The UFC has been filling out the rest of their 2019 schedule in recent weeks. The promotion will hold a press conference the day before UFC 236 to promote those upcoming fights. The press conference will be held at 12 p.m ET on Friday, April 12, 2019, from the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. […]
The UFC has been filling out the rest of their 2019 schedule in recent weeks. The promotion will hold a press conference the day before UFC 236 to promote those upcoming fights.
The press conference will be held at 12 p.m ET on Friday, April 12, 2019, from the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. It will be held prior to the UFC 236 ceremonial weigh-ins.
Headlining the list of fighters will be UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. ‘Bones’ will fight in his third bout since late December at July 6’s UFC 239. He’ll meet surging contender Thiago Santos in the main event. Also at the presser will be UFC women’s bantamweight and featherweight champion Amanda Nunes. She’ll return to 135 pounds to take on former champion Holly Holm.
One name from UFC 239 who won’t be there is Ben Askren. He wrote he was ‘uninvited’ from the presser after his opponent Jorge Masvidal declined to appear. Fighters from other events leading up to UFC 239 will appear at the presser as well. Check out the full list of fighters set to appear here (via MMA Junkie):
Rose Namajunas vs. Jessica Andrade – for strawweight title (UFC 237, May 11)
Rafael dos Anjos vs. Kevin Lee (UFC on ESPN+ 9, May 18)
Alexander Gustafsson vs. Anthony Smith (UFC on ESPN+ 10, June 1)
Henry Cejudo vs. Marlon Moraes – for vacant bantamweight title (UFC 238, June 8)
Amanda Nunes vs. Holly Holm – for bantamweight title (UFC 239, July 9)
Jon Jones vs. Thiago “Marreta” Santos – for light heavyweight title (UFC 239, July 9)
UFC 236 is almost here and the countdown show has arrived. On Saturday night (April 13), the state of Georgia will be treated to an event live from State Farm Arena in Atlanta. The main event will feature an interim lightweight title bout between feath…
UFC 236 is almost here and the countdown show has arrived. On Saturday night (April 13), the state of Georgia will be treated to an event live from State Farm Arena in Atlanta. The main event will feature an interim lightweight title bout between featherweight champion Max Holloway and Dustin Poirier. The winner is set […]
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns to the hurt business this Saturday night (April 13, 2019) with UFC 236: “Holloway vs Poirier 2,” which takes place inside State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.
The event will see current Feather…
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns to the hurt business this Saturday night (April 13, 2019) with UFC 236: “Holloway vs Poirier 2,” which takes place inside State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.
The event will see current Featherweight champion Max Holloway move up to the Lightweight division to face Dustin Poirier for the interim Lightweight title in an attempt to become the promotion’s next champ-champ and to lock down a date with Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Before the event headliners take care of business inside he Octagon, take a look at all of the behind-the-scenes action of fight week leading up to the big night. From the official YouTube description.
On Episode 1 of UFC 236 Embedded, featherweight champion Max Holloway puts the pedal to the metal at a Porsche development track. Middleweight title contender Kelvin Gastelum takes on his final week of camp and visits the beach with family. At the gym, lightweight title contender Dustin Poirier puts in work alongside coach Mike Brown, teammate Thiago Alves and his daughter Parker.
In the co-main event, Israel Adesanya and Kelvin Gastelum will collide for the interim Middleweight title and the chance to unify the titles against division king, Robert Whittaker, later this year.
To see the most up-to-date UFC 236: “Holloway vs Poirier 2” fight card click here.
Israel Adesanya has taken the mixed martial arts world by storm the last 12 months. And now “The Last Stylebender” is looking to ‘become immortal’. Middleweight champion Robert Whittaker doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to injuries. “The Reaper” has only fought three times in the last two years. On the other […]
Israel Adesanya has taken the mixed martial arts world by storm the last 12 months. And now “The Last Stylebender” is looking to ‘become immortal’.
Middleweight champion Robert Whittaker doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to injuries. “The Reaper” has only fought three times in the last two years.
On the other side of the spectrum is Adesanya, who will be making his sixth walk to the Octagon since entering the UFC on Saturday night. He will take on Kelvin Gastelum for the interim middleweight title in the co-main event UFC 236. And although “Stylebender” is competing for the interim strap, he will consider it the real thing.
“I’ve been the champion since day one since I got here,” Adesanya said on The Ariel Helwani MMA Show. “A lot of people didn’t believe me, so that wasn’t my business, I believed me. I just have to prove me right because I always believed I was the champion, interim or not.”
Real Champ’s Inactivity
Adesanya has fought eight times in the same timeframe as Whittaker’s two fights. That’s a fact the Nigerian is quick to point out. He also points out the champion’s lack of a trash-talking game, yet another thing Adesanya excels in.
“Dude, the guy has fought twice in three years. Imagine me as champion in three years what I could do. My first year look what I did in UFC, so imagine me in three years what I could do,” he proclaimed. “And I actually work, I actually show up to work. Even though I don’t like it all the time, I actually get all the media shit done.”
“I actually perform. So yeah, he can be all like, ‘I’m not here to talk…’ get the f**k out of here. This is part of the game, this is how you become immortal in this game. I am doing my part and that’s all I care about. He can stay over there and do that part.”
If Adesanya does get his hand raised on Saturday night, he will earn a unification bout with Whittaker sometime later this year. The bout would likely take place in Australia.
