The T-Mobile Arena will bear witness to a little bit of everything when it plays host to UFC 209 in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
The event is headlined by a welterweight title fight between Stephen Thompson and Tyron Woodley, but there’s plenty more to watch. The main card kicks off with a titanic heavyweight bout between Alistair Overeem and Mark Hunt, moves to the middleweight debut of Rashad Evans and features a huge opportunity for lightweight prospect Lando Vannatta in the penultimate fight.
It all figures to be a night of fights that should be equally entertaining and important to their individual weight classes.
Here’s a look at the complete lineup of fights, TV information, predictions and a closer look at some of the night’s biggest fights.
Alistair Overeem vs. Mark Hunt
Stephen Thompson and Tyron Woodley aren’t the only ones settling a score at UFC 209. Heavyweights Mark Hunt and Alistair Overeem will meet for the second time, with Overeem taking the first fight in 2008 by first-round submission.
That was nearly a decade ago, though. Both fighters have evolved considerably since then, and the terms of engagement should be different this time around.
At the time, Overeem was much more inclined to finish fights with submissions. He has 19 such finishes in his career but hasn’t recorded one since 2009. Now, Overeem is a much more polished kickboxer in the Octagon, patiently looking for the finish on the feet.
That sets up an interesting proposition in a matchup against Hunt. The Super Samoan is one of the most powerful strikers in the sport, and every minute in the cage with him is another chance for him to land a strike that will end the fight.
However, Overeem appears to be cognizant of that.
“There is some skill difference, but in general, it’s a 50-50 coin toss,” Overeem said, per Brett Okamoto of ESPN.com. “One mistake, your winning streak is over and you’ve got to start over again.”
That’ll be important for him as sticking Hunt on the end of his jab and outpointing him will be key. The Reem also has the advantage in the clinch, but this could be a fight that’s over as soon as someone lands that fight-altering strike.
It should be an interesting heavyweight collision between the two, but Overeem should hold the advantage. He was on a four-fight win streak before losing to Stipe Miocic but had the champion in trouble before failing to finish the fight and having the tables turned on him.
Dan Kelly vs. Rashad Evans
One of the key fighters to keep an eye on in this card is Rashad Evans who looks to rejuvenate his career by dropping down to middleweight.
The former light heavyweight champion doesn’t have the athleticism to be a contender in his former home, but his size and strength could prove to be a huge advantage at 185 pounds. According to Jon Anik, Suga’s weight cut to the new class went swimmingly:
Evans isn’t walking into the easiest matchup, though. Dan Kelly might be one of the most underrated middleweights in the organization right now. The 39-year-old is a former Olympic judoka and comes into this fight with just one loss to Sam Alvey in 2015, but with three straight wins.
Evans is obviously the more skilled fighters. He’s a former champion with wins over the likes of Chael Sonnen, Dan Henderson and Michael Bisping to his name, he’s simply fought at a level that Kelly has never reached.
This is a good fight because it should give us a pretty good idea of Evans’ ceiling as a 37-year-old middleweight. If he loses, his days as a relevant fighter are done. If he wins a close fight, his middleweight career may have legs and if he blows Kelly out, well, it’ll be interesting to see just how far he can take the late chapters of his career.
Stephen Thompson vs. Tyron Woodley
This is one of those cases where the sequel might just be better than the original. Stephen Thompson and Tyron Woodley battled to a majority draw at UFC 205 last November and now they come to UFC 209 to settle the score.
The first fight was close on paper but wasn’t all that close if you watched each individual round. Every judge gave Woodley Rounds 1 and 3. Every judge gave Thompson Rounds 2 and 5.
This time around, with both fighters much more familiar with how they can win—and lose—the fight, the rounds could be much closer.
However, Woodley is the fighter with the ace in the hole. T-Wood dominated the first round of the fight with his wrestling, scoring a takedown early and winning the round easily with his smothering top game.
Woodley never went to the wrestling well again, though. He neutralized Wonderboy’s kicks but didn’t attempt another takedown.
With a whole camp to formulate another plan to beat Thompson, Woodley should look to go back to his wrestling more often, which is how he can win rounds emphatically.
With Thompson showing very little in the way of a bottom game to get back to his feet or work submissions, Woodley should be able to drag the fight to where he has the biggest advantage to take a decision victory this time around.
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