Page 65 - MIN VOS 9 DEC 2015

SPORTS A19
Wednesday 9 December

UFC putting big shows on for 3 straight nights this weekend

This photo shows Conor McGregor, left, kicking at Dustin per-view buy for UFC 194 the compelling main event most promising prospects.
Poirier, during their fight in Las Vegas. The UFC is surging toward after Ronda Rousey’s stun- of a card also featuring the The bout is the first non-title
the end of the year by flexing its promotional muscles for ning loss to Holly Holm last final bout in this season of fight main event between
three straight nights in Vegas. McGregor’s featherweight title month at UFC 193, which “The Ultimate Fighter,” the two women for the UFC,
showdown with champion Jose Aldo is only the culmination of became one of the big- UFC’s long-running reality which only began promot-
a three-day fight extravaganza this weekend. gest money-makers in the show. Edgar or Mendes, ing women’s MMA in 2013.
company’s history. who lost to McGregor as a The UFC has heavily pro-
(AP Photo/John Locher,File) The pay-per-view portion late replacement for Aldo moted the 21-year-old
of the UFC 194 card is so in August, could be the VanZant as a future star,
stacked that popular vet- next challenger for the un- and this is her first head-
eran Urijah Faber is con- disputed belt. lining bout. The Thursday
signed to fighting Frankie The UFC’s weekend festivi- card, which can be viewed
Saenz on the preliminary ties start off Thursday night only on the UFC’s Fight Pass
card. at the Cosmopolitan with subscription digital net-
One night earlier at the a card headlined by a work, also features unbeat-
Cosmopolitan hotel, feath- 115-pound showdown be- en 19-year-old lightweight
erweight veterans Frankie tween Paige VanZant and Sage Northcutt, another
Edgar and Chad Mendes Rose Namajunas, two of prospect ticketed for fame
will meet on Fox Sports 1 in the strawweight division’s and stardom by the UFC.q

GREG BEACHAM ing this weekend gap be-
AP Sports Writer tween the college football
The UFC is surging toward regular season and holiday
the new year by flexing its festivities.
promotional muscles for “It’s literally the best De-
three straight nights in Ve- cember we’ve ever had
gas. in the company’s history,”
Conor McGregor’s feath- UFC President Dana White
erweight title showdown said when announcing the
with champion Jose Aldo lineup. “We started looking
on Saturday night is the at the end of the year. A lot
culmination of a three- of people needed fights,
day fight extravaganza this so we said, ‘Let’s do three
weekend. The UFC is stag- in a row. We’ll do Thursday,
ing back-to-back-to-back Friday and Saturday.’ It’s
shows on the Las Vegas a killer weekend in Vegas,
Strip, loading its stacked right before Christmas.”
deck with intriguing The UFC 194 pay-per-view
matchups between former card is headlined by inter-
champions and rising stars. im champion McGregor’s
“It’s going to be a historic long-anticipated meet-
time for me, but also for ing with Aldo, the imperi-
the entire UFC,” McGregor ous Brazilian champion
said. “You’ve never seen a who has been subjected
weekend like this.” to months of expert verbal
In its 22-year history, the abuse from his Irish chal-
UFC has never crammed lenger.
three major fight cards so And that show at the MGM
closely together, never Grand Garden Arena ac-
mind in the same city. The tually features two title
promotion is putting on at fights: Middleweight cham-
least 33 fights in those three pion Chris Weidman also
days, including two title defends his belt against
bouts and its first headlin- Luke Rockhold in a tanta-
ing non-title women’s bout. lizing style clash pitting two
After receiving criticism for dominant 185-pounders at
occasionally thin shows the peak of their careers.
while expanding its pro- Weidman and Rockhold
motional breadth in recent could headline a major
years, the UFC made sure show on their own, but the
plenty of attention will be promotion wants to guar-
on mixed martial arts dur- antee another big pay-