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Bellator 219: “Awad vs. Girtz” takes place at Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, Calif., this upcoming Friday night (March 29, 2019), as Lightweight fighters take the spotlight when Saad Awad (23-10) faces the bloodthirsty Brandon Girtz (15-8) in what is sure to be a pure striking exchange.

Undefeated prospect Joey Davis (4-0) — a former Notre Dame College of Ohio wrestler who became the first-ever in NCAA Division II history to end his entire career undefeated — is likely to deliver similarly scintillating action when he locks horns with Marcus Anthony. Indeed, the collegiate phenom won four amateur mixed martial arts (MMA) titles in four weight classes before turning professional, and since then has finished 50 percent of his fights with highlight-reel elbows and kicks.

Davis recently spoke with MMAmania.com about his Welterweight bout this weekend, as well as the potential to be promoted onto a future main card broadcast if he remains undefeated and delivers another sensational finish.

“It’s just a privilege. I’m happy that Bellator found me, wanted me to be part of the organization as (part of the) ‘Fab Five’. It’s just truly an honor to be competing again. Not too many people get to be in the position to be a professional fighter, so I’m just truly honored.”

Reports prior to this interview suggested Jesse Merritt (5-5) would be the opponent for Davis on this card. On the call with MMAmania.com, though, Davis was unsure that’s who he’d face.

“Well if I even fight Jesse Merritt! I don’t know who my opponent is at this moment. I just hope that the guy (I face) is in shape, so that we can put on a show for the fans, that’s all I can really say. I know my abilities and what I’m capable of doing, and I know I can rock the bell, so I’m just hoping that whoever I’m competing against that they come prepared.”

Putting it generously Merritt may not have been the BEST opponent Davis could have faced on this card. He had lost four of his last five including his promotional debut at Bellator 214.

“The first time I supposedly was on the card when I knew I was going to get on the card it was Jesse Merritt, and I was getting prepared for that. I guess my coach told me that he didn’t want to take the fight and I honestly don’t blame the guy. It’s probably not a good fight for his career. At the end of the day a man gotta do what they gotta do.”

Needless to say Davis was perplexed given we were interviewing him and he didn’t even know what to expect on Friday night.

“I just haven’t heard that that would be my opponent at this time. I’ve been hearing that I have multiple opponents that have backed down, or who do want the challenge, so as of right now I’m just (*chuckling*) just waiting for an opponent to be honest with you.”

MMA Mania received word shortly before we went to press than Marcus Anthony (1-0) would be Davis’ opponent at Bellator 219. How did Davis prepare for his next fight in Bellator without even knowing who it was?

“Simple. You stay ready! Once you’re a professional fighter it’s a life, it’s a life long journey. It’s an every day grind, it’s an every day struggle. That’s how I’m preparing myself, and um, that’s been my method.”

Since his Bellator debut Davis has been a hot commodity out of Team BodyShop, but other fighters in the crew like “Baby Slice” and Aaron Pico have struggled of late. I asked Davis how the team is handling adversity.

“It’s just that our team is really new, we’re still young, we’re still hungry, so it’s just a good thing for me to be a part of. I’m young, I’m 25 years old, I’m 4-0 as a professional. Even with Antonio’s son A.J. McKee who’s 13-0 we’re still young. You’ve got ‘Slice’ who is young as well, and it seems whatever is in line for him is gonna come pretty soon and he’s gonna do well with his career. He’s already doing things outside of the gym, being a leader outside of the gym. Those are things I really look at. I don’t really look at what people do inside of the cage because it’s two men out there that just really want to win a fight. What matters is what you do outside the cage or after you win that matters to me the most.”

Obviously those setbacks have not affected Davis’ mindset or that of the team as a whole. I asked Davis if he knows what’s next for him after he gets his fight at Bellator 219.

“That’s not for me to determine. I just know that I’m going to get back in the gym, win or lose, and keep grinding like I’ve been doing my whole life. It’s just something I like to do. I love to test my abilities, I love to see where I can be, I love to see the outcome of my training. I just — I love to hear good news when I’m training, I love it all. I’m just thankful that I can be part of a professional organization like Bellator that gave me the time of the day.”

