UFC is ready to make a third trip to New York in the last five months as the company heads to Buffalo, New York, to host its third pay-per-view event of the year. Light heavyweight champion Daniel “DC” Cormier will put his title on the line against heavy-handed knockout artist Anthony “Rumble” Johnson. But outside of the main and co-main events, there aren’t a ton of names fight fans are used to seeing. Here are 10 things you should know ahead of UFC 210 on Saturday.

  1. Title fight is a rematch. Cormier and Rumble battled two years ago for the vacant light heavyweight title. While Johnson was able to do some damage, Cormier’s expertise on the ground proved to be the difference with DC scoring the submission victory in the third round. It will be interesting to see how Johnson has expanded his game over the last two years to prepare for this because his last three wins have all come via knockout.
  2. Both fighters riding winning streaks. Cormier and Johnson are both riding three-fight win streaks into their rematch. Since losing his first professional MMA fight ever to Jon Jones in 2015, Cormier has rattled off wins against Johnson, Alexander Gustafsson via split decision and Anderson Silva via unanimous decision. Johnson, meanwhile, has knocked out Jimi Manuwa in the second round, Ryan Bader in the first and Glover Teixeira in just 13 seconds.
  3. Johnson a slight betting favorite. The odds are nearly dead even, but in most places where you could put a wager down, Rumble is a slight favorite (-115) over Cormier (-105). I have to think that has more to do with how Johnson has won those three fights versus how Cormier looked, even though Cormier did win their last match up.
  4. Chris Weidman’s rebound? The former middleweight champion is on a bit of a downward spiral. Since knocking out Anderson Silva to end UFC’s longest championship reign ever, Weidman lost to Luke Rockhold to lose the belt. Then, after battling a neck injury for most of 2016, Weidman was dropped by a crazy flying knee from Yoel Romero in December. Now, he gets one of the hottest fighters at 185 pounds in Gegard Mousasi, riding a four-fight winning streak with three straight KO/TKOs. Weidman desperately needs a win to remind fans that he wasn’t a one-hit wonder who caught a vulnerable champion at the right time.
  5. Log-jam at 185 pounds. Speaking of Mousasi, a win over Weidman would definitely start to draw attention for the former Strikeforce champion to get a title shot. The problem is everyone is stuck waiting on what champion Michael Bisping is doing. UFC gave his next title defense to legend Georges St-Pierre, who has been out of action since 2014, and never fought at middleweight. And while they have agreed to a bout, a date and location remains up in the air. Romero, Jacare Souza and Mousasi all believe they deserve a title shot, but have been forced to play the waiting game. It would truly be a disappointment if  one of those three fighters doesn’t get a title shot before the end of 2017.
  6. Return of the phenom. Women’s strawweight Cynthia Calvillo is back in the octagon for UFC 210 and will face relative unknown Pearl Gonzalez. Calvillo (4-0) is slowly working her way up the 115-pound rankings after scoring her first victory in UFC at UFC 209 last month. It’s a quick turnaround for the 29-year old, but she took virtually no damage in that fight against Amanda Cooper. If she’s successful in that same way on Saturday, it’s only a matter of time before we see her against the top competitors in the division.
  7. Will Brooks’ return. The former Bellator lightweight champion was expected to come in and set the UFC on fire. Then, he ran into Alex Oliveira last October. Brooks (18-2) was coming off a unanimous decision win over Ross Pearson and looking to continue his march toward the 155-pound title, but Oliveira caught Brooks in the third round and finished things off with a TKO. Now, Brooks will face another Oliveira -- Charles -- who happens to be the No. 9 ranked lightweight. A win -- and a decisive one at that -- will quickly make people forget about that loss.
  8. A final ride for the Pitbull? Thiago Alves has had an incredible run with UFC. He peaked with a title shot against Georges St-Pierre at UFC 100 in 2009. But since then, Alves has gone just 5-4 in nine bouts, including a failed attempt to cut down to lightweight in his last fight when he missed 155 by seven pounds. Now, he faces Patrick Cote, who is 3-1 in his last four but coming of a TKO loss to Donald Cerrone. If Alves is unable to beat Cote, it may be time for Alves to ride off into the sunset.
  9. Only five ranked fighters on main card. It’s crazy to look at, but only Cormier, Johnson, Weidman, Mousasi and Oliveira are ranked fighters heading into UFC 210. Now, most think Calvillo will be ranked shortly, but it speaks to a bit of the depth issues that fans have been concerned with on these pay-per-view card of late. If UFC wants fans to keep  buying these cards, they need more ranked fighters on them.
  10. A letdown brewing? This will be UFC’s third pay-per-view event of the year. The first two did little to keep fans engaged throughout the card. Plus, both main events (Holly Holm vs. Germaine de Randamie and Tyron Woodley vs. Stephen Thompson) were brutal to watch. With a heavy striker like Rumble in the mix, the hope is he can provide some fireworks. Cormier even said early on in the leadup to this fight that he would stand and trade with him if necessary, but nobody believes him. The smart way for Cormier to win is to make this a boring fight to watch, which would lead to more criticism of UFC’s new management and match-making coordination.