Bad news fight fans… Demetrious Johnson’s opportunity to make history has been taken away from him just forty-eight hours away from fight night, as his opponent Ray Borg has withdrawn due to illness.
Borg has had an extensive history of unhealthy weight cuts, which some had raised when he was given a title shot. Top five flyweights Wilson Reis and Henry Cejudo both lock horns on the card, with many expecting one of those to be elevated to the main event, but the promotion confirmed that Johnson was off the card early on Friday morning.
Amanda Nunes’ bantamweight title defence against Valentina Shevchenko has been promoted into the main event position. The pair met just over eighteen months ago with the current champion triumphing on the judge’s scorecards.
They were initially schedule to headline UFC 213 in July before illness struck the UFC’s plans again just hours away from the event at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The pair will finally collide for the crown on Sunday morning (unless we’re really unlucky).
A welterweight showdown between Neil Magny and former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos has quietly climbed up to the co-main event slot, with Magny holding an astounding ten-inch reach advantage over the Brazilian. A win for the American would see him climb into the top five at 170 pounds, whilst his opponent was said to have been the backup to the Woodley-Maia title bout at UFC 214.
Henry Cejudo and Wilson Reis will attempt to put their name in contention for another bout with Demetrious Johnson as they meet in what could be an interesting bout with Reis keen to look for the takedown, whilst Cejudo has a 100% takedown defence rate in the octagon.
A potential fight of the night candidate lies in light heavyweights Ilir Latifi and Tyson Pedro, with Latifi looking to reaffirm his place in the division whilst his unbeaten Australian opponent makes just his seventh professional outing. Pedro has won all six of his professional bouts inside the first round, including two in the octagon over Khalil Rountree and Paul Craig. The prospect will have a six-inch reach advantage over his opponent.
Jeremy Stephens meets Gilbert Melendez in a featherweight main card opener with both looking to move up in a rather busy division. Melendez hasn’t won in nearly four years and has lost his last three bouts, but drops to featherweight for the first time in his career. Stephens will look to snap a two-fight losing streak in his twenty-sixth octagon outing.
Female bantamweights meet in the prelims as Sara McMann takes on unbeaten Brazilian Ketlen Vieira, who will be aiming to make it three wins in just under twelve months in the UFC, and in turn propel herself into the top ten at 135 pounds.
Canada’s own Sarah Moras faces Ashlee Evans-Smith in another bantamweight bout with a top fifteen rank at stake. Another Canadian in unbeaten featherweight Gavin Tucker takes on Rick Glenn, with both men in the earlier stages of their UFC careers.
Lightweights Mitch Clarke and Alex White compete in the first of three Canada vs. America bouts with Clarke looking to improve his 2-4 octagon record. Alex White holds a 2-3 record and the loser may find themselves looking down the barrel of being cut by the promotion.
Heavyweights feature early in the evening with Luis Henrique taking on unbeaten Canadian Arjan Singh Bhullar, who secured freestyle wrestling gold for his nation at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
The card is opened by highly-rated Brazilian lightweight Adriano Martins taking on Kajan Johnson. The Canadian will hope to get the crowd fired up early on utilising his three-inch reach advantage.
Will you be braving the early hours of Sunday morning to watch UFC 215? Let us know!
