1) Flyweight Division
The UFC's newest male division has yet to win over viewers, and during ads for this weekend's show I don't find it a coincidence that they just advertised a world title fight and left out the word "flyweight" because of a possible bad connotation. This extends to a certain extent to the feather- and welterweight divisions as well, with Jose Aldo and Urijah Faber being the only two guys who move the needle. From what we've seen so far from the 125 pounders, there seems to be a lot of fast movements, but not too much action has taken place. Champion Demetrious Johnson and challenger John Dodson have a chance on national television to put on a great fight and perhaps begin to create a buzz for the flyweights.
2) Glover Teixeira
Dana White and the UFC have tried to portray Teixeira as a monster, even saying that Shogun Rua reportedly turned down a fight against the newcomer. He is on an eight year, 17-fight win streak, but because of visa issues, he only made his UFC debut last year, disposing of Kyle Kingsbury and Fabio Maldonado. The 33-year old Brazilian faces what is no doubt his toughest challenger to date, in Rampage Jackson on Saturday. Another dominating performance could stamp his ticket to bigger future fights and make him a contender in the 205 pound division. However, a loss could serve as a huge setback.
3) Quinton "Rampage" Jackson
At one time Rampage was considered the most dangerous light-heavyweight fighter on the planet, including wins over Chuck Liddell, Dan Henderson, and Wanderlei Silva. However, more recently 34-year old had to deal with professional struggles both inside and outside the Octagon. Jackson was in Dana White's doghouse for pushing back his fight with Rashad Evans because he wanted to play Mr. T's character in the A-Team movie. Following that loss with two unimpressive victories against Lyoto Machida and Matt Hammill and two consecutive losses to Jon Jones and Ryan Bader has Rampage thinking about the next step in his career. In the lead up to this fight, with his Zuffa contract expiring, he is saying that he is done with Dana White and the UFC, even playing video games during this week's press conference. Whatever decision he makes, whether it's to stay in the UFC, go to Bellator, or even try a boxing career, Rampage is going to want to make a good impression for his future employers.
4) Clay Guida
Clay is another fighter in the boss' doghouse. After main eventing a show in June of 2012, "The Carpenter" is riding the pine pony by fighting in the prelims of this event. Once considered one of the most exciting fighters in the sport, Guida had an embarrassing performance against Gray Maynard, taking his caveman technique to a ridiculous level. Guida was literally running away from Maynard during the fight and trying to avoid contact. Now, Clay is making his featherweight debut against Hatsu Hioki with a chance to get his good reputation back.
5) Anthony Pettis
In December of 2010, Pettis defeated Ben Henderson with the now famous "Showtime Kick" to become the last WEC Lightweight Champion, and a guaranteed fight with then UFC Champion Frankie Edgar. However, a razor thin decision win by Edgar against Gray Maynard resulted in an immediate rematch, and Pettis decided to fight instead of staying on the shelf for over a year, losing to Clay Guida and pushing his title shot further away. Ironically, the man he beat on WEC's final show, Henderson, jumped ahead of him and is the king of the 155-ers. Now Pettis has a good chance with a win against Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone to become the new #1 contender and a rematch for a belt he never really lost.
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