Please excuse the sick graphics
Teamliquid's 2014 UFC/MMA Discussion Thread!
The Ultimate Fighting Championship, considered to be the premier setting for the elite MMA fighters all across the world, has lasted more than 20 years as an organization.
UFC Champions (End of 2013)
Heavyweight: Cain Velasquez
Light Heavyweight: Jon Jones
Middleweight: Chris Weidman
Welterweight: (vacated)
Lightweight: Anthony Pettis
Featherweight: Jose Aldo
Bantamweight: Renan Barao
Flyweight: Demetrious Johnson
Women's Bantamweight: Ronda Rousey
--
Current UFC Champions and # of 2014 title defenses
Heavyweight: Cain Velasquez (0)
Interim Heavyweight: Fabicrio Werdum (0)
Light Heavyweight: Jon Jones (1; def. Glover Teixeira)
Middleweight: Chris Weidman (1; def. Lyoto Machida)
Welterweight: Robbie Lawler (0)
Lightweight: Anthony Pettis (1; def. Gilbert Melendez)
Featherweight: Jose Aldo (2; def. Ricardo Lamas, Chad Mendes)
Bantamweight: T.J. Dillashaw (1, def. Joe Soto)
Flyweight: Demetrious Johnson (2; def. Ali Bagautinov, Chris Cariaso)
Women's Bantamweight: Ronda Rousey (2; def. Sara McMann, Alexis Davis)
Women's Strawweight: Carla Esparza (0)
News of 2014!
- UFC Fight Pass is announced to be a new subscription-based digital network that will feature past fights and air future events.
- Dominick Cruz is stripped of his UFC Bantamweight title due to inactivity; Renan Barao is promoted from interim to undisputed UFC Bantamweight champion.
- UFC gets rid of "Knockout of the Night" and "Submission of the Night" post-fight bonuses and replaces them with two "Performance of the Night" post-fight awards.
- The Nevada State Athletic Commission bans the usage of TRT, and subsequently, the UFC also bans the usage of TRT.
- The first two The Ultimate Fighter: China finale winners are crowned.
- Thiago Silva is released from the UFC due to his arrest in regards with aggravated assault.
- Wanderlei Silva is dropped from his planned bout with opponent Chael Sonnen for refusing to take a drug test. He is replaced with Vitor Belfort.
- Chael Sonnen is dropped from his planned bout with opponent Vitor Belfort for failing a drug test, testing positive for anti-estrogens. Sonnen announces his retirement shortly thereafter.
- A week after Chael Sonnen's failed exam and subsequent retirement, Wanderlei Silva admitted to taking banned substances for the drug test that he avoided, which resulted in his withdrawal of his originally scheduled bout with Sonnen on UFC 175. He is awaiting punishment from the NSAC and possibly the UFC as well.
- The UFC Women's Strawweight division (115 lbs max.) is set to debut for the first time on July 16th, with the first fight featuring Claudia Gadelha vs Tina Lahdemaki.
- UFC hosts their first ever event in New Zealand with UFC Fight Night: Te Huna vs Marquardt.
- UFC 176 becomes the second UFC event to be cancelled. Originally supposed to feature a UFC Featherweight title bout between Jose Aldo and Chad Mendes, Aldo was forced to withdraw from the bout with an injury and the entire event was later cancelled. UFC 151 was the first card to have been cancelled, originally set to feature Jon Jones vs Dan Henderson for the UFC Light Heavyweight title in September 2012.
- Champion Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier initiate a brawl during the UFC 178 Press Tour ahead of their originally planned title bout that was scheduled to be on September 27th. However, on August 12th, Jon Jones withdrew from the fight due to an injury and was rescheduled to fight Cormier on January 3rd, 2015.
- UFC 177 becomes the smallest Pay-Per-View card since UFC 72 in 2007, with only 8 total featured bouts.
- UFC Bantamweight Champion T.J. Dillashaw becomes the first fighter to finish two fights in the 5th round.
- Former Bellator Lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez signs with the UFC after compiling a 25-3 record outside of the UFC.
- Former UFC Bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz returns to the Octagon for the first time since October 2011 at UFC 178 after being sidelined with multiple injuries. Cruz defeats top 10 bantamweight Takeya Mizugaki via TKO, his first finish since March 2010.
- UFC Heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez withdrew from his title bout against Fabricio Werdum due to an injury. Werdum takes on Mark Hunt for the interim heavyweight title, the first since former interim UFC heavyweight champion Shane Carwin after defeating Frank Mir at May 2010.
- UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs Bisping holds the record for the most finishes in a single card, with all 11 fights ending in stoppages via TKO, KO, or submission.
- The UFC holds their first ever event in Mexico with UFC 180, featuring Fabricio Werdum vs Mark Hunt for the interim heavyweight title as their main event.
- Former WWE superstar Phil "CM Punks" Brooks signs with the UFC, the second pro-wrestling to mixed martial artist crossover since former UFC Heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar.
