'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
2019 is now well underway and while we haven’t been treated to a UFC show just yet – the first one comes on 01/19 in a couple of weeks’ time – the MMA juggernaut has continued to dominate the news, with big-time fight announcements like Jon Jones vs. Anthony Smith and Tyron Woodley vs. Kamaru Usman, as well as breaking news about some of the 2019 schedule.
Given we’re only 7 days into the year though, there’s obviously still a hell of a long way to go before we reach the end of 2019. And so with some of the UFC’s decisions – as well as the actions of the fighters – continuing to surprise us, here are 5 bold predictions for the world’s biggest MMA promotion in 2019.
#1 We won’t see either Diaz brother in action
2018 was a landmark year for the UFC for a number of reasons. Ben Askren finally signed with the UFC, Demetrious Johnson’s incredible title reign finally came to an end, and the UFC’s 7-year relationship with Fox also ended with the promotion moving to ESPN for 2019.
But the more some things changed, the more others remained the same, and so 2018 marked another year in which neither Diaz brother competed in the UFC. It was all of the usual stuff, too – both Nick and Nate were linked with big-time fights – Nate even had a match with Dustin Poirier signed for UFC 230 – but in the end, they all fell through with the brothers complaining online about their treatment by the promotion.
2019 already looks to be following the same pattern, with Nick trashing an apparently confirmed fight with Jorge Masvidal in March. At this stage, it looks like the Diaz brothers are simply over-playing their hand. Both men seem to believe they’re entitled to huge payouts and/or shots at UFC titles, but realistically they haven’t earned either and the longer they sit out, the more the fans will forget about them, closing their window even further.
Personally, I’m viewing both brothers as semi-retired now and I’d be gobsmacked if either one of them appears in the Octagon in 2019. They’re simply too demanding for the UFC to want to deal with them, especially as younger – and more agreeable – stars like Israel Adesanya and Brian Ortega are emerging through the ranks.
#2 The Women’s Featherweight division will fold
It’s already semi-official that the UFC is folding one weight class this year – Men’s Flyweight – and I suspect that they’ll follow suit and end the Women’s Featherweight division at some point too. In this instance, I think it makes total sense. It’s no secret that the division was launched largely because of the drawing power of Cris Cyborg, but now she’s lost, it’s hard to justify it continuing.
Sure, Amanda Nunes may well take off as a star after vanquishing Cyborg, but she also holds the Bantamweight title and that division has far more potential contenders for her crown than 145lbs.
Basically, the only genuine Featherweight on the roster outside of Cyborg is Megan Anderson, and while I’m a fan of the Australian’s, she’s just not a big enough draw to warrant trying to build a division around, not when the talent pool is so shallow.
Cyborg has already mentioned leaving the UFC when her contract expires in March, and so Nunes’ win over her has helped the promotion to dodge what could’ve been a major bullet had she still held a UFC title. Even TUF 28, which was dedicated to the division, hasn’t really helped; finalists Macy Chiasson and Pannie Kianzad have already confirmed that they’re dropping to 135lbs in the near future.
My best guess would be a title match between Nunes and Anderson in the early part of 2019, and if Nunes wins, the division will then be folded. If Anderson were to pull an upset, things could change slightly, but either way, I simply don’t see this division existing in the UFC by the end of 2019.
#3 Khabib Nurmagomedov will finally face Tony Ferguson
Despite Dana White stating in October that Tony Ferguson – who is on a wild eleven-fight win streak in the UFC’s most packed division – would definitely be getting the next title shot at Lightweight, recent reports seem to suggest otherwise.
First, there was a hint from White that a Khabib Nurmagomedov/Conor McGregor rematch for the title could be coming in 2019, and then there was an interview with Khabib’s manager Ali Abdelaziz that suggested his fighter would refuse a booking with Ferguson due to the latter’s apparent inability to sell pay-per-views.
