The #KiwiUFC Show Rolls On
In true UFC fashion, they are battlin' on through and will continue to churn out events as best as they can. To do so requires all sorts of maneuvers to suss out all the logistics and what not which is sure to amp up the novelty value for casual sports fans, while for hearty fight fans they will be graced with contest such as Tony Ferguson vs Justin Gaethje - not Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Ferguson but still a wild ol' fight.
My mahi here is to strictly deal with facts, reality and how this intersects with the #KiwiUFC lads. The UFC is doing what they want or need to do and the whole City Kickboxing crew were looking for fights prior to hitting the shut down button on the laptop, hot off a recent cluster of wins. Given that CKB's fighters are all trending upwards at various levels of their respective rankings, any period of UFC cards feels as though it should involve CKB fighters and this presents a fair amount of uncertainty as to what will take place.
UFC boss dawg Dana White has presented two solutions to holding fights; a venue on indigenous land in California and that island thing. The UFC also has an impressive facility in Las Vegas that could host fighters and/or fights. There is a major difference between the UFC and NRL for example (who are trying to battle on as well) in that the UFC has immense resources, thus allowing them use of a private island and transportation of fighters. Let alone the UFC owning their own facility that literally has everything required to support professional fighters.
The NRL, don't own much and while there is an air of desperation in both instances, the UFC has legit resource to act on that desperation. The NRL have very little and are just straight up desperate, are operating like a bunch of desperate Aussies. Such UFC resources could help CKB through this process as they, like much of the UFC roster are based outside on the USA and will face prickly circumstances in trying to leave Aotearoa, then return to Aotearoa etc.
That's the uncertainty and weird aspect of this for #KiwiUFC matters. CKB have middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski (based in Australia) in the stable, meaning that any fight they are to be involved in will be title fights and that then obviously means that the UFC will go out of their way to suss the logistics. Adesanya is all but locked in to fight Paulo Costa, which was due to happen during the kiwi winter and Volkanovski is likely to have a rematch against Max Holloway on a similar timeline to the Adesanya vs Costa fight.
All of this depends on the success of the next few weeks. Ferguson vs Gaethje is set for April 19 Aotearoa time and White then suggested that following UFC 249 there will be a steady flow of events. Despite the desire to roll out big fight cards asap, I doubt the UFC will rush either fight involving Adesanya and Volkanovski and my vibe is that these will stick to the original schedule.
UFC 251 is to be held in Perth on June 7th and that was the best-case for the Volkanovski vs Holloway rematch, presenting intrigue as to whether that event goes as planned. There are layers to all these little narratives as the Perth card was the likeliest spot for Brad Riddell to book his next fight, perhaps Shane Young's return to the octagon after a year-long injury lay off. Nothing was really close to being confirmed regarding potential opponents for Riddell and Young, leaving those two with an open slate.
Riddell is on the rise and not far off being a major factor in the lightweight division. Two wins in his first two UFC fights, in the one of the deepest UFC divisions and this presents a monumental year for Riddell as his next few fights will determine how legit he is in the lightweight division. Riddell is the one to watch in 2020 and I'm going to be tuned in to what kind of opportunity Riddell gets in the coming months.
Dan Hooker has been sniffing around a fight against Dustin Poirier in the lightweight division since his win over Paul Felder. This would be another key fight for the UFC, even with there being a slight log-jam up the top of the division as the winner of Ferguson vs Gaethje will then get Nurmagomedov. Poirier's last fight was a loss to Nurmagomedov, in which Nurmagomedov snatched Poirier's interim title and made it the undisputed title; Poirier's legit and Hooker is on the rise after three wins.
This fight is crucial in sorting out the tier below title fight antics. The winner of Hooker vs Poirier may then get the loser of Ferguson vs Gaethje and so on, hence Hooker vs Poirier was being scoped out for an event in San Diego on May 16. This card in San Diego was also apparently going to be when Kara-France got his next fight, with Kara-France (#7) saying that he was due to fight Alex Perez (#9).
Kara-France had a nifty three month stretch over the summer, bouncing back from his loss to Brandon Moreno on December 14th with a win in Auckland over Tyson Nam on February 23rd. Sitting 4-1 in the UFC, Kara-France is similar to Riddell in the sense that this next little phase of his career will present fights against the best in the division and thus a level-up.
Obviously there is a fair amount of #KiwiUFC uncertainty, although there is also a level of certainty. We know that Adesanya vs Costa, Volkanovski vs Holloway, Hooker vs Poirier and Kara-France vs Perez are likely to go down, we just don't know where or when at this stage. Riddell and Young could swiftly come into the frame as they both need fights and assuming travel matters are taken care of, they could present intriguing challenges to higher ranked fighters in what I suspect will be a hectic UFC schedule.
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Peace and love 27.