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January - 2015
SCRAPP! FIGHT MAGAZINE
40
Anthony Pettis’ nickname is “Showtime” for a
reason. Flashy and confident inside and outside
of the Octagon, Pettis is both a needle mover for
pay-per-views and a tremendous brand ambas-
sador. He has only defended his title once so far
in the UFC, but it was certainly enough to get
people to tune in and watch his next fight. He
has one of the greatest highlight reels of all time
and people will watch not only to see if he wins
or losses, but to see if he can pull off a trade-
mark strike that has never before been seen in-
side the octagon. His elite level skills combined
with his fashionable clean look have earned him
a spot on a Wheaties box. At first this seems
like not such a big deal, but it is a landmark for
MMA’s journey into the mainstream and accep-
tance in U.S. culture.
What makes a good fight isn’t only the abilities
of the two athletes competing, it’s the storyline.
It’s difficult to think of another fighter that em-
bodies a storyline as great as Robbie Lawler’s.
The reason the movie franchise Rocky has been
so successful isn’t because of the fights in the
movie, it’s because of the challenges Rocky had
to overcome both in the ring and in his personal
life. Lawler was considered to be a hot prospect
in the UFC in 2002, but after losing to Evan Tan-
ner and Nick Diaz back-to-back, he was cut and
largely forgotten by the MMA community. Since
that time, he has fought in almost every major
organization, Elite XC, King of the Cage, Pride,
and Strikeforce to name a few. His return to the
UFC was only brought about due to Strikeforce
being acquired by Zuffa, LLC, but since his re-
turn he has put together a record of six wins
and one loss. In his most recent outing, he de-
feated Johnny Hendricks to capture the welter-
weight championship. If he can hang on to his
belt in 2015 he will certainly be a needle mover.
His first defense is slated to be against Johnny
Hendricks, which will be a great fight, and if he
wins that he has to face Rory MacDonald. Lawl-
er will generate some big pay-per-view numbers
if he can hold on to the belt.
Making his return this January for the first time
since suffering two back-to-back losses to the
current champ Chris Weidman, Anderson Silva
is still a definitive needle mover. Weidman has
two wins over the former champ, but still refers
to Silva as the greatest of all time. With good
reason, too. Silva’s record and the talent he de-
feated were questionable at times, but he was
pivotal in elevating the sport to the level it is at
today. His showboat style and canned responses
for the media created one of the biggest person-
alities in the history of the sport. You either love
him or hate him and that sells tickets. He will
make his return this January against Nick Diaz
and if he is anything like what he once was, he
will most likely come out the victor. If that hap-
pens, there are a slew of high-profile fights that
could happen, up to and including a title fight
against Weidman if the stars align. Even though
Silva has fallen to Weidman twice, it would be
one of the most anticipated trilogies of all time
if it takes place.
#7 – Anthony Pettis
#6 – Robbie Lawler
#5- Anderson Silva