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UFC 218: Holloway vs. Aldo 2 Odds, Tickets, Predictions and Pre-Weigh-in Hype

Jose Aldo will have the opportunity to win back his UFC featherweight championship this Saturday, when he and the incumbent Max Holloway clash in a much-anticipated rematch at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan.
“Blessed” Holloway shocked Rio de…

“Blessed” Holloway shocked Rio de Janeiro when he stripped Aldo of the title in his own Brazilian backyard at UFC 212 in June, and the promotion recently advertised a stacked fight card ahead of their second successive showdown:

Aldo gathered an early head of steam in the first meeting between these two fighters, but it was Holloway who finished the stronger of the two and collected a TKO victory via punches to unify the featherweight belts.

Now a fully fledged title holder in the UFC, this will be the Waianae, Hawaii, native’s first test defending his strap, and the competition doesn’t get much higher.

The ceremonial UFC 218 weigh-in will take place at Little Caesars Arena at 6 p.m. ET (11 p.m. GMT), and we provide all the hype leading up to that event, complete with fight prediction and preview.

Tickets for UFC 218 can be purchased via StubHub.com.

Preview

Saturday’s matchup will pit undoubtedly the two best fighters in the featherweight division against one another after Aldo stepped up to replace the injured Frankie Edgar in the headline spot.

An unexpected recall to the title slot offers the South American icon a gifted opportunity to reclaim what he lost at UFC 212, but MMA writer Mike Bohn recently pointed to evidence a victory may be difficult for him to come by:

Throughout his rise to the top of the featherweight ladder, Holloway has exuded a calm but motivated demeanour, symbolic of his Hawaiian roots, but the pressure of defending as champion can often change a fighter.

However, Fox Sports: UFC provided footage from the most recent UFC 218 Embedded vlog series, suggesting the addition of a belt hasn’t altered the man wearing it in the buildup to his first defence:

Aldo, the longest-reigning featherweight champion in the promotion’s history, will look to immediately dethrone Holloway, a rising superstar of the sport.

Max Holloway Keeps the Blessed Era Alive

To say Holloway had a slow start in Rio de Janeiro a little more than five months ago would be an understatement as he absorbed blows from Aldo that could well have finished a lesser competitor.

The fact he was able to wade through those was a testament to his chin, but former UFC fighter Dan Hardy and presenter John Gooden recently discussed how the kicking game could be more telling this time around in the latest Inside the Octagon:

It’s important to note Aldo, 31, has never lost successive fights or a rematch in his career and many expect him to be a hungrier beast this time around.

Blessed bounced back from a sloppy start to take the belt in June, and MMA Junkie’s George Garcia predicted an almost-identical outcome in the second clash:

Although his fight IQ nods to a more experienced veteran, 18-3 Holloway is six years Aldo’s younger and will likely have an advantage in areas such as stamina and speed, not to mention he’s already faced the Brazilian’s worst.

The fact Aldo has taken the fight on shorter notice than his previously scheduled bout with Ricardo Lamas also won’t help his cause. And if he can’t finish the fight, one gets the sense Holloway—who has gone the distance only three times while amassing an 11-fight win streak—will.

Prediction: Holloway to Win via TKO (punches)

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UFC Fight Night 122 Predictions: Bleacher Report Main Card Staff Picks

Set your alarm clocks and prepare for the fun.
Beginning at 3:45 a.m. ET on Saturday, November 25, UFC Fight Night 122 is the UFC’s debut in mainland China. That in itself makes this an interesting event, even if the brightest stars are the ones still …

Set your alarm clocks and prepare for the fun.

Beginning at 3:45 a.m. ET on Saturday, November 25, UFC Fight Night 122 is the UFC’s debut in mainland China. That in itself makes this an interesting event, even if the brightest stars are the ones still in the night sky.

Michael Bisping is easily the biggest name on a pretty pedestrian card. Three whole weeks after losing his middleweight title to Georges St-Pierre, Bisping stepped up to take on Kelvin Gastelum after Anderson Silva failed a(nother) drug test. It was an admirable move, and we’ll see how it plays out for a 38-year-old fighter who openly acknowledges the end is in sight.

