Where are the Bantamweight Division Fights?
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With so many fights happening early in the year, it is hard to understand why there have not been any big time fights booked involving the bantamweight division in the UFC. Marlon "Chito" Vera and Cory Sandhagen's bout was just moved to March 25th in San Antonio due to fans' complaints about having that main event in the UFC Apex Arena, which holds very few fans. In contrast, the AT&T Center in San Antonio holds 18,500 fans. Besides that big fight, there is only one more significant matchup in the division this year. Petr Yan will be squaring off against Merab Dvalishvili on March 11th in Las Vegas. Yan is trying to get back on track after his third consecutive loss, and will face off against Merab who is arguably the best wrestler in the bantamweight division.
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Where is the champ, Aljamain Sterling? When is the much-anticipated comeback of Henry Cejudo coming? Where does the number one contender Suga Sean O'Malley fit into all of this? These are all tough questions to follow, but I see that the UFC will wait for the winner of Chito and Sandhagen and give them to Suga Sean. I see the UFC giving Suga the win in this matchup because he has had some history with Chito that has yet to be finished due to injury. If Sandhagen wins, Sean will face someone he has never met with a similar fighting style.
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Henry will make his comeback debut either against Aljamain or I see him fighting the winner of Yan and Merab. Cejudo and Sterling said through a verbal agreement that they have wanted to fight each other since Cejudo entered the USADA testing pool longer than a year ago. Now the champion has recently come out and told the world of MMA that he needs some time to get back into the gym and go to work because of the long vacation he took throughout the holidays. Honestly, I think that Aljamain wants Cejudo to fight the winner of Yan and Merab because Merab is a teammate of the champion. If Cejudo were to beat Yan or Merab, Aljamain would feel the need to avenge his long-time friend and teammate in Merab. If Suga Sean wins against Chito or Sandhagen and the time windows matchup later in the year, he could call for Cejudo or Sterling to throw his hat into the mix on who gets the title shot and who will be watching the fight from the couch.
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