I’m actually going out on a limb however and predicting that we will – finally – get a title fight between Khabib and Ferguson before the end of the year. The fight simply makes too much sense not to be booked, and I think fans would be in uproar if anyone else were granted a title shot before ‘El Cucuy’; it’d begin to look like the situation surrounding Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell in the mid-2000s, when Ortiz was accused of ducking ‘The Iceman’.
It might make sense for Khabib to demand an opponent who can sell more pay-per-views, but I’m not even sure that a second McGregor fight would draw as well, especially if Conor doesn’t pick up a win beforehand. And outside of McGregor, and a huge curveball like a fight with Georges St-Pierre, nobody is going to draw hugely alongside Khabib – who really isn’t a proven “a-side” pay-per-view draw yet anyway.
The UFC must know that a Khabib/Ferguson fight makes sense before a prospective rematch between Khabib and McGregor, and so I think they’ll throw money at ‘The Eagle’ to make it happen in the first half of 2019 before building to a McGregor fight in the latter half of the year.
#4 The UFC will put on a huge show in Hawaii
Last week it was announced that the UFC will be putting on its first show in the state of Kansas in March, and when that show takes place, it means the promotion will have put on shows in 39 of the 50 US states. At this point all of the major states have been ticked off the list – except for one, Hawaii.
Despite a number of great UFC fighters being produced by the Aloha state over the years – BJ Penn, Travis Browne, Brad Tavares and KJ Noons for instance – the promotion has still never visited the archipelago. But I’m predicting that 2019 is the year that this will finally change, and I think two reasons will make it happen.
Firstly, the UFC has a new Hawaiian superstar in the form of current Featherweight champion Max Holloway. ‘Blessed’ recently defended his title by destroying Brian Ortega, and he’s well on his way to becoming a genuine superstar. He’s not quite on the level of BJ Penn just yet, but he’s more consistent than ‘The Prodigy’ ever was and I think that’s why the UFC would love to build a show around him in his home state.
Secondly, despite the existence of smaller Hawaiian promotions like Icon Sport and Rumble on the Rock, it was never a given that a UFC show would do that well in Hawaii. But the success of rival promotion Bellator – who put on a well-received show in Honolulu in December, headlined by a Hawaiian star in Ilima-Lei Macfarlane who has a lower profile than Holloway.
I can’t imagine a situation where the UFC would allow Bellator to set up a hotbed in Hawaii without wanting to muscle in on them, so I suspect the promotion will announce their first show in the state – probably in Honolulu – to be headlined by Holloway at some point in 2019.
#5 Jon Jones won’t lose a fight
His return fight might’ve been shrouded in controversy following some questionable drug test results, but few could argue with how effective Jon Jones looked inside the Octagon at UFC 232, as he dealt with Alexander Gustafsson with aplomb, finishing him in the third round via TKO to regain his UFC Light-Heavyweight title. After the win, question marks surrounded Jones’ future, but those questions now seem to have been answered.
Jones will defend his title against Anthony Smith at UFC 235 in March in what is a somewhat surprising booking – Smith is on a winning streak, but he’s definitely not a superstar, nor a fighter who will be expected to beat Jones.
That means that – contrary to what I suggested in a recent article predicting the UFC champions at the end of 2019 – it looks like ‘Bones’ is content to stick around at 205lbs and defend his title.
If that’s the case, then I just can’t see him losing a fight in 2019. I predicted that Dominick Reyes would hold the Light-Heavyweight title by the end of the year, but that was when I suspected Jones would move to Heavyweight.
With the Smith booking now official, I think it’s far more likely that he’ll stay at 205lbs and continue to dominate his competition there. He’s essentially on another level to every other fighter in the division.
Of course, Jones could still move to Heavyweight, but even there I don’t really see many fighters giving him issues; he’d likely receive an instant title shot once Daniel Cormier likely retires, and the only man I could see him having problems with would be a prime Cain Velasquez – a fighter who may well no longer exist.
Personally, though I think Jones will be more than content to just dominate proceedings at 205lbs – like he did between 2011 and 2015 – and so I can see him ending the year with that questionable DQ against Matt Hamill remaining his only loss.