The four-fight main card—which, like the rest of the card, airs exclusively on the UFC Fight Pass streaming service—does carry other intrigue, including a co-main event featuring China’s pre-eminent fighter.

Take this opportunity to get acquainted with the eight main card competitors with our staff picks from Nathan McCarter, Craig “Cookie” Amos, Steven Rondina and myself, Scott Harris. Let’s get it on.

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UFC Fight Night 122 Preview: 3 Can’t-Miss Fights from Shanghai Fight Card

Oh, man. Do I really have to pick three? Outside of Michael Bisping, the most notable aspect of UFC Fight Night 122 is its location. After quite a few years of trying, the UFC has finally touched down on mainland China.
MMA continues to face an uphill …

MMA continues to face an uphill cultural battle as it rolls into Shanghai. Martial arts intertwines with many aspects of Chinese history and identity, but they’re viewed as something akin to a gentleman’s pursuit—far more figurative in nature than the literal blood and bone of modern combat sports.

And yet, it’s still a martial arts hotbed, making it a desirable and sensible market for the UFC to pursue. Oh, and the fact that there are 1.4 billion people there, powering the world’s second-largest economy, well, that probably doesn’t dampen enthusiasm.

So that’s very interesting. What’s less interesting is the card itself, dotted with local fighters who don’t pack tons of heat for most fans.

But come on. This is MMA. There are always a few nuggets to be found. Just prepare to have your resolve tested—the entire card airs Saturday on UFC Fight Pass beginning at 3:45 am Eastern time. On to the fights.

Middleweight

Michael Bisping (30-8) vs. Kelvin Gastelum (13-3)

Odds courtesy of Oddshark: Gastelum -310

Airs on: UFC Fight Pass

Welcome to the second leg of the Michael Bisping Retirement Tour. A week after Georges St-Pierre grabbed his middleweight title at UFC 217, Bisping rescued this main event from Anderson Silva‘s failed drug test.

The way he’s presenting it, as reported by MMAWeekly’s Damon Martin, this fight is a chance to sightsee, eat “real” Chinese food and grab one more paycheck before his purported swan song in March, when the UFC returns to London. He has planned retirements before, and he’s still here, but this is the plan as of now.

In the meantime, it’s not so much that he’s complacent about this fight, it’s that he doesn’t seem overly troubled by the outcome either way. If that’s really how he feels, Kelvin Gastelum could eat his lunch.

Gastelum is quicker and more nimble than he looks. That weight cut he used to try (and fail) as a welterweight is behind him. He doesn’t get tired, and he hits hard.

Bisping will have height and reach advantages, so he’ll need to keep Gastelum on the outside, stay on his horse to avoid the pressure and hope he can snipe him down. Otherwise he could be facing the prospect of closing his career on a three-fight losing streak.

Welterweight

Li Jingliang (13-4) vs. Zak Ottow (15-4)

Odds: Jingliang -172

Airs on: UFC Fight Pass

Li Jingliang is the best MMA fighter in China, and UFC brass want to showcase him on this card. He’s skilled everywhere and thrives in a brawl or a scramble on the ground.

Jingliang is a high-octane fighter with the solid chin to keep him in the action. “The Leech” is a strong wrestler and grappler always looking for a finish. The guillotine choke is a specialty. His last two efforts, both victories, netted him Fight of the Night honors.

Ottow is a tough out for anyone. He’s a wrestler more than anything else and has difficulty fighting off his back. He can land strikes from range but nothing that’s going to shut anyone’s lights out.

Ottow‘s output comes and goes, and he tends to fight close fights. He’ll need something big here to sway the judges, who will probably be inclined toward the hometown hero.

Since Ottow doesn’t have exceptional power, he may need to beat Jingliang to the punch during a scramble and work for a fight-ending choke before it happens to him.

Featherweight

Zabit Magomedsharipov (13-1) vs. Sheymon Moraes (9-1)

Odds: Magomedsharipov -405

Airs on: UFC Fight Pass

Here’s your favorite for Fight of the Night. These are two sensational prospects who know how to put on a show.

