You may not like Anthony Johnson. You may not care about Ryan Bader. When you really look at it, though, the matchup between them is extremely compelling. 

Bader is the unremarkable personality who never stops improving. He faces Johnson on the heels of the three best wins of his career, all over top 10 light heavyweights. Johnson is an interesting--some might say "repulsive"--personality, but he is better known for his ridiculous knockout power. He is also known for being a front-runner who loses when fights don't go as planned. 

So when the two meet, we will have what Pat terms a "two true outcome" fight. Does Bader turn "Rumble" into "Crumble," or does he run headlong into a new ceiling and suffer yet another spectacular finish? Only time will tell. 

In the latter half of the show, we talk prospect development a la "Super" Sage Northcutt, and technical leg-kicking a la Tarec Saffiedine. Plus, the mid-tier middleweight oddness of Rafael Natal vs Kevin Casey. Check it out. 

Controversial decisions are the stock and trade of close fights between elite fighters. When two top level athletes go head to head, a close contest is the best thing you could possibly hope for--and yet half of us are left unsatisfied when the decision is announced. 

In an effort to combat this unfortunate truth. we aren't discussing the scoring of Dillashaw vs Cruz on this episode of Heavy Hands. In fact, we complain more about Pettis-Alvarez than we do the main event. Instead, we vie to appreciate this fight for what it was: an incredible display of technical skill, toughness, and pure fighting talent. 

The ups and downs, the adjustments, the defensive virtuosity--all of that and more is on the table this week, plus a breakdown of Pettis-Alvarez and a few frustrated words about a sad situation involving fighter-cum-analyst Kenny Florian. Check it out.

This week on Heavy Hands, we're delving into one of the most anticipated matchups of the last two years. It was a surprise when TJ Dillashaw smashed Renan Barao to become the undisputed UFC bantamweight champion, but since then his place at the top of the pecking order has been fully accepted. Accepted that is, by everyone but Dominick Cruz, one of the few ex-champions in UFC history never to have lost his belt in the Octagon. Returning from yet another injury layoff, Cruz will attempt to remind us just why he was such a dominant champion five years ago, while Dillashaw will vie to represent the new breed with style and grace. 

Goodness, it's a great matchup. 

After breaking that down, we move on to the co-main event battle between former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis, and former Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez, another fantastic fight between elite strikers. 

The man to beat Anthony Pettis in yet another stunning upset was Rafael Dos Anjos, and we wrap up the show discussing him and fighters like him. Daniel Cormier, Demetrious Johnson, Conor McGregor . . . Pressure fighters seem to be swarming the upper echelons of this sport, and we ponder their tremendous effectiveness before sifting through the rankings of each division in search of the styles to defeat them. 

Yeah, yeah, the judges' decision was unsatisfying to many, but let us not forget what really matters: Robbie Lawler vs Carlos Condit was absolutely insane, a back-and-forth fight that culminated in one of the craziest rounds any of us has ever seen. Lawler put on a vintage performance--maybe a little too vintage in some ways--and Condit fought masterfully. We break it all down on today's episode of Heavy Hands. 

After that, it's on to the night's other highlights. Namely, Dustin Poirier exceeded expectations, as did his entire fight with Irish Joe Duffy. Poirier's wrestling and MMA-integrated grappling has come along in leaps and bounds, and it brought him to victory against an extremely tough, if somewhat untested, opponent. Albert Tumenov and Lorenz Larkin put on a tremendous fight as well, with both men exceeding and defying expectations. 

All of that and more on this latest episode of Heavy Hands.

Robbie Lawler and Carlos Condit are both fascinating fighters, and their UFC 195 clash could very well end up being one of the greatest fights in welterweight history. Both Condit and Lawler welcome the blood and the guts of combat with open arms; and yet both are intelligent, crafty fighters with undeniable skill. Their fight will be a contest of adaptation, and we spend the bulk of this week's episode sussing out the different ways in which these two great warriors adapt. 

In scouting this fight, we also examine what we consider the best and worst qualities of each fighter. After that it's on to Lorenz Larkin vs Albert Tumenov (don't mind the sound of drool hitting the mic) and the fortunately rescheduled Dustin Poirier vs Joe Duffy, both phenomenal action fights. 

