UFC Fight Night 82: 3 things you need to know
Rising from the ashes of what was once UFC 196, Saturday's Fight Night event in Las Vegas still has plenty for MMA fans to get excited about.
No, Fabricio Werdum and Cain Velasquez will not be fighting anytime soon, but the the replacement main event between former welterweight champion Johny Hendricks and budding contender Stephen Thompson promises plenty of fireworks.
There will be 12 fights overall, including 10 airing on FOX Sports 1. Here are three UFC Fight Night 82 storylines to keep an eye on:
Don't you forget about me
Johny Hendricks somehow went from being the man to almost beating Georges St-Pierre to becoming a world champion to losing his belt to bordering on irrelevancy. The latter might seem harsh, but rarely do you hear Hendricks mentioned among the marquee names of the UFC despite the fact that his only losses in the last four years have come against GSP and current welterweight king Robbie Lawler.
His down-to-earth personality and brute force approach to cage fighting have somewhat limited his crossover appeal, which puts him in stark contrast with his main event opponent Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson. The 32-year-old Thompson is the same age as Hendricks, but he only has half the UFC experience and remains a fresh face to the majority of viewers. His gorgeous array of kickboxing techniques have led to several crowd-pleasing finishes and he'll need a complete arsenal of them to survive Hendricks.
Whoever wins this one will find themselves that much closer to a shot at Lawler. For Hendricks, it will complete a tightly contested trilogy; for Thompson, he can propel himself past the short list of contenders clustered together in the rankings.
Roy Nelson's last hurrah?
Whether it's his massive right hand or his boisterous belly rubs, Roy "Big Country" Nelson has left an indelible impression on fans and his opponents' faces for the past six years.
Unfortunately, Nelson finds himself mired in a brutal stretch with just one win in his last six appearances. He'll turn 40 later this year and it looks like he's being set up to be taken down by up-and-comer Jared Rosholt in the evening's co-main event. Rosholt is the only fighter in the heavyweight top 15 under the age of 30, so this is his chance to claim the scalp of a name fighter.
Wanna be startin' somethin'
Dana White's "Lookin' for a Fight" reality show has created this bizarre side universe where normally obscure Fight Pass preliminaries are suddenly imbued with great significance.
Case in point: Unknown Mickey Gall faces unknown Mike Jackson for a chance to face WWE superstar turned UFC fighter CM Punk. Take a moment to digest that.
Gall is the third fighter to be signed out of White's pet project, following in the footsteps of Sage Northcutt and Randy Brown. He has a 1-0 professional record, which actually puts him ahead of Jackson who is making his professional debut after going 0-1 as an amateur.
Making the situation even stranger is White's claim that only Gall is eligible for the fight with Punk, not Jackson.
Are either Gall or Jackson legitimate UFC fighters? Is Punk himself a legitimate UFC fighter? What will the matchmakers do if Jackson wins?
This fight is meant to clear up the company's plans for Punk in the near future, but could potentially make things even more complicated.