The final month of the year is almost upon us, and there’s a stacked line up in store including a three-day sleep deprived spell that sees the UFC put on three events in three days, while debuting Japanese promotion Rizin FC caps off the year with two events squeezed in before the New Year.
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Friday, December 4th: Bellator 147: Thomson Vs Villaseca
Where: San Jose, USA
Bellator’s final offering of the year sees former UFC and Strikeforce star Josh Thomson looking to go 2-0 in the promotion when he goes up against Pablo Villaseca who’s only loss in an 11 fight career to date came in the Bellator cage.
Also worth noting on the main card is Georgi Karakhanyan Vs Daniel Wiechel and a rematch between Patricky Freire and Derek Anderson.
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Thursday, December 10th: UFC Fight Night 80: Namajunas Vs VanZant:
Where: Las Vegas, USA
UFC’s crazy plan to host three events in the fight capital in three consecutive days begins on December 10th with a quality female fight leading the charge as the popular No.3 ranked strawweight Rose Namajunas steps in to fight the much hyped Paige VanZant who’s No.7 in the division.
The main card also features the likes of Jim Miller Vs Michael Chiesa in the co-main event spot and Tim Means Vs John Howard, while a lot of attention will also be on super-prospect Sage Northcutt in his next test against Cody Pfister.
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Friday, December 11th: TUF 22 Finale: Edgar Vs Mendes:
Where: Las Vegas, USA
A day later it’s time for the TUF 22 Finale and there’s an excellent main event on tap here as two of the featherweight’s top contenders Frankie Edgar and Chad Mendes collide.
Given the UFC’s hectic schedule during December there’s a surprisingly solid supporting cast here including top 10 lightweights Edson Barboza Vs Tony Ferguson and Joe Lauzon Vs Evan Dunham.
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Saturday, December 12th: UFC 194: Aldo Vs McGregor:
Where: Las Vegas, USA
Naturally the UFC have saved the best for last with UFC 194’s line-up up their with the best we’ve seen in recent memory, headlined by the must-see featherweight title unification bout between long-reigning champion Jose Aldo and interim champ Conor McGregor.
There’s also a fascinating middleweight title fight in the co-main event as Chris Weidman attempts to defend his title against one of his toughest challengers to date, Luke Rockhold.
Those two fights alone are well worth the price of admission, but there’s more with a crucial 185lb clash featuring Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza Vs Yoel Romero that should establish the next title challenger, Demian Maia Vs Gunnar Nelson and Max Holloway Vs Jeremy Stephens rounding out the main card.
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Friday, December 18th: WSOF 26: Palmer Vs Almeida:
Where: Las Vegas, USA
WSOF featherweight champion Lance Palmer fronts their final show of the year against Alexandre Almeida on December 18th.
It’ll also be good to see kickboxing star Tyrone Spong return to MMA action against Jake Heun in the co-main event of the evening here.
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Saturday, December 19th: UFC On FOX 17: Dos Anjos Vs Cerrone:
Where: Florida, USA
The UFC squeeze one last big event of 2015 in on December 19th live on FOX as Rafael dos Anjos looks to defend his lightweight title for the first time in a rematch with Donald Cerrone.
There’s also a major heavyweight match-up in the co-main event as Junior dos Santos finally gets a chance to fight Alistair Overeem, while Nate Diaz is also back in action going up against Michael Johnson and Myles Jury drops to 145lb to fight Charles Oliveira.
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Thursday, December 29th: Rizin FC 1: Sakuraba Vs Aoki:
Where: Saitama, Japan
Rizin FC, the new Japanese promotion from the former owner of PRIDE, debuts with two events in three days, the first of which will be headlined by veteran MMA legend Kazushi Sakuraba taking on another submission specialist Shinya Aoki.
Also look out for the opening round of Rizin’s heavyweight Grand-Prix which will conclude on New Years Eve with the likes of Muhammed ‘King Mo’ Lawal and James thompson.
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Saturday, December 31st: Rizin FC 2: Fedor Vs TBC
Where: Saitama, Japan
Two days later Rizin return with their second event which is scheduled to be headlined by Russian heavyweight hall-of-famer Fedor Emelianenko, though at this stage his opponent is still to be announced.
The New Years Eve show will also include the conclusion of the heavyweight Grand-Prix which started in the previous event, plus a number of other bouts including the debut of female BJJ giant Gabi Garcia who takes on fellow MMA newcomer Seini Draughn.
