“Something Old, Something New” returns this week for UFC 205, the promotion’s biggest and most historical event from Madison Square Garden in New York. For years, UFC have tireless campaigned for the sport to be legalised in the state of New York and this week they will celebrate their first New York show with their most stacked card of all time at an event that has already broken records at the gate and is expected to do the same on PPV.
There are no fighters on the UFC 205 card making their promotional debut due to the prestige and magnitude of the event. However it features a number of faces who have been off the radar for 12 months or more.
Let’s reacquaint ourselves ahead of Saturday night’s UFC 205 and get up to speed on what has kept these fighters away and what we can expect from their returns.
Yoel “Soldier of God” Romero (11-1) – Middleweight
After serving a six month suspension handed down by USADA for an out of competition doping violation, Yoel Romero returns this weekend at UFC 205 to face Chris Weidman in the Middleweight division.
The 39-year-old Cuban made his MMA debut in 2009 after a successful amateur wrestling career which saw him become a World Champion in 1999 and win the silver medal in Sydney at the 2000 Olympic Games.
Romero is still currently undefeated in the UFC, and ranked #4 in the official UFC Middleweight rankings, after moving from Light-Heavyweight to the Middleweight divison for his promotional debut. The only loss on his record came against Rafael Cavalcante in his first and last match under the Strikeforce banner in 2011.
Defeating Lyoto Machida and Jacare Souza before his suspension, “Soldier of God” has a chance to push his name forward in a congested Middleweight division in need of a clear contender if he defeats New Yorker Weidman on Saturday night.
Tim Kennedy (18-5) – Middleweight
One of the most underrated and undervalued fighters on the UFC roster, Tim Kennedy will hope to return to the octagon in New York this Saturday however there are currently question marks over who he may face.
Known as much for his well-publicised military career as he is for his fighting, Kennedy took an extended lay off from the sport when he became “disillusioned with how the sport was being run” after a controversial defeat to Yoel Romero at UFC 178 in September 2014.
The nature of the loss coupled with run-ins with Dana White over fighter pay led to him exploring other avenues and he is currently one of the stars of History Channel’s hit program “Hunting Hitler”. Not to be underestimated, Kennedy holds wins over current Middleweight champion Michael Bisping and Robbie Lawler, the latter whom he defeated in the now defunct Strikeforce.
At 37-years-old and having established himself outside of the sport, Kennedy has hinted that if another win doesn’t put him in the title picture then he may just walk away from the sport for good.
Thiago “Pitbull” Alves (21-10) – Lightweight
Scheduled to face Jim Miller in the first Lightweight bout of his career at UFC 205, Thiago Alves returns and hopes to start a run towards UFC gold which has so far proved elusive in his career. He last fought in May 2015 against Carlos Condit before pulling out of a scheduled fight with Benson Henderson in December of last year with broken ribs.
Despite only being 33-years-old, the Brazilian started his career in 2001 as a teenager and worked his way around the regional circuits of his home country. At the age of 19, Alves left Brazil and moved to Coconut Creek, Florida to train as part of American Top Team full-time.
Making his UFC debut in October 2005 against Spencer Fisher, Alves was defeated by submission however would bounce back and lose only one of his next 10 bouts to earn a UFC Welterweight title shot against Georges St. Pierre at UFC 100.
Unfortunately for Alves, St. Pierre would outwrestle him over all five rounds and he was defeated by unanimous decision. Since that defeat, “Pitbull” has become inconsistent and after alternating wins and losses, a drop to the Lightweight division could be the catalyst he needs in order to become a force once again.
Liz “Girl-Rilla” Carmouche (10-5) – Women’s Bantamweight
After losing three of her last five fights, Liz Carmouche returns to the octagon and hopes to defeat Katlyn Chookagian at UFC 205 to record her first consecutive victories since 2012.
The 32-year-old served for five years in the US Marine Corps before entering the sport of MMA and turning professional in 2010. After touring the regional circuit and following that with spells in Strikeforce and Invicta, “Girl-Rilla” joined the UFC and made history by fighting Ronda Rousey in the organisation’s first ever women’s bout for the UFC Women’s Bantamweight title.
Defeated by Rousey, Carmouche scored a TKO victory over Jessica Andrade but would fall to another two defeats against Alexis Davis and Miesha Tate killing her momentum and dropping her down the rankings.
After taking a year off, she returned to take a unanimous decision over Lauren Murphy in April 2015 and will now look to build towards another shot at the belt that slipped from her grasp nearly four years ago.
That’s it for this week folks, join us next time for TWO instalments as we cover both UFC Fight Night 99 and UFC Fight Night 100 from Belfast and Sao Paulo respectively.