The show wraps up with a few questions from our listeners.

Rafael Dos Anjos got it done against Donald Cerrone, and it only took about a minute, cementing him as the rightful lightweight champion and one of the best pound-for-pound fighters on the planet. In addition to the stunning killer instinct Dos Anjos displayed, we break down Alistair Overeem's slick win over Junior Dos Santos, and Nate Diaz's triumphant return to form against tough-luck would-be contender Michael Johnson. 

But enough about what just happened. UFC on Fox 17 was the last UFC event of 2015, and it was a year full of great fights and shocking upsets. Next week we'll be looking ahead to UFC 195, but on this episode we remember the year in mixed martial arts, and name our picks for the best of 2015. Best fighter, best fight, best upset--these and more are discussed in detail on the latest Heavy Hands. 

Greatest fight in featherweight history! One of the most skilled fighters to ever step foot in the ring or cage defends his title against the most dangerous contender he's ever--what's that? It's over already? Oh. 

Huh.

It took Conor McGregor a mere 13 seconds to lay 10-time champion Jose Aldo out flat on the canvas and emphatically declare himself the best featherweight in the world. On this week's episode of Heavy Hands, we ask how much we can really take away from such a quick and one-sided victory, get a little sentimental about the potential end of Jose Aldo's career, and break down the tactics--well, tactic that McGregor used to get the KO. 

After that it's on to Luke Rockhold, who put a beatdown on middleweight champion Chris Weidman, and Frankie Edgar, who made us look like fools for doubting him--again. 

Finally, we give our predictions for next week's lightweight title fight between newly crowned champion Rafael Dos Anjos and fan favorite Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone. Should be a good one!

Jose Aldo is fighting Conor McGregor in the biggest fight in UFC featherweight history. What more is there to say? 

Well, a lot actually. And on this week's episode of Heavy Hands, we try our very best to say all of it. With so many variables at play, our main goal is to come up with a gameplan for each of the two combatants. We lay out three keys for Aldo to defend his belt, as well as three keys for McGregor to take it for himself. How does Aldo deal with McGregor's pressure and volume? How does McGregor deal with Aldo's variety, experience, and defense? And who wins? 

We discuss all of this in detail, as well as giving our analysis and predictions for Frankie Edgar vs Chad Mendes and Max Holloway vs Jeremy Stephens, two other extremely relevant featherweight fights taking place the same weekend. 

This week on Heavy Hands we're looking forward to the imminent UFC extravaganza, with three events taking place three days in a row, from December 10th through December 12th. There are too many great matchups to discuss on this episode, so we're saving a few (including Aldo vs McGregor) for next week and reserving the bulk of this week's show for the middleweight title tilt between Chris Weidman and Luke Rockhold, who is almost certainly the young champion's toughest challenge to date.

It's maybe the most technical, well-rounded matchup in middleweight history, and it's a doozy to predict as a result, but we do our best! After that, it's the number one contender's fight between Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, and Yoel "The Preacher of Pain/The Cardinal of Carnage/The Vicar of Violence/The Pontiff of Punishment" Romero, two of the sport's most explosive old men. 

Wrapping things up, we give the quick skinny on Paige VanZant vs Rose Namajunas, Aljamain Sterling vs Johnny Eduardo, and Edson Barboza vs Tony Ferguson. Who says there's too much of a good thing? Enjoy the show!

What makes an out-fighter an out-fighter, or a boxer a boxer? On this week's Heavy Hands we look into the behaviors that let us define fighters' styles. 

First up, there's Neil Magny, often sold as a rangy boxer but, as he showed in his upset win over Kelvin Gastelum last weekend, actually much more effective on the inside. Then there's Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, the new pay-per-view king of the boxing world, whose peculiar blend of power and boxing skill makes him a uniquely dangerous--and uniquely limited--opponent. Finally, we analyze the stylistic talents of Tyson Fury, set to battle Wladimir Klitschko for--well, all the heavyweight titles on Saturday, November 28th.