The UFC 215 fight card has experienced some shakeups, but the Edmonton, Alberta crowd at Rogers Place will still be treated to the culmination of a bitter rivalry in the Amanda Nunes-Valentina Shevchenko main event.
The pay-per-view was supposed to be anchored by Demetrious Johnson going for 11th consecutive title defense in the flyweight division. However, opponent Ray Borg was forced to withdraw from the bout due to an illness, per Brett Okamoto of ESPN.
In addition to the loss of the heavyweight clash between Francis Ngannou and Junior dos Santos due to a potential doping violation for JDS, the card has taken a considerable hit.
There’s still some fights worth getting excited about, though. The women’s bantamweight title rematch should be a fun bout, former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos is continuing his welterweight campaign and Gilbert Melendez will make his featherweight debut.
Here’s a look at the main card along with the latest odds from OddsShark and a closer look at some of the biggest fights on this card.
Main Card
- Amanda Nunes (EVEN) vs. Valentina Shevchenko (-130) for the women’s bantamweight championship
- Rafael dos Anjos (-175) vs. Neil Magny (+145) welterweight bout
- Henry Cejudo (-325) vs. Wilson Reis (+250) flyweight bout
- Ilir Latifi (-105) vs. Tyson Pedro (-125) light heavyweight bout
- Jeremy Stephens (-115) vs. Gilbert Melendez (-115) featherweight bout
Note: All odds are in moneyline form. For instance, -900 means that a bettor would have to bet $900 dollars to win $100.
Amanda Nunes vs. Valentina Shevchenko
The Nunes vs. Shevchenko matchup has high expectations to be a good one. Carrying a card that has been through the ringer, the hope is that they’ll close out the night with an action fight.
Gilbert Melendez—who knows a thing or two about action fights—believes that the championship fight is his main competition for Fight of the Night.
“I believe Valentina will become stronger and more dominant as it goes along. Amanda Nunes really lets those hands go and I think she’s getting very good at her striking,” Melendez said, breaking down the fight per Dave Doyle of MMA Fighting. I didn’t give her that much credit earlier, but she’s really blossomed, I have to say if [Melendez and opponent Jeremy Stephens] don’t get Fight of the Night, they probably will.”
It’s hard to argue with Melendez’s logic. Nunes is a quick starter who will look for the early finish. She has finished 11 of her 14 wins inside the first round so she’ll look to press right away.
If Shevchenko can survive that initial onslaught we are in for a war, though. In the first fight Nunes had just enough gas left in the second round to earn the first two rounds on the judges’ scorecard.
By the third, she was hanging on to win the decision. Shevchenko dominated the third round in such a way that it’s hard not to see her once again dominating the later rounds.
With the title fight going five rounds, that leaves Shevchenko with three rounds to work with if she happens to drop the first two again to the champion. That’s plenty of time to complete the comeback this time around.
Prediction: Shevchenko via decision
Henry Cejudo vs. Wilson Reis
Because Demetrious Johnson’s latest title defense was taken off the main card, a battle between two of the champions former challengers was promoted to the pay-per-view. Henry Cejudo and Wilson Reis will square off in a fight that could determine who gets a shot at redemption against the champion.
Johnson is to the point now where the division is all but cleaned out so rematches could be the next phase of his title reign. Cejudo figured to be one of Johnson’s toughest outs, but Mighty Mouse ended the fight early with brutal knees in the clinch.
That performance was a bit of an aberration for both Johnson and Cejudo. Mighty Mouse isn’t generally the kind of striker that ends fights in the first round and Cejudo scored an early takedown, but wasn’t able to maintain top position.
Reis lasted longer in his bout with the champion, but was more thoroughly dominated. Where Cejudo at least scored a takedown and showed glimpses of competing, Reis was outlanded 108-16 in significant strikes, per FightMetric before succumbing to a third-round submission.
Still, Reis feels that his grappling chops are in line with Cejudo and it will be a big part of his gameplan on Saturday night.
“I have an aggressive wrestling style, too,” Reis said, per FloCombat. “I like to take people down. I’m looking for an opportunity all the time, so, just because he is an Olympic champion, I will not take that part of my game out of my strategy. I believe very much in my takedown abilities, so I will fully rely on my wrestling and jiu-jitsu against him.”
That might not be the best idea. Cejudo is an Olympic gold medalist level wrestler and he has transitioned that discipline well into his MMA repertoire.
Reis is an accomplished grappler, but he’s been taken down in losses to Jussier Formiga and Iuri Alcantara. It should be more of the same here as Cejudo proves too powerful for the Brazilian.
Prediction: Cejudo via third-round TKO
Jeremy Stephens vs. Gilbert Melendez
The people’s main event on Saturday might just be the featherweight bout between division mainstay Jeremy Stephens and debutante Gilbert Melendez.
After a run at lightweight that included a Strikeforce championship and two shots at the UFC strap, El Nino will make the move down to 145 pounds. Greeting him will be a fighter in Stephens who has taken on the best of the best in the division.
Stephens is far from elite at this stage in his career. He’s just 2-5 in his last seven fights. But he’s always a scrappy challenge, having three Knockout of the Night and three Fight of the Night honors to his name.
There’ll be plenty of motivation to do well, too. After all, the man postponed his wedding to take the fight.
“I got the call and I said, ‘alright, who’s the opponent?’, Stephens said, per Dave Doyle of MMA Fighting. “They said ‘Gilbert Melendez,’ and I said ‘hang on, let me call my fiancee real quick’ and see if she’s willing to do it.”
Stephens decision might just pay off in this case. Melendez hasn’t been impressive of late either. He’s on a three-fight losing streak and is just 1-3 since coming over to the UFC from Strikeforce in 2013.
At this point, this fight comes down to which fighter has more left of their prime. The 31-year-old Stephens might just have the advantage in that category over the 35-year-old Melendez.
Expect the motivated Stephens to edge out Melendez in a fight that should feature plenty of action.
Prediction: Stephens via decision
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