2019 will really provide a huge reshuffle of the upper tier in the Middleweight division. The UFC are reportedly landing a massive rematch between Yoel Romero and Ronaldo ‘Jacaré’ Souza on the UFC Fight Night Florida card.
The former three time title chaser, Romero was widely expected to meet another Brazilian in the main event slot, with Paulo Costa replaced by compatriot Souza late last night. The pair originally clashed back in 2015 at UFC 194, with Romero picking up a narrow decision victory after scoring an all important and ultimately tied turning spinning-back fist knockdown on the grappling ace.
Long regarded as one of the most imposing athletes in the promotion, freestyle wrestler Yoel ‘Solider Of God’ Romero brings more to the Octagon than just his incredible grappling ability. The Olympian has incredible power in both hands and hold two flying knee stoppage wins in his UFC career.
Losing both title clashes with current champion Robert Whittaker, the rematch in quite questionable circumstances it has to be noted. Yoel was successful in the Interim Middleweight title clash with former division front runner Luke Rockhold, but his vicious third round knockout was marred by a botched weight cut, subsequently leaving him title-less in Perth.
Questions have been asked regarding the Cuban’s conditioning in the past, case in point his contentious win over Tim Kennedy. Romero’s grappling and transitioning is high level of course, look back to his set ups against Chris Weidman and eventual trip and elbow finish of Lyoto Machida.
A 6th degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, similarly to Yoel, Souza excels in one specific martial art but brings so much more to the Octagon.
Another heavy handed striker with a knack for a knockout, Jacaré has 22 stoppage wins in his storied career. A more traversed mixed-martial artist than Romero, Souza began his professional career all the way back in 2003 and has featured in promotions such as DREAM, Jungle Fight and Strikeforce where he held the Middleweight strap.
Yet to ‘earn’ his premier UFC title tilt even after a recent stoppage win over Chris Weidman, the alligator found himself on the wrong end of a rather dubious split decision to Kelvin Gastelum which may have resulted in his installment into the Interim Middleweight clash between Israel Adesanya and Gastelum at UFC 236. The 39 year old doesn’t differentiate between joint or choke submissions per say, with arm triangles, armbars and kimuras aplenty on his eye catching résumé.
Taking place on April 27th from the BB&T Centre, UFC Fight Night Florida features clashes like Glover Teixeira’s return versus streaking contender Ion Cutelaba, a Bantamweight meeting of perennial contender John Lineker and upstart Cody Sandhagen, while the highly controversial former Dallas Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy makes his second Octagon walk after a disqualification against Allen Crowder.
UFC is back this weekend after the eventful 235 event and heavyweights will take center stage. Derrick Lewis is set to face Junior dos Santos in Wichita, Kansas, but the co-main event is something to look out for – welterweights Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos and Curtis Millender haven’t suffered a loss since 2015 and with both fighters riding 5+ win streaks, this is a fight you do not want to miss.
Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos or ‘Capoeira’ as he’s known in Brazil, is riding a 6-fight win streak with the UFC. Capoeria hasn’t lost since his promotional debut, a split decision that didn’t go his way. Since then he has stopped Omari Akhmedov, Sean Strickland and most recently Luigi Vendramini in September. Capoeira had been buried on the prelims (save for one preliminary headliner) but now he will serve as the co-main event, and much deserved so.
Curtis Millender was making waves in LFA, ending back-to-back fights with highlight reel head kicks that finally landed him in the UFC. The former Bellator vet is riding an 8-fight win streak and is 3-0 since joining the promotion, debuting with a knockout of Thiago Alves and taking decision victories over Max Griffin and most recently Siyar Bahadurzada in December.
These are two fighters who are capable of highlight reel finishes, riding very impressive win streaks and looking to climb higher in the rankings. Capoeira will get his chance to show he deserves to be on a main card and Millender will continue to get a push from the UFC. I’m curious to see if this fight goes to the ground, which I believe dos Santos will have the advantage; Millender does hold a 5″ reach advantage and with slightly similar styles, a first round finish for either fighter isn’t out of the question. Book this for fight of the night.
UFC Fight Night: Lewis Vs. dos Santos streams live on ESPN+ with the main card starting at 8:00PM ET/5:00PM PT.
The Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship received a further bump in it’s already surging popularity when two former UFC fighters, Jason Knight and Artem Lobov, engaged in a recent twitter spat and through dialogue alone, sealed the deal for a Bare Knuckle fight in early April. I caught up with ‘The Kid’ to talk about the upcoming battle with Lobov along with a number of other exciting things coming up in his sights.
