UFC 226

This weekend's UFC 226 card will be the center piece of the organization's traditional "Fight Week," which will feature the Hall Of Fame induction of former Women's Bantamweight champion, Ronda Rousey. The main event is a true super fight as champions from the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions will clash. Stipe Miocic will defend his title against Daniel Cormier, who competed in the HW division previously, winning the Strike Force Grand Prix several years ago.

This is undoubtedly the biggest fight the WME-owned promotion will promote this year so will this event be a turning point for the company?

With Conor McGregor still awaiting a court appearance on felon charges, Jon Jones on the sidelines from a second failed drug test, Ronda Rousey retired, and Brock Lesnar's status still unknown, the UFC remains low on star power. Don't get me wrong, Robert Whittaker and Yoel Romero delivered a classic slug fest last month, but that was a bout that catered to the diehard fans, not the general public. Similar to any other form of entertainment, there must be a draw for the audience to invest in the product and right now, the UFC doesn't have multiple stars that will motivate the public to pay $65 for a pay-per-view event more than a few times a year.

The numbers for the group were down across the board last year and that trend continues this year as well. The Romero/Rockhold MW title fight in February did a reported 130,000 buys and the recent Amanda Nunes title defense drew under 100,000 buys, putting it among the lowest numbers for the company in the past decade. When Conor McGregor fought regularly on pay-per-view, his few bouts a year drew more buys than the rest of the shows that year combined. This further proves that UFC brass invested too much into the marketing strategy to shoehorn the Dublin native into title fights so they could promote him as a double champion. Eventually, Conor took the name value from mixed martial arts and went to boxing to get a $100 million payday to fight Floyd Mayweather. He hasn't fought in the octagon in nearly two years and was stripped of both championships without defending them. The result of the McGregor experiment was that he was promoted as the top star in the organization while entire divisions were halted, which prevented other fighters from making a name for themselves.

Granted, the fight business is about cash, and Conor draws money, but the structure of rankings is ultimately how fighters gain notoriety. For example, when Francis Ngannou knocked out Alistair Overeem with one of the most brutal KOs in the history of the sport, it elevated his status to a title challenger for Miocic. Sure, Stipe used his well-rounded skills and experience to defeat him in the title bout, but the point is, Ngannou made a name for himself because he KO'ed a notable opponent. Essentially, Conor's absence didn't provide a goal for anyone that worked their way up the ranks in either the 145 or 155 divisions, and at the same time, McGregor didn't add to his accomplishments in the octagon.

With Conor's status undecided, and Georges St. Pierre's decision to vacate the MW belt after a one-off return last year, the credibility of certain divisions were hindered. The recent interim title debacles didn't help the situation either. Plus, injuries remain an aspect of the sport that affects announced cards. But, the Max Holloway/Brian Ortega title fight provides an opportunity to not only reestablish the belt, but also the platform for someone to make themselves a star. With the publicity of a champion vs. champion bout in the main event, the show will garner an audience and thus provide a platform for those in the co-main event to elevate their status. For Holloway, a dominate performance could finally get him from under the shadow of McGregor in terms of the path that he took for the belt. Ortega is mostly unknown to much of the general audience, but brings an undefeated record (14-0) into the cage along with a no contest from a positive test for steroids a few years ago. If Ortega delivers an impressive performance and wins the championship, that makes him a marketable commodity as an undefeated champion. The point being, with the viewers Stipe/Cormier will draw, there's certainly a valuable opportunity for a new era of the featherweight division.

As mentioned, the main event of Stipe vs. Cormier is probably the biggest card the UFC will promote this year and the scenario provides an intriguing match-up. Daniel Cormier started at a later age because of his extensive amateur wrestling career, but achieved some stellar accomplishments, earning a record of 20-1-1 during his nine year career. In some ways, Cormier gets overlooked or doesn't get the credit he deserves because of the Jon Jones debacles, but make no mistake, he had what will be considered a legendary career. While "Bones" Jones wasted much of his talent, Cormier defeated top level competition to retain the Light Heavyweight championship. At 39, Cormier indicated that he plans to retire next year so a HW title victory and the double champion status could be the biggest moment of his career.

On the flip side, Stipe Miocic is still theoretically in the prime of his career at 35 and could eventually be known as the most successful heavyweight in UFC history. With three successful title defenses so far, Stipe is probably the most solidified HW champion of the past decade, and his well-rounded skill set with an amateur wrestling background and powerful striking allows for a style that has no obvious flaws. In many respects, Miocic could be the dominate champion for the division that many expected Cain Velasquez to be several years ago before a series of injuries derailed his career. If Stipe defeated another champion at UFC 226, he might establish himself as the top star of the promotion.

As for a winner, it's somewhat of a toss up and a prediction depends on where the fight takes place. Stipe will have a size and reach advantage, as well as more notable striking skills so it might be wise for Cormier to try to close the distance and use the clinch against Miocic. The key might be if Cormier can effectively use wrestling against the bigger opponent, which might be difficult, considering that Stipe was able to use take downs to defeat Ngannou, who competes near the HW limit of 265 LBS, earlier this year. Since Stipe has the physical tools and the well-rounded skill set, I will pick Miocic to retain the belt, but anything can happen, which makes this such an intriguing bout, especially considering the unique champion vs. champion aspect.

This is the only UFC pay-per-view main event since the previous Miocic title against Ngannou in January that has a "must see" atmosphere this year. The reasons for the lack of star power mentioned previously led to a lack of hype around most PPVs this year. With the publicity that the champion vs. champion bout will generate, an entertaining event could be used as somewhat of a "reset button" for the organization to improve the perception of the star power of the company.