The Bottom Line: Christmas Comes Early for MMA Fans

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In an age when the volume of shows and frequency of injuries make genuinely transcendent fight cards extreme rarities, it’s all the more exciting when a show like UFC 194 comes along. From top to bottom, 194 on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas is one of the best MMA cards of all-time, and the wait for it to come is almost over. It’s enough to bring holiday cheer to even the most jaded of fans.

When UFC 194 was announced, it felt like the Ultimate Fighting Championship stacked the card more than needed so that when injuries invariably struck there would be more than enough depth to still leave fans with the best card of the year. Memories linger of cards like UFC 184 earlier this year, which lost three of its top four fights from an originally loaded card: Chris Weidman-Vitor Belfort, Frank Mir- Antonio Silva and Ronaldo Souza-Yoel Romero. Fans, UFC executives and media members held their breath and crossed their fingers as week after week passed, waiting for the injuries to strike UFC 194. A funny thing happened. The significant injuries never came. Now less than a week out and barring a late weight-cutting issue or freak injury, the card is almost entirely intact; and it is spectacular.

UFC 194 boasts a crazy trifecta. It has the best main event of any card all year, flanked by the best co-main event of any card all year and, as if that isn’t enough, the best third fight from the top all year. It’s an embarrassment of riches, so good that it’s likely to leave a bit of a hangover when it’s over and we return to the regular schedule.

It will be difficult for any fight this year to match the historical significance of Holly Holm-Ronda Rousey, but going in, that fight was widely expected to be a blowout in the other direction. No fight this year has been as anticipated in advance as Jose Aldo-Conor McGregor. It has the rare combination of a fight between two fighters at the top of their game where fans aren’t sure who is going to win. Plus, you have a heated personal element where neither man can stomach losing to the other. There have only been two other fights in the past five years where both of those elements were so strong: Jon Jones-Daniel Cormier at UFC 182 and Anderson Silva-Chael Sonnen at UFC 148.

It’s a testament to how impressive McGregor has looked in the UFC that he is the betting favorite against the Brazilian. Aldo has dominated the UFC featherweight division for the entire time that there has even been a UFC featherweight division. Yet, McGregor’s reach and dynamic striking makes him a dangerous matchup for the champion. The fight falling through at UFC 189 ended up being a blessing in disguise because McGregor’s knockout win over Chad Mendes gave him an added measure of credibility to those who questioned whether his skills were as impressive as his mouth.

As compelling as the fight is from an athletic standpoint, it’s McGregor’s incessant trash talk that has taken it to a higher level. Aldo’s contempt for McGregor is palpable at this point. It’s obviously the biggest fight of McGregor’s life, but the Irishman’s talking has also made the fight incredibly important for the longtime champion, who should have much less to prove. There’s a good chance the loser will be left thinking about the fight for the rest of his life.

An additional ingredient of excitement is the nationalistic element. Both Irish and Brazilian fans are incredibly proud, and it will be a spectacle live to see them competing to make the most noise supporting their fighter, like a really heated international soccer match. It will make the fight feel all the more important. There have been a number of big main events this year, including Jones-Cormier, Silva-Nick Diaz, Rousey-Bethe Correia and Rousey-Holm, but McGregor-Jose Aldo stands out as the biggest.

Weidman against Luke Rockhold doesn’t have the same personal element, but it has pretty much everything else you’d want from a big title fight. Weidman has never lost, but Rockhold will be an incredibly difficult obstacle. The American Kickboxing Academy product has been dominant for years now, setting aside the asterisk in general that is Belfort. Each man thinks he is the best striker. Each man thinks he is the best grappler. They can’t both be right.

Weidman and Rockhold have even entered into a major war of words of their own. It isn’t backed up by animus, but it is informed by two extremely proud competitors who are convinced they are going to win this fight. Somebody is likely in for a rude awakening, but it’s hard to know who that will be. It’s easy to understand why neither man seems to be able to envision losing given how dominant both have been. It’s one of the best title matchups of the year and better than many UFC main events.

Of the co-main events in 2015, the only two that could compare to Weidman-Rockhold were Weidman-Belfort and Robbie Lawler-Rory MacDonald. This fight doesn’t have the Belfort stink and features two fighters who have distanced themselves from their competitors more than Lawler and MacDonald have theirs. Obviously, it will be tough to match the excitement Lawler and MacDonald provided inside the cage, but Weidman-Rockhold is the bigger fight and more intriguing matchup going in.

Those top two matchups are great, but the third fight from the top is nothing to sleep on. After a long delay and a couple of cancellations, Romero and Souza will finally fight. Romero and Souza are easily the two best contenders for the middleweight title after Weidman and Rockhold meet, but it’s the stylistic matchup that really puts it over the top. It’s the world-class wrestler with the brutal knockout power against the world-class jiu-jitsu master who has added a dynamic striking game. It’s another very tough fight to call, and the stakes are extremely high. The only fight all year not in the main event or co-main event position with similar juice going in was Johny Hendricks-Matt Brown at UFC 185, and Romero-Souza is better.

It’s not as if all the work went into putting together the top of the card. Demian Maia-Gunnar Nelson is an important battle between jiu-jitsu aces, even if it may result in a less exciting striking battle. Max Holloway-Jeremy Stephens has fireworks written all over it, as Holloway continues his surge up the featherweight rankings. Even the undercard is deep with solid matchups. From popular “Ultimate Fighter” winner Court McGee fighting in the opener to Urijah Faber fighting in the Fox Sports 1 prelims main event, there’s plenty to sink one’s teeth into. A real sleeper bout is between a pair of undefeated prospects who have looked dominant thus far in the UFC: Warlley Alves and Colby Covington. It’s a big test for both men. That’s not even touching on the Thursday and Friday cards preceding UFC 194, featuring the likes of Chad Mendes against Frankie Edgar and Tony Ferguson against Edson Barboza.

For MMA fans who have been disappointed by so many fights falling through in recent years, UFC 194 is a welcome holiday gift. Cards this great don’t come along very often.