UFC 236 is less than a week away and the first episode of Embedded was released on the UFC’s YouTube channel. In the episode, featherweight champion Max Holloway puts the pedal to the metal at a Porsche development track. Middleweight title contender Kelvin Gastelum takes on his final week of camp and visits the beach […]
UFC 236 is less than a week away and the first episode of Embedded was released on the UFC’s YouTube channel.
In the episode, featherweight champion Max Holloway puts the pedal to the metal at a Porsche development track. Middleweight title contender Kelvin Gastelum takes on his final week of camp and visits the beach with family. At the gym, lightweight title contender Dustin Poirier puts in work alongside coach Mike Brown, teammate Thiago Alves and his daughter Parker.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Light Heavyweight finishers Nikita Krylov and Ovince Saint Preux will battle once more this Saturday (April 13, 2019) at UFC 236 from State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.
It’s actually rather easy to f…
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Light Heavyweight finishers Nikita Krylov and Ovince Saint Preux will battle once more this Saturday (April 13, 2019) at UFC 236 from State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.
It’s actually rather easy to forget the 2014 bout between these two Light Heavyweights ever happened. Krylov was looked at as something of a joke at the time, not yet showing his potential as he fell directly into a Von Flue choke. And while a finish via Von Flue is normally quite memorable, Saint Preux lands the rare submission with such incredible consistency that there are arguments to rename the choke after him.
Five years later, both men are at an interesting point in their careers. Krylov returned to the Octagon last year with a ton of momentum following a brutal run on the Russian scene, but he seemed to mentally fold when his opponent outlasted his flurry and gave up an easy choke. Saint Preux, on the other hand, entered 2018 on a win streak but ultimately ended up losing two of three and taking a lot of damage in the process.
Let’s take a closer look at the keys to victory for each man:
Nikita Krylov
Record: 25-6 Key Wins: Emanuel Newton (Fight Nights Global 77), Fabio Maldonado (Fight Nights Global 87), Walt Harris (UFC on FOX 10), Marcos Rogerio de Lima (UFC Fight Night 69) Key Losses: Jan Blachowicz (UFC Fight Night 136), Misha Cirkunov (UFC 206), Ovince Saint Preux (UFC 171) Keys to Victory: Krylov is a whirlwind of violence. “Miner” tends to charge at opponents with wild flurries of power kicks and hard punches. He may be a wild man, but Krylov can maintain his offensive assault for an impressively long time, and the Ukrainian athlete has some sneaky submission skills too.
There are a couple keys to victory for Krylov in this match up, and the main one seems to be mental. Krylov is completely comfortable eating heavy punches in a wild exchange — he’s happy in any type of chaos. However, when an opponent like Blachowicz forces Krylov into a more measured fight — putting him on his back helps — Krylov falls apart.
Saint Preux is not a measured technician like Blachowicz, but he does have the physical strength and technique to wrestle a bit. If grounded early, Krylov has to maintain his composure and stay smart, lest he fall into another Von Flue choke.
On the more technical side of things, Krylov has to set up his kicks a bit better. Whipping out hard high kicks with not setup is somewhat excusable: a powerful head kick is generally difficult to counter with a takedown. Running forward into obvious body or low kicks, however, produces an easy takedown for Saint Preux that could let him off the hook if Krylov is landing well.
Ovince Saint Preux
Record: 23-12 Key Wins: Mauricio Rua (UFC Fight Night 56), Corey Anderson (UFC 217), Tyson Pedro (UFC Fight Night 132), Patrick Cummins (UFC on FOX 15) Key Losses: Ilir Latifi (UFC on FOX 28), Jimi Manuwa (UFC 204), Volkan Oezdemir (UFC Fight Night 104), Glover Teixeira (UFC Fight Night 73) Keys to Victory: Saint Preux is a unique fighter, a bizarre mix of top-notch athleticism and some incredible powerful individual techniques without an overall game that makes a ton of sense. For years, “OSP” was known for his durability as well, but that attribute seems to be failing him a bit now, as Saint Preux has been dropped in each of his last three fights.
Scoring a takedown is the very obvious goal of Saint Preux here. He could exchange wild power shots with Krylov and potentially win, sure, but Krylov hits just as hard and is nearly 10 years younger. There’s no reason to take the risk when Saint Preux has such a major advantage from top position.
Saint Preux has to be wary of shooting for a conventional takedown — Krylov is underrated himself at snatching necks and defending takedowns — but a caught kick is an easy avenue to top position. Once there, Saint Preux’s strength and experience should prove suffocating and frustrating for “Miner.”
Historically, that’s when a submission opportunity opens up.
Bottom Line: Krylov is never in a boring fight, and Saint Preux has some extraordinary wins and losses on his record.
This is largely a gatekeeper vs. prospect fight. Saint Preux has certainly settled into the gate-keeping role firmly. Look at his last two fights: Dominick Reyes proved ready for the Top 10, whereas Tyson Pedro showed his potential but made some mistakes because of inexperience. “OSP” did his job perfectly against both and should probably continue to expect fights with younger Light Heavyweights in the future.
Meanwhile, it’s a second chance for Krylov to introduce himself to the rankings. Since it’s a rematch, this fight is also a great chance for Krylov to demonstrate his improvement. Perhaps more than anything else, the match up tests Krylov’s ability to remain composed. The Ukrainian has plenty of talent, but he’ll have to avoid any major mistakes to earn the win over a tough, opportunistic veteran in “OSP.”
At UFC 236, Nikita Krylov and Ovince Saint Preux will open the main card. Which man will have his hand raised?
