After the exceptional UFC 185 pay-every perspective (PPV) occasion a weekend ago in Dallas, Texas, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) comes back to Brazil for a welterweight standoff between positioned 170-pounders looking to create an impression in the stacked division.
Previous middleweight No. 1 contender Demian Maia comes back to the Octagon this Saturday night (March 21, 2015) with expectations of securing his second in a row triumph when he tackles the undefeated Ryan LaFlare in the headliner of UFC Fight Night 62, live on FOX Sports 1 from inside Ginásio do Maracanãzinho in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The co-headliner offers yet an alternate 170-pound challenge as Brazilian fan-most loved Erick Silva looks to win his first UFC winning streak when he tackles late substitution, Josh Koscheck. The previous welterweight No. 1 contender simply as of late battled on the UFC 184 PPV, getting gagged out by Jake Ellenberger, but then only after three weeks “Kos” will venture once more into the pen in Brazil.
With a battle card handicapped by wounds and lacking real name esteem, MMAmania.com considered “Five Burning Questions” heading into Saturday night.
5. Can UFC Fight Night 62 convey with no prominent sessions?
The last a few UFC occasions have seen star after star, prospect after prospect, but fans in Brazil this weekend are left with a shell of an once tempting “Battle Night” occasion much obliged in expansive part to various wounds.
Other than losing an electrifying bantamweight headliner between top contenders Urijah Faber and Raphael Assuncao, UFC metal were additionally compelled to draw the continually energizing Ben Saunders, previous Strikeforce champ Josh Thomson, and Matt Wiman from the card because of wounds, too.
The “name” contenders left on this card incorporate Demian Maia, Erick Silva, Josh Koscheck, and perhaps the ladies’ bantamweight battle between Amanda Nunes and Shayna Baszler.
In spite of the fact that this card may be powerless on paper, these are regularly the occasions that turn into a gem waiting to be discovered in knowledge of the past. Who knows? Possibly battle fans are in for a night brimming with activity pressed completions and fun battles.
4. Does Andre Fili have what it takes to turn into a real contender in the featherweight division?
At the point when Andre Fili made his UFC introduction back at UFC 166 – thumping out Jeremy Larsen in the second round – MMA fans were slaphappy with energy at the possibility of yet an alternate amazing Team Alpha Male ability advancing into the Octagon.
UFC promoters clearly saw something in “Sensitive,” issuing him a PPV space his next time out against the unsafe Max Holloway. In an energizing issue, the Team Alpha Male item wound up submitting to a profound guillotine with just around a moment and a half left in the battle.
Did Fili take on more than he can realistically handle? Perhaps, yet is certain appears that he has the support to turn into a genuine contender.
In his return session, Fili put in a noteworthy execution over Felipe Arantes, and now by and by ends up battling as the fundamental card opener this Saturday night.
Tackling erratic striker Godofredo Castro, this match-up is adjusted for “Tricky” to put on a staggering execution. In the event that Fili makes simple work of his Brazilian adversary, hope to see him ascend the positions and start his run at a UFC title.
3. Is Gilbert Burns a future title contender?
Gilbert Burns is one of the more unheralded prospects in UFC at this moment. The 9-0 Brazilian has looked predominant in his two Octagon triumphs, yet how about we not imagine he has battled anybody of gauge simply yet.
“Durinho” was situated to make an enormous stride up in rivalry this weekend when he was planned to go head to head against Josh Thomson, yet a harm to the previous Strikeforce champ yanked him from the card.
UFC metal selected to sign an alternate Brazilian prospect, Alex Oliveira, to take Thomson’s spot, so it will be hard to gage where Burns stacks up against the world class contenders this weekend.
In the event that the Blackzilians item can conveniently crush the 10-1 Oliveira, I think UFC go betweens to give the Brazilian an alternate positioned adversary, and ideally this time the harm bug will stay away.
2. Will Amanda Nunes bounce back from her horrible TKO misfortune to Cat Zingano?
Amanda Nunes was so near to a UFC title shot, she could taste it route back at UFC 178 last September.
In the opening session on PPV, “The Lioness” tackled No. 1 contender Cat Zingano in a title eliminator session, and the Brazilian about put forth a noteworthy expression by completing the earlier undefeated “Alpha” in the first round by means of strikes.
Rather, Nunes was on the wrong side of a spectacular rebound that saw Zingano viciously pummelled the Brazilian in the second and third adjusts before the arbitrator kindly called an end to the session when “Alpha” was pouring down hammerfists in full mount.
That battle was almost a large portion of a year prior, and “The Lioness” is situated to return against the crude veteran Shayna Baszler this weekend. With UFC champ Ronda Rousey in urgent need of contenders, Nunes has a genuine opportunity to assert some authority as a honest to goodness challenger to “Rowdy’s” throne.
1. Is Demian Maia Ryan LaFlare’s first genuine test?
So perhaps Demian Maia versus Ryan LaFlare ought not be a five-round battle, and possibly it never should have been the headliner of UFC Fight Night 62 in any case, yet now and then in MMA, you need to work with what is given to you.
Eventually, this is a really charming 170-pound challenge setting one of the genuinely awesome jiu-jitsu craftsmen in MMA against a climbing, athletic, and undefeated contender in Ryan LaFlare. To make it all the all the more energizing, the New York local has an incredible catching intuition himself.
While we are all presumable longing for a battle crammed with ranges, accommodation endeavors, and abnormal state hooking, how about we not imagine this battle can’t rapidly turn into a snoozefest.
Despite the nature of this session, LaFlare’s 11-0 record can not go unnoticed and his four UFC triumphs are very great, despite the fact that the contenders he has beaten don’t hold any weight in correlation to Demian Maia. Had Ryan completed any of his four UFC battles, he likely would have battled a top contender long prior, however he at last gets his split at the main 10 this Saturday night.
On the off chance that LaFlare needs to create an impression, he needs to go out there and put it on Maia. He needs to demonstrate that the 37-year old should not be as a rule in the Octagon with him, on the grounds that at 31 years of age himself, LaFlare doesn’t have any longer to make a run at UFC gold.
While we are unquestionably all trusting for a charming fight, the genuine storyline is whether the undefeated welterweight can get an amazing – and prevailing – triumph in adversary domai.