Five fantasy non-title UFC 'superfights'

July 31, 2014

Conor McGregor against Donald Cerrone, anyone? © Getty Images

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The Anderson Silva-Nick Diaz "superfight" is 185 days away.

That should be enough time to determine whether or not we're actually calling it a "superfight" to begin with. We've spent years talking about potential superfights in the UFC, but did we ever actually define what they were? We didn't, did we?

Whatever: whether it's a superfight or not, Silva versus Diaz is something you want to watch if you're a fight fan. Their personalities go a long way in that, but it's also a fight that just feels different.

And at a time when the UFC is sometimes airing two cards in one day, different is welcome.

It's definitely not your average UFC pay-per-view main event. There is no title involved, nor are there any recent wins involved. Both are 0-2 in their respective last two fights.

But this is a fight that doesn't really care. The stakes feel high, even though they're hard to define. Maybe superfights don't need UFC titles involved.

In the spirit of this bout, here are five non-title "superfights" we could all get into. Will any actually happen? Well, no, probably not. But that's actually fitting. If there is one attribute about a "superfight" we do know of, it's that they rarely come together.

No.5 - Nate Diaz v Matt Brown, welterweight

Right? I mean, right? What if the UFC had announced, "Diaz versus Brown!!" and when you got to the fight poster it was a picture of Nate? How many pieces would your mind blow into? After Brown lost to Lawler, there was no better opponent for him than Nick Diaz, but Nick was destined for Silva. How about his younger brother fight Brown instead? We already admitted none of these fights are likely going to happen, but now that this one is out there, I really want it.

No.4 - Glover Teixeira v Junior dos Santos, heavyweight

So many bungalows would be thrown. Both guys don't go down easy, but put guys down easily. The exchanges would be nuts. If one of them switched gears and went for a takedown, it would be Teixeira - but doubtful he could get Dos Santos down. So, what we're looking at here is guaranteed stand-up between Glover and JdS. Let that marinate for a minute.

No.3 - Urijah Faber v Frankie Edgar, featherweight

Bump Faber back up to featherweight (even though a team-mate fight between he and Dillashaw would be a good time, too). This one writes itself. The pre-fight barbs would be as cordial as it gets, but the skill level in the cage would be off the charts. I'd sure rather see this fight over Faber v Masanori Kanehara.

No.2 - Anthony Johnson v Alistair Overeem, heavyweight

Former team-mates - sort of. No one at the Blackzilians camp seems too broken up about Overeem's decision to bail earlier this year. Johnson has said he has no "beef" with Overeem, but claims he was never part of the team. This all sounds like something we could exploit and magnify by placing the two in the same room with cameras and microphones for several weeks.

No.1 - Conor McGregor v Donald Cerrone, lightweight

In Dublin. Cerrone would somehow commandeer a Bud-Lite party submarine for he and his buddies so he could still make a "road trip" out of it. Would Cerrone smile at the weigh-in and carry that carefree aura we've seen lately, or might this kind of moment bring out the Cerrone that screamed expletives after knocking Charles Oliveira out in 2011... or who ran over Jamie Varner in a grudge match in 2010? Both of these guys are down to fight whomever, whenever. UFC 183 co-main?

This article originally appeared on ESPN.com

ESPN staff