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The UFC had a great year in 2019 but from the look of things in the first quarter alone, it seems as though UFC is going all guns blazing in 2020. The first quarter alone features three of the biggest PPV stars in the company headlining and that's something that we'll be getting to.
However, it's the quality of really impressive match-ups. We see new rivalries begin, new challengers for the title and long overdue bouts that will finally take place. For all the criticism that UFC gets, there's no denying that they always give the best possible fights and don't withhold like they do in Boxing.
While Boxing is the reason that MMA and the UFC exists, the biggest problem promotionally is how they overprotect champions and top draws and often give them cans to fight and "tune-up" fights and hold back from big money fights for years.
In MMA, no such thing exists and the UFC always gives us the best vs the best. 2020 will be no different and here are five exciting fights we are going to see:
#5 Conor McGregor vs Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone - UFC 246
By MMA standards, this would be a "tune-up" fight for the returning Conor McGregor, though Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone is no slouch. The most active fighter in UFC will get the biggest payday of his career and you'd think it's well-deserved for all he's done for UFC.
He's on a 2-fight losing skid but gets Conor McGregor, a fight that he's been calling for years. It was only early this year when McGregor told Cerrone he'd fight him following a win over Alex Hernandez.
The fight will surprisingly be at Welterweight, something that Cerrone will probably prefer due to a lesser weight cut.
#4 Jon Jones vs Dominick Reyes
Jon Jones' last title defense earlier this year was one of his toughest to date as he walked out with a decision victory over a tough opponent in Thiago Santos. The Brazilian, in the eyes of many fans, had done enough to win the fight but it was nothing too controversial.
Santos will be out for a long time due to his busted knee and Jones will move on, choosing Dominick Reyes as his next title challenger. He felt that Reyes was a bigger threat than Corey Anderson and the two men will go at it on February 8th at UFC 247 in Houston, Texas.
It's going to be a big challenge for Jones. Does Reyes have what it takes?
#3 Israel Adesanya vs Yoel Romero
If any fighter called out Yoel Romero, they would instantly be labeled as crazy. The Cuban Middleweight is considered to be the biggest threat in his division despite losing 3 out of his last 4 fights.
He hasn't done anything to earn a title shot, but the circumstances may have worked in his favor. After contender Paulo Costa was ruled out for 8 months with a shoulder injury, the champion Israel Adesanya called out Yoel Romero, wanting to silence the haters.
It's a big task to take upon himself and while Dana White wanted Romero to beat someone first to earn the shot, Adesanya doesn't want to wait. From the look of things, Adesanya vs Romero is the direction for the Middleweight title in 2020.
#2 Stipe Miocic vs Daniel Cormier III
While we don't expect to see this until the second half of this year, Stipe Miocic vs Daniel Cormier 2 is the direction we seem to be headed in. With Cormier postponing his March 2020 retirement, he said that his trilogy fight with Stipe will be his last.
It's a far more exciting match-up that Jon Jones vs Daniel Cormier and if the former Olympian can win the Heavyweight gold a second time, it would only add to his legacy in a big way.
Win, lose, or draw, Cormier has our full respect for all he's done for the sport.
#1 Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Tony Ferguson - UFC 248/249
2020 will most likely be the year that we finally get to see Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Tony Ferguson. While we don't want to jinx it, we're hoping that fifth time is the charm. This is the most anticipated fight in all of MMA and the fact that it's been canceled four times before has only added to the tension and anxiety surrounding the possibility of the fight happening.
Either way, it's scheduled for April 18th, 2019 and we expect fireworks in the main event of the Barclays Center. This could be the fight of the year.