A lot has happened recently in women’s MMA: new champions have been crowned, former champions have gotten back into the win column and new stars have risen to stake their claim for a shot at UFC gold.
UFC 235 has been the most talked about card so far this year. We have the return of Jon ‘Bones’ Jones, who’s looking at his quickest turnaround since 2011, taking on journeyman Anthony ‘Lionheart’ Smith. Tyron ‘The Chosen One’ Woodley will defend his welterweight title against Kamaru ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ Usman after negotiations with interim champ Colby Covington never materialized, and ‘Ruthless’ Robbie Lawler returns to the cage against the newly signed ‘Funky’Ben Askren. That’s just a few of the fights featured on the main card; I’m taking a look at my fights to look out for and predicting the winners, here we go.
Kicking off the ESPN prelims, Mickey Gall gets his wish and takes on Diego Sanchez. A UFC vet since 2005, Sanchez has settled in at welterweight after bouncing around between lightweight and featherweight. Sanchez is coming off a win against Craig White where he dominated for three rounds andis only 5-7 in his last 12, but every time you think he’s done, he’ll surprise you with an impressive win; he’s looking to do the same against the prospect Gall.Gall is also coming off a win, against George Sullivan in August, bouncing back from his first professional loss. All of Gall’s wins have come by way of rear-naked choke. I spoke with Mickey Gall when I was covering PFL 7, you can check it out below. My pick: Mickey Gall via submission
Later on the prelims is a marquee light heavyweight matchup. Misha Cirkunov, who was once on an 8-fight win streak, is fighting an exciting newcomer to the division in Johnny Walker. Walker asked to step in on short-notice once Ovince Saint-Preux had to bow out due to injury, and got his wish. Walker is on an 8-fight win streak at the moment, scoring a UFC contract on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series Brazil and following that up with wins against Khalil Rountree, Jr. and Justin Ledet. Walker has been quite the personality since joining the promotion, and this one month turnaround is coming off a 15-second knockout win and another performance bonus. Cirkunov was looking to make it nine in a row and put his name in title contention, but Volkan Oezdemir had other plans and finished the Russian in just 28 seconds at UFC Fight Night 109. Cirkunov then suffered another loss to former title challenger Glover Teixeira before getting back in the win column against Patrick Cummins this past October. My pick: Cirkunov wins this fight on the ground and gets the submission
Headlining the ESPN prelims is an exciting featherweight bout between veteran Jeremy Stephens and one of, if not the best prospect in the division, Zabit Magomedsharipov. After riding an impressive 3-fight win streak, Stephens fell to José Aldo this past summer, a loss that stuck with him for while – something he spoke about this week on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show. Zabit came into the UFC on an 8-fight win streak and collected four more wins (three by submission) against Mike Santiago, Sheymon Moraes, a fight of the night with Kyle Bochniak and most recently locking up a rare modified kneebar against Brandon Davis at UFC 228. This will be Zabit’s toughest fight to date, but his awkward fighting style and well-rounded game will be the difference. My pick: Zabit
Kicking off the main card is the return of Cody ‘No Love’ Garbrandt, who is fighting in his first non-title bout since August 2016. Garbrandt will take on Pedro Munhoz, who is 6-1 in his last seven; with that sole loss being a split decision against John Dodson, a fight many thought should have went the other way. Munhoz is coming off a TKO win against Bryan Caraway at the Ultimate Fighter 28 finale in November and looks to continue making his way to the top, which a win against the former champ will do. Garbrandt is coming off his second straight loss to T.J. Dillashaw; in both fights Garbrandt did have his moments, but seemed to rush the fight and fought more with emotion than with his head. After some time off, we’ll see if he’ll be able to put those fights behind him and get back to a title shot. My pick: This could very well be fight of the night, and if that’s the case, I’m going with Cody Garbrandt
‘Ruthless’ Robbie Lawler will also be making his return to the octagon after injuries have sidelined him since December 2017. In his post-title run, he defeated Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone and then lost to Rafael dos Anjos on that December card. Lawler is tasked with welcoming the funky one, Ben Askren, to the UFC. Askren has been talked about by fans for a while, wondering when he’d make the jump to the big show; unfortunately UFC president Dana White wasn’t a fan and had compared Askren’s fights to ‘taking ambien’. Askren to the UFC looked like it would never happen, until the first trade in MMA history was announced in November, shipping flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson to ONE FC for Askren. Askren will now get to test his undefeated record against the best welterweights in the world. My pick: Askren gets it done in his debut
