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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns TONIGHT (Sat., Jan. 25, 2020) to stage its second event of the new year as UFC Fight Night 166 goes down from inside PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. The event will feature a Heavyweight showdown as Curtis Blaydes takes on former division kingpin, Junior dos Santos. In the co-headlining act, Welterweight studs Rafael dos Anjos and Michael Chiesa duke it out in a pivotal bout.
What’s Hot:
The Heavyweight division has been at a standstill, it seems. The title hasn’t been defended in five months, and since current division king, Stipe Miocic, is still out healing some wounds, his trilogy fight against Daniel Cormier may not happen until the summer. In the meantime, the rest of the top contenders are trying to make their cases for a shot at the winner, and two of the top three contenders who are in the running are Curtis Blaydes and Junior dos Santos. The top dog, though, is Francis Ngannou, who will face Jairzinho Rozenstruik in March.
Winner of two straight, Blaydes lost out on his chance to be the No. 1 contender after getting knocked out by Ngannou in just 45 seconds at UFC Fight Night 141 last November (highlights), ending his five-fight win streak. He bounced back nicely with back-to-back wins over Justin Willis and Shamil Abdurakhimov, setting him up for a pivotal bout against Junior.
Blaydes hits like a truck, that’s no secret, but his wrestling could be the key here. As we’ve seen in the past, Junior does not do well against top-level wrestlers, and you only have to see his two beatdowns at the hands of Cain Velasquez for proof. Getting in close while avoiding bombs is half the battle for Blaydes, as “Cigano” has the power to sleep a baby elephant. And though he may be getting up in years, the Brazilian’s power is still there.
That said, Blaydes has power for days as well, and if he connects, it could be an early night for Junior. Yes, dos Santos has shown he can give and take a punch, but after so many wars, the sweet spot becomes just a bit more susceptible. If I were a betting man (and I am), I’d put some hefty coin on Blaydes taking this bout to the ground and pulling off a win via ground-and-pound. He can always knock him out on the feet, but he opens himself up for an early nap, too.
Expect the action to start early and quickly, as dos Santos will look to do everything in his power to score a home run on the first pitch to avoid hitting the mat. I mean, when’s the last time you saw “JDS” out-wrestle or submit someone?
What’s Not:
I mean, I can’t complain too much here. It’s a decent fight night card, and we’re coming off Conor McGregor’s highly-anticipated return at UFC 246 (links and recaps here), so you can’t expect a loaded event right after. This pattern is the norm with UFC — and has been for a while — since it has a quota to meet with ESPN.
Original Card Vs. Actual Card:
Frankie Edgar was all set to make his Bantamweight debut at this event against Cory Sandhagen before he was pulled from the fight to face Chan Sung Jung at UFC Fight Night 165 last December. With no suitable replacement found, Sandhagen was removed from the event altogether.
Angela Hill graciously stepped in to face Hannah Cifers after Brianna Van Buren was forced out of the event for undisclosed reasons. After Josh Emmett was forced out of his fight against Arnold Allen due to injury, and Nad Narimani did the same for his fight against Nik Lentz, the promotion booked Allen and Lentz to fight one another at Featherweight.
Wouldn’t it be nice if it always worked out that way?
Injuries:
Aside from Emmett and Narimani suffering fight-cancelling injuries, Alen Amedovski pulled out of his Middleweight fight against Bevon Lewis with a medical setback. As a result, Dequan Townsend stepped in to fill the void.
New Blood:
Undefeated (6-0) Light Heavyweight contender, Jamahal Hill, will make his official UFC debut when he faces Darko Stosic. Hill earned his way onto the big stage after knocking out Alexander Poppeck on Dana White’s ‘Contender Series’ last July. With four of his six wins coming via (technical) knockout, Hill has heavy enough hands to give Stosic his third straight loss.
After winning six in a row, Tony Gravely got the call up to fight on the ‘Contender Series.’ And he impressed with his opportunity, knocking out Ray Rodriguez to earn the bump up to the big leagues. With seven straight finishes under his belt, Tony will prove to be a tough challenge for Brett Johns, who is in desperate need of a win after losing two in a row.
Nate Landwehr will make his UFC debut after knocking heads under the M-1 Global banner for the last few years when he faces fellow newcomer, Herbert Burns. Nate has been on a pretty good run as of late, winning his last seven fights. Herbert, meanwhile, has won three straight including punching his ticket to the big leagues with a win on the ‘Contender Series’ this past August. This is your classic striker vs grappler matchup, as all of Herbert’s finishes have come by way of submission, while Nate prefers to end his opponents via strikes, as he has eight knockout/technical knockout (TKO) wins on his resume.
