UFC 192: Cormier vs. Gustafsson - 3 things you need to know
The light heavyweight title will be on the line Saturday night when challenger Alexander Gustafsson takes on champion Daniel Cormier in the main event of UFC 192.
Here are three things you need to know:
This feels more like a No. 1 contender bout
Alexander Gustafsson and Daniel Cormier have at least two things in common: they've both lost to Jon Jones, and neither of them are actually Jon Jones.
This is a bit of an issue.
As long as Jones' specter continues to haunt the light heavyweight division, the current "champion" will feel like a placeholder - a waist holding a worthless belt. And this sentiment will only disappear if the winner of Gustafsson-Cormier eventually topples Jones.
No one knows exactly when this is possible, but with Jones' legal waters a little less muddied following a plea agreement that will allow him to avoid prison, he could find himself back in the Octagon sooner rather than later. It's unlikely the UFC will waste any time installing him into a title match and aggressively selling it as a stirring story of redemption.
Hey gang, it's Rashad Evans!
Sidelined for nearly two years, Rashad Evans is finally poised to return to the Octagon.
Multiple knee surgeries and setbacks completely derailed the former champion's career, rendering him the forgotten man in a light heavyweight division thrown into turmoil when Jon Jones was stripped of the title.
"Suga" re-emerges against gatekeeper and living action figure Ryan Bader on Saturday night in a bout that could end up being a title-eliminator, should Jones' potential return be delayed for any reason.
"This gives me a chance to prove I'm back," Evans told FOX Sports' Damon Martin. "I was pretty much done, they were reading my eulogy as far as me being a competitor and competing again. Now here we are - the phoenix rose from the ashes and now I get another shot to compete against the best guys in the weight class."
The No. 2 flyweight in the world is fighting and no one is talking about it
While Demetrious Johnson is out there completely dominating the flyweight division to the delight of ... well ... no one (not the general public, anyway), Joseph Benavidez remains the second-best 125-pounder on the planet.
A tireless volume striker with stout wrestling and a vice-like guillotine choke, Benavidez continues his quest to destroy each and every potential flyweight contender until he earns a third crack at Johnson's title.
His latest mission: Ali Bagautinov, a well-rounded fighter coming off a long suspension after testing positive for EPO prior to his own title fight with Johnson at UFC 174 last year.
"Everything now is, hey, this is what I know I have to do," Benavidez told MMAfighting.com's Shaun Al-Shatti about his climb back toward Johnson. "Business-wise or logic-wise, this is what I have to do. I have to take this fight.
"Personally, of course I want Demetrious. But I don't have to say it, because it's something I'm just working on, the smaller parts it takes to get there. The fight in front of me. The practice in front of me. Whatever it may be."