As for that fight at Bellator 219, I asked Davis if there was anyone in particular he wanted to face in the future or that Bellator is eyeing up for him to face.

“I was told that it could be a guy named Dearmine Street, a guy from Detroit, Michigan. That’s all I know for right now. I can’t even really pronounce it. From watching it he’s very explosive, very strong, athletic — all things that I really need to watch out for. It’s a fight at the end of the day, you never know what’s going to happen. Yeah the guy seems very talented, seems like he will do anything to win, and those are the worst type of guys to fight.”

For right now though its all about Joey Davis vs. Marcus Anthony on Friday night at Pechanga Resort & Casino live on Paramount Network.

Complete audio of our interview is embedded above, and complete coverage of “Awad vs. Girtz” resides here at MMA Mania all week long.

To check out the latest Bellator MMA-related news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive news archive right here.

It looks as if Greg Hardy’s second attempt at a first UFC win will be a co-main event on ESPN television.

We’re about a month away from UFC on ESPN 3, scheduled for April 27th in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The main event is an intriguing five-round middleweight rematch between Yoel Romero and Ronaldo Souza, but the co-main event was a bit of a mystery.

It appears as if we have our answer, and it’s Greg Hardy again.

The disgraced former NFL star is set to face Dmitrii Smoliakov on the card, and his fight is on the official event poster alongside Romero vs. Jacare 2.

If you look at the current bout order through the ESPN website, it too suggests that Hardy vs. Smoliakov is getting co-main event status.

Hardy (3-1) made his UFC debut two months ago against Allen Crowder in the UFC Brooklyn co-main event. He lost by disqualification after landing a clearly illegal knee to the head while Crowder was down. Hardy had won round one on the scorecards but appeared to be losing round two and fading badly at the time of the DQ. It was low-level MMA that had no business on sporting merits of being anywhere near the top of a UFC card.

Much has been made about his place on the UFC roster. He was convicted of assaulting his ex-girlfriend while still in the NFL, although that conviction was expunged from his record when the victim failed to appear in court to testify. Dana White has shot back at critics of the decision to sign Hardy, and he had praise for Greg’s skill level even after the Crowder loss.

Looking to deny Hardy his first UFC win is Smoliakov (9-2), whose last UFC fight was more than two years ago, and he went 0-2 inside the Octagon. Only one of Smoliakov’s wins has come against an opponent with a winning record.

So if you thought Hardy’s lackluster performance would dissuade both the UFC and ESPN from profiling Greg extensively for his next fight, you thought wrong.

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is bringing a bevy of “Prelims” fights to both ESPN and ESPN+ this weekend (Sat., March 30, 2019) when UFC on ESPN 2: “Barboza vs. Gaethje” storms Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. MMAmania.com’s Patrick Stumberg continues the UFC on ESPN 2 “Prelims” party with the second (and final) installment of a two-part undercard preview series below.

Jaws will be jacked, legs will be kicked, and we will all wince in sympathy when Edson Barboza faces Justin Gaethje in a clash of the Lightweight division’s most brutal knockout artists this weekend (Sat., March 30, 2019) at UFC on ESPN 2, which takes place inside Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The event will also host a Middleweight clash between the resurgent David Branch and the versatile Jack Hermansson, not to mention a Featherweight banger pitting Muay Thai veteran Sheymon Moraes against knockout machine Sodiq Yusuff.

Four of the seven “Prelims” undercard bouts get a lucky spot on ESPN (check out the ESPN+ portion here). Let’s have a look!

115 lbs.: Jessica Aguilar vs. Marina Rodriguez

Jessica Aguilar (20-7) enjoyed an incredible run from 2009 to 2015, losing only to Zoila Frausto in controversial fashion while defeating the likes of Megumi Fujii and Carla Esparza. She has not had similar success in the Octagon, going 1-3 and recently suffering a submission loss to Weili Zhang.

