UFC: 214 Preview

UFC 214 is this Saturday, and it may be the most stacked fight card in a long time. There are three championship fights, and two more with big implications on the main card. The opening fight pits Robbie “Ruthless” Lawler against Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in a welterweight bout. This fight was supposed to happen at UFC 213, but Cerrone pulled out due to a staph infection and a pulled groin.

This is Lawler’s first fight since losing the welterweight championship at UFC 201 last year. There were talks that this fight against Cerrone was slated to take place at UFC 205 in November, but Lawler decided to take more time off to recover from the loss. After months of anticipation, the time has finally come for these two to clash.

Currently, Lawler is the No. 3 ranked contender in the welterweight division. A big win here could put him back in position for a title fight. Subsequently, a win for Cerrone would boost him in the division towards a possible future title shot. In his career, Lawler is 27-11. 74 percent of his wins have come via knockout. Cerrone is 32-8 in his career, with eight knockouts. Cerrone is two inches taller than Lawler, 73 to 71, but Lawler has a better reach at 74 inches to Cerrone’s 73. With their differing fight styles, it is not super obvious who will win. If the fight goes the distance, Cerrone probably has the advantage. Look for Lawler to end things early.

The other non-title match will be between Jimi “Poster Boy” Manuwa and Volkan “No Time” Oezdemir. Manuwa is the No. 3 ranked contender and Oezdemir is No. 5 in the light heavyweight division. A win for either guy would be crucial towards a possible future title match.

Manuwa has dominated in his last two fights. At UFC 204 in October, he knocked out Ovince Saint Preux in the second round. His next fight was even more convincing. At UFC Fight Night 107, he knocked out Corey Anderson early in the first round. In his career, he has a knockout percentage of 88. Oezdemir will make his UFC pay-per-view debut in this fight. This is not his first fight for the promotion, though. In his las fight at UFC Fight Night 109 in May, he knocked out Misha Cirkunov in 28 seconds. Of his 14 career wins, 10 of them are via knockout. Expect a hard-hitting fight between these two. The most shocking thing that can happen in this fight is that it goes the distance.

The first title bout of the night will be for the featherweight championship. Germaine de Randamie was stripped of the title on June 17, leading to this fight. Cris Cyborg, possibly the most dominant female fighter ever, will take on Tonya “Triple Threat” Evinger. Randamie was stripped of the belt when she refused to fight Cyborg, citing Cyborg’s history of performance enhancing drug use. It seems like nobody wants to fight her as Evinger was the third choice for this fight. Megan Anderson was supposed to fight Cyborg, but pulled out for personal reasons. In her career Cyborg is 16-1 with 14 knockouts. She has had two fights in UFC, both of which are dominant wins. At UFC 198 she defeated Leslie Smith via TKO in the first round. At UFC Fight Night 95 in September, she defeated Lina Lansberg in the first round when the referee had to stop the fight. Evinger is also a dominant fighter, but in a different sense. Her career record is 19-5. Unlike Cyborg, less than half of Evinger’s wins were by knockout. What she has done well, though, is make her opponents submit. She has seven wins by submission in her career.

The only fight that ended by submission for Cyborg was her first professional fight back in 2005, where she lost to Erica Paes. The longer this fight goes, the more it favors Evinger, but the likelihood of this fight going deep does not seem great.

The next title bout is between champion Tyron “The Chosen One” Woodley and No. 1 contender Demian Maia for the welterweight bout. Woodley claimed the welterweight championship when he defeated Lawler via knockout at UFC 201. Since then he has successfully defended the title twice. Both defenses came against Stephen Thompson, and both were very close bouts.

In the first fight at UFC 205, Woodley retained the title via majority draw. This means two of the judges scored the fight a draw, and one said Woodley won. Since the decision was not definitive, Woodley retained the title. In the second fight at UFC 209, Woodley won via split decision. While Woodley is better off staying on his feet, he still has a solid ground game. Of his 16 career wins, four of them came via submission. In this specific fight, though, Woodley needs to stay on his feet. Maia is a notoriously good ground-and-pound fighter.

Three of his 25 wins are by knockout, and 12 by submission. He is at his best when he can get off his feet and wear out his opponent. Woodley should try to end it early, because he does not want to get into a war of attrition with Maia.

Now for the main event. No. 1 contender Jon “Bones” Jones takes on champion Daniel “D.C.” Cormier for the light heavyweight belt. This is the second time these two have fought, with the first one coming at UFC 182 in January of 2015. Jones won that fight to retain his title via unanimous decision. Jones was later stripped of the title and indefinitely suspended from UFC in 2015 due to a hit-and-run accident. Cormier won the vacant title at UFC 187 against Anthony Johnson. The anticipation for this fight has been building for well over a year. This fight was supposed to take place at UFC 200 last year, but Jones was suspended by the USADA for violating the anti-doping policy. Now that day has finally come for their rematch. This time the roles are reversed, with Cormier as the champion, but the tension is still there. Jones has a significant reach advantage, 84 inches to 72, over Cormier. Both men have been equally dominant in their careers, with only one loss each. This is easily the most anticipated fight of the night, and for good reason. It has just as good a chance of ending in the first round as it does of going the distance.

Photo Credit: Fightline and UFC.