One of the great things about having a standout event in the final week of December most years is that the event often serves as an ignition point for many of the key first-half stories for the year to come.

Last year, Conor McGregor closed out the pay-per-view season with a 13-second knockout win over Jose Aldo, cementing his place in the spotlight for another year by becoming the undisputed UFC featherweight champion. A week later, Nathan Diaz took aim at the Irish superstar in an NSFW (or FOX) tirade before Rafael dos Anjos drubbed Donald Cerrone to retain the lightweight title.

Three months later, those three fighters -- McGregor, RDA and Diaz -- would be the key players in a situation that came to dominate the remainder of the year.

Friday night in Las Vegas, the final event of 2016 hits the Octagon, and as you would expect from a star-studded and highly anticipated affair, there are plenty of key storylines to track as the combatants get ready to step into the cage and the UFC heads toward 2017.


Photo credit: FloCombat

A Return or One Last Hurrah?

UFC 207 is being promoted with the tagline "She's Back!" -- the she being Ronda Rousey, the former women's bantamweight champion who has largely been off the radar and incommunicado since losing the belt to Holly Holm last year at UFC 193.

While there are a ton of questions swirling around Rousey as this bout inches closer -- and we'll get to one of them in a minute -- the biggest picture talking point is whether Friday's showdown with Amanda Nunes is the start of a string of fights or a swan song for the scowling challenger who has said she's going to walk away fairly soon.

Are we talking Saturday morning soon or "Let me get a couple more PPV checks in the bank and then I'll call it a day" soon?

Some might say the answer to that question is secondary, but I would argue it's of primary importance because Rousey's mindset in regard to how much of a fighting career she has left could very well factor into how she performs on Friday night. It's a question that I'm sure dozens of intrepid members of the MMA media would be dying to ask this week, except…


Aug 1, 2015; Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil; Ronda Rousey (red gloves) celebrates after defeating Bethe Correia (blue gloves) during UFC 190 at HSBC Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jason Silva-USA TODAY Sports

Ronda's Radio Silence

Now, let's make one thing clear up front: Nunes isn't doing media this week either, which is something that has been conspicuously absent from all the "No Media for Rousey" headlines since the UFC 207 press schedule came out.

That being said, Nunes has been speaking to the media before this week and is part of the Embedded series, so she's not getting the complete pass the former champion is heading into her comeback fight.

While I don't think Rousey or anyone should be forced to speak to the media at any point, I do think the fact that she and her team have hand-picked a couple appearances and interviews this year raises a ton of red flags about where her head is at heading into this fight, because I'm not buying the "I'm mad at the media who turned their back on me" line.

And if Rousey actually is refusing to speak with MMA media because they wrote critically of her performance in Australia and did their jobs, that too raises some questions for me.

I get it from Team Rousey's perspective -- don't force her to deal with media that are going to ask her tough questions, get her pissed off and worked up before the fight because the fight is all that matters -- but again, at this level, if you can't deal with any kind of scrutiny before an event that has been constructed around you, it makes me question whether or not Rousey has been able to reassemble the pieces of her shattered psyche in the year since we last saw her compete?


May 29, 2016; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Cody Garbrandt (blue gloves) punches Thomas Almeida (red gloves) during UFC Fight Night at Mandalay Bay Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Joshua Dahl-USA TODAY Sports

Too Soon for Garbrandt?

From a performance standpoint, there is no denying that Cody Garbrandt is a stud and his back-to-back first-round finishes of Thomas Almeida and Takeya Mizugaki were electric. But on the eve of his showdown with Dominick Cruz for the bantamweight title, you have to wonder if the latest fighter from Team Alpha Male to share the cage with the San Diego native has been hustled into this position a little too quickly.

Cruz is as savvy as they come in every facet -- he's smooth and cerebral on the microphone and off-tempo and unpredictable as can be in the cage, making him a nightmare to deal with on any front. He was game to face Garbrandt, because he liked that the unbeaten challenger brought a lot of emotion to the table. It will be interesting to see if that turns out to be the 25-year-old's undoing.

Make no mistake about it: "No Love" can win this fight -- his power is for real and he'll be slinging hands early and often. But in the days leading up to this fight and the opening moments of the tussle, it will be how well he's able to keep all those emotions in check that will play a major role in dictating whether he's able to dethrone Cruz or not.

Just 10 fights into his career, Garbrandt is stepping in with a seasoned champion who has beaten back three former Alpha Male opponents a combined five times. It will be interesting to see if the talented upstart from Urichsville, Ohio, is simply destined to sit on the bantamweight throne or if he's reaching this point a little too early.


Photo Credit: © Kyle Terada/USA TODAY

Next Man Up

Just before Cruz and Garbrandt battle for the bantamweight title, former champ T.J. Dillashaw and Brazilian wrecking ball John Lineker will trade blows in a battle that will likely determine who is next in line to challenge for the belt in the 135-pound ranks.

Regardless of championship implications, this is a terrific fight -- a clash of styles between the hard-hitting Lineker who throws nothing but smoke and the staccato striking and swift pace of the "Bang" Ludwig protégé Dillashaw. That being said, this fight will have an impact on the title picture and that makes things even more interesting, starting Thursday AM.

Lineker missed weight for his fight with John Dodson in Portland -- a dubious sign given that he moved up to the bantamweight division after repeatedly failing to hit the target at flyweight -- and needs to come in at 136 or under to avoid muddying things up here like he did in his previous division by missing weight and beating Ian McCall.

For Dillashaw, this is the next hurdle standing between him and a rematch with Cruz, which is the fight he wants most and has been chasing since their close encounter in Boston at the start of the year. He specifically asked for Lineker if he wasn't going to get Cruz, and while you have to applaud his moxie, there are real "better watch what you ask for" dangers here.


Photo Credit: © Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

From Champion to Chump?

"Chump" might be a bit harsh, but hot damn has Johny Hendricks taken a sudden and drastic fall off a cliff since losing the welterweight title to Robbie Lawler at the final PPV of 2014.

After rebounding from that loss with a "grind 'em out" victory over Matt Brown, Hendricks has:

Blown weight for a scheduled fight with Tyron Woodley at UFC 192.

Gotten knocked out in the first-round by Stephen Thompson in a fight where he looked complete unprepared to deal with what "Wonderboy" brought to the table.

Lost a lethargic decision to Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 200 after missing weight by a quarter of a pound.

Two years ago, he was one of the best welterweights on the planet; now he's a risk to miss weight every time he competes. Even if he does hit the mark, there is no way to accurately forecast what kind of effort you're going to get from Hendricks inside the cage, which makes his bout with Neil Magny on Friday all kinds of interesting.

By E. Spencer Kyte