“Jag” steps in for Alexa Grasso on two weeks’ notice.

Marina Rodriguez (10-01) brought a nine-fight win streak into “Contender Series,” where she dominated and stopped Maria Oliveira to earn a contract. She met Randa Markos in her Octagon debut just over a month later, surviving a rough first round to force a majority draw.

Half of her professional wins have come by knockout.

Even acknowledging that Aguilar has faced some scary opponents in the Octagon, it’s hard not to be disappointed in her UFC run. Beyond her wrestling looking seriously ineffective, her game planning doesn’t seem up to snuff, and she seriously needs good strategy to make up for her limited size.

Aguilar’s poor fight IQ and tendency to get physically outclassed suggests bad things for the 36-year-old. Rodriguez uses her four inches of height and two inches of reach to pile up the one-two combinations at range and punish Aguilar in the clinch.

Prediction: Rodriguez via unanimous decision

155 lbs.: Ross Pearson vs. Des Green

The past few years have been rough sailing for Ross Pearson (20-15), who finds himself 2-6 in his last eight fights. He snapped a four-fight skid with a decision over Mizuto Hirota in Feb. 2018, but lost a bloody “Fight of the Night” to John Makdessi five months later.

“Real Deal” is two inches shorter than Des Green (21-8) and will give up four inches of reach.

“The Predator” started his UFC career strong with a split decision over Josh Emmett, only to fall to powerhouse grinders Rustam Khabilov and Michel Prazeres. He got back on track with a decision over Gleison Tibau, but fell short against an overweight Mairbek Taisumov, though he did do better than “Beckan’s” previous five opponents by lasting the distance.

Pearson’s decline has been strange to follow — his chin’s still there and there are no obvious flaws in his technique to my untrained eye, but it just isn’t working anymore. Though he still has good takedown defense and Green can let fights get away from him, I can’t put faith in Pearson’s ability to execute against top Lightweight competition.

So long as Green doesn’t forget his wrestling, he has the durability and enough striking prowess to hold his own between takedowns. Variety carries him to victory while Pearson fruitlessly searches for the left hook knockout.

Prediction: Green via unanimous decision

145 lbs.: Kevin Aguilar vs. Enrique Barzola

Kevin Aguilar (16-1) asserted his dominance of the LFA Lightweight division with brutal knockouts of Damon Jackson and Thanh Le, but his split decision over Joey Gomez on “Contender Series” wasn’t enough to earn him a UFC contract. “The Angel of Death” got his shot four months later, replacing Arnold Allen on short notice to out-brawl Rick Glenn at The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 28 Finale.

Though he and Enrique Barzola (15-3-1) are the same height, Aguilar will have a seven-inch reach advantage.

“El Fuerte” ran the table on TUF: “Latin America” 2, ultimately defeating Mexico’s Horacio Gutierrez on the Finale. He went on to win four of his next five, the lone loss a highly controversial split decision to Kyle Bochniak.

He has knocked out and submitted four foes apiece.

This is a sleeper pick for “Fight of the Night,” I’d say. Both men are entertaining, extremely active, and have distinct avenues of victory. Aguilar’s the more lethal puncher by a huge margin, but has had issues with takedown defense. Barzola, meanwhile, is one of the most prolific takedown artists in the sport, averaging more than six per fight.

It’s not entirely “striker vs. grappler,” as both are more than competent in the other’s area of expertise, but it makes for some difficult prognostication. In a fight that sees plenty of highlight reel moments, I say Aguilar’s crazy reach lets him rack up enough damage with his punches to narrowly offset the time Barzola spends pressing him against the cage or chilling in his guard.

Prediction: Aguilar via split decision

185 lbs.: Kevin Holland vs. Gerald Meerschaert

Though he didn’t get the finish, Kevin Holland (14-4) joined UFC after a successful “Contender Series” stint, only to fall short against Thiago Santos in his debut. His second fight saw him face Welsh knockout artist John Phillips and ultimately outclass his man en route to his fifth win in six fights.