Zabit Magomedsharipov announced his UFC presence with authority in September, logging a bonus-winning chokeout in his debut for the company and even throwing in an Anthony Pettis-style kick off the cage wall.

The Dagestani super prospect is in China on a short turnaround and is favored to make it two-for-two.

He’s a striker. He wants to take your head off from long distance. A rangy fighter, Magomedsharipov uses that lankiness to his advantage with kicks from the perimeter. When they make impact, his strikes carry a serious charge, and he can throw them with speed and creativity.

Moraes came to the UFC after a powerful run with World Series of Fighting. His only loss came to Marlon Moraes, who is currently chewing his way through the UFC bantamweight division.

Moraes is a converted muay thai fighter and is just as uninterested in the ground as Magomedsharipov. (If anyone’s going to go for a change-of-pace takedown, it would probably be Magomedsharipov, as Moraes‘ defensive wrestling is pretty suspect.) As long as the action remains upright, Moraes always has a chance to close the curtain.

Someone’s losing some shine on their blue chip. It’s a testament to the Dagestani that he’s such a robust favorite despite Moraes‘ record and skill set. There could be some brilliant exchanges here, but if things get hairy for Magomedsharipov, he may have more options to address it.

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UFC Fight Night 121 Predictions: Main Card Staff Picks

The UFC continues its race to the end of 2017 when it brings the Octagon to the Land Down Under this Saturday, November 18, for UFC Fight Night 121. The card features a strong Australian presence, with six nationals populating the show’s main card…

Aussies Bec Rawlings and Jessica-Rose Clark will battle it out in the co-main event. Rawlings enters the bout coming off a pair of losses, putting her in a desperate need of a victory. Promotional newcomer Clark brings a 7-4 pro record into her debut and will look to make an early impression on fans by forcing a surprising result.

The main event pits heavyweights Fabricio Werdum and Marcin Tybura head-to-head. Werdum, a former champion, is looking to build off an October win over Walt Harris to reinvigorate his championship prospects.

Tybura, meanwhile, enters the fray riding a three-fight win streak, looking to cement himself as a divisional contender.

The UFC Fight Night 121 main card looks like this:

Fabricio Werdum vs. Marcin Tybura
Bec Rawlings vs. Jessica-Rose Clark
Tim Means vs. Belal Muhammad
Jake Matthews vs. Bojan Velickovic
Elias Theodorou vs. Daniel Kelly
Alexander Volkanovski vs. Shane Young

As usual, the Bleacher Report picks team has graciously provided you with insight and prognostications. Read on for calls from Scott Harris, Nathan McCarter, Steven Rondina and Craig Amos.

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UFC Fight Night 121 Preview: 3 Can’t-Miss Fights from Sydney Fight Card

If you come from a land down under, where fighting men throw thunder, you better get ready to be torn asunder. You better run. You better take cover.
I spent three hours writing that.
But it’s the best lead I’ve ever written, so it’s time well spent. W…

If you come from a land down under, where fighting men throw thunder, you better get ready to be torn asunder. You better run. You better take cover.

I spent three hours writing that.

But it’s the best lead I’ve ever written, so it’s time well spent. What else will be time well spent? Your time, this Saturday, watching UFC Fight Night 121, going down from fair Sydney, the jewel of Australia.

Well, maybe. As you know, I’m not a spin doctor. And this is not a good card. Injuries danced their terrible dance and now we’re left with a depleted slate.

In the main event, heavyweight contender Fabricio Werdum takes a short turnaround, facing Pole Marcin Tybura just six weeks after a first-round dismantling of last-second fill-in Walt Harris. As you might imagine, Werdum is a heavy favorite.

So that’s the main event. The rest of the card, well, it’s downhill from there. Not all is lost, though. Here are three fights you shouldn’t miss.

Welterweight

Tim Means (27-8-1) vs. Belal Muhammad (12-2)

Odds: Hill -215 Means

Airs on: Fox Sports 1

Unless your name is Matt Brown, you’re not going to win a brawl with Tim Means. Muhammad will try to push forward and pressure on lankier Means, but that’s a tall order.

