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There is a serious case to be made for this Saturday’s UFC 209 card not only being the best mixed martial arts card of the year so far, but also potentially for it to be considered among the year’s best once 2017 reaches its conclusion.

The fight card has ramifications across several divisions but most obviously that of the UFC’s welterweight division, where champion Tyron Woodley seeks closure in the rivalry with Stephen Thompson which wasn’t settled in their first outing together at UFC 205 last November. In the lightweight frame, the UFC will crown a new interim champion when Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov clash to determine the next challenger to Conor McGregor’s 155-pound title.

Rashad Evans’ long-delayed middleweight debut also takes place this weekend, as does the return of ‘Groovy’ Lando Vannata and the not-so-small matter of the heavyweight rematch between Mark Hunt and Alistair Overeem and with all of this talent on display this weekend it is likely that you can expect fireworks like those you see in the below video.

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