Even if you aren’t into the return of Jon Jones against Ovince Saint Preux, there’s plenty to take in at UFC 197.
For starters, one of the UFC’s most dominant champions will take on one of the few legitimate threats in his weight division. Demetrious Johnson takes on a game opponent in Henry Cejudo in a bout that would officially see him clean out the flyweight division if he emerges victorious.
Then there’s the matter of the lightweight showdown between Edson Barboza and Anthony Pettis. Both have recently come up short in their last bouts, but both are at the top of the list when it comes to entertainment value.
Here’s a look at the complete list of fights, along with some predictions for the biggest fights of the night.
Live Stream: UFC.tv
Biggest Fights to Watch
Anthony Pettis Gets Back on Track
Believe it or not, you only have to go back to December 2014 to find Anthony Pettis last title defense at lightweight. For a time, it seemed like he was the next big thing in the weight class.
Then Rafael dos Anjos happened. RDA mauled Pettis for five rounds, and Showtime lost his belt.
Things didn’t get much better for the former champion in a rebound fight against Eddie Alvarez. He dropped a split decision in the fight and was taken down six times.
Combined with the nine takedowns allowed in his fight against Dos Anjos, that’s a 15-0 takedown disparity in his last two fights.
Defending takedowns won’t be a priority this time around, though. Barboza only averages .65 takedowns per 15 minutes, according to FightMetric.
This fight should turn into a glorified kickboxing match, and that should give Pettis an opportunity to get back in the win column. Pettis was already one of the best strikers in the division. Now he’s added time with Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn to his training regimen.
It’s a move that he feels has paid big dividends already, per Damon Martin of Fox Sports:
I just felt like it was a good decision. I trained for three days and it was the best decision I’ve made. Nothing away from Duke. Duke’s an amazing coach and will always be my coach but having bodies like that and training partners like that and the mindset of Greg Jackson and Israel Martinez and there’s four jiu-jitsu coaches, four wrestling coaches, it’s just so much information that I can get.
Barboza is a legit threat to Pettis. He picked up a loss in his last fight, against Tony Ferguson, but he has real knockout power and the ability to outpoint other strikers from distance.
Demetrious Johnson Proves too Crafty for Henry Cejudo
Regardless of how you feel about Demetrious Johnson’s fighting style, there are few champions who have dominated their division like Mighty Mouse.
The 29-year-old has never lost a fight as a UFC flyweight and holds wins over the majority of the fighters in the rankings. The one challenge that remains is Cejudo.
Cejudo and Mighty Mouse are both 29 years old, but as Reed Kuhn of Fightnomics notes, the difference in MMA experience is much more vast:
Cejudo has an exciting set of tools that has led to his 10-0 record in MMA. He obviously has wrestling chops, but his striking has come a long way as well. He will be one of the most explosive athletes Johnson has seen, and that includes athletic fighters such as Dominick Cruz and John Dodson.
Raw athleticism and explosiveness can only take a fighter so far, though. Cejudo should have some moments in this fight, especially early on.
But few fighters are better at adapting on the fly and finding ways to beat their opponents than Johnson. Expect him to make the right adjustments and pull out a decision as the gap gets wider in the later rounds.
Jon Jones Returns with Authority Against Ovince Saint Preux
This fight isn’t designed to be competitive. It’s simply the stage for Jon Jones to remind everyone just how good he is after 15 months away from the Octagon.
Sure, OSP’s 80″ reach and athleticism make him an interesting opponent in some ways. But then you look at his loss to Glover Teixeira just one fight ago and realize these two are nowhere close to being on the same level in terms of skill.
Saint Preux’s athleticism and ability to catch opponents napping with his unorthodox southpaw style makes him dangerous. Jon Jones’ ability to dismantle former champions, as he has shown throughout his career, minimizes that risk.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this fight is what it means for UFC 200. The highly anticipated event is without a main event. Dana White says that a rematch between Jones and Daniel Cormier for the light heavyweight championship is a possibility, per the UFC:
That all of a sudden makes this fight mean something. In addition to the interim belt, Jones could secure his spot as the headliner for a historic UFC card. A stunning loss and the mystery as to who will headline that card becomes even more murky.
That’s just another reason to tune in when Bones returns at UFC 197.
All statistics per FightMetric unless otherwise noted.
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