Bang for Your Buck: UFC 186

Apr 22, 2015
oleg

UFC 186… what can I say about it?  Well, this card has it all.  And I don’t mean that in a good way.  A main event cancelled due to an injury, a mismatch of a title bout, a fighter pulled out of a scheduled bout due to a legal injunction, a couple of fights with that are virtually guaranteed to go to a dull decision, a matchup that looks like it came from a time machine tuned to 2005, and a handful of fighters you’ve never heard of.  Oh, and don’t forget the long-awaited UFC return of Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson… oops, strike that.  Bellator filed a lawsuit to dispute Jackson’s contractual status, and an injunction was granted to stop Rampage from fighting on this card.  Instead, we get the long awaited UFC debut of retired Canadian minor-league hockey enforcer and MMA fighter Steve Bosse… oops, strike that again. The injunction has been lifted by an appellate court, and now Rampage is back on the line-up.  Le sigh… this is why I try to publish these blogs at the last minute, and even that doesn’t always guarantee that all the fights will actually take place as scheduled.  Yeah, this card pretty much has it all.

Main Card (Pay-Per-View)

Main Event: (C) [#1 FLW] Demetrious Johnson vs [#8 FLW] Kyoji Horiguchi for the UFC Flyweight Title

Worth: $10

Why: This PPV was originally planned with two title bouts, but an injury prevented the bantamweight champ TJ Dillashaw from defending his title against Renan Barao, marking the second time that a scheduled rematch between the two fell apart and bumping the flyweight title fight to the main event slot.  I’ve grown to enjoy watching ‘Mighty Mouse’ fight over the years; while some champions stagnate and fight not to lose after they’ve held the title for a while (Georges St.Pierre and Tim Sylvia come to mind), DJ has been improving ever since dropping down to 125 lbs and winning the inauguaral title.  So I now look forward to his fights… I just wish UFC could find him a good challenger.  Kyoji Horiguchi is not it.  The 24-year old is 4-0 in the UFC, but his competition so far has been nowhere near championship level. Like several other recent flyweight challengers, he is only getting the title shot because Johnson has to fight someone… preferably someone he hasn’t already beaten.  So when Ian McCall lost to John Lineker, who in turn failed to make weight for the fight and was banished to bantamweight, that left us with Horiguchi as the only viable Top-10 opponent.  I just don’t see the guy who went the distance with Luis Gaudinot in his last fight as presenting much of a threat or challenge to Johnson.  Barring a huge upset, this fight’s purpose is to keep DJ warm until a rematch with John Dodson, or until Henry Cejudo can be built up as a contender.

Fight: [#9 LHW] Quinton Jackson vs [#29 LHW] Fabio Maldonado 

Worth: $5

Why: As I mentioned in the opening paragraph, Quinton Jackson’s UFC return after a three-fight stint in Bellator has been subject to much legal dispute, with Bellator claiming that ‘Rampage’ is still under contract to the organization, and seeking to prevent him from fighting in the UFC until the lawsuit is resolved.  They initially found some success in the courtroom, and an injunction was granted to remove Jackson from the card.  However, a subsequent appeal by the UFC overruled the original injunction, and so this fight is back on.  The legal maneuvers are probably the most interesting thing about this bout.  In the cage, we’ll see an aging Jackson slug it out with Fabio Maldonado, who is stylistically a perfect opponent for Rampage.  Unless Jackson’s chin has turned to glass overnight or he is completely unprepared for this fight cardio-wise, he should have it in the bag with a late knockout or a lopsided decision after 2-3 rounds of brawling.  Possibly fun, but very predicable and completely meaningless fight.

I almost liked the replacement match-up of Maldonado vs Steve Bosse better than this fight.  Luckily for Bosse, he still gets to keep his ‘show’ purse, and hopefully we will see him in the Octagon soon.  Maybe even against Maldonado after Rampage gets through with him, though there are plenty of other mid-level light heavyweight opponents available for Bosse, who has earned a 10-1 record in MMA including a couple of wins over UFC veterans and was slated to make his UFC debut last year before announcing his retirement from the sport due to recurring injuries.

