The UFC heads to Hamburg, Germany, for the first time with a show on its Fight Pass platform this Saturday, September 3. This will be the UFC’s fifth show in Germany, a market to which it has devoted sporadic attention since its first show there in 2009.
In the main event, veteran heavyweights Josh Barnett and Andrei Arlovski will put their combined 36 years of MMA experience to use in an excellent matchup that’s still relevant to the top of the division. Both fighters are coming off losses—two, in Arlovski’s case—and badly need a win to stay among the elite.
A pair of light heavyweight bouts adds additional interest to the event. In the co-main event, two-time title challenger Alexander Gustafsson takes on Poland’s Jan Blachowicz in a get-back-on-track fight for the Swede, while Ilir Latifi gets a shot at high-level competition as he takes on Ryan Bader.
After that, however, the quality of the card drops off drastically. The matchups are fun, especially a bantamweight fight between Brazil’s Leandro Issa and rising Frenchman Taylor Lapilus, but there’s nothing that much affects the top of any division.
Let’s take a look at each matchup.