. He said he will fight anyone, but that's not how things work in our world. Fighters have a code, a law, and you have to respect everybody. He lost this respect, talked about me at the MMA Awards, and he talked s--t at the wrong person. I won't stay quiet and just listen.

Fighters don't like Conor McGregor. Everybody likes watching him fight because he does a good marketing, but I won't change who I am because of money. Everybody likes money, but there’s a limit. Money isn't everything. He sold his soul - and I'm saying soul so I don't say other things [laughs]. I don't think that's cool. He sold his soul. It was about time someone would shut him up.

McGregor made headlines when he called out Werdum for pulling out of an earlier bout with Miocic due to an injury, and the Notorious chose an odd stage to do so―during his MMA Awards acceptance speech, per Cruz.

Werdum responded with this Instagram post:

Cruz asked Werdum whether the post may have been too much, but he didn't think so:

Not a bit. I would do it again. If he talks something about me, I will do it again. If he says something in a press conference and I'm there, I would get (UFC president) Dana (White) out of the way [laughs]. You can't let him be that cocky. You have to be crazier than him sometimes so he stops. I posted a photo putting my hand in his a-- to show that he's a prostitute. He does anything for money. 

McGregor's rise up the UFC pecking order has been meteoric, to say the least. His wins over Chad Mendes and Jose Aldo last year and his capturing of the featherweight belt turned the Irishman into one of the organisation's biggest stars in no time.

Such an explosive march to stardom was bound to create resentment among other fighters, who have been forced to watch the UFC continue to push McGregor as its marquee star. The Notorious lost to Diaz in March, yet he might get a rematch as early as UFC 200 in July, per MMA Fighting's Ariel Helwani.

The bout would headline UFC 200, the biggest event in the organisation's history, despite the fact there wouldn't even be a belt on the line. Lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos doesn't understand why the two should meet again so soon:

The likes of Aldo and Frankie Edgar are patiently waiting for a chance to battle McGregor for the featherweight title, but the UFC is apparently in no hurry to make such a fight happen. The organisation can't be blamed for chasing fights likely to generate most interest and revenue, but the perceived preferential treatment will never sit well with other fighters.

Werdum's jab at McGregor for doing "anything for money" is a little odd, however. It's hard to deny the Notorious loves his money; he explained why when he appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! ahead of his bout with Diaz:

But MMA fighters tend to have short careers, and every time they step into the Octagon can be their last.

It's hard to blame a guy who didn't make his UFC debut until 2013 for making the most out of his sudden fame and popularity, even if his current status within the organisation might be the envy of most.

 

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