January is always a long wait for good UFC fights. They tend to not put anything special in the beginning of the month for what I think it a combination of holidays and not wanting to compete with college football maybe. The time between good events is too damn long between Dec and Jan if you ask me.
But now in just a few hours we have a cracker of a PPV.... sort of.
The main event features a guy that I kind of like and a guy that I really don't like. I find Ciryl Gane to be one of the most boring fighters of all time in UFC and I am hoping that Ngannou flattens him. I also realize that Gane's boring aspects come from the fact that he is very calculating on when he is going to engage and that is probably why he is undefeated. Yeah yeah, I understand that this is a big part of how the game is won, but it doesn't mean I have to like it.
There's more to tonight's fights than just that potential dancing contest though. Figueiredo and Moreno should be a real winner as this back and forth saga continues between the two. This is a tough one to call but I believe that Figueiredo will win by KO or get KO'd trying to make it happen. He has a lot to prove with this fight and I think that it will be more exciting than the main event - not that this would be particularly difficult to accomplish.
As for the rest of the card I can't say that I am terribly excited about any of it really. The Brunson / Cannonier fight could end up being really important though since if either one of these guys puts on an amazing show and wins by finishing the other person, it could set them up for a title shot later on in the year.
So I am off to the sports bar to watch this with friends and for all of you UFC fans out there I hope you end up enjoying it! Let's hope that Ngannou can force Gane to actually fight a bit. :P