He will have two inches of height and 3.5 inches of reach on “GM3.”

A brutal loss to Thiago Santos undid the momentum Gerald Meerschaert (29-10) gathered with his submissions of Joe Gigliotti and Ryan Janes, but comeback stoppages of Eric Spicely and Oscar Piechota put “GM3” back on the map. He was last seen fighting Jack Hermansson in December, suffering the eighth submission defeat of his career.

He’s submitted 20 opponents and knocked out another six.

This is going to be weird. Holland always fights like he’s improvising and Meerschaert is a bizarre blend of grit, insane submissions, and rock-bottom fight IQ. The latter can finish things at any time, but Holland looks to have a considerable stylistic edge. Meerschaert will struggle to get inside of Holland’s range and doesn’t hit hard enough to exploit “Trail Blazer’s” lackadaisical defense.

To make things worse for Meerschaert, Holland paces himself quite well, so banking on another comeback doesn’t seem wise. Holland’s takedown defense isn’t impregnable, so Meerschaert could theoretically exploit that, but “GM3” isn’t a great wrestler and he’ll have to navigate the reach disparity to make that work. Holland picks apart a relentless Meerschaert from range, mixing in some knees and elbows when the latter muscles his way in.

Prediction: Holland via unanimous decision

If you love this sport, you simply cannot miss Barboza vs. Gaethje. See you Saturday, Maniacs.

Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC on ESPN 2 fight card on fight night, starting with the ESPN+ (7-day free trial here) “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard balance on ESPN at 5 p.m. ET, before the ESPN main card start time at 7 p.m. ET.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC on ESPN 2: “Barboza vs. Gaethje” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.

Current UFC “Prelims” Prediction Record for 2019: 37-22

“If it wasn’t for Herb Dean saving his life, he was going to get his head knocked into the first row.”

Colby Covington thinks Ben Askren owes Robbie Lawler a rematch after their highly controversial bout UFC 235.

Askren was dropped, badly hurt, and almost finished in the opening seconds of the first round, but the former ONE FC and Bellator welterweight champion mounted a crazy comeback and ended up submitting Lawler with a bulldog choke.

Lawler, however, didn’t tap, hence the controversy. Referee Herb Dean called a stop to the fight after believing ‘Ruthless’ to be unconscious. But Lawler was, in fact, fully conscious and even briefly signalled to the referee that he was okay.

Speaking to MMA Fighting’s Shaun Al-Shatti in a recent interview, Covington called Askren ‘a little science school nerd’ and said the multi-promotion champ ought to give his ‘Hodge Trophy’ to Lawler after being slammed on his head.

“How could you be impressed?” Covington said of Askren’s UFC debut. “Ben Askren, he got dropped on his head. Let’s be honest, he should give his Hodge Trophy, that wrestling trophy, to Robbie Lawler, because Robbie Lawler took him down more times than he took Robbie down. And if it wasn’t for Herb Dean saving his life, he was going to get his head knocked into the first row. So the guy needs to run that back with Robbie Lawler and actually get a UFC win before he can start talking about the top of the mountain.

“He hasn’t done anything in this sport. He’s a 36-year-old virgin. A little science school nerd. So I don’t really have anything to say. He’s a bum. He can’t even throw a punch.”

UFC president Dana White wants to see Askren rematch Lawler, but ‘Funky’ has his sights set on Jorge Masvidal, who recently knocked out Darren Till in stunning fashion at UFC London.

According to ‘Chaos’, this is proof that Askren is ‘scared’ of Lawler, calling his win at UFC 235 a ‘fluke.’

“It shows how scared he is, how much fear is in him,” Covington said. “The fact that you don’t want to run that back and prove to the fans and prove to the people that run this sport that you’re better than that guy. It was a fluke. You didn’t win that fight. Robbie was still in it. [Askren] was gassed within the first two minutes of the fight. Gassed out. Like, didn’t know what to do, literally concussed on day street.