 

Fight: [#11 MW] C.B. Dollaway vs [#12 MW] Michael Bisping

Worth: $2.50

Why: Meh.  That’s the most fitting way to describe how I feel about this fight between two TUF veterans and borderline top-10 middleweights.  Bisping’s best days are clearly behind him, and any hope of contending for the title has passed him by.  Dollaway has shown some improvement in recent fights, before running into Machida, who showed that CB is still far from being an elite fighter.   Neither guy is the epitome of excitement, and so I fully expect this fight to go to a rather dull and possibly controversial decision.

 

Fight: [#39 BW] Yves Jabouin vs [#42 BW] Thomas Almeida

Worth: $2.50

Why: Veteran bantamweight Yves Jabouin has a 6-5 combined record in UFC & WEC.  Notably, all of his wins have been decisions, and half of them splits.  On the other hand, he’s been stopped in four of the 5 losses in the big leagues; in other words here’s a fighter who doesn’t look very good when he’s winning and even worse when he’s losing.  He is taking on undefeated 23-year-old Thomas Almeida, who has stopped 16 of his 17 opponents before going the distance for the first time in his UFC debut against Tim Gorman.  Let’s hope that Almeida is a real-deal prospect, and earns his first finish inside the Octagon.

 

Prelims (Fox Sports 1)

Fight: [#47 WW] Patrick Cote vs [#156 WW] Joe Riggs

Worth: $1

Why: This fight would have been a lot more interesting when both guys were still in their 20’s and showed some potential.  In 2015, I am kind of baffled by this matchup.  I’m not really sure what made Zuffa decide to bring back Joe Riggs in the first place, and Patrick Cote has the ability to suck the life out of almost every single fight he is in, even when his opponent is Anderson Silva.  Guess I’ll give a dollar for the sake of nostalgia.

 

Fight: [#3 W135] Alexis Davis vs [#4 W135] Sarah Kaufman

Worth: $1

Why: While a #3 vs #4 matchup in almost any other division would be a likely top contender bout, you can forget about that when both opponents already lost to the champion Ronda Rousey – in 70 seconds combined.  It kind of feels odd to say this about a 29 year old fighting a 30 year old, but both women represent the ‘old guard’ of WMMA.  Also, neither one has been able to finish an opponent in the UFC.  This is going to be another dull, grinding decision with no real divisional implications – the winner will still have to get in a long line for a chance to be destroyed by Rousey again.  I was not going to valuate this fight at all, but I’ll throw in a dollar to watch the pioneers of WMMA do their thing… as boring and pointless as this ‘thing’ may be.

 

Fight: [#74 LW] Bryan Barberena vs [#86 LW] Chad Laprise

Worth: $5

Why:  I was quite impressed by Bryan Barberena in his UFC debut vs Joe Ellenberger, going for the finish and getting it in the last round when he was likely behind on the scorecards.  He is taking on undefeated Chad Laprise, who is 2-0 in the UFC (both wins by decision).  It’s an interesting matchup of young prospects, and a winner should get a significant bump in rankings.

Pay-Per-View Card Worth: $20
Event Price: $59.99
Net Value: $-39.99 (and I thought UFC 184 was bad)

Fox Sports 1 Prelims Worth: $7
Fox Sports 1 Prelims Valuation: $2 (see how I came up with this valuation)
Net Value: $5

Event Net Value: $-34.99

Fight Pass Prelims Worth: $0
Fight Pass Year-to-Date Cost: $39.96
Fight Pass Year-to-Date Value: $-18.96

PPV YTD Worth: $223.50
PPV YTD Cost: $299.95
PPV YTD Net Value: $-76.45

Fox Sports 1 YTD Worth: $113.5
Fox Sports 1 YTD Valuation: $37
Fox Sports 1 YTD Net Value: $76.50

Fox YTD Worth/Net Value: $87.50

Total YTD Net Value (excluding Fight Pass): $87.55

 

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