UFC flyweight champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson versus upstart challenger Kyoji Horiguchi isn’t the fight the globe expected at UFC 186, but it’s one fans won’t want to miss either way.
Remember, UFC bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw and Renan Barao was the original main event before the former pulled out due to injury. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson had a fair share of controversy around his fight, too.
Alas, Saturday marks the arrival of an underrated card quite important to the sport. The main event features one of the Octagon’s most dominant champions and one of its next biggest stars.
Even better, underrated fights line the card.
Where: Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec
When: Saturday, April 25
Start Time: UFC Fight Pass prelims start at 6:30 p.m. ET; Fox Sports 1 preliminary card starts at 8 p.m. ET; main pay-per-view card starts at 10 p.m. ET
Watch: Pay-per-view
Live Stream: UFC.TV; Fox Sports Go (preliminary card)
UFC 186 Viewing Information and Predictions
Underrated Bouts to Watch
Yves Jabouin vs. Thomas Almeida
Horiguchi is a young upcoming star fans would be wise to remember no matter the main event’s result.
Yet he still pales in comparison to Thomas Almeida, a 23-year-old prospect with an undefeated record in 18 bouts. Saturday is his second UFC bout, the first being a decision triumph over Tim Gorman on UFC Fight Night back in November.
Almeida is an elite striker when upright. According to UFC.com he lands a superb eight significant strikes per minute on 55.3 percent accuracy. By comparison, his opponent, Yves Jabouin, lands 3.07 at 41.32 percent.
Granted, Almeida can play the submission game well, too, with four of his wins coming via such a route, two by armbar.
Jabouin isn’t a slouch by any means, but this fight seems set by the promotion to help Almeida pave his way to the top. The 35-year-old veteran is susceptible to taking one on the chin and staying down, a reputation heightened in recent years with two losses in his last four outings, one a technical knockout and the other a knockout.
Look for Almeida to come out aggressive and capitalize on this weakness en route to a career-boosting win.
No. 10 Michael Bisping vs. No. 11 CB Dollaway
At first glance, a bout between two men over the age of 30, both coming off losses, does not seem the most exciting thing in the world.
But when Michael Bisping and CB Dollaway step into the Octagon Saturday night, there is much more at stake than a losing skid in the middleweight division. For the former, now 36 years old, time is running out to make a run.
He seems to understand as much, as he told FoxSports.com’s Damon Martin:
Obviously my back’s up against the wall. I thought I was going to win the (Luke) Rockhold fight. I thought I did well in the first round, but we clashed heads — I call it a head butt, the referee calls it a clash of heads, the fact of the matter was it was pissing blood into my eye and I couldn’t really see much after that.
Bisping was last seen tapping out against Luke Rockhold, making him a loser in four of his last seven.
It’s a serious issue considering the fact Dollaway is an elite wrestler who averages 3.8 takedowns on 54.72 percent accuracy. For comparison’s sake, Bisping defends 62.5 percent of his takedowns, but doesn’t do much when on the mat, having never scored a submission win in the promotion.
To be fair, Dollaway enters Saturday off a loss against Lyoto Machida by TKO. He may want to gain some respect back and exchange blows with a proven striker, but as soon as things get dicey, he won’t have any qualms about taking things to the mat and finishing them.
Dollaway needs the fight more. Expect it to show Saturday.
Stats and info via UFC.com, unless otherwise specified.
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