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With less than six months before 2014 is just another memory, there are still plenty of big fights coming up for MMA fans to enjoy. This year alone with have seen several great performances for Ronda Rousey, the WSOF debut on NBC, TJ Dillashaw shock Renan Barao and the exit of Bjorn Rebney from Bellator MMA...amongst many other things. There may not be a lot of time left on the MMA calendar, but here are ten key things that every MMA fan should keep an eye out for in the remainder of 2014.
#10 – Titan Fighting Championships 29 (8/22)
Most people reading this are probably thinking that I am a little loopy for putting up an event from a relative upstart promotion that just got new ownership. However, since being taken over by Jeff Aronson earlier this year, Titan FC is starting to find its groove in the MMA universe. Besides signing a bunch of recognized names from the UFC and Bellator, Titan FC is doing a great job of filling the roster with up and coming prospects. Titan FC 29 is the epitome of that, with the promotion crowning its first welterweight champion when Matthew Riddle faces Ben Saunders. Besides that headlining bout, Lloyd Woodard faces Kurt Holobaugh in a featherweight title tournament semi-final and Mike Ricci battles George Sotiropolous. The main card of the event will air live on CBS Sports, but the announced card will feature a total of nine UFC/Bellator/Strikeforce veterans.
#9 – One FC 19 (8/29)
The One Fighting Championships promotion has quickly become the top MMA promotion coming out of the Far East. This particular event from the company will be featuring four title bouts, with Nobutatsu Suzuki defending the welterweight gold against former Bellator Welterweight Champion Ben Askren. Also, Shinya Aoki defends the lightweight strap against UFC veteran Kamal Shalorus, Koji Oishi will defend the featherweight title and the vacant middleweight title will get an owner as well. Besides the four big title bouts, UFC veteran Roger Huerta will be competing as well and the event can be viewed via iPPV at OneFC.com.
#8 – UFC 177 (8/30)
TJ Dillashaw shocked the MMA universe at UFC 173 when he upset and ended the twenty nine fight winning streak of then UFC Bantamweight Champion Renan Barao. Will lightning strike twice as Dillashaw will now be defending the very same championship against Barao? Also, because one title fight is not enough for UFC 177, UFC Flyweight Champion Demetrious Johnson will defend his belt against Chris Cariaso. Johnson is easily one of the best fighters in all of MMA right now and he may be a few wins away from cleaning out the flyweight division of potential contenders. UFC fans will be anxious to get to this pay-per-view, as it will be the first UFC pay-per-view in almost two months after the cancellation of UFC 176.
#7 – Bellator 123 vs. UFC Fight Night 50 (9/23)
MMA promotions have gone head to head before, but this could be the biggest night in this history of promotional warfare. That is due to the fact that not only are Bellator and the UFC are going head to head, but they are both running events within a few miles of each other in the state of Connecticut. The top fights for Bellator 123 will feature Pat Curran defending the featherweight title against Patricio Freire, King Mo facing Tom DeBlass, Cheick Kongo facing Lavar Johnson and Bobby Lashley facing Josh Burns. The top fights from UFC Fight Night 50 will feature Ronaldo Souza versus Gegard Mousasi, Alistair Overeem versus Ben Rothwell, Derrick Lewis versus Matt Mitrione and Michael Chiesa versus Joe Lauzon. These promotions have been dueling verbally for many years now, but they will finally go head to head to see who is the real king of MMA.
#6 – Invicta FC VIII (9/6)
Even before the UFC made female MMA a mainstream part of MMA, there was the ever popular Invicta FC promotion pushing the world of female MMA to limits it had never experienced before. While the Invicta FC promotion is not owned by the UFC in any form, this will mark the promotions debut event on UFC Fight Pass. Invicta FC will make history, as it will also be the first non-UFC owned promotion to air a live event on their network. The card will be stacked with Michelle Waterson defending the atomweight title against Yasuko Tamada, Stephanie Eggink facing Katja Kankaanpaa for the vacant strawweight title, Tara LaRosa facing UFC veteran Roxanne Modaferri and plenty of other top female MMA prospects is action. Whether you have already seen Invicta FC before or will become a first time viewer, this will be an event worth checking out.
Tune in tomorrow as Part Two of this column will be posted.
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Contact me at bigteesps3@yahoo.com