How The ‘Prelims’ Look:
It’s time to start putting some respect on Arnold Allen’s name. All the man has done is go 6-0 inside the Octagon, win eight straight and 15 of 16 overall. In his last fight, Arnold dismantled former Strikeforce Lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez. He will face Nik Lentz — an established UFC veteran — in a fight that came to be due to injuries. If he wins that one, Allen can start setting his sights on bigger and better challenges.
Another interesting fight will be Bevon Lewis taking on Dequan Townsend. Despite getting hit with a six-month suspension from United States Anti Doping Agency (USADA) for testing positive for cocaine and fentanyl, Townsend is eligible to compete on the card due to the penalty being retroactive. I laugh at the retroactive suspensions, as most fighters take those breaks anyway, making the penalties pretty much pointless unless it’s something along the lines of a two-year ban.
Also, former women’s Bantamweight title contender, Sara McMann, will look to snap her two fight losing streak when she faces Lina Lansberg, who has won two in a row. Matchups with those types of streaks always puzzle me, as I’d like to see a surging fighter taking on someone who has a similar streak, not a losing one.
Unless you’re Yoel Romero, of course.
Brett Johns will also look to snap out of his current two fight losing streak when he faces newcomer Tony Gravely at Bantamweight, while Montel Jackson eyes his third straight win against Felipe Colares.
To see who else is fighting on the “prelims” click here and here.
Who Needs A Win Badly:
Lucie Pudilova needs a win pretty badly here, as she has lost three straight fights under the UFC banner. Granted, it was against some rather stiff competition in Antonina Shevchenko, Liz Carmouche and Irene Aldana, but the fact remains that she hasn’t won a fight in two years. Four straight defeats will pretty much mean a pink slip will be hitting her (or her manager’s) e-mail sooner, rather than later.
Interest Level: 5.5 of 10
The main event collision is sure-to-be fire, though don’t be surprised if it doesn’t last too long. That said, whatever the outcome is, it will clear up the 265-pound picture a bit more and provide a potential title contender depending on what happens between Ngannou and Rozenstruick at UFC on ESPN 8.
The co-main event, meanwhile, is another interesting matchup that hasn’t been garnering all that much attention. Former Lightweight champion, Rafael dos Anjos, will look to turn things around after a rough stretch over the last year and a half when he takes on Michael Chiesa.
Dos Anjos has lost three of his last four at 170-pounds. In his last outing, “RDA” was out-gunned by Leon Edwards, giving him a record of 1-3 over his last four bouts. That’s a far cry from his stellar run of winning his first three fights in the division back in 2017.
As for Chiesa, this is a huge opportunity for him, as getting his third straight win against a former world champion can only boost his stock. In his last two fights, “Maverick” defeated Carlos Condit (highlights) and Diego Sanchez (recap), two well-known and established names in the game. Having a win over Rafael on his resume means Chiesa can start lobbying for bigger and better fights moving forward. It may not look it at first glance, but I’m picking this to be “Fight of the Night.”
Full Fight Card:
UFC Fight Night 166 Main Event on ESPN+:
265 lbs.: Curtis Blaydes vs. Junior dos Santos
UFC Fight Night 166 Main Card on ESPN+ (8 p.m. ET):
170 lbs.: Michael Chiesa vs. Rafael dos Anjos
125 lbs.: Jordan Espinosa vs. Alex Perez
115 lbs.: Hannah Cifers vs. Angela Hill
205 lbs.: Jamahal Hill vs. Darko Stosic
UFC Fight Night 166 Prelims Card on ESPN+ (5 p.m. ET):
125 lbs.: Justine Kish vs. Lucie Pudilova
145 lbs.: Arnold Allen vs. Nik Lentz
185 lbs.: Bevon Lewis vs. Dequan Townsend
135 lbs.: Montel Jackson vs. Felipe Colares
135 lbs.: Lina Lansberg vs. Sara McMann
135 lbs.: Tony Gravely vs. Brett Johns
155 lbs.: Herbert Burns vs. Nate Landwehr
*Fight card, bout order and the amount of matches subject to change.
For much more on this weekend’s UFC Raleigh card click here.