It was reported on Monday that Chris Weidman had to pull out of his title defense against Lyoto Machida at UFC 173. Fox Sports spoke to his head coach Ray Longo and he told them that Weidman’s right knee popped out twice in the same week. It was an injury that has now affected both knees, where he may need to get both knees scoped. For now, we should expect his fight against Machida to occur at UFC 175, which will be the Fourth of July weekend event.
Everyone knows that Memorial Day weekend is always an important weekend for the UFC. While it’s not quite on the level of an Super Bowl weekend or Fourth of July weekend, they still value that weekend greatly and try to put on a stacked event. For the past two years, both shows have been headlined by heavyweight title bouts. With Cain Velasquez not expected to be back until the fall, there will be a new theme to this year’s event.
Junior Dos Santos will be in the co-main event against rising star Stipe Miocic to bring some heavyweight star power to the event. Despite Dos Santos’ popularity, it would be a major surprise if their fight were actually boosted into the main event slot. Miocic is still relatively unknown to the mainstream audience. It would be a possibility if Alistair Overeem were his opponent, considering their history of taking shots at one another. That fight is still something that practically all MMA fans still want to see. Unfortunately for the fans, Overeem is dealing with a rib injury and wasn’t able to accept the offered fight against Dos Santos.
In what will be a rare two weeks of no UFC events, many people are speculating on how will the UFC handle the loss of not having Weidman versus Machida for their big event. After looking through the “glorified” fighter rankings, I’ve only come up with two logical match-ups that can headline such a major event.
As you’ve heard from several journalists, this is a transitional year for the UFC. Many of their champions are currently injured, so these match-ups may be a stretch in believing that they can draw such a massive buy-rate. I’m not expecting either fight to amount to 500,000 or 600,000 fans purchasing this pay-per-view. As long as the fight receives buzz and it doesn’t feature a lopsided matchup, then that is what should be looked at as a success for the headliner at UFC 173.
Featherweight Championship: Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes
This fight may seem like a stretch in terms of overall excitement, but the UFC could realistically make this match-up for Memorial Day weekend. Demetrious Johnson and Renan Barao have put on outstanding performances that should have earned them more recognition. Unfortunately, neither of them has really given the UFC confidence that they can draw without facing a popular name. The only reason why Barao headlined UFC 169 was because he faced Urijah Faber.
While Aldo hasn’t exactly been a major draw, he has two features that always make his fights compelling besides his actual fighting ability. He’s proven to be one of the most dominant champions in MMA history and has yet to be significantly threatened by any of his past opponents. Frankie Edgar had his moments, but Aldo was in control for most of the fight. He makes his opponents look mediocre with his speed and precision. Ricardo Lamas was his latest victim, where Lamas couldn’t effectively close the distance until the final round.
If you remember their first fight at UFC 142, Mendes was actually winning the first round. He was constantly shooting in for double legs or trying to dirty box him against the fence. It was a wise strategy and he seemed to have frustrated Aldo. In superhuman fashion after getting Mendes off his back, Aldo spun around and threw a left high kick. His knee actually caused the damage, as Mendes was still trying to adjust from losing his positioning.
I’m not sure how exactly fans reacted after the fight, since it was over two years ago and it falls under the radar. The fight left me wanting more based on how abrupt the ending was. Don’t forget that Aldo illegally held onto the fence at one point to avoid being taken down. If Mendes completes that take-down attempt, we could have very well seen a second round. He’s been on a tear by winning his last five fights in dominant fashion. While it would have been incredible to finally see Anthony Pettis face Aldo, we need to get over that dream match-up for now.
Mendes has had some tremendous performances recently by being the first fighter ever to knock out Clay Guida. Then you have to account for his dominant victory over Nik Lentz, while dealing with a sinus infection. For him to still compete dealing with an issue that affects your breathing, Mendes deserves to be commended for that. We all know that their first fight ended in decisive fashion, but Mendes mostly relied on his wrestling at the time. His striking has improved greatly over the past two years by winning four of those five fights by knockout. It may not have the hype like Junior Dos Santos versus Frank Mir had from two years ago on Memorial Day weekend, but this rematch would be an intriguing match-up. Brazilian fans are known to travel in bunches to Vegas to watch their home-town fighters. Aldo and Dos Santos on the same card would garner plenty of interest.
Welterweight: Robbie Lawler vs. Nick Diaz
You knew Stockton’s finest was going to be included. It seems to be only a matter of time before Diaz returns to the UFC. The landscape of the UFC has clearly changed, but that hasn’t affected Diaz’s profile by any stretch. He still remains to be one of the most polarizing figures in MMA today. Whether you embrace or despise his personality, you will more than likely watch in whatever he’s featured in. The attention he received for heckling Johny Hendricks at the UFC 171 weigh-ins was unbelievable.
If they can get Diaz back and match him up against someone that will motivate him, then UFC 173 will become a must-watch show for casual fans. What better way to motivate him than have him face arguably the best striker in the welterweight division? While both fighters have shown great respect towards one another, so did Diaz and B.J Penn. They fought each other without any issues and it shaped up to be one of the most memorable fights of 2011.
The resurgence of Lawler has become one of the great stories in MMA over the past year. He was always respected amongst fans, now he’s becoming adored. His performance against top competition like Rory MacDonald and Johny Hendricks has really gravitated fans in believing that he can beat the cream of the crop. Even in defeat against Hendricks, nobody had ever brutalized Hendricks to that extent. Nobody had ever forced Hendricks into keeping the fight standing for nearly four rounds. Those are two accomplishments that Lawler can take in defeat.
Even though there are so many talented fighters, 2014 hasn’t exactly started off with a bang for MMA. Besides the five round battle between Hendricks and Lawler, there has yet to be any fight or even moment that had fans absolutely buzzing. In no circumstances, can I see Diaz versus Lawler being a dud. The first fight was an absolute slug-fest, where Diaz took Lawler out of his element and picked him apart before finishing him off with a straight right. The finish was once again decisive with Lawler being knocked out in dramatic fashion.
That fight occurred ten years ago, when Lawler fought on pure aggression. We’ve clearly seen him more composed and precise with his striking over the past five years. Obviously this would be the fight that everyone would want to see headline UFC 173. While Aldo versus Mendes would be compelling, it wouldn’t come close in drawing interest. However we don’t know about Lawler’s physical state, along with Diaz’s current mindset. Will he take a fight that isn’t for the title? We can only hope, considering there are plenty of deserving contenders at welterweight and Hendricks won’t be able to fight until October. He needs to earn a title shot and what better way to do it than by defeating the man, who nearly beat the champion? That would be the best way to lure Diaz back and to generate plenty of interest for one of the bigger events of the year.
Twitter: @Allen_Strk