In the co-main event, Tyron Woodley will defend his welterweight title against Kamaru Usman, not the interim champ Colby Covington. It looks like Covington couldn’t make the March date so the UFC moved on. Now that opportunity comes to Usman, who hasn’t lost since 2013 and is riding a 13-fight win streak that includes victories over former title challenger Demian Maia and former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos. Woodley has defended his belt four times (one draw), most recently submitting Darren Till at UFC 228. These two fighters match up pretty similarly, both coming from a wrestling base but the edge in striking and power leaning towards Woodley. My pick: This fight could go all 5 rounds, either way I have Woodley winning a strategic battle and retaining his belt
Jon Jones will make a two month turnaround after coming back and claiming his title at UFC 232 in December. Jones said he wants to fight at least three times this year and is welcome to face anyone who wants to step up. First on that list is Anthony Smith. Smith is a 44-fight veteran of the sport, fighting for promotions like Strikeforce, Bellator, CFFC and RFA before landing back with the UFC in 2016. In his second stint with the promotion, Smith has gone 7-2 with six finishes and is currently riding a 3-fight win streak which includes knockouts over two former champions and most recently a submission win over contender Volkan Oezdemir which earned him his title shot. Smith’s experience is the only advantage he holds over the champion, as this will be the biggest test of his long career. Smith has a puncher’s chance, but there’s a reason Jon Jones is considered the G.O.A.T. in MMA. My pick: Jon Jones via 2nd round submission
The Czech Republic hosts its first UFC event to witness a spectacular Light-Heavyweight bout between #6 ranked Thiago Santos, hailing from Brazil, coming from middleweight, and hoping to climb higher within the division against the pride of Poland, #4 ranked Jan Blahowicz.
The co-main is a heavyweight co-main event against the Skyscraper Stefan Struve and Brazilian powerhouse Marcos Rogerio de Lima.
The Main Card starts at 2:00pm EST on ESPN+. Prelim card will be live on ESPN 2 at 11:00am EST.
Live tweets and play-by-play will be by @thedantyman on the MMA_Motion twitter account.
Main Card(ESPN+ at 2:00pmEST):
Thiago Santos def. Jan Blachowicz via Third Round TKO
Stefan Struve def. Marcos Rogerio de Lima via Second Round Submission (Arm Triangle)
Michal Oleksiejczuk def. Gian Villante via First Round KO
Liz Carmouche def. Lucie Pudilova via Unanimous Decision (30-27 , 29-28 x2)
Petr Yan def. John Dodson via Unanimous Decision (30-27 x3 )
Magomed Ankalaev def. Klidson Abreu via Unanimous Decision (30-27 x2, 29-28)
Prelim Card(ESPN 2 at 11:00amEST:
Dwight Grant def. Carlo Pedersoli Jr. via First Round TKO
Chris Fishgold def. Daniel Teymur via Second Round submission(RNC)
Gillian Robertson def. Veronica Macedo via Second Round Submission (RNC)
Damir Hadzovic def. Marco Polo Reyes by Second Round TKO
Ismail Naurdiev def. Michel Prazeres via Unanimous Decision (30-27 x2, 30-26)
Diego Ferreira def. Rustam Khabilov via Unanimous Decision (30-27 x2, 29-28)
Damir Ismagulov def. Joel Alvarez via Unanimous Decision (30-27 x3)
UFC on ESPN+ 3 will visit the Czech Republic for the first time in the promotion’s history, and it will be headlined by top heavyweights Jan Blachowicz and Thiago Santos. Also on the main card is an exciting bantamweight matchup between John ‘The Magician’ Dodson and Petr ‘No Mercy’ Yan. Dodson is looking to find his footing the division since moving up from flyweight and Yan has been making noise since his debut last summer.
After winning the Ultimate Fighter 14 against current bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw in 2011, Dodson moved to flyweight and went 5-2 in the division, with those two losses coming in title fights against champion at the time, Demetrious Johnson. After the second loss, Dodson moved back up to bantamweight and has alternated wins and losses since. Those wins came against Manny Gamburyan, Eddie Wineland and Pedro Munhoz; while the losses have been against contenders John Lineker, Marlon Moraes and most recently Jimmie Rivera.
Petr Yan came over from ACB after winning the bantamweight championship while avenging the only loss of his career. At 11-1, Yan has won three straight since debuting with the UFC, besting Teruto Ishihara, Jin Soo Son and Douglas Silva de Andrade.
Yan will have the height and a slight reach advantage, but it’s hard to match the speed of Dodson. This will be the biggest test of Yan’s career, but something he’s welcoming, as he wanted John Lineker after his latest win. Yan signed a new contract with the UFC in the beginning of the year and this will be his fourth fight in just eight months. Dodson is just trying to get some consistency going, as a loss here will land him on the first losing streak of his career.
