The UFC’s marquee event is back around for their July fight card in the fight capital of the world, Las Vegas.
The plague has continued to strike this particular fight week, with Max Holloway forced out of his featherweight title defence against unbeaten prospect Brian Ortega.
Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier are set to do battle in a colossal main event, with Cormier hoping to become only the second man to hold UFC belts in two weight divisions simultaneously, following in the footsteps of Conor McGregor.
Miocic will hope to further cement his status as the greatest heavyweight of all time and began to build his own legacy as one of the best to do it in the sport.
A heavyweight battle between Francis N’Gannou and Derrick Lewis looks set to replace the featherweight title bout as the co-main event, with fans clamouring for this match up since the card was announced.
Francis N’Gannou is considered as one of the scariest men to enter the octagon, having decimated his first six opponents since joining the UFC. His knockout of Alistair Overeem in December 2017 is one that you’re likely to see for years to come.
After walking through the best of the contenders, with wins over Curtis Blaydes, Andrei Arlovski and the aforementioned Alistair Overeem… N’Gannou got his shot at the heavyweight champion, Stipe Miocic.
Despite looking like a threat, and that he could end the fight at any time, N’Gannou was outclassed by Miocic in a tactical masterclass by the American. It was a case of too much, too soon for the prospect. Can he get back to winning ways?
In his way lies “The Black Beast” Derrick Lewis. To say that Lewis has knockout power would be an understatement, with nine of his ten UFC wins coming by way of KO/TKO. In his twenty-four bouts he’s only been to the distance on three occasions, once in the UFC.
Lewis and N’Gannou make for an incredible match up, and one of the best the UFC could make in the heavyweight division right now. It will be interesting to see what lies ahead for the winner.
Lightweights Anthony Pettis and Michael Chiesa clash with both men looking to move towards the upper echelons of the 155lbs division, which is awaiting the next move of its current champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Kickboxing legend Gokhan Saki makes his second octagon appearance against TUF 23 Finalist Khalil Rountree.
Saki held an impressive 83-12 kickboxing record before signing with the UFC. His debut went to plan, with a devastating knockout of Henrique da Silva, earning the Dutch-Turkish striker a $50,000 performance of the night bonus.
Another hotly anticipated match up sees Paul Felder take on Mike Perry in a mouth-watering welterweight affair. The fight was set to take place on the prelim portion, but has been moved to the pay-per-view card following Holloway’s withdrawl.
The card is stacked… but one man you don’t want to miss is Paulo Costa. The middleweight prospect is currently 11-0, with all of those eleven victories coming in the opening two rounds.
Uriah Hall represents the perfect step up, having faced some of the best middleweights in the sport including current champion Robert Whittaker, Bellator champion Gegard Mousasi and Kelvin Gastelum.
Stay tuned to The Sportsman on Instagram and Facebook as we’ll be on the ground in Las Vegas!
Full Fight Card
Main Card (3AM on BT Sport)
UFC Heavyweight Championship: Stipe Miocic vs. Daniel Cormier
Heavyweight: Francis Ngannou vs. Derrick Lewis
Welterweight: Paul Felder vs. Mike Perry
Lightweight: Michael Chiesa vs. Anthony Pettis
Light Heavyweight: Gokhan Saki vs. Khalil Rountree Jr.
Prelims (1AM on BT Sport)
Middleweight: Uriah Hall vs. Paulo Costa
Bantamweight: Raphael Assuncao vs. Rob Font
Lightweight: Lando Vannata vs. Drakkar Klose
Welterweight: Curtis Millender vs. Max Griffin
Early Prelims (Midnight on UFC Fight Pass)
Lightweight: Dan Hooker vs. Gilbert Burns
Women’s Strawweight: Jamie Moyle vs. Emily Whitmire
