Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada is hosting an important bout between two Welterweights this Saturday. Rory MacDonald and Tarec Saffiedine are going to be the main event on the Fight Night card. This could be a title eliminator in this ever-stacked division.
Rory MacDonald was once seen as the next GSP, but his loss at UFC 167 made the casual fan believe that those dreams may be over. He then bounced back to win a dominating decision over Tyron Woodley, showing signs of the monster that we were all hoping for. He has destroyed people like Mike Pyle and BJ Penn in his earlier fights and really showed a lot of promise. His opponents have definitely got tougher over the years and he has no easy task ahead of him though with the very diverse striker that Saffiedine is.
Saffiedine was the last welterweight champion in the Strikeforce organization and has only fought three times in the last two years. He is on a five fight winning streak and his latest victory was on January 3rd against Hyun Gyu Lim. He has leg kicks that will leave his opponents looking like they were just beaten in the legs by a baseball bat and tremendous takedown defense that keeps his opponents on their feet where he usually has the advantage.
The welterweight division is finally coming out of it’s traffic jam now that Johny Hendricks is finally back in action at UFC 181 and that sets up the fight between MacDonald and Saffiedine as the possible #1 contender. Quality performances can speak loudly in the UFC and Dana White will sometimes make a surprising announcement at the press conferences, but he just usually ends up saying “We’ll talk about it and see what happens.” If MacDonald wins, it only makes sense because he is #2 in the welterweight rankings. Saffiedine is only #9 in the rankings, but a win over the #2 guy could definitely propel him to the top of the division.
Regardless of what happens in the outcome, this fight should be an exciting main event that I imagine the rest of the division will watch very closely. Two explosive welterweights that are not afraid to stand and bang should make for one hell of a fight.
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