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UFC 205 Prelims Preview
- Updated: November 10, 2016
In what has been an eventful year for the UFC with many blockbuster cards, the biggest card of them all is upon us. After Mixed Martial Arts finally got legalized in New York back in April, the UFC made it point that they wanted their first show to be in Madison Square Garden and they planned on providing a card that will be talked about for ages, making a statement in the huge market. What better way to make waves than by having your biggest box office draw, Conor McGregor, fight for a chance to make history as he competes for a chance to be a champion in two weight classes as he faces the UFC Lightweight Champion, Eddie Alvarez, who has done more enough in his career to earn a chance to main even the first NYC UFC card? Also on the main card is two more title fights, and other fan favorite fighters which should not disappoint. But before we get to the main card, we get to watch the preliminary card for free on Fox Sports 1, and not only is the preliminary card stellar, but it could be a Fight Night card on it’s own.
Headlining the preliminary card is former UFC Lightweight Champion and future first ballot UFC Hall of Famer, Frankie Edgar, looking to stay relevant in the Featherweight division as he faces knock out artist Jeremy Stephens, who is trying to work his way up to a title shot. At UFC 200, Frankie Edgar challenged Jose Aldo for the interim Featherweight Championship in a rematch of their UFC 156 bout, and like their first fight Frankie came up short in an unanimous decision loss, once again derailing his chance at becoming a champion in a 2nd weight class, a feat only accomplished by two others before him: BJ Penn and Randy Couture. But being the warrior Frankie Edgar is, he isn’t giving up his quest of the Featherweight championship. Jeremy Stephens will hope to put an end to that quest for good on Saturday. Frankie Edgar is known for his legendary chin and ability to take punishment and keep his composure, but I don’t think Frankie wants to get hit by Jeremy Stephens too many times. Throughout his UFC career, Jeremy Stephens has knocked out some of the best fighters, some of those victims have been former UFC Lightweight champion, Rafael dos Anjos, top 10 Featherweight Dennis Bermudez, and Ultimate Fighter Brazil winner Rony Jason. Despite that, Jeremy Stephens has also had a very inconsistent career – whenever he would get close to a title shot, he would take a devastating loss that has always derailed him. But since moving down to Featherweight, Jeremy Stephens is coming off what is probably the biggest win of his career against Renan Barao, with a win over a legend like Frankie Edgar this would no doubt put him into title contention. Whereas if Frankie Edgar defeats Stephens, he will bounce back and work his way up the ladder to get another title shot.
Another marquee match up on the prelims with huge title implications is undefeated 23-0 Khabib Nurmagomedov faces off against another top Lightweight contender Michael Johnson. This fight is very interesting on many notes, especially since Khabib was basically used as negotiating bait to get the main event of UFC 205 done. During the Conor McGregor/Eddie Alvarez negotiations, the UFC sent the Lightweight champion, Eddie Alvarez two contracts to fight Khabib, one for UFC 205 and one for UFC 206. Of course Eddie didn’t sign them and eventually they worked out the McGregor fight, giving us the marquee match up for this illustrious card. Khabib, angered knowing the UFC used him as a negotiation tactic, still decided to fight on this card against a dangerous opponent. In all fairness to the UFC though, Khabib Nurmagomedov would’ve fought for a title a long time ago, but because of injuries he has only fought once in the past 2 years, and his last fight was against a UFC newcomer. Khabib needs to prove he is 100% and can stay healthy to break that injury prone label. Even with a win over Michael Johnson, I still think that Tony Ferguson (a man who Michael Johnson beat 4 years ago) has done more to earn the title shot over Khabib due to competition he’s beaten and his activity in the division. As for Michael Johnson, being the man to finally to give Khabib his first loss would be huge for him. I always felt Michael Johnson was one of the most talented fighters in the division, especially his stand-up. The way he combines his speed and power in his combos along with his magnificent footwork is always a pleasure for an MMA fan to watch. But whenever Michael Johnson seems to get close to title contention, he suffers a setback. However, after knocking out the ultra talented Dustin Poirier back in September, he looks get the biggest win of his career and move closer to a title shot. He may have to wait for that title shot even if he beats Khabib, as I still think Tony Ferguson has it in the bag. Even though Michael Johnson beat Tony Ferguson 4 years ago, since that loss Tony Ferguson has won a UFC Lightweight record 9 straight in the division, its hard to argue against that. Regardless if Tony gets the next title shot, I feel that the winner of this fight should pull a Tyron Woodley and sit out and let things work its self out instead of taking another fight in between then. Of course for some fighters, inactivity can hurt them but it worked for Tyron Woodley when he sat out 1.5 years until finally getting his title shot, and winning the championship in brutal knockout fashion over Robbie Lawler.
As for other fights on the preliminary card, despite losing Rashad Evans vs. Tim Kennedy, there are still other intriguing fights including former Welterweight contender Thiago Alves moving down to Lightweight for the first time in his career to face tough veteran Jim Miller who is riding a 2-win fight steak, this fight will headline the UFC Fight Pass portion of the card. Both Tim Boetsch and Rafael Natal look to stay relevant in the middleweight division as they square off against each other Rafael Natal despite coming off a loss to top contender Robert Whittaker, is 4-1 in his last 5 fights where as Tim Boetsch snapped a 3-fight losing streak this past July as he TKO’d Josh Samman (RIP), and looks to remain in the win column. Top welterweight prospect Belal Muhammad, coming off his first UFC victory in September, looks to continue his winning ways as he faces the well rounded, former Ultimate Fighter cast member Vicente Luque, who takes this fight on short notice as the original fighter Lyman Good was pulled off by the USADA due to a potential anti-doiping violation. And of course to start off the night of fights, former Women’s Bantamweight championship challenger Liz Charmouche takes on undefeated 8-0 Katlyn Chookagian. All in all, these prelims can’t be missed and before they start the main card I definitely recommend taking your time to watch what should be an excellent free preliminary card.
