25 Most Intriguing MMA Match ups Remaining This Year

What a summer it was for MMA fans.

Who could forget Cheick Kongo's comeback for the ages against Pat Barry? Or Big Nog flattening Brendan Schaub? Chris Lytle retiring in style against Dan Hardy? Ellenberger smashing Shields in the battle of the Jakes? Anderson Silva outclassing yet another victim in Yushin Okami? Dennis Hallman's banana hammock?

There were plenty more memorable moments from throughout the season. But even though the cooler months are creeping in, the MMA calendar is far from dead.

Here are the 25 most intriguing matchups that remain.

25. Michael Johnson vs. Paul Sass

UFC Live: Cruz vs. Johnson

Can the Brit Sassangle his way to a 12-0 record in D.C.? If so, he'll do it against his stiffest challenge to date in TUF finalist Johnson.

(Photo credit: Sherdog)

24. Gleison Tibau vs. Rafael Dos Anjos

UFC 139

Tibau is coming off a Submission of the Night performance. Dos Anjos garnered that award just a year back. Both men are jiu-jitsu black belts, and have won four of their last five. Something’s got to give.

23. Anthony Pettis vs. Jeremy Stephens

UFC 136

We'll see if Showtime can get his UFC career back on track against the hard-hitting Stephens.

22. Ian McCall vs. Will Campuzano

Tachi Palace Fights 11

“Uncle Creepy” and his Rollie Fingers mustache will defend his flyweight title for the first time against WEC vet Campuzano.

21. Thiago Alves vs. Papy Abedi

UFC 138

It's the UFC debut for Abedi, the Congolese welterweight who is 8-0 with five TKO finishes thus far. Here's wagering Alves is willing to stand and trade with Abedi.

20. Jeff Curran vs. Scott Jorgensen

UFC 137

At 33-13-1, Curran is one of the most successful bantamweight veterans active today. His first UFC tour came in 2004, and began and ended with a loss to Matt Serra in a lightweight bout.

The jiu-jitsu ace will have his hands full with top contender Jorgensen.

(Photo credit: MMABay.co.uk)

19. Gegard Mousasi vs. Ovince St. Preux

Strikeforce 37

A former Strikeforce light heavyweight champ and recovering MMA phenom, Mousasi will reenter the Strikeforce cage for the first time since a widely panned draw with Keith Jardine April 9.

He'll do so against St. Preux, a former football standout at the University of Tennessee who is 11-4 in his MMA career and a perfect 5-0 in Strikeforce.

18. Melvin Guillard vs. Joe Lauzon

UFC 136

Guillard has been making noise about deserving a title shot. And this time, people are listening. Winning five straight (three of them by knockout) will do that.

The calculating, dangerous Lauzon will be an apt measuring stick in determining how ready Guillard really is.

17. Alexander Gustafsson vs. Vladimir Matyushenko

UFC 141

It could be a changing of the guard or proof that things just get better with age when 24-year-old Gustafsson tangles with 40-year-old Matyushenko.

16. Matt Hughes vs. Josh Koscheck

UFC 135

Many fans will be watching to see how the 37-year-old Hughes, in his only fight of 2011, responds to contender Josh Koscheck.

15. Michael Bisping vs. Jason Miller

The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale

I’m sure this one will only get more intriguing as this season of TUF unwinds and
the by-all-accounts heated relationship between these two outspoken contender/coaches comes to light.

(Photo credit: MMAFix)

14. Chris Leben vs. Mark Munoz

UFC 138

Two heavy-handed middleweights will slug it out to see who the true contender is. That is, if bad boy Leben can fend off good boy Munoz's takedowns. Tune in to find out!

(Photo credit: Tapology)

13. Cheick Kongo vs. Matt Mitrione

UFC 137

If Mitrione wants to contend for the heavyweight belt, he'll have to get past the gate that is Cheick Kongo. And it just so happens that this gate, fresh off the knockout of his life over Pat Barry, may not swing open so easily.

