UFC Vegas 54
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Ok, we are back in the Apex with an unusually small 11 fight card! There are not many ranked fighters, but there are some good fighters and solid prospects from top to bottom.

I have a good feeling this is going to be one of those sleeper cards. There will be some fun scraps, and breakout performances!

And the main event is a high stakes fight for the light heavyweight division. Jan has a tough fight in his first fight since losing his title. Rakic is 9 years younger, and he is a tough style matchup for Jan. He will be tough to hit, and Rakic will threaten the takedown all fight.

Here are some of the fights I am most looking forward to.

Nick Maximov vs Andre Petroski
Middleweight – 185 pounds

The third fight in the UFC for the Nick Diaz Academy product, and DWCS alum, Nick Maximov.

There are a bunch of fighters we have come across over the years that have been affiliated with the Diaz brothers. But none have really walked and talked like Nate and Nick quite like Nick Maximov does. However, he does not fight exactly like a Diaz..

He fights kind of like a fighter you’d think a Diaz brother typically hates! Nick Maximov has attempted 31 takedowns in his 2 UFC fights! 31!! He is the ultimate spam wrestler. He definitely has some similarities to the Diaz brothers, he has that Diaz brother pace and grappling. But do not expect to see Nick overwhelm anyone with boxing volume.

And Nick has an interesting fight here. Andre Petroski is a tough guy with a wrestling background. This fight could ultimately could down to the war of attrition. The line has this as an easy one for Nick, but I am not so sure..

Tatsuro Taira vs Carlos Candelario
Flyweight – 125 pounds

Alright! Let’s try this again..

I am really interested in getting a look at Tatsuro Taira in the UFC. This kid might be the real deal. He is only 22 years old, and already has a record of 10-0 as a pro and 9-0 as an amateur. And he has stopped his opponents in all but 2 of his pro wins, and he has been fighting real guys over in Japan! He has a bunch of subs on his record, but his striking looks really clean. And powerful. Super interesting to see a kid this young in the UFC.

Flyweight might be the most underrated division in the UFC. There are is a bunch of really good young talent coming up, and Tatsuro Taira will be looking to join that group!

He will have a favourable matchup in Carlos Candelario. Carlos is a solid fighter, he will come forward and bring the fight to Taira. But all indications are that he is not the same level of fighter or athlete.

Jan Błachowicz vs Aleksandar Rakić
Light Heavyweight – 205 pounds

Alright we have a good one for our main event.

Jan became the unlikely champ at 205 after starting his UFC career 2-4! He then went on a 7-1 run before getting a crack at the vacant LHW belt against Dominick Reyes. He won that fight via 2nd round KO, he then defended the belt against one of the P4P best in the world, Israel Adesanya. After beating one of the sports biggest stars, it felt like we were heading into the Polish Power era! Jan wasn’t really on our radars to be the next king at 205, but he was looking like we going to be tough to beat! Until he ran into the seemingly immortal Glover Teixeria. The just recently turned 42 year old Glover was getting his last crack at UFC gold! Jan was a pretty sizeable favourite going into the fight against Glover, but Glover executed a masterful game plan and was able to take Jan down before submitting him in the 2nd.

Jan will have a tough fight in Aleksandar Rakić. Rakic’s only loss in the UFC was a controversial loss to Volkan Oezdemir. Rakic has the momentum of a young fighter still finding his ceiling. And he is a tough style matchup for Jan. Jan and his Polish power will always be a threat, but Rakic is very hard to hit. He is not one to take risk, and he will happily grapple Jan if that what he believes his easy path of victory to be, which I believe it is.

We could have a new 205 contender emerge, or the fan favourite and former champ will make his case for another crack at the prestigious Light Heavyweight belt!

if you do not know, now you do know