10 reasons to watch UFC Fight Night 98, and they're not all dos Anjos and Ferguson

Yes, everyone’s looking forward to Nov. 12, when the UFC makes its long-awaited return to New York and its debut at Madison Square Garden. But before the promotion hits Midtown Manhattan for UFC 205, it’s in Mexico City for Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 98 event.

In the main event, highly ranked lightweight contenders Rafael dos Anjos and Tony Ferguson face off in a bout that means a lot to the 155-pound division. Just how much it means will become more evident after UFC 205 plays out and we find out if lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez retains that title or if featherweight champ Conor McGregor leaves New York City with two UFC belts over his shoulder.

In UFC Fight Night 98’s co-main event, Diego Sanchez welcomes former Bellator title contender Marcin Held, who was 12 when Sanchez won the first season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” to the UFC.

Here are 10 reasons you should watch UFC Fight Night 98, which takes place at Mexico City Arena in Mexico with an FS1-televised fight card that follows early prelims on UFC Fight Pass.

Rafael dos Anjos

If a fighter is only as good as his last performance, dos Anjos (25-8 MMA, 14-6 UFC) and Ferguson (21-3 MMA, 11-1 UFC) have some ground to make up.

Dos Anjos, in his second attempted defense of the lightweight title, fell to Eddie Alvarez via first-round TKO. As for Ferguson, he struggled early against Lando Vannata, who was making his UFC debut on short notice, before earning a second-round finish.

The expectation here is that dos Anjos, the No. 3 fighter in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA lightweight rankings, and No. 4-ranked Ferguson will be eager to put those performances behind them and set themselves up for a possible shot at the lightweight title in the near future.

Diego Sanchez

At UFC 200, Joe Lauzon became just the second man to stop Sanchez after earning a TKO in just 86 seconds.

“That fight was the hardest fight to take because going into that fight my mind was right, my confidence was up, everything felt better than it’s ever been, so I know I was at my best going into UFC 200,” Sanchez recently told MMAjunkie.

At UFC Fight Night 98, Sanchez (26-9 MMA, 15-9 UFC) welcomes submission ace Held (22-4 MMA, 0-0 UFC) to the UFC.

As with the main event, both these fighters have something to prove – Sanchez that he can still hold his own in the UFC, and Held that he deserves a place in a very crowded and competitive lightweight division.

Ricardo Lamas

When Ricardo Lamas was booked to face B.J. Penn, the thinking was that featherweight fight would allow Lamas to gain some confidence while adding some sizzle to his name. In short, almost everyone expected the No. 6 ranked Lamas to run through Penn, who hadn’t fought since 2014 and hadn’t won since 2010.

With the cancellation of that contest, Lamas (16-5 MMA, 7-3 UFC) picked up a much tougher, but lesser-known opponent in No. 11 ranked Charles Oliveira (21-6 MMA, 9-6 UFC).

Like Lamas, who has losses to Chad Mendes and Max Holloway in two of his past three fights, Oliveira is 1-2 in his last three after losing to Anthony Pettis and Max Holloway.

A loss here won’t be a career killer for either fighter, but it will make the path to the top of the division much more challenging.

Martin Bravo and Claudio Puelles

The final fight of the third season of “The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America” takes place at UFC Fight Night 98 when lightweights Martin Bravo (10-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) and Claudio Puelles (7-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) square off.

Both of these young fighters use strikes to set up takedowns. Puelles has less experience than Bravo, but he’s the more well-rounded fighter and shows good top control, ground striking and submissions. However, he did struggle with the mental aspect of his game during “TUF.”

On the other hand, Bravo exuded confidence during the show. That confidence seemed to make up for his still-developing skills, especially his lack of defensive awareness while standing.

This fight will likely come down to which fighter shored up his weaknesses the most in camp.

Rashid Magomedov

Rashid Magomedov made his UFC debut in 2014, fighting and winning three times that year. Magomedov was progressing nicely, but then he was out of the mix for 11 months. When he returned in November 2015, he defeated Gilbert Burns and again looked poised to make a move, but then he injured his knee.

Magomedov (19-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC), an honorable mention in the lightweight rankings, returns at UFC Fight Night 98, where he faces No. 10-ranked Baneil Dariush (13-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC), who is coming off a knockout win over James Vick.

In a crowded division, Magomedov needs a win here just as much as he needs to stay healthy.

Alexa Grasso

Alexa Grasso, the No. 6-ranked women’s strawweight, makes her UFC debut in her home country of Mexico, meeting Heather Jo Clark.

Grasso’s last four fights came with Invicta FC, where she went unbeaten while earning two “Fight Night” bonus awards before signing with the UFC.

Grasso has extremely crisp striking and her comfort, confidence and demeanor in the cage all belie her lack of experience. If Grasso (8-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) can get past Clark (7-5 MMA, 1-1 UFC), who is coming off a loss to Karolina Kowalkiewicz, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Grasso matched up against a top-ranked opponent in her second UFC outing.

Erik Perez

Not long ago Erik Perez was the only Mexican-born fighter on the UFC roster. That fact and a torrid start to his UFC career had the promotion banking that he would be a breakthrough fighter in the Mexican market. With a record of 3-2 in his past five fights and an expanding number of Mexican-born fighters, Perez’s star has fallen a bit.

That’s not a bad thing. With the spotlight doused, Perez should be under a lot less pressure.

Perez (16-6 MMA, 6-2 UFC) faces Felipe Arantes (18-7-1 MMA, 5-3-1 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 98. Arantes is 2-0 since dropping to bantamweight while winning each of those fights by armbar.

Cody Garbrandt and Henry Briones

Henry Briones impressed in his first two UFC fights, winning a “Fight of the Night” bonus for his UFC 180 victory over Guido Cannetti in Mexico City and then going the distance against Cody Garbrandt in a unanimous-decision loss.

Briones is a tough bantamweight, who, when he throws caution to the wind, can also be very entertaining; as evidence, check out the third round of the Garbrandt fight.

At UFC Fight Night 98, Briones (16-5-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC), meets Douglas de Andrade (23-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC), who is also 1-1 in the UFC and coming off a win over Cody Gibson and had run up a 22-fight unbeaten streak before losing his UFC debut to Zubaira Tukhugov.

Sam Alvey

Sam Alvey rebounded from losses to Derek Brunson and Elias Theodorou with stoppage victories over Eric Spicely and Kevin Casey. At UFC Fight Night 98, Alvey (28-8 MMA, 5-3 UFC) meets Alex Nicholson (7-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) in a middleweight bout.

Nicholson is coming off a first-round knockout win over Devin Clark, but he’s been in the news more for his out-of-cage activities than his fighting as of late, receiving a reprimand from the UFC after he made derogatory comments about Hyun Gyu Lim while cornering Mike Perry.

With the negative publicity, Nicholson might be in desperate need of a win here.

Cain Velasquez and Fabricio Werdum

The last fight the UFC held in Mexico City was UFC 188’s main event between Cain Velasquez and Fabricio Werdum. If you recall, that was the fight where “Cardio Cain” became “Sea-Level Cain.”

Velasquez gave himself two weeks to acclimate to the altitude of Mexico City and it cost him his heavyweight title against Werdum, who spent more than a month training in Mexico.

There are no fights heavier than middleweight on this card, but that doesn’t mean the altitude won’t come into play, and that’s something fans should watch for in Mexico City.

For more on UFC Fight Night 98, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.