12. Ben Henderson vs. Clay Guida

UFC on Fox: Velasquez vs. Dos Santos

In a fight that may very well determine the next challenger for the lightweight strap, the ever-popular Guida will square off with Henderson, who following his destruction of Jim Miller may be doing the best fighting of his career.

11. Joe Warren vs. Alexis Vila

Bellator 51

Bellator's current featherweight champ, Warren is gunning to strap the bantamweight belt on his waist as well.

An Olympic medal-winning wrestler and undefeated MMA fighter, Vila probably won’t cooperate without a fight.

In fact, go ahead and sound the upset alarms. I think Vila pulls the shocker in this first-round bout of Bellator's bantamweight tourney.

10. Chael Sonnen vs. Brian Stann

UFC 136

The UFC shut down the Sonnen smack machine when they matched him up against quite possibly the only middleweight Chael respects in Brian Stann, a decorated war veteran.

Once the door closes, Sonnen's wrestling will provide a very intriguing stylistic juxtaposition for Stann's powerful hands.


(Photo credit: MMAMania)

9. Dominick Cruz vs. Demetrious Johnson

UFC Live: Cruz vs. Johnson

Cruz defends his bantamweight belt against the upstart Mighty Mouse. At 25 and 26, respectively, Johnson and Cruz are both still very young, despite their combined record of 28-2.

8. Jose Aldo vs. Kenny Florian

UFC 136

UFC featherweight champion and top-five pound-for-pounder Aldo makes his second title defense in the UFC. In the other corner is Florian, fighting at 145 for the just the second time. Critics contend Florian was fast-tracked to the title shot because of his fame, not his featherweight bona fides.

Once the action begins, fans should know soon enough whether Florian belongs with the explosive Aldo.

7. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua vs. Dan Henderson

UFC 139

This summer, Rua gained brutal revenge against Forrest Griffin at UFC Rio. On the heels of his TKO of Fedor Emelianenko, Henderson bolted Strikeforce for the stable confines of the Octagon. The winner between the fan-favorite Olympic wrestler and the fan-favorite Muay Thai assassin will be well positioned for a light heavyweight title shot.

6. Carlos Condit vs. Georges St-Pierre

UFC 137

The Natural Born Killer has a striker's chance against anyone. Except maybe GSP.

5. B.J. Penn vs. Nick Diaz

UFC 137

Diaz blows off press conference, gets Penn instead of the title shot with GSP.

It cost Diaz plenty of money and fan support, even as critics clamored that Diaz's behavior didn't justify such a rich consolation prize. 

My take? I think Penn will have the final say on whether the matchup is ultimately judged as a punishment or a gift for Diaz.

4. Jon Jones vs. Quinton Jackson

UFC 135

It's getting really tough to rank these.

A phenom defending his belt for the first time against a former champion and highly popular veteran.

And if that wasn't enough, let's add a Twitter war and MMA's own little Spygate affair.

Yep. Should be a few fireworks in this Saturday's main event.

3. Gray Maynard vs. Frankie Edgar

UFC 136

The scintillating and long-brewing rubber match for the UFC lightweight title.

2. Brock Lesnar vs. Alistair Overeem

UFC 141

No matter what you think of Lesnar, you have to admit the former champ's return from a second battle with diverticulitis—a battle that, this time, took a foot of Lesnar's colon—is pretty darn intriguing.

Add in the UFC debut for an equally galvanizing ex-champ (among hardcore fans, anyway) in Overeem, and you've got a no-lose situation for pay-per-view buyers and organizers alike.

1. Cain Velasquez vs. Junior Dos Santos

Simply put, this is the most highly anticipated heavyweight title fight in UFC history.

These two are a combined 22-1 with 16 T/KOs between them.

Oh, and it also happens to be the UFC's first event on a major broadcast network.

Any questions?