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#5 – UFC Fight Night 52 (9/20)
For an event that will only be broadcast via UFC Fight Pass, UFC Fight Night 52 is easily a card worthy of being broadcast on Fox and/or Fox Sports 1. This card has Roy Nelson versus Mark Hunt, Miesha Tate versus Rin Nakai, Urijah Faber versus Masanori Kanehara, Takanori Gomi versus Myles Jury and many other great fights. It actually blew my mind that a card of this caliber was restricted to UFC Fight Pass, but it will be worth the $9.99 in September for this card alone. Oh yeah, you also got fighters like Yoshihiro Akiyama, Norifumi Yamamoto and Kyle Noke are competing as well.
#4 – Battlegrounds MMA: O.N.E (10/3)
Battlegrounds MMA is a promotion that will be bringing back an ancient MMA concept in their pay-per-view debut...the one night tournament. While there have been a few one night tournaments in MMA since the UFC abolished them over a decade ago, this one is easily one of the most star studded that I can recall. The eight man field for the tournament features UFC veterans Roan Carneiro, Luigi Fioravanti, Dennis Hallman, Brock Larson, Cody McKenzie and David Mitchell...plus Bellator veteran Trey Houston and MMA prospect Chris Honeycutt. Besides a loaded tournament, there is a tournament reserve bout and women's MMA star Nicdali Rivera-Calanoc in action. There is no price point yet set for the promotion's pay-per-view debut, but with a loaded line up like this, any reasonable price will be worth it.
#3 – UFC 180 (11/15)
The highly anticipated return of UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez will highlight what is a historical UFC 180, as he defends the gold against Fabricio Werdum. Also, the first ever season of the UFC Ultimate Fighter: Latin America will have their finals on the card as well. According to UFC President Dana White, the cast on the reality show have been fighting their hearts out and this could be one of the best season's of the reality show in recent history. This will also be the career defining moment for Werdum, who has been claiming to be a top contender for the UFC Heavyweight Title since his first run with the promotion over five years ago.
#2 – UFC 181 (12/6)
The rise of Chris Weidman has become stuff of legend to UFC fans, having defeated the legendary Anderson Silva two times in a row. However, Vitor Belfort (TRT exemptions or not) has become to most fearsome and dominating striker in the UFC since returning to middleweight. Belfort has been clamoring for a title shot and he will finally get one in the event that will be the final UFC pay-per-view of 2014. Oh yeah, if that was not enough to get you watching, there is a small thing known as a UFC Lightweight Title bout on the card as well with Anthony Pettis defending against Gilbert Melendez. Those two fighters will be coaches on the UFC Ultimate Fighter 20 first, which will see the crowning of the first ever UFC Women's Strawweight Champion.
#1 – Invicta FC X (12/20)
The final MMA event of 2014 may not have any official fights on the card yet, but it will be notable for potentially setting up a major fight in 2015. That is because longtime Ronda Rousey rival Cristiano “Cyborg†Justino will be making her bantamweight division debut at the event, despite the fact that she is the current Invicta FC Featherweight Champion. UFC President Dana White has stated that if Cyborg can make bantamweight a few times, she could possibly get into the UFC and have her long anticipated battle with Rousey. The ball gets rolling on December 20th as Cyborg makes her first attempt at bantamweight and if she is successful, we could be in store for the biggest women's fight of all time in 2015.
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