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SCRAPP! FIGHT MAGAZINE
January - 2015
41
The All-American wrestler from Hofstra Univer-
sity has quickly ascended into his role as the UFC
middleweight champion. He is the man that did
the impossible by defeating the former champ
Anderson Silva twice and that alone makes him
a needle mover. Since defeating Silva, he has
gone on to beat his team mate, Lyoto Machida.
The Machida fight wasn’t a one-sided affair, it
showed that Weidman is not super human, but
also has the characteristics of a champion. One
can argue that his resilience in the Machida fight
was better for his public relations than if he fin-
ished Machida in the first round. Weidman also
embodies the spirit of America in a way that
isn’t often exhibited in combat sports. He is a
board member with the non-profit Livetofight.
org and his altruism extends to his role in the
Long Island, NY community during Hurricane
Sandy. In behind the scenes footage, you can
see him with his team praying in a way that you
know he means it. He doesn’t hide his values
in faith and family, combine that with his ultra-
violent style in the cage and you have a fighter
that you can’t dislike. Weidman is definitely one
of the UFC’s best needle movers in 2015.
No other fighter in the history of mixed martial
arts has reached a wider audience than Ronda
Rousey. She not only reaches more people, she
brings in fans that would have never watched
the UFC if it wasn’t for her. She generates good
numbers on pay-per-view and often fights in
the co-main event slot, which takes a good card
and turns it into a great one. As a fighter, she
has aggressively dismantled every opponent she
has been faced with. Fans either lover her or
hate her and that creates numbers as well. It’s
another case of people will watch to see how
she wins and people will watch because they
don’t want to miss it if she loses. She is the
reason why women’s MMA is flourishing right
now, both inside the UFC and outside of it. That
alone earns her a spot on this list.
Heavyweight title fights are notorious for gen-
erating numbers and the champion, Cain Velas-
quez is no exception. The biggest problem with
Velasquez has been his unreliable nature due
to injuries. Since 2010, the most he has fought
in a year has been two times, and in 2014, he
didn’t fight at all. If he is able to get his health in
order and return in 2015 for at least two fights
that would generate some big numbers for the
UFC that they didn’t have last year. The length
of time off combined with his dominant wins in
his last couple fights will make his return a must
watch. In his return he will be facing an interim
champion, currently that slot is held by Fabricio
Werdum. Title unification bouts are good for
pay-per-views as well. Velasquez will either gen-
erate big numbers in 2015 or nothing at all and
it all depends on his health.
#4 – Chris Weidman
#3- Ronda Rousey
#2 – Cain Velasquez