It's been a long time since two MMA promotions allowed their fighters to cross over and face each other, but that's exactly what was announced earlier this week, as Bellator bantamweight champion Darrion Caldwell will take on Rizin tournament champion Kyoji Horiguchi on New Year's Eve in Japan.
Could this become the new norm? We asked our group of MMA experts -- Brett Okamoto, Ariel Helwani, Phil Murphy, Chamatkar Sandhu, Jeff Wagenheim, Eric Tamiso and Max Bretos -- for their takes on what dream matchups they would like to see.
Okamoto: Michael Chandler (Bellator) vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov (UFC)
No shortage of answers on this one. Man. There are so many different ways you can take this, but ultimately I think the answer is almost not up for debate. It has to include Bellator MMA lightweight Chandler.
Chandler is one of the faces of Bellator for good reason. He is a homegrown talent, and solidified himself as one of the best 155-pounders in the world years ago. It's no secret that the UFC's lightweight division is stacked. It's arguably the deepest division in the sport. Most of the marquee matchups at lightweight, for someone of Chandler's caliber, are in the UFC.
If I get one night of fantasy cross-promotion? Give me Chandler vs. the UFC's undefeated champ, Nurmagomedov.
Helwani: Ilima-Lei Macfarlane (Bellator) vs. the winner of Valentina Shevchenko vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk (UFC)
I could easily go with Daniel Cormier vs. Ryan Bader or Tyron Woodley vs. Rory MacDonald, but I don't want to choose a current UFC fighter versus a former one.
So with that in mind, I'll go with Bellator women's flyweight champion Ilima-Lei Macfarlane against the winner of Shevchenko vs. Jedrzejczyk. Macfarlane has emerged as one of the best female fighters in the world, is proud to be a Bellator fighter and, I believe, feels as though she's the best flyweight out there. Also, they're fighting a week apart, so the timing works out. I'd love to see it.
Murphy: TJ Dillashaw (UFC) vs. Demetrious Johnson (ONE)
It might be a cop-out to include Johnson in this fantasy cross-promotional matchmaking, but I'm not above it. Mighty Mouse was arguably the world's best pound-for-pound mixed martial artist before his UFC departure. Now, he's the best fighter outside the UFC by a wide margin.
Calling for a Henry Cejudo trilogy was tempting. But a much bigger part of me wants the "one that got away." When DJ reigned as UFC flyweight king, a superfight against UFC bantamweight champ Dillashaw seemed inevitable.
"TJ vs. DJ" is a stylistic dream that even rolls off the tongue. It remained among the best fights to make while Johnson was employed by WME. Bringing him back to the Octagon to finally challenge Dillashaw adds wrinkles that completely amplify the storyline.
Full story here:
Our dream cross-promotional MMA fights