The city that never sleeps will play host to a STACKED fight card with two belts on the line and two of the most accomplished champions in their respective division. In the main event we have arguably the greatest of all time in light-heavyweight champion Jon “bones” Jones (23-1-0) looking to add to his legacy by knocking off another contender. In the co-main event we have Welterweight Champ, Tyron Woodley (19-3-1) who is looking to continue his reign as champion by defeating his greatest challenge yet. Three other bouts round out the main card and 2 of those 3 feature former UFC champions.
A post shared by Jon Bones Jones (@jonnybones) on Jan 30, 2019 at 2:15am PST
Kicking off the main card will be Team Alpha-Male’s own and former welterweight champ, Cody “NO LOVE” Garbrandt (11-2-0). Cody will be looking to get back on the right track against Pedro Munhoz (17-3-0). The lone female fight on the main card will feature Tecia “Tiny Tornado” Torres (10-3-0) who is looking to bounce back from a disappointing 2018 where she lost her only 2 fights against top ranked opponents Jessica Andrade and Joanna Jedrzejczyk. To top it all off “Sin City” will get a little “funky”! Ben Askren (18-0-0, 1 NC) will finally be making his long awaited UFC debut. After reaching the pinnacle in both Bellator and ONE Championship, the “funky” one has finally arrived to the UFC. His debut will come against former welterweight champ, “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler (28-12-0 ,1 NC). The Luxor in Las Vegas is home to brightest light in the world. In terms of fighting though, I’m sure that come Saturday night. Las Vegas’ T-Mobile arena will be home to the brightest stars.
Main Event
A post shared by Anthony "Lionheart" Smith (@lionheartasmith) on Feb 25, 2019 at 12:07pm PST
Jon “Bones” Jones vs Anthony “Lionheart” Smith has all the makings of a war and possibly one of the greatest upsets the sport has ever seen. Jones is making a quick turnaround after defeating Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 232 and regaining his coveted Light Heavyweight Championship belt. Some sites have Jon Jones as high as -1100 favorite. During this week’s fight week media interviews someone asked Anthony Smith how he felt about being a 14-1 underdog. He replied with,
“14-1 who makes these fuckin predictions. Jon Jones is 14-0-1 in his last 15 fights and I’m 16-2, Jesus Christ are you serious? I’m the kind of guy that’s going to come across the octagon and swing hammers until the last second ticks off the clock or till he’s unconscious. I’m going to finish Jon Jones.” Anthony Smith
Sounds like a man on a mission, some fighters you get the sense that they have to say things like this in order to help convince themselves that maybe the impossible is possible. That doesn’t appear to be the case when you hear Anthony Smith speak. He sounds confident and believes that he’s going to put Jon Jones in positions that Jon has never been in. Even with the emergence of Jon’s drug test results coming out and the infamous “pictograms” making news once again. Anthony Smith has chosen to not give so much attention to that, saying he would “have been more surprised had the test come back and there had been no trace of the PED in his system.” He believes that others such as Daniel Cormier and Gustafsson shed too much light and in a way that it affected them and weighed heavily on their minds; ultimately leading to them being defeated. As for Jon, he is past that and has come to the terms that “pictograms” and the name “Jon Jones” may always have a connection when people speak about him as a fighter or more importantly when being spoken about as being the greatest. When you go to Jon Jones’ twitter you’ll see a depiction of himself hand drawn with a lion’s head on top of his, as his avi. A sense of symbolism meaning he reigns king amongst all others. When Jon Jones and Anthony “Lionheart” Smith meet in the octagon a couple hours from now in a fight that could very well become a war it’s going to come down to what gives first, Anthony Smiths’ “Lionheart” or Jon Jones’ “Bones”.
A post shared by Jon Bones Jones (@jonnybones) on Mar 1, 2019 at 8:16pm PST
Co-Main Event
A post shared by Kamaru Usman (@usman84kg) on Feb 28, 2019 at 9:07am PST
T-Woodley is the reigning defending welterweight champion since 2016 when he beat Robbie Lawler by a vicious 1st round KO. Since becoming the champ he has defended his belt against “Wonderboy” Thompson, Demian Maia and Darren Till. All those opponents went into the fight believing they could leave the octagon with the belt. The only thing they have in common though is that they all tried and failed. Now, Tyron Woodley finds himself defending the belt against a hungry competitor, with a genuine hate for him. All the challengers before Kamara “The Nigerian Nightmare” Usman may have failed but maybe they lacked what he has made very evident- His pride for Nigeria mixed with his hate for the champ and superior confidence that he will be crowned “And New”.
“The Nigerian Nightmare” has been on a streak of sort that has caught the attention of fans and the boss-man Dana White. Usman has yet to lose a fight inside the octagon going 9-0 since his debut in 2015. Kamara has gained so much traction that he has basically leaped in front of Colby “the interim champ” Covington and was rewarded for his constant activity and his recent win against RDA at the TUF 28 Finale with a shot at the belt at UFC 235. The interim champ isn’t one to just sit back and go quietly. His obnoxious attitude tag-teamed with an ego that has him believing he’s “The people’s champ” had him catch what appeared to be a private jet, based off his IG post, and had him flying into Vegas where he made his presence known during Kamra Usman’s open workout. An antic that clearly didn’t phase Usman, who let it be known that he was offered the fight against Covington five times and every time he signed on the dotted line. However, the same couldn’t be said for Covington. Speaking along the same lines was Champ, Tyron Woodley. T-Wood let it be known that “he was supposed to fight me once in September, he was supposed to fight me in this fight.” Colby’s side-show may have shifted attention from the two men who will be fighting for the belt but both men have a score to settle with each other before they settle it with Covington. That right will belong to the winner of Woodley vs. Usman which is a fight to close to call so whether you’re unsure you’ll hear “And Still” or “And New” one thing is certain we may already know, who’s next.
UNKNOWN MMA’s FIGHT TO WATCH
A post shared by Ben Askren (@benaskren) on Feb 14, 2019 at 6:34pm PST
They say good things come to those who wait. That saying is perfect for the long awaited debut of Ben Askren. Not only have the fans been waiting for his debut in the UFC but also the man known as “Funky” has been waiting for this moment longer than any of us have. He has already reached the top of other organizations (Bellator and ONE Championship) and the process to get him into the UFC involved a breakthrough of some sort for MMA sports. We saw MMA’s version of a trade that sent Demetrious Johnson to ONE championship and brought back Ben Askren to the UFC. In his short time he’s made quite the first impression for himself in the way he walks, talks and dresses. Just go look at him in a button up, slacks and SANDALS when he had his first face off with Robbie Lawler for the UFC 235 press conference. Let’s be honest though, Dana did him no favors by feeding him to one of the most “ruthless” fighters on the welterweight roster. The wait is FINALLY over, now we get to find out if the UFC is down to get “Funky” or if the Octagon proves to be a little to “Ruthless”.
Comments