While it might not do blockbuster business, next weekend’s UFC 209 is a huge card for hardcore MMA fans. Headlined by a pair of very intriguing title fights, the card also includes plenty of fan favorites, plus a number of the more highly regarded prospects on the roster right now. The main event will be the welterweight title rematch between Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson. Their battle on the massive UFC 205 card turned out to be a much better contest than many expected, ending in a vast majority draw. Woodley had the far more demonstrative moments in the struggle throughout the first and fourth rounds. But, Thompson managed to back him against the cage for long stretches of the middle rounds, and although he didn’t achieve much once there he took these rounds. The fifth saw Thompson open up on a tired Woodley and finish the fight on a solid note, but it was only enough to get him back level on two scorecards. Just as Woodley and Thompson did at UFC 205, the co-main event could steal the show as well. The interim lightweight title bout between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson comprises just two of the fighters in the division who have taken the long road to their name shots. Nurmagomedov is now 8-0 inside the Octagon and 24-0 entire in his career. He has been exploited for large things since entering the UFC, and after overcoming a rash of severe injuries, eventually seems always fit and is favored to win the belt on March 4th. Ferguson has witnessed his own bumps in the road on the way to this shot. After winning the 13th season of’The Ultimate Fighter’ back in 2011, he also scored three successive wins. He dropped a choice to Michael Johnson in 2012 that just stopped his sanity for a moment. Ever since that time, he’s reeled off nine consecutive wins against the likes of Rafael dos Anjos, Edson Barboza, and Josh Thomson, consistently putting on must-see fights. The combo of Nurmagomedov’s dominance and Ferguson’s high-paced, all-action approach makes their imaginations of the best bookings at the UFC in some time, and almost makes you forget that there is a guy out there holding the UFC lightweight name who appears to have no desire to defend it. The main card of UFC 209 also offers a heavyweight rematch between Alistair Overeem and Mark Hunt. The two fought in DREAM back in 2008 under far different circumstances. Overeem was just beginning his transformation into Ubereem, while Hunt’s devotion to the sport was about in line with Mario Yamasaki’s want to stop fights on time. Both guys are much different fighters at this point, as Overeem has adopted a much more conservative fashion and Hunt has rounded out his game significantly. In their first battle, Overeem quickly took Hunt down and submitted himbut we haven’t seen too much of his offensive grappling game recently. Will this battle mark its recurrence, or will the K-1 Grand Prix winners participate on the toes? Rounding out the most important card, former light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans makes his long-awaited middleweight debut against the always surprising Dan Kelly. The now 37-year-old Evans is 2-4 in his last six, and hasn’t won a fight since 2013. Kelly, despite turning 40 after this year, has impressed in his UFC conduct — despite the amount of competition has been a far cry from what Evans would have provided in his prime — heading 5-1 despite being the gambling underdog in every one of his UFC outings. Finally, one of the rising stars at lightweight gets the opportunity to flaunt his striking, but from a technical standpoint this may be his stiffest test yet on the toes. Lando Vannata stormed into the UFC, almost upsetting Tony Ferguson on brief notice in his debut, and then scoring the favorite choice for 2016’s knockout of this year against John Makdessi. He will be confronting an underrated opponent in David Teymur, with a pair of TKO wins his UFC restart after breaking into the business via TUF. The undercard also includes some fights to keep your eyes , as undefeated prospects Mirsad Bektic, Luke Sanders, Paul’The Bear Jew’ Craig, and Tyson Pedro create their yields. The latter two have been paired together in a light heavyweight division which desperately requires fighters to grow up the ranks. Meanwhile, Bektic and Sanders face their stiffest professional tests against Darren Elkins and Iuri Alcantara, respectively.
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