SCRAPP! FIGHT MAGAZINE
January - 2016
15
Well, lets take a look.
Ronda Rousey’s Shot At
Redemption
Ronda Rousey did the unthink-
able in November — she lost.
Lets face it, few of us saw it
coming, and fewer still really
predicted how lopsided the
loss would be. Rousey looked
bad, beyond that, she looked
exposed.
The UFC seem to be gambling
that it was an off-night for the
former bantamweight queen
as they’re pushing for an im-
mediate rematch between
Rousey and Holly Holm even
as the new champion cam-
paigns to take a fight against
Miesha Tate first. The promo-
tion is no doubt worried it will
lose the big payday that a re-
match would bring were Holm
to lose, and that’s fine, though
once again, Tate gets the shaft.
In any case, fans can look for-
ward to witnessing Rousey’s
shot at redemption. Though
she has dismissed calls for her
to change camps following her
disastrous night at UFC 193,
you can expect her to show up
better prepared than ever in
the rematch. Win or lose, it’ll
be something to behold.
A Possible Move Up In
Weight For Conor Mc-
Gregor
Conor McGregor should prob-
ably start playing the lottery,
because “Mystic Mac” may
well be psychic. At the very
least, he keeps predicting the
future when it comes to his ca-
reer in the octagon, and he has
backed up every word he’s said
when calling out opponents,
finishing Jose Aldo in record
time at UFC 194 and giving the
Brazilian kingpin his first loss in
a decade.
Next up? Possibly a move
to lightweight, and a bout
against the likes of Nate Diaz
or Rafael dos Anjos. McGregor
has fought and held a belt at
155lbs outside of the UFC, so
there’s no reason to doubt that
he can do it. Should he? That’s
another question. It’ll be fun
for fans, but don’t tell the An-
swer, a.k.a. Frankie Edgar, that.
The Debut Of CM Punk
It’s hard to believe that CM
Punk joined the UFC a year
ago. At the time, they needed
to do something — anything
— to gain back some momen-
tum after a terrible showing in
2014. Luckily, they got out of
the funk, not that it had any-
thing to do with Punk (that
rhyme, completely uninten-
tional, I swear).
In any case, Punk has spent
that past year training with
Roufusport, and come 2016,
his debut will finally happen.
What it will look like is any-
one’s guess, but we’ll see what
Duke Roufus was able to do
with the former WWE champ
soon enough.
UFC 200
UFC 200 will take place next
year, and make no mistake: it
will be huge. With names like
Rousey, McGregor, Punk, and
others possibly on the card, it
will be looking to rival the most
successful UFC event of all
time, UFC 100, which say 1.6
million buys on PPV.
Now, buys at the box office or
on PPV don’t always equal a
great night of fights, but you
know this card will be stacked
— which is never a bad thing
for fans.
A New Two-Division
Champion, Maybe
One of two things will happen
this year: either Conor Mc-
Gregor will go up in weight, or
he will fight Frankie Edgar.
No matter which of those two
outcomes eventually comes to
pass, there’s a chance the UFC
will see its next two-division
champion in 2016. Edgar, af-
ter all, is a former lightweight
champ, and is looking to take
the featherweight crown. And
of course, should McGregor
go up and do the unthinkable
at lightweight, he’ll be the the
third man in history do have
belts in two weight classes in
the UFC (the only ones to do
it so far being Randy Couture
and BJ Penn).
Benson Henderson, should he
resign with the promotion and
continue fighting at welter-
