The Ultimate Fighting Champion (UFC) is back in Las Vegas yet again on January 2nd to kick off the 2016 calendar year with UFC 195: Lawler vs Condit. The stacked 12-fight card is set to kick off with Fight Pass prelims at 6:30pm ET and televised prelims to follow on FOX Sports 1 at 8pm ET. The five-fight main card will get underway at 10pm ET on Pay Per View. If interested in wagering on any bouts for this fight card, all betting lines are currently made available at Several Bookmakerss. Getting things going for the UFC 195 main card on Pay Per View will be will be a barn-burner in the UFC’s lightweight division, as Blackzilian product Abel Trujillo and Team Elevation’s Tony Sims get set to collide. It is no secret that both 155-pounders will be in search of adding another knockout to their resume and taking home $50,000 for their efforts, and it is very likely one of them will meet his goal. Trujillo is currently on a two-fight losing streak, though he plans to get his latest defeat turned into a No Contest, which was a controversial first round submission loss to Gleison Tibau. Tibau himself admitted that Trujillo never tapped to the choke. Sims is in need of a victory himself, as he is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Olivier Aubin-Mercier at UFC Fight Night 74 four months ago, which snapped a four fight winning streak for the Iowa native. From barn-burner to barn-burner, we go down to the featherweight division for the next contest on the UFC 195 Pay Per View card, where TUF 14 winner Diego Brandao takes on former RFA featherweight champion Brian “T-City” Ortega. This 145-pound scrap is expected to produce fireworks and should be a front-runner for the evening’s ‘Fight of the Night’ bonus along with the main event. Brandao will be looking for his first four fight winning streak in the UFC by handing Ortega the first loss of his professional mixed martial arts career. Coming off a ‘Fight of the Night’ winning T/KO victory over Thiago Tavares, Ortega will aim for another finish against Brandao. This featherweight scrap is not expected to go the full three round distance, considering both fighters own a combined 21 of 29 of professional mixed martial arts victories by way of finish (22 of 30, if you include Ortega’s submission of Mike de la Torre which was later turned into a No Contest due to a failed drust test). Middling the UFC 195 Pay Per View card will be a welterweight affair between knockout artists Albert Tumenov and Lorenz Larkin. Both fighters are very talented on the feet and possess fight-ending power. This 170-pound scrap is expected to be a real war, and considering their track records, it likely won’t make the three round distance. Tumenov rides an impressive four fight winning streak inside the Octagon with three T/KO finishes and will look to score his biggest win over Larkin in Las Vegas. “Da Monsoon” is a former Strikeforce middleweight champion who dropped down to the UFC’s welterweight division after a three fight skid and has been incredibly impressive, recording to T/KO finishes. He will be aiming to make it three in a row at 170-pounds when he takes on the Russian. The co-main event of the evening comes in the heavyweight division and sees former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei “The Pitbull” Arlovski take on Croatian-American Stipe Miocic. The winner of this contest could arguably be next in line to challenge for the title. “The Pitbull” is currently 4-0 in his second stint with the promotion and is enjoying a six fight winning streak heading into this bout, including knockouts of Travis Browne and Antonio Silva and controversial decision wins over Brendan Schaub and Frank Mir. Miocic last saw action at UFC Fight Night 65 more than seven months ago, where he earned a fifth round TKO win over Mark Hunt. The main event of the evening will be a five round welterweight title fight between defending Champion “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler and challenger “The Natural Born Killer” Carlos Condit, who himself is a former UFC Interim-Welterweight title holder. It’s no secret that this 25-minute scrap will be the favorite to take home the evening’s ‘Fight of the Night’ bonus. Lawler is coming off arguably the best fight of the year, where he scored a fifth round, come from behind knockout of Rory MacDonald, securing his first title defense. Condit returned to action earlier this year following an extended injury layoff and scored a TKO over former UFC welterweight title challenger Thiago Alves, who was unable to answer the bell after the second round of action. Some fight fans don’t agree with Condit getting the title shot after only one win, but whether we agree or not, one thing is for sure: this is a fight we are all itching to see. When these veterans enter the Octagon at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on January 2nd, it is going to be fireworks. The first official main event of 2016 has all the makings of an instant-classic and will likely end up being a war to remember.