“So if you don’t want to run that back, then what are you doing here? You’re not out here to prove that you’re the best. You’re just trying to look for easy matchups and he’s just looking for that good payday and then he’s going to ride off into the sunset, because he’s a 36-year-old virgin. He’s got probably a year or two left of fighting in him. I don’t know if he’ll crack the top five by the time he’s 40. Just being honest.”

As for Covington, the former interim welterweight titleholder is expected to get the first title shot against newly-crowned champ Kamaru Usman. Usman battered longtime champ Tyron Woodley to win the belt at UFC 235.

Shortly before Conor McGregor announced his retirement, Dana White admitted he wanted the Irish superstar to accept a co-main event slot.

For a guy that makes the UFC more money than any other fighter on the roster, Conor McGregor sure seems to have a hard time getting them to do what he wants. It’s been a battle of wills ever since he won the featherweight title in 2015. The UFC wanted him to do an immediate rematch against Jose Aldo. McGregor insisted on a lightweight title shot instead. When he lost to late replacement Nate Diaz, he allegedly had to scream at UFC brass over the phone to make a second fight.

He won those battles. But he lost the next one when the UFC pulled him from UFC 200 over his refusal to fly to Las Vegas for a press conference. It then took him several months to convince the UFC to let him fight Floyd Mayweather, a match-up UFC president Dana White was actively hostile towards at first.

And then there’s the current battle between the two regarding McGregor wanting an ownership stake in the UFC. White said ‘it ain’t happening.’ So McGregor said he’s retiring.

Equity in the UFC wasn’t the only stumbling block in this latest round of negotiations between McGregor and his promotion. In a series of podcasts recorded before McGregor announced his retirement, White confirmed rumors that a sticking point for McGregor vs. Cerrone in July was a demand the fight be co-main rather than main event.

White went on the UFC Unfiltered podcast and explained why he wanted a title fight above McGregor.

”Yeah that’s pretty much how we’ve done it for years,” he said. “We’ve done a couple of fights where a championship fight wasn’t a main event, and it wasn’t very great. Didn’t work out very good.”

”The reality is it’s not really what we do, but the media has been telling me they wanna see it, the fans have been saying just do it, so … we’ll see what happens.”

White expanded on the situation during an interview on Barstool Sports’ My Mom’s Basement podcast with Robbie Fox, also recorded before McGregor’s retirement tweet.

”Yes, that did happen,” he said. “Every time I deal with Conor there’s always something to deal with, but we get it figured out. We were gonna do – the fight that was going to be on the card with him was probably going to be the heavyweight championship. Should that be the co-main event?”

Fox said hells yeah it should.

”Well, the more people I hear it from, the fans and the media and all this s**t, if I end up putting Conor McGregor not as a champion in the main event, I guess I won’t have to listen to any bulls**t, will I?” White replied. “Everybody would go mental and nuts and chirping ‘Oh, you get favoritism.’”

White reasoned that McGregor only headlined other cards above title fights when he held a belt.

”Conor McGregor is not the champion right now,” White said. “He’s ranked number 2 right now.”

White also shot down one of the potential opponents McGregor has been vocal about facing again.

”The Diaz fight? Yeah, that’s probably not going to happen,” White said. “But I would like to see him back on the [July] card.”

Of course, we know what happened next: McGregor retired over social media and Dana White sounds perfectly happy calling his bluff. When bombshell accusations of sexual assault against McGregor were revealed by the New York Times, the response from Conor’s publicist spent more time attacking the UFC than defending against the ugly allegations.

“Should Conor fight in the future, it must be in an environment where fighters are respected for their value, their skill, their hard work, and their dedication to the sport,” the statement read.

With White and McGregor clearly on different pages when it comes to compensation and card placement, we could see Conor’s latest negotiating gambit result in his legit retirement. It’d be nice if cooler heads prevailed, but the UFC seems perfectly content to end the McGregor era rather than give into any more of his demands, reasonable or otherwise.