- The inaugural Women's Strawweight champion is crowned to be Carla Esparza for winning the 20th season of the Ultimate Fighter.
- The Ultimate Fighter Finale: Season 20 is the first event to not feature any KO's in a single event since UFC 118 in August 2010.
If I'm missing anything with any significant news of 2014, let me know!
Future 2014 UFC Events
None.
Scheduled Championship Fights
None.
Unscheduled/Possible Championship Fights
Women's Strawweight: Carla Esparza will likely be fighting Joanna Jedrzejczyk in 2015.
Women's Bantamweight: Ronda Rousey will be fighting Cat Zingano in 2015.
Flyweight: Demetrious Johnson will likely be fighting Jussier da Silva or John Lineker, if he defeats Ian McCall.
Bantamweight: T.J. Dillashaw will likely be fighting Renan Barao in a rematch in 2015, due to Dominick Cruz and Raphael Assuncao being sidelined from injury.
Featherweight: After dispatching challenger Chad Mendes, Jose Aldo is likely to be waiting in the wings for either Frankie Edgar or Conor McGregor, if he defeats Dennis Siver.
Lightweight: Anthony Pettis will be fighting Rafael dos Anjos in 2015.
Welterweight: Robbie Lawler is likely to fight Johny Hendricks in a rematch for a rubber match or possibly Hector Lombard if Lombard defeats Josh Burkman.
Middleweight: Chris Weidman will be fighting Vitor Belfort in 2015.
Light Heavyweight: Jon Jones will be fighting Daniel Cormier in 2015.
Heavyweight: Cain Velasquez will be fighting the interim champion Fabricio Werdum for a unification bout in 2015.
Bellator News
Bellator Fighting Championship operates under a tournament-style concept to determine title contenders, with 8 fighters in a division fighting in a single elimination tournament bracket with the winner earning $100,000 and a bout with their respective division's champion for the title. There are also exhibition fights among fighters and also the champions while waiting for a slot in the tournament or a new contender; respectively. While the events have been available via MTV2 and now SpikeTV in the USA, Bellator has since adopted the Pay-Per-View format, debuting with Bellator 120.
Bellator Champions (Number of defenses; last defense)
Heavyweight: Vitaly Minakov (1; def. Cheick Kongo)
Light Heavyweight: Emanuel Newton (2; def. Joey Beltran, Linton Vassell)
Middleweight: Brandon Halsey (0)
Welterweight: Douglas Lima (0)
Lightweight: Will Brooks (0)
Featherweight: Patricio Freire (0)
Bantamweight: Joe Warren (0)
None.
Unscheduled/Possible Championship Fights
Women's Strawweight: Carla Esparza will likely be fighting Joanna Jedrzejczyk in 2015.
Women's Bantamweight: Ronda Rousey will be fighting Cat Zingano in 2015.
Flyweight: Demetrious Johnson will likely be fighting Jussier da Silva or John Lineker, if he defeats Ian McCall.
Bantamweight: T.J. Dillashaw will likely be fighting Renan Barao in a rematch in 2015, due to Dominick Cruz and Raphael Assuncao being sidelined from injury.
Featherweight: After dispatching challenger Chad Mendes, Jose Aldo is likely to be waiting in the wings for either Frankie Edgar or Conor McGregor, if he defeats Dennis Siver.
Lightweight: Anthony Pettis will be fighting Rafael dos Anjos in 2015.
Welterweight: Robbie Lawler is likely to fight Johny Hendricks in a rematch for a rubber match or possibly Hector Lombard if Lombard defeats Josh Burkman.
Middleweight: Chris Weidman will be fighting Vitor Belfort in 2015.
Light Heavyweight: Jon Jones will be fighting Daniel Cormier in 2015.
Heavyweight: Cain Velasquez will be fighting the interim champion Fabricio Werdum for a unification bout in 2015.
Bellator News
Bellator Fighting Championship operates under a tournament-style concept to determine title contenders, with 8 fighters in a division fighting in a single elimination tournament bracket with the winner earning $100,000 and a bout with their respective division's champion for the title. There are also exhibition fights among fighters and also the champions while waiting for a slot in the tournament or a new contender; respectively. While the events have been available via MTV2 and now SpikeTV in the USA, Bellator has since adopted the Pay-Per-View format, debuting with Bellator 120.
Bellator Champions (Number of defenses; last defense)
Heavyweight: Vitaly Minakov (1; def. Cheick Kongo)
Light Heavyweight: Emanuel Newton (2; def. Joey Beltran, Linton Vassell)
Middleweight: Brandon Halsey (0)
Welterweight: Douglas Lima (0)
Lightweight: Will Brooks (0)
Featherweight: Patricio Freire (0)
Bantamweight: Joe Warren (0)
OP note: If you are new to MMA in either practicing it as a sport or keeping up with the UFC and have any questions, feel free to post in the thread your questions or shoot me a PM!