Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the "Friday Night Wars."
Maybe there's a bit too much emphasis on the head-to-head battle, seeing how it's not going to happen too often, but UFC Fight Night 50: "Jacare vs. Mousasi" takes place this Fri. night (Sept. 5, 2014) from Foxwoods Resort & Casino in Ledyard, CT, with Bellator MMA just a few doors down.
The main event of UFC Fight Night 50 pits Ronaldo Souza against Gegard Mousasi in a rematch of their 2008 battle where "The Dreamcatcher" delivered a nightmare knockout to "Jacare" for the DREAM middleweight championship.
Also on the card, decorated combat sports champion Alistair Overeem takes on Ben Rothwell, and Joe Lauzon battles Michael Chiesa in a pivotal lightweight affair. Rounding up the FOX Sports 1 (FS1) main card will be a rematch between Nik Lentz vs. Charles Oliveira, while John Moraga battles Justin Scoggins in a flyweight tussle to kick things off.
Here are "Five Burning Questions" heading into these fights in Ledyard:
5. Does Derrick Lewis become the division's most underrated heavyweight with a win?
Not only does he have an uncomfortable nickname, but "The Black Beast" also possesses lethal knockout power and he's been showing that as of late.
He's finished two UFC fights by knockout in the first round, which elevated his winning streak to five victories after his most recent contest. The only time he's ever gone to a decision was in a losing effort, and out of his 11 wins, he's blasted 10 foes with his hands, with one submission win on his record, too.
UFC's heavyweight division has never been stacked from top to bottom, since there's no middle ground between the shallow and deep end. Don't get me wrong, there's a good crop of heavyweight sluggers as it stands, but the older guys are starting to wind down, and truthfully, contenders don't rise up from the ashes as much as they do in divisions like lightweight, welterweight, and even featherweight.
Say what you will about Matt Mitrione, but he's been around long enough to at least put up a good fight. If Lewis dismantles him this weekend, are we looking at an underrated contender, or a prospect who hasn't faced someone notable in order to brag?
4. Will Joe Lauzon ever come close to the championship picture?
Heads usually roll when the pride of Boston gets into the cage, with 12 post-fight bonuses under his belt during his Octagon career, equal with Anderson Silva on the leaderboard.
After all, he's been competing for UFC since 2006, making 16 appearances inside the cage. Generating all that money is a sweet deal, even if "J-Lau" probably spends the bulk of it on high-end video game accessories; however, Lauzon has never done enough for us to believe he's championship material, despite his violent and entertaining showings.
After bursting onto the scene with his memorable upset over Jens Pulver, he was looking like a future stud (and there's no question he is) until Kenny Florian derailed his plans. With that said, Lauzon has faced some of the toughest tests the lightweight division has to offer, battling against Anthony Pettis, Jim Miller, Michael Johnson, Jeremy Stephens (lightweight at the time), and Melvin Guillard.
Apart from wins and losses, he's never been in a title eliminator bout, with his only three-fight winning streak happening at the beginning of his career.
Beating Michael Chiesa will help his cause, but ultimately, won't get him there just yet. He's only 30, yet the wear and tear concerns are certainly there. If he keeps on winning, it increases his chances, but if he comes up short, it's going to be a hefty blow in terms of his fighting future.
3. Where does Alistair Overeem go if he loses to Ben Rothwell?
I don't want to bombard you with another question, but is there any other fighter as unpredictable as Overeem in the sport right now?
We saw him tear through Frank Mir in his last outing, yet that bout came after horrific losses against Antonio Silva and Travis Browne, where he paid for being a tad too confident.
It seems strange, yet I feel like the jury is still out on the Dutchman. He's had his fair share of problems outside the cage, but none of that matters if he pummels through his opposition. With a 2-2 UFC record, he's only done that against a somewhat disinterested Brock Lesnar and a fading Mir. The Dutchman's accomplishments are astounding, although they happened years ago outside UFC against some pretty undermatched opponents, for the most part (except for maybe his kickboxing titles).
Perhaps we should be asking more of Ben Rothwell, who finds himself in a dream situation if he could topple the behemoth. It's reminiscent of when a lot of fans slept on Travis Browne, which led "Hapa" to bigger fights after his crushing knockout over the former K-1 World Grand Prix champ. Maybe the promotion is counting on Overeem to destroy his counterpart by slotting him in a favorable fight, but it's not like we know which "Demolition Man" is going to show up.
If Overeem loses, there's a definite chance his mystique will be left for dead.
2. Will "Jacare" avenge his loss against Gegard Mousasi in the rematch?
In 2008, Souza and Mousasi tussled for a middleweight championship in the now-defunct Japanese promotion, DREAM. The stakes were high, since the winner would be crowned the DREAM Middleweight Grand Prix winner, in an era where MMA tournaments were starting to fizzle out.
After some mat work from the Brazilian, who was trying to adjust to a more dominant position, Souza got a bit too eager to land bombs when he postured up, and ate one of the most devastating up-kicks observers had ever seen.
"The Dreamcatcher" went on to win the Strikeforce light heavyweight championship soon after, cementing himself as one of the best fighters outside UFC during that time.
As for Souza, he went on to record 10 wins, winning the vacated Strikeforce middleweight strap, and only lost once to Luke Rockhold (alongside a no-contest against Jason Miller directly after the Mousasi loss).
It's safe to say their rematch will look vastly different, since their initial meeting was six years ago. Mousasi is still as dangerous as ever, yet he's had a few more setbacks, including an awkward draw against Keith Jardine and a loss against Lyoto Machida, but dismantled Mark Munoz in his last outing.
"Jacare" has looked like a killer in the middleweight division, riding a six-fight win streak in ZUFFA, including wins over Yushin Okami (which got "Thunder" booted from UFC), Chris Camozzi, and Francis Carmont. Besides Luke Rockhold, he's the best bet to challenge Chris Weidman for the 185-pound strap, should Vitor Belfort pull out of the fight at UFC 181.
The winner of this bout will edge closer to a title shot, and even though Mousasi has one up on his foe, their first battle may not even be worth divulging into for specifics.
1. What will happen when UFC collides against Bellator on the same night?
Apart from having far more popularity than the Viacom promotion, not to mention forcing constant associations where UFC and MMA mean the same thing in the minds of the ZUFFA brass, this FS1 offering is far more stacked, and will presumably do better numbers.
But how can we know that for sure?
We can't ignore the fact that Bellator's big shows generate decent numbers, and nothing's for sure when it comes to the ratings. MMA has never been known for its good pacing throughout broadcasts, which may not help UFC's cause, even if the same could be said for Bellator in terms of speed.
The one thing that deserves a bit of thought is how these fight cards match up against one another. Sure, Alistair Overeem is a household name, and Souza vs. Mousasi should be an epic contest, but then again, you've got an anticipated title fight rematch pitting Pat Curran against Patricio Freire, and you'll get the pro wrestling fans tuning into Spike TV for Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal and Bobby Lashley.
Diehards will be excited for the other UFC match ups, featuring Lauzon vs. Chiesa, but on the flip side, but there's a slight guarantee that the Bellator scraps will end in emphatic fashion, whether they're good or not. Maybe you don't care much for them, yet casual fans have a say in viewership ratings, too.
Either way, thank heaven for PVRs, torrent sites, and mini display ports where we can hook up our laptops to other televisions in the house.
That just about sums it up.
For more on UFC Fight Night 50: "Jacare vs. Mousasi," check out our event page including bout order and set times, right here.