The octagon rolls in to Glendale for the first time in the promotion’s history, with the UFC returning to Arizona for the first time in over twelve months. It marks the 141st city to host a UFC event, with the Gila River Arena hosting a mouth-watering fight card.
There’s not only good news for Glendale, but also for European fight fans, with the prelims kicking off at the glorious time of 8.30PM, allowing you to spend your Grand National winnings wisely before tuning into fourteen fights! The main card will get underway at 1AM, meaning fans on this side of the world could call this one an early night, in comparison to the usual 3AM starts!
That’s not the only reason you should tune in, with violence predicted across the card. Fan favourite Justin Gaethje is always keen to stand and trade, with his first two octagon bouts yielding three bonuses (how is that possible!?) His victory over Michael Johnson in possibly one of the best two rounds of all out action you may ever see, earned Gaethje both the fight of the night and knockout of the night bonus.
Last time out he put on an absolute WAR with Eddie Alvarez 👊
Sit back and enjoy the best bits...
Gaethje followed that performance up with another fight of the year contender with Eddie Alvarez, albeit being on the losing end. His style brings all out entertainment, and I don’t expect this one to be any different!
His opponent, Dustin Poirier is another man who brings the fire. After losing to Conor McGregor in 2014, Poirier has only lost one of his last eight, including his most recent victory over Anthony Pettis in November, another high quality, fast paced fight. Poirier has received seven bonus awards across his octagon career, as he makes the walk for the twentieth time, despite only just turning twenty-nine.
What else does this card offer? How about perennial fan favourite Carlos Condit taking on Alex Oliveira in the co-main event? “The Natural Born Killer” was scheduled to face Matt Brown, before injury hit. Oliveira is a top replacement, especially considering the war he had with Yancy Medeiros last year… another fight of the year contender! Notice the patterns emerging here?!
Condit will always be a legend of the sport, with his title fight with Robbie Lawler one of the greatest I’ve ever seen back at UFC 195. He’s been in there with the best of them over the years; Tyron Woodley, Georges St. Pierre, Nick Diaz and Demian Maia. With no win in three, Condit will hope to return to the top ten in the welterweight division, with a victory in Glendale.
I’m not finished yet! We’ve also got Israel Adesanya featuring on the main card, a man who has competed and been victorious in boxing, kickboxing, muay thai and mixed martial arts. The Nigerian has won all twelve of his MMA bouts, all inside the first two rounds, by knockout. His opponent is Marvin Vettori, aptly named “The Italian Dream” who is considered a top prospect in the sport at the tender age of twenty-four. Can Adesanya’s dominance continue?
The new dog in the yard is back this Saturday live on BT Sport at #UFCGlendale 💪
The card also features strawweight contenders Michelle Waterson, taking on Cortney Casey, as well as ranked flyweights John Moraga and Wilson Reis clashing on the prelims. Canadian-Indian heavyweight Arjan Bhullar will make history as the first man to wear a turban during his walk to the octagon, where he faces Polish submission specialist Adam Wieczorek.
Well, I’m excited for this one and I hope you are too! It’s well worth staying up to have a watch despite this mammoth sporting weekend. Get the snacks and the drinks in and settle down for a night of action!
Full Fight Card
Main Card (1AM on BT Sport)
Lightweight: Justin Gaethje vs. Dustin Poirier
Welterweight: Carlos Condit vs. Alex Oliveira
Middleweight: Israel Adesanya vs. Marvin Vettori
Women’s Strawweight: Michelle Waterson vs. Cortney Casey
Prelims (11PM on BT Sport)
Middleweight: Antonio Carlos Junior vs. Tim Boetsch
Welterweight: Muslim Salikhov vs. Ricky Rainey
Flyweight: John Moraga vs. Wilson Reis
Middleweight: Krzysztof Jotko vs. Brad Tavares
Early Prelims (8.30PM on UFC Fight Pass)
Lightweight: Gilbert Burns vs. Dan Moret
Women’s Flyweight: Shana Dobson vs. Lauren Mueller
Welterweight: Yushin Okami vs. Dhiego Lima
Heavyweight: Arjan Bhullar vs. Adam Wieczorek
Bantamweight: Alejandro Perez vs. Matthew Lopez
Bantamweight: Luke Sanders vs. Patrick Williams
