UFC 178 determines the future of several divisions

It has been a while since we’ve seen a PPV card this stacked

This is arguably the best card that UFC has offered this year. At this moment, with all the injuries of the reigning champions (Velasquez, Hendrix, Pettis, Jones and now Weidman) I would take any card featuring a title fight. But, this card is far from being just any PPV card. In fact the entire main card features fighters that will or could become the next contender. Even preliminary card on Fox has the return fight of Dominick Cruz. All in all, UFC 178 consists of title relevant fights in six different divisions. Ironically, the actual title fight, the main event is the one with least hype surrounding it. These are the events to watch out for.

Flyweight title fight Johnson (Ch) vs Cariaso (No8)

Not that Cariaso is a weak fighter, but he is ranked 8th with a record of 17-5 and hasn’t defeated any highly ranked fighter in a while. No one is convinced he can surprise the phenomenal Demetrious Johnson, but that’s what everyone said about Dillashaw vs. Barao. This is probably just a transitional fight that's supposed to fill the gap of several months until Johnson vs. Dodson rematch can be arranged or other contenders come forward, like maybe Zach Makovsky.

Lightweight Cerrone (No4) vs. Alvarez (No14)

This fight is all about the UFC debut of Alvarez. The former Bellator champion was arguably the best MMA fighter outside the UFC. The hype surrounding him is at its peak, and victory over Cerrone would propel him to the top 5 of the LW division. Interestingly enough, it’s not only Alvarez's reputation at stake, but also the reputation of Bellator and the MMA community outside the UFC. It’s difficult to compare the quality of fighter coming from different promotions. This type of fights gives some insight. If Alvarez is not as good as we think he is, what can we say about the rest of them? Unfortunately for Eddie, Cerrone is not the guy you want for your debut. He’s on a 4 fight winning streak, all wins by finishes. He might be just behind Nurmagomedov and/or Dos Anjos for a title shot.

Featherwight Conor McGregor (No10) vs. Dustin Poirier (No5)

All eyes on Conor McGregor. He’s on a roll, with 11 victories in a row he’s unstoppable, and he already considers himself to be the next FW champion. The hype surrounding this guy is incredible. I don’t usually fall for thrash talk, so I would just wait to see this one play out. I wouldn’t bet any money on this fight either, as Poirier is not someone you should underestimate. He has had the same quality of opponents as McGregor and has a similar record. Maybe McGregor has a significant advantage when it comes to striking, but definitely the floor in this fight belongs to Dustin. Either way it goes, given the situation in the division, one of this guys is very close to title shot.

Women’s bantham Cat Zingano (No1) vs Amanda Nunes (No8)

Cat Zingano was already scheduled to fight Rousey before the injury. She’s been out of the game for a year, while Ronda made a lot of progress. So, no one knows how she compares to the champion. Although, at the moment everyone is looking at Bethe Correia after she called out to “the 4 horsewomen” and defeated 2 of them, Correia is ranked No10 and shouldn’t be pushed ahead of Zingano. If Zingano wins this fight, she will be the next challenger. However if Zingano loses, and she might, that would make Nunes contender number 2 or 3, hence a shadow title shot candidate. Either way this fight smells like a title eliminator.

Banthamweight Dominick Cruz (No10) vs. Takeya Mizugaki (No5)

Return of the former champion after more than two year of hiatus. No one knows what kind of shape he is in, but if he wins this fight, his record of 19-1 would place him at No1 (or 2) contender. This would make him an instant contender, although title eliminator could be arranged against renan Barao. Personally, I would prefer to see this fight as a title match, but I don’t see TJ giving away his crown anytime soon. Dillashaw rematch with Assunsao is a possible way to go, since Assunsao has already defeated TJ in 2013. Strangely enough, no one is mentioning this as a possibility. Mizugaki also has the opportunity of a lifetime. He’s on a 5 win streak, he is not a big finisher, but I don’t think he should be qualified as a huge underdog in this fight.

Middleweight Tim Kennedy (No5) vs. Yoel Romero (No10)

OK, so none of these fighters is next in line for the middleweight title, but that’s because the middleweight’s top 10 is now stacked with great fighters. Strangely enough the higher ranked Kennedy is a slight underdog in this fight. Romero has a lot of things going for him, except maybe for his age. He’s an Olympic wrestler with a great striking power. For a guy his size he’s very athletic. Best chance Kennedy has is to win by submission or by decision. Even though we saw Romero go 3 rounds and it seems he can handle it. This is difficult fight for Kennedy, and winning this fight would still mean he’ll have to go through guys like Jacare, Machida etc. My money is on Romero.

Image credit UFC 178 promo poster, under fair use