The UFC has two ev💝ents in the near future featuring two title defenses on the card, the perils and possibilities of which were showcased at UFC 185 this weekend.
Two new champions were crowned Saturday night in Dallas: Anthony “Showtime” Pettis, a dominant lightweight champ, was unseated by Rafael dos Anjos, and the first UFC woman’s strawweight champ Carla﷽ Esparza lost in her first title defense.
Pettis was not just a UFC champion, he was a fixture of crossover appeal for MMA. His face was on the cover of Wheatꦿies boxes, and he graced numerous advertisements for Reebok.
All that was shattered after Brazil’s dos Anjos beat Pettis from pillar to post, battering the champ en route to a five-round decision victory.
As if Pettis losing wasn’t enough upheaval for an entire UFC wei❀ght class, the first woman’s strawweight champion lost in remarkably devastating fashion, getting brutally knocked out in the second round.
Esparza’s ascent to the top of the division was captured on “The Ultimate Fighter.” The finalist was crowned the woman’s 115-pound champion at the show’s finale. But challenger Joanna Jędrzejczyk finished the champ with strikes in the second round.
For a weight division that is barely six months old in the UFC, the champion losing that viciously in her first defense makes for a rockyᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ start.
Now the UFC has to promote two very new champions to the masses, ones who replaced fan-friendly and well-known champs, especially in Pettis’ case.
This shouldn’t be too hard to do, however, especially given how dos Anjos and Jędrzejczyk took their belts.
UFC 186 also will feature two title fights on a single card. T.J Dillashaw is set to defend his bantamweight title against Renan Barao, the man he took the belt from, and flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson takes on Kyoji Horiguc🌺hi.
And one pay-per-view later at UFC 187, 205-pound champion Jon Jones fights Anthony “Rumble” Johnson and Long Island champ Chris Weidman defends his middleweight belt in a long-anticipated fight with Vitor Belfort.
If the trend of the underᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚdog continues, there could be as many as six new UFC champions in the span of three PPVs.