UFC Fight Night: Blachowicz Vs. Santos streams live on ESPN+ with the main card starting at 2:00PM ET/11:00AM PT.
This weekend, Uncasville is the place to be to catch a double-hitter Bellator event. Tonight comes Bellator 215, kicking things off with a Main Event Heavyweight bout between Former Heavyweight Grand Prix contestant Matt Mitrione against Sergei Kharitonov. In the co-main, undefeated welterweight Logan Storley hopes to continue his streak against Romania’s Ion Pascu.
Main card starts at 9:00pmEST/6:00pmPST On Paramount Network and DAZN.
Prelims are DAZN exclusive and start at 6:30pmEST/3:30PST.
Main article written by @MrDantyMan.
MAIN CARD
Matt Mitrione vs. Sergei Kharitonov ended in a No Contest via groin kick early in round 1
Logan Storley def. Ion Pascu via Unanimous Decision
Eduardo Dantas def. Toby Misech via Unanimous Decision
John Douma def. Mike Kimbel via Submission (Triangle Choke) in round 1
Austin Vanderford def. Cody Jones via Submission (Arm-Triangle) in round 1
PRELIM CARD
Billy Goff def. Ryan Hardy via Unanimous Decision
Zarrukh Adashev def. Ronie Arana via Unanimous Decision
Matt Probin def. Ali Zebian via Split Decision
Pete Rogers def. Jason Rine via TKO (punches) in round 2
Steve Mowry def. Darion Abbey via Submission (Kimura) in round 1
Amanda Bell def. Amber Leibrock via KO (punches) in round 1
Lindsey VanZandt def. Tabatha Watkins via TKO (right hook) in round 2
Pat McCrohan def. Jason Markland via TKO (punches) in round 1
The legendary Gracie lineage makes it’s return to the Ultimate Fighting Championship this weekend, as clan member Kron Gracie makes his fifth professional walk against promotion Featherweight gate keeper Alex ‘Bruce Leeroy’ Caceres on the main card of UFC on ESPN 1.
Kron, the youngest son of the legendary Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu pioneer Rickson Gracie, arrives with big expectations following two submission victories in Japan over UFC alumni Tatsuya Kawajiri and fellow submission specialist Hideo Tokoro bringing a four fight undefeated record with him. The ADCC gold medalist faces a stern yet winnable first test in the Octagon by way of 26 fight veteran Alex Caceres.
Caceres, the Florida native holds a notable victory over recent Flyweight title charger Sergio Pettis but has become unstuck against the likes of Yair Rodríguez and Urijah Faber with ‘El Pantera’ spring-boarding into main event contention with his win over the 30 year old.
Holding the obvious striking advantage over Gracie, Caceres will have his work cut out if Kron lands the all important takedown or decides to pull guard, similarly to another submission grappler Dillion Danis who recently made his mixed-martial arts bow in Bellator, proving successful as he secured a first round toehold finish.
Saturday’s clash with Caceres will be Kron’s first walk in just over two years. Some expect a hesitant start from the Brazilian, but his Judo black belt and grappling expertise should be more than enough for him find a probable finish over ‘Bruce Leeroy’. The 30 year-old has submitted the likes of Gary Tonon, UFC Lightweight contender Beneil Dariush, Otávio Souza and ONE FC mainstay Shinya Aoki during his illustrious submission grappling.
Kron isn’t necessarily biased toward choke or joint finishes with countless variations in his search for the tap on display throughout his five year stint in submission grappling. Expect Kron to finish within the opening round. Official pick: Kron Gracie via submission.
UFC is finally making its main card debut on ESPN this weekend, and on paper, it shouldn’t disappoint. The main card features the return of one of the greatest heavyweights in the sport, facing a former title challenger looking to get back to the top. In the co-main event; after being booked to fight this summer and then having it fall apart, a lightweight bout between James Vick and Paul Felder was rescheduled to the delight of many fans. Kron Gracie will also be making his UFC debut against ‘Bruce Leroy‘ Alex Caceres. The prelims also offer a lot of great style matchups, and that’s what I’ll be taking a look at.
