The upcoming UFC events are going to be almost certainly completely overshadowed by Conor McGregor's return to the octagon in January. Hopefully they will find a venue where there can be a crowd but I wouldn't count on that happening. Perhaps if they do it somewhere in the middle east, I don't know how they plan these things but I would imagine with all the Covid hysteria that is still going on that there will be a very limited if any crowd at all.
Moving ahead a month the February 6th we see another event that has a headliner that is almost certainly going to be a snoozer. I say this because I can't believe that Alistair Overeem is still held in high regard by the UFC and Dana White since he is one of the easiest fighters to knock out and has a less-than-stellar record in the past few years. Sure, he has a few wins but you need to look at who he was actually fighting against in those fights. He beat Walt Harris (who?) and Augusto Sakai (again, who?) in his past 3 but if you look at fighters that could actually be considered top-tier he always gets his ass handed to him.
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So the main event headliner of this upcoming whatever-it-is in Feb (it's not a PPV) will feature Glass Chin Overeem vs Alexander Volkov. Volkov is one of those guys that doesn't exactly look like he belongs in the heavyweight division and he is basically a who's who of people that get beaten by actual top contenders in the heavyweight division as well.
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Yes, he is a big dude; yes, i would probably never say anything mean to him face-to-face; and yes, he has a long track record and is a veteran of the sport. However, he, just like Overeem, is a one trick pony and has no depth to his game. I would say that Volkov is actually worse at this than Overeem. Get Volcov on his back and the fight is basically over. He has almost zero ground game and doesn't even go for it for the most part. He is a stand-up fighter almost entirely and relies heavily on boxing.
In top position I guess he is ok but for the most part, both of these guys lack the variety in offense to ever be able to take on the top guys in the division - every time they try they get KO'd. Overeem is only ranked number 5 because the rest of the top-10 is a bunch of people that we don't even know who they are.
I have high hopes for Cyril Gane, who recently leapfrogged about 7 positions to land in the number 7 spot right behind Overeem and Volkov and I think this is intentional so that they can justify putting Gane against whoever wins this one to shove him into the top 5 and give Gane a push for title contention.
I don't have high hopes for this being a good lineup and to be honest, since McGregor is fighting just 10 days before this is the normal way of things. We can't have a blockbuster lineup each week. I suppose there is on ray of light as far as this card is concerned and that is that it appears as though Frankie Edgar is a potential late addition to the card and I always find that guy entertaining. I'll keep my fingers crossed on that one because I think the main heavyweight fight is going to be a staredown hugging contest for about 3 rounds until someone lands a lucky shot and accidentally knocks the other one out.
Even I that love Overeem, I can't deny what has been said in this article, I don't have a counter argument, the way he reinvented himself was by being "Eco-Reem" and run around the cage. But still, you almost forgot: K1 CHAMP, StrikeForce Champ and Dream champ, it counts for something homie, right?