As the year draws to a close, let’s take a look at the state of the UFC’s roster, and what we can expect in the upcoming months. Today, we’re going to be looking at the UFC Lightweight division (155lbs).
Last week, Rafael dos Anjos reaffirmed his position at the top of the Lightweight division with, what’s becoming a trademark, mauling of an opponent. Dos Anjos defeated Donald Cerrone by TKO in just 66 seconds to mark his first title defense as the 155-lb. champion.
Cerrone, a phenomenal kickboxer who fought six times last year, looked beaten the moment the bell rang and had no answer for the pressure of dos Anjos.
The victory cements the Brazilian as the man to beat, a task that appears more challenging with every appearance. Not that dos Anjos is lacking in contenders. The top five of the Lightweight division is still a list of phenomenal talent, including ex-champion Anthony Pettis and ex-Bellator Lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez.
Of course, Pettis and dos Anjos fought before, with dos Anjos winning that fight for the title. Now, Pettis will be facing Alvarez on January 17th in what could possibly become a number one contendership match. If Alvarez comes away with the victory in what will likely be a barn burner, then you’d imagine he’ll be the one to face dos Anjos around June.
If Pettis wins, then he’ll be aiming to put on a significantly better showing than his previous bout against dos Anjos, in which the Brazilian beat him handily.
Also on the champion’s horizon is Tony Ferguson, who’s riding atop a seven-fight win streak, most recently submitting Edson Barboza in a fantastic fight, which earned Ferguson $100,000 in bonuses. Ferguson has shown a steady improvement and now looks to be one solid victory away from a title shot.
All this seems straightforward, except there are two names who could enter in the conversation at any moment and change the landscape. With a record of 22-0, Khabib Nurmagomedov has proven himself as an absolute destroyer at lightweight. His most recent victory, one over the current champion dos Anjos, was a show of shocking ragdolling, launching the Brazilian around the octagon en route to a unanimous decision.
The issue with that is just how long ago that victory came. Nurmagomedov has been out of action for nearly two years now, thanks to repeated injuries to his knee. The Russian’s training is known to be brutal, including (for some bizarre reason) bear wrestling. We’re yet to see the effect of the time off and bad knees, but if Khabib returns as he once was, the division’s elite could be in trouble.
The other name is, of course, Conor McGregor. The Featherweight champion just starched Jose Aldo at 145lb, and post-fight announced his interest in moving up in weight to the Lightweight division to face the winner of last week’s bout between Cerrone and dos Anjos.
Since then, McGregor has been uncharacteristically quiet, perhaps weighing up his various options. His decision has been made less obvious, with Nate Diaz fighting for the first time in a year, and using the post-fight interview as his opportunity to make his case for a money fight with the Irishman.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7w3ejgfCewA
A fight between the two, while perhaps not making sense in the rankings, is hugely enticing for the build up. Both are infamous for their trash talk, both before and during their fights. Any bout between the two could break records, both in financial sense and in amount of in-fight cursing.
The Lightweight division then, is at once the easiest and hardest to make predictions for. A lot revolves around a McGregor decision, but assuming he stays at 145lbs for now, we can perhaps see the lay of the land a bit easier.
Prediction for 2016: Dos Anjos fights and beats the winner of Anthony Pettis and Eddie Alvarez, before facing McGregor in a huge fight later in the year. Khabib makes a return, beats Tony Ferguson and faces the winner of Dos Anjos – McGregor.
