Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns to the "Lone Star State" this evening (Sat., October 3, 2015), with a stacked pay-per-view (PPV) event, as the Toyota Center plays host to the Light Heavyweight title fight pitting Daniel Cormier against Alexander Gustafsson.
Catch all the action LIVE with a PPV main card start time of 10 p.m. ET (for up-to-date UFC 192 results click here).
Below is everything you need to know to stay on top of the PPV event in Houston.
Who: Daniel Cormier vs. Alexander Gustafsson
What: UFC 192
When: Sat., October 3, 2015, beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET on Fight Pass
Where: Toyota Center in Houston, Texas
How To Watch: Main card at 10 p.m ET on PPV; FOX Sports 1 "Prelims" under card at 8 p.m ET; and UFC Fight Pass early "Prelims" at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Live UFC 192 results: Play-by-play coverage stream right here
Why It Matters: In this day and age of mixed martial arts (MMA), fight fans and pundits often complain about a hectic UFC schedule that waters down the sport and promotes weakly constructed events. UFC 192 is throwback to the heyday of stacked PPV events, featuring top-tier talent, big names, a title fight, and several other consequential bouts. Needless to say, UFC 192 is a strong PPV event, with major repercussions for several UFC divisions.
What's Hot: UFC 192 features a plethora of intriguing storylines heading in, including an important 205-pound title affair, the return of Rashad Evans, Joseph Benavidez's quest to once again attain a No. 1 contender spot in the Flyweight division and much more. The strength of UFC 192 is in the fact that both top-tier contenders and prospects are fighting on the same card. With potential title shots in the Flyweight, Light Heavyweight, and Women's Bantamweight division on the line, it is exciting to see potential future title challengers in Alan Jouban, Albert Tumenov, Sergio Pettis, and Rose Namajunas attempt to etch their names into the history books on the same evening.
What's Not: I was initially going to rant about Daniel Cormier's paper UFC title belt as Jon Jones sits on the sidelines, or even discuss the absolute nonsensical title shot Alexander Gustafsson was gifted after being knocked out his last time in the cage, but then Johny Hendricks was pulled from the card just hours before the weigh-in due to a failed weight cut.
The former Welterweight champion has struggled mightily to make 170 pounds his last several outings, and another disastrous weight-cut forced "Bigg Rigg" to head to the hospital on Friday morning, forcing his No. 1 contender fight against Tyron Woodley to be scratched from the card entirely. Splitting from Mike Dolce seemed to be doing the trick after Hendricks showed off a chiseled body last week, but after being forced off UFC 192, UFC President Dana White is forcing the former champ to head to the 185-pound division. With massive beasts like Luke Rockhold, Gegard Mousasi, Yoel Romero, and more waiting for a smaller Hendricks at Middleweight, you have to wonder how not-so "Bigg Rigg" will fare against bigger and stronger competition.
Original Card vs Actual Card:
Most of the changes to this card were minor, except for the 170-pound bombshell that was dropped Friday morning.
Johny Hendricks, the former UFC Welterweight kingpin, was rushed to the hospital after a failed weight cut, forcing UFC brass to scratch his scheduled co-main event bout against Tyron Woodley.
Leslie Smith was scheduled to battle Raquel Pennington tonight, but an injury forced Smith out of the bout, and Pennington was moved to a different event entirely.
Derrick Lewis was set to battle Anthony Hamilton tonight, but an injury to Hamilton gave Viktor Pešta the opportunity to take the fight on short notice.
New Blood:
Sage Northcutt (vs. Francisco Trevino): UFC 192 will open up with undefeated Welterweight prospect Sage Northcutt battling Francisco Trevino on UFC Fight Pass. At 5-0 with five finishes -- four of which came in Legacy Fighting Championships -- Northcutt is a prospect worth watching, but he has yet to fight anyone of worth.
How The "Prelims" Look: A lot thinner without Joseph Benavidez vs Ali Bagautinov.
FOX Sports 1 lost the "Prelims" main event when the Flyweight bout pitting two former title contenders against each other was moved to the UFC 192 main card following the late co-main event scratch.
Even with the loss, the UFC 192 undercard features some very intriguing bouts, including Alan Jouban vs. Albert Tumenov, Angela Hill vs. Rose Namajunas, Chris Cariaso vs. Sergio Pettis, and more.
Overall, this is one of the stronger "Prelims" for a UFC event in 2015.
Who Needs A Win Badly: This portion is reserved for fighters who could be fighting for their jobs today, rather than contenders or title challengers needing victory. Let's take a look at those who need to pull it together:
Chris Cariaso (vs. Sergio Pettis): Just about a year ago, Chris Cariaso was gifted a UFC title shot against Demetrious Johnson, and after "Kamikaze" was absolutely schooled by the Flyweight kingpin, Cariaso dropped a difficult decision to Olympic Gold medalist Henry Cejudo. Now facing a three fight losing streak, the former No. 1 contender needs to defeat Sergio Pettis tonight.
Interest Level: 7/10
Overall, UFC 192 is a very strong card, but losing the scheduled co-main event battle between Johny Hendricks and Tyron Woodley definitely hurts. While neither man is a major PPV contributor, the fight had intrigue to fans and major Welterweight ramifications.
Luckily for UFC brass, the PPV is stacked enough to be able to push forward without Woodley and Hendricks, and we can all expect an exciting event this evening featuring some very talented and exciting fighters.
While I am not certain you can expect finishes late in the evening, I suspect there will be a ton of action early on that you won't want to miss.
Check out the full UFC 192 fight card right here:
UFC 192 PPV Main Event:
205 lbs.: Light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier vs. Alexander Gustafsson
UFC 192 PPV Main Card (10 p.m. ET):
170 lbs.: Johny Hendricks vs. Tyron Woodley-- CANCELED (Full story HERE)
205 lbs.: Ryan Bader vs. Rashad Evans
265 lbs.: Shawn Jordan vs. Ruslan Magomedov
125 lbs.: Ali Bagautinov vs. Joseph Benavidez
135 lbs.: Jessica Eye vs. Julianna PenaUFC 192 FOX Sports 1 Prelims (8 p.m. ET):
145 lbs.: Daniel Hooker vs. Yair Rodriguez
170 lbs.: Alan Jouban vs. Albert Tumenov
115 lbs.: Angela Hill vs. Rose Namajunas
155 lbs.: Islam Makhachev vs. Adriano MartinsUFC 192 Fight Pass Prelims (6:30 p.m. ET):
125 lbs.: Chris Cariaso vs. Sergio Pettis
265 lbs.: Derrick Lewis vs. Viktor Pesta
170 lbs.: Sage Northcutt vs. Francisco Trevino
For more information on UFC 192, including the full fight card, results, news, and more, click here.