UFC On FOX: Winds Of Change Swirl As The Windy City Awaits

MMA Nation ran an article this week penned by Nate Wilcox that asked the question:

Has UFC Hit An Inflection Point?

In the story, Nate provides us with a layman's definition of the term "inflection point"

For those of you who didn't take calculus, an "inflection point" is the point on a curve where it changes direction. For a fight promotion like the UFC an inflection point is a critical point in time that determines whether the next phase of the business will be one of growth, stagnation or decline.

The article goes on to detail some key recent happenings that indicate that the UFC is facing one of these points. It's a good read for those who are interested in the business side of the sport.

The application of inflection points isn't limited to discussions relating to the business side of MMA. The concept can be readily applied to individual UFC fighters as well, who fight so rarely that most matches have to be considered critical in determining their future. A win at the right time and you become a main card fixture, while a loss at the wrong time and you may fall far down the rankings.

Dan Hardy and George Sotiropolous are perfect examples of this. Hardy's victory over Mike Swick at UFC 105 was clearly an inflection point in his career. Hardy was given a title shot for his next fight and, despite losing it and his following two matches, was given a headlining spot at a UFC Live event last year. He won a single important fight and saw his career grow exponentially, despite being unable to win a fight since then. Sotiropolous entered his fight with Dennis Siver at UFC 127 undefeated in the UFC, his 7-0 record drawing much attention to him as the next title contender. He dropped a unanimous decision to Siver and found himself fighting Rafael Dos Anjos on the undercard his next time out. G-Sot was caught by a Dos Anjos hook just a minute into the fight and now he is fighting Takanori Gomi in what looks very much like a loser leaves town match.

The UFC on FOX main card features half a dozen men and, as we'll see after the jump, each one of them are facing a career definining moment:

Rashad Evans: "Suga" has been treading water as the number one contender to the Light Heavyweight crown for nearly two years. A win over Phil Davis earns him a spot in one of the two biggest fights of the year, a championship match with his former friend and training partner Jon Jones. A loss and Evans will likely never fight for the title again, nor will he get the chance to face his biggest rival.

Phil Davis: Undefeated in the UFC with a 5-0 record, Davis is someone we think of as still fairly new to the sport. As such, a loss here in his first major test wouldn't be devastating but it would set him back a few years. If we've learned anything from Rashad, it's that your salad days can go by a lot faster than you think and at 27 years old, Davis would be approaching 30 by the time he worked his way back into the title picture, if he ever did. A win, on the other hand, and Davis would find himself fighting for the title before the end of the year.

Chael Sonnen: Much like Rashad, Sonnen has been in a bit of limbo for the past few years. He burst onto the scene with his pro wrestling style promotion of his title fight with Anderson Silva. He was submitted by Silva at UFC 117 but he was the toughest opponent Silva has ever faced in the UFC. He has been clamoring for a re-match ever since, watching Anderson dispatch Vitor Belfort and Yushin Okami with ease while he waits on the sidelines. Should Chael defeat Michael Bisping, UFC president Dana White has promised that he will match Sonnen and Silva together again, in the other candidate for biggest fight of the year. If he were to fall to Bisping all this talk of him re-matching Silva would be gone and Sonnen would return to his former role as a middling middleweight, his days in the spotlight gone for good.

Michael Bisping: Is Michael Bisping a great fighter or has he simply benefited from being British and facing weak competition his entire career? That is a pretty black and white way of looking at the multi-colored world of MMA but unfortunately for Bisping his career will almost surely be defined that way based on this fight with Sonnen. The accomplishment of being the man to shut the mighty mouth of Chael Sonnen would ensure his legacy will be a positive one, while a loss here and he'll be recalled as "that over-rated twit the UFC desperately tried to build into a contender because of his nationality."

Demian Maia: Another man who had a shot at Anderson Silva and came up short, Maia has quitely worked on his stand up skills and has put together a 3-1 record since losing to the champion. His loss during the stretch was to rising contender Mark Munoz, and Maia found himself on the pre-lims after that. Were he to drop a second straight match to an up and comer it would signal the end of the Brazilian's time as a top 5 middleweight, while a win would likely punch his ticket to a number one contender's match, potentially against Vitor Belfort or Rousimar Palhares.

Chris Weidman: Weidman has perhaps the least on the line of all the fighters on the FOX show. He is very green, having only taken up the sport in 2009, and he is taking this fight on very short notice. It's pretty unlikely that his career will go into the tank if he loses. If he wins though, he'll have just beaten a top five fighter, on national television, on short notice. This is the type of opportunity that only comes around once, maybe twice, in a career. He's young enough to one day get that second chance but if he has serious championship aspirations, this is his opportunity to start a run.

Three men will win and three men will lose on Saturday night. How it all plays out is anyone's guess. One thing is for certain though and that is, win or lose, none of their careers will ever be the same.