Fedor's Rumored Opponent, UFC Champion Leaves Major Camp, UFC Rankings Movement
- In an underwhelming move, Fedor Emelianenko's rumored opponent for the yet-to-be-named New Year's Eve show that will run on Spike is Jaideep Singh. Singh is only 1-0 in MMA, but holds a 40-10 record with 1 no contest in kickboxing. The rumored main event for the show is Japanese legend Kazushi Sakuraba taking on Shinya Aoki in an openweight bout.
- UFC Bantamweight Champion TJ Dillashaw shocked the MMA world when he announced that he'd be leaving Team Alpha Male to move to Colorado to join a new camp, Team Elevation. Former Team Alpha Male striking coach Duane Ludwig won't be involved in the new camp, but Dillashaw will continue to train with him, according to MMAFighting. It appears as if things between Dillashaw and Alpa Male ended amicably.
See Also: T.J. Dillashaw Ends Renan Barao's 32 Fight Win Streak, Talks Winning Bantamweight Title
- The official UFC rankings saw some major shakeups this week after an important UFC 192 show. Jessica Eye, who has one win in her last five fights, dropped three spots to number nine, while her opponent Julianna Pena shot up five spots to number 7 in the women's bantamweight rankings. Rose Namajunas also moved up a spot to number 3 in the women's strawweight rankings.
Rashad Evans and Ryan Bader's bout caused some shuffling as Rashad Evans fell a spot to number six, and Bader rose up one to #3. This caused Glover Teixeira to drop one to number four, and Ovince St Preux to jump one spot to number five.
Even in a loss, Ali Bagautinov moved up a spot to #13, while opponent Joseph Benavidez took sole position of #1. Sergio Pettis debuted at 15 in the Flyweight rankings, but is still three spots below the man he defeated, Chris Cariaso, who fell two spots to 12.
Johny Hendricks not fighting also hurt him in the rankings, causing him to fall to #3 in the Welterweight top 15. Rory MacDonald and Tyron Woodley both moved up one spot each, to numbers 1 and 2 respectively.