On the ESPN prelims, AshleeEvans-Smith, who was originally scheduled to face Lauren Murphy, now faces former LFA flyweight champion Andrea ‘KGB’ Lee. Lee is looking for her sixth straight win and second with the UFC after being successful in her debut back in May. Evans-Smith is looking for her second in a row after besting Bec Rawlings in April. These two match up very similar, with Evans-Smith usually having the advantage with her wrestling background, but doesn’t seem to rely on it often. My pick: Andrea Lee gets the nod after three rounds
Headlining the prelims on ESPN are bantamweight contenders Jimmie Rivera and Aljamain Sterling. Rivera is coming off a win over John Dodson, which helped with the sting of his first defeat since 2008 by Marlon Moraes last June. Rivera came into the UFC on a 15-fight win streak and continued with five more straight against Marcus Brimage, Pedro Munhoz, Iuri Alcântara, Urijah Faber and Thomas Almeida. Sterling also suffered a defeat to Moraes, but since then has won two straight against Brett Johns and Cody Stamann. This could very well be a precursor to a title fight – if T.J. Dillashaw fights Moraes next, whoever wins this could be next in line. My pick: Jimmie Rivera by unanimous decision
Kicking off the main card will be featherweights Andre Fili and Myles Jury. Fili is coming off the wrong end of a split decision loss to Michael Johnson, but before that had reeled off two straight against Artem Lobov and Dennis Bermudez. Jury had taken two years off and when he came back had won two straight as well, against Mike De La Torre and Rick Glenn. Back in July, Jury welcomed Chad Mendes back from his suspension and lost the fight via first round TKO. My pick: I love this matchmaking, but I think the more well-rounded fighter will get it done, Myles Jury
In what will be the UFC‘s 5000th fight (if nothing changes), Kron Gracie, the son of Rickson Gracie and the grandson of Hélio Gracie, will be making his UFC debut. Gracie will come in with a 4-0 record (all submissions), but hasn’t fought since December of 2016. ‘Bruce Leroy’ Alex Cacares will have the task of dealing with the submission specialist. Caceres is coming off a win against Martín Bravo, but is only 4-6 in his last 10. My pick: This is a classic striker-versus-grappler, Gracie by (no surprise) submission
Kron Gracie vs. Alex Caceres – Martial artists for the modern age #UFCPhoenix
The third and final strawweight bout of the night is Cortney ‘Cast Iron’ Casey versus Cynthia Cavillo. Casey has been on the wrong end in two of her last three fights, all split decisions; losing to Felice Herrig and Michelle Waterson, but picking up the win against Angela Hill in August. Cavillo was on a roll coming into the UFC, winning her first three (two by submission) against Amanda Cooper, Pearl Gonzalez and Joanne Calderwood. Calvillo then lost to former champion Carla Esparza at UFC 219 along with being suspended for marijuana metabolites, but returned in November with another submission win against Poliana Botelho. Casey has the height and reach advantage, but Calvillo will most likely want to take this fight to the mat where she has excelled. My pick: Calvillo
In the co-main event, a fight that was supposed to happen in the summer is finally set to take place. James ‘The Texecutioner’ Vick faces Paul ‘The Irish Dragon’ Felder. Vick has been on a tear during his UFC run, going 8-1 from 2013 to 2017. Vick kicked off last year with a win over Francisco Trinaldo before getting the main event slot at UFC Fight Night 135 in Lincoln, Nebraska against former WSOF lightweight champion Justin Gaethje. After all the back-and-forth, bad blood and dust had settled, Gaethje had knocked Vick out in under two minutes. Standing in his way of trying to put that loss behind him is Paul Felder. Felder had won three straight and was set to face Vick at UFC Fight Night 133, but Vick was pulled in favor of said matchup against Gaethje. Felder then stepped in on short notice and moved up to welterweight to fight Mike Perry at UFC 226 – a decision loss, but Felder suffered a broken arm early on in the fight. Both fighters have something to prove, and a win could help them move up that crowded lightweight ladder. My pick: Felder via TKO
In the first main event on ESPN, Cain Velasquez makes his much anticipated return to the cage against Francis Ngannou. Ngannou had taken the heavyweight division by storm, winning six straight with highlight reel knockouts along the way and earning himself a title shot against then-champion Stipe Miocic. Miocic exposed the flaws in Ngannou’s game and that carried over in his next fight against Derrick Lewis. In a rematch against Curtis Blaydes at UFC Fight Night 141, Ngannou surprised a lot of his critics with a first round TKO of the National Champion wrestler. It’s been almost four years since Cain Velasquez has fought; a TKO win against Travis Browne at the historic UFC 200. Velasquez is still hailed by many as the greatest heavyweight of all time even though has a hard time staying active, but one of the advantages he has by training at American Top Team are his training partners – two of which are current champions and one being a former champion. All that being said, even with his knockout power, I can’t see Ngannou shoring up his lack of a ground game against the best wrestler in the heavyweight division. My pick: Cain Velasquez is victorious in his octagon return
MMAMotion 