Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is back at it again tonight (Sat., July 13, 2019) as UFC Fight Night 155 goes down from inside Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, CA. Headlining the ESPN+-streamed event is a woman’s Bantamweight fight between Aspen Ladd and former UFC women’s Featherweight champion Germaine de Randamie. In the co-main event, Urijah Faber ends his lengthy retirement to face Ricky Simon.
What’s Hot:
After giving up her Featherweight title, Germaine de Randamie made the drop down to Bantamweight in her previous fight, defeating Raquel Pennington last November. She will look to make it two in a row when she faces up-and-coming standout, Aspen Ladd, who is undefeated in her combat career (8-0, 3-0 UFC), and has shown promise as evidenced by this beat down.
Scheduled to face Holly Holm at UFC 235, Ladd had the fight cancelled after Holly was yanked and given a title fight against Amanda Nunes a few weeks later. Ladd, meanwhile, had a rematch with Sijara Eubanks, defeating her a second time just a few months ago. While the fight against de Randamie may not bring in as many eyeballs when compared to one against Holm, it’s still a big test for the 24-year old contender.
A win for either Ladd or de Randamie should net them a title fight against Amanda Nunes because at the end of the day there is simply no one left at 135 pounds, and they are the lone remaining top Bantamweight combatants with good win streaks.
After two years away from the fight game, Urijah Faber will step back into the cage in an attempt to recapture his glory days when he faces off against Ricky Simon. While Ricky doesn’t have the biggest name out there, he has won eight in a row, so he is formidable.
A win over Urijah will be the biggest for Simon to date, and could catapult him into bigger and better things moving forward. For Faber, a win over the streaking-Simon could be what he needs to motivate him to stick around longer than just a couple of fights.
Whether or not he makes it to two-division UFC champion Henry Cejudo is another story. Still, Faber doesn’t have much to prove and is doing quite well outside of the Octagon, so you know he means it when he says he’s coming back because he misses the game and is confident he can still compete at the highest level.
What’s Not:
Coming off a stacked UFC 239 event, we didn’t expect UFC to stack the deck again right away; but this fight card is simply lacking. While de Randamie vs Ladd is a great fight, I just don’t see it good enough to carry an event. Sure, Urijah Faber is making his comeback after two years, but Ricky Simon doesn’t have the name value yet that will get people to run to their phones, laptops, computer or TV to tune in.
Original Card vs Actual Card:
Sara McMann was set to face Nicco Montano, but after Sara suffered an unfortunate injury, she was bounced from the event and replaced by Julianna Pena. John Phillips was replaced by Wellington Turman after he was forced out of his scheduled fight against middleweight striker Karl Roberson. Also, Gian Villante withdrew from the card for undisclosed reasons and was replaced by John Allan, who will be facing Light Heavyweight knockout artist Mike Rodriguez.
Injuries:
Cynthia Calvillo broke her foot, forcing her out of her scheduled showdown against Livia Renata Souza, who will now face Brianna Van Buren, the former Invicta FC Strawweight champion. Late last week, Beneil Dariush suffered an injury and his main card fight against Drakkar Klose was put on ice for another day.
How The ‘Prelims’ Look:
You have some decent names competing on the undercard, including “Sac-Town’s” own Andre Fili facing Sheymon Moraes at Featherweight. Also, Julianna Pena will make her much-awaited return to action after taking time off to give birth to her first child, when she faces former UFC women’s Flyweight champion Nicco Montano. Pena’s last fight saw her get submitted by current UFC women’s flyweight champion, Valentina Shevchenko, in early 2017. Prior to that, Julianna was riding a four-fight win streak and won season 18 of the Ultimate Fighter (TUF). As for Montano, she hasn’t fought since late 2017, defeating Roxanne Modaferri to win the then-vacant women’s 125-pound title. After failing to defend the belt, Nicco was ultimately stripped. Now she gets the chance to prove she is worthy of a title fight by taking out Pena.
Also, Darren Elkins will look to snap his two-fight skid when he faces the always-dangerous submission ace, Ryan Hall. Hall is coming off a rather easy submission win over B.J. Penn last December, quietly winning his seventh straight. Of course, his fight against B.J. was his first in two years so it’s easy to see why people forgot about how good he is.
To learn more about all of the undercard action click here and here.
New Blood:
We have several newcomers looking to make a statement inside the Octagon, including Wellington Turman, a slugger sporting a 15-2 record with four knockouts and seven submissions to his name. Granted, it’s a short-notice fight for Wellington, but it’s one he wasn’t going to turn down. Still, Karl Roberson is a tough fight for anyone, let alone on such short notice. Karl is coming off a loss to Glover Teixeira earlier this year, so he is in a hurry to get back into the win column. Roberson has heavy hands, so if he can touch Turman, it could be a short night.
Former Invicta FC Strawweight queen Brianna Van Buren will look to make a splash in her UFC debut, as she got the call up to face Livia Renata Souza with Cynthia Calvillo hurt. It’s a tough fight for both women, as Van Buren will also have to be fighting off the UFC jitters, while Souza has to deal with the change in opponent.
John Allan will look to pump some new blood into a Light Heavyweight division that is running out of contenders for Jon Jones. While Allan has a long way to go for title contention, obviously, he can start his path if he can get a win over Mike Rodriguez, who will be more than happy to engage in a striking war with the UFC rookie.
Get at a look all the “New Blood” here.
Who Needs A Win Badly:
Darren Elkins has dropped two straight after winning six in a row. Granted, the losses came against Ricardo Lamas and Alexander Volkanovski, but the fact remains that losing three in a row is not a good look for the Team Alpha Male (TAM) product. Ryan Hall is as tough as they come, though you wouldn’t know it based on his cool and unassuming demeanor. It’s going to be tough night for Elkins if he wants to get back in the winner’s circle.
Interest Level: 5/10
It’s going to be interesting to see just how Ladd recovers from a brutal weight cut against one of the biggest female 135 pounders out there who has heavy hands. If she can get through “Iron Lady,” a title shot should surely await her. Plus, Urijah Faber is adamant he hasn’t been on the couch since retiring two years ago, so it will be interesting to see just how he does against a very tough Simon after such a long layoff.
There is an intriguing Featherweight showdown on the main card that will see Josh Emmett take on Mirsad Bektic. Emmett is coming of a spectacular knockout win over Michael Johnson (see it), while Mirsad escaped with a split decision against Ricardo Lamas earlier this year. All in all, it’s an okay night of fights which could spit out future title contenders, upsets and decent tussles.
Full Fight Card:
UFC Fight Night 155 Main Event:
135 lbs.: Germaine de Randamie vs. Aspen Ladd
UFC Fight Night 155 Main Card on ESPN+ (8 p.m. ET):
135 lbs.: Urijah Faber vs. Ricky Simon
145 lbs.: Mirsad Bektic vs. Josh Emmett
185 lbs.: Karl Roberson vs. Wellington Turman
185 lbs.: Cezar Ferreira vs. Marvin Vettori
UFC Fight Night 155 Prelims on ESPN+ (5 p.m. ET):
205 lbs.: Mike Rodriguez vs. John Allan
145 lbs.: Andre Fili vs. Sheymon Moraes
135 lbs.: Nicco Montano vs. Julianna Pena
145 lbs.: Darren Elkins vs. Ryan Hall
135 lbs.: Jonathan Martinez vs. Liu Pingyuan
115 lbs.: Livinha Souza vs. Brianna Van Buren
135 lbs.: Benito Lopez vs. Vince Morales
*Fight card, bout order and the amount of matches subject to change.
For more upcoming UFC events click here.