UFC 185: Which Fight Will Steal the Show?

When the UFC heads to the American Airlines Center in Dallas on Saturday, March 14, 2015, for UFC 185, all eyes will be on the two title fights headlining the card. First in the co-main event of the evening, newly crowned champion Carla Esparza looks to defend her title for the first time against Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Then, Anthony Pettis will look to defend his title for the second time against Rafael dos Anjos in the main event of the evening.

But title fights don’t always deliver the kind of excitement fans are looking for when they tune in to watch the UFC. In fact, a large number of title fights in recent history have been underwhelming. Titles add drama to the fights, but at the end of the day, great fights are the product of great stylistic matchups.

“Styles make fights” is a term that gets thrown around way too often, but it still hold true. Looking at the card for UFC 185, there are a couple of matchups that have the potential to steal the show but one really stands out; the welterweight bout between former champion Johny Hendricks and Matt Brown.

On one side of the cage you have Hendricks, an elite armature wrestler with devastating knockout power. On the other side you have Brown, a gritty veteran who likes to pressure his opponents into dog fights. These two men like to come forward, stand in the pocket and hunt for the knockout.

Brown is the more diverse striker of the two as he likes to attack with punches, kicks, knees and elbows while Hendricks tends to look to just land that one big, show stopping overhand right. But because of his wrestling pedigree, Hendricks would have a huge advantage should he look to take the fight to the ground. Even though Hendricks’s isn’t known for his ground game, Brown has been submitted nine times over the course of his career.

Even though Hendricks would have a clear advantage in a grappling heavy bout, don’t expect to see him going for many takedowns. Hendricks is coming off of a disappointing performance against Robbie Lawler that cost him his welterweight title. Hendricks is hungry to win in impressive fashion.

Brown will have a lot of motivation heading into Saturday night as well as he is one fight removed from racking up an impressive seven fight win streak in the Octagon. Brown wants to prove that he is a legit contender and he is desperate for another shot at Lawler; the man who ended his streak.

Brown and Hendricks are going to engage in a bloody battle of attrition on Saturday and it’s going to be fun to watch.