If Muhammad can close the distance, he can land takedowns and make this a fight. If he charges too recklessly and into Means’ muay thai, he’s a done dada.

Either way, watching him try it could be the most interesting struggle of this card.

Lightweight

Will Brooks (18-3) vs. Nik Lentz (27-8-2)

Odds: Brooks -510

Airs on: Fox Sports 1

This is Will Brooks’ chance to re-establish himself in the lightweight division. Doing it against a long-running villain in Nik Lentz makes the opportunity that much sweeter.

Brooks has a unique game, throwing kicks from long range to set up double-leg takedowns. Lentz is a brawler who can make this fun but as a guy who spent a good amount of time at featherweight, he’ll be surrendering serious size. His game is also not nearly as well-rounded as Brooks. We’ll see if his outspoken internet trolling can help him against Brooks, a motivated competitor looking to regain the championship form he found in Bellator.

Lightweight

Frank Camacho (20-5) vs. Damien Brown (17-10)

Odds: Camacho -130

Airs on: Fox Sports 1

Brown is 2-2 in the UFC but has looked pretty good in each contest. Brown is dogged and determined, as evidenced by his 2016 out-grinding of Jon Tuck. He’s always working, always reaching for the finish and always seeming to withstand the other guy’s toughest shot.

He’ll need to do it again vs. Camacho, a former Pacific Xtreme Combat champ with 15 knockouts to his name. His hands are heavy, but his gas tank may be shallow. If he can find the early knockout, that would likely be ideal. Easier said than done.

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UFC Fight Night 120 Preview: 3 Can’t-Miss Fights from Norfolk Fight Card

Hungover from UFC 217? Eat a greasy hamburger, drink a sports beverage, hit the sauna and get your head back in the game. UFC Fight Night 120 happens Saturday, and the company’s first event to Norfolk, Virginia, comes packed with dynamite.
There are no…

There are no title fights on the card. Only five of the 12 main-card fighters appear in the UFC’s official rankings (for the loaded UFC 217, it was eight of 10).

So sluggishness is understandable, and I would stop short of calling this essential viewing. But if you are a fight fan, there’s a good chance you are going to be entertained. The 13-fight slate is packed with action fighters and mouthwatering matchups. Here are the three bouts you can’t miss.

For the sake of variety, we will look past the main event of Dustin Poirier vs. Anthony Pettis. That should be a great fight, but it’s no fun to pick the main event.

Strawweight

Angela Hill (7-3) vs. Nina Ansaroff (7-5)

Odds: Hill -188 (wager $188 to win $100)

Airs on: Fox Sports 1

Former Invicta strawweight champ and The Ultimate Fighter competitor Angela Hill is looking for her second straight win in her second UFC run. Her first fight back was a loss but earned Fight of the Night honors against top contender Jessica Andrade.

Hill brings her hyperathletic muay thai to bear against Nina Ansaroff’s kickboxing. Neither of these fighters is exceptionally interested in the ground, though if anyone’s going to take it there, it’s Ansaroff. But if it goes true to form, this fight will be a striking battle. And that striking battle will be downright pyrotechnic.

Welterweight

Matt Brown (20-16) vs. Diego Sanchez (27-10)

Odds: Brown -315 (wager $315 to win $100)

Airs on: Fox Sports 1

This is as much of a no-brainer as the main event. Perhaps more so. There is zero chance this plays out as anything other than a slugfest.

Matt Brown’s American muay thai is one of the more rugged offensive attacks in UFC welterweight history. He has put away good fighters time and again in his career—with extreme prejudice.

Diego Sanchez is one of the greatest berserkers the UFC has ever seen, in any division. At one time known for power wrestling, Sanchez has turned into an unabashed brawler, known and loved for his blood-soaked abandon in the cage and his, uh, colorful lifestyle outside it.

Both of these men badly need a win to get back on top. Brown is 36 and Sanchez 35, but given their styles, they have both aged beyond their years. Brown is a substantial favorite, but Sanchez won’t give an inch. That’s the attitude fans love and fear.

Bantamweight

Marlon Moraes (18-5-1) vs. John Dodson (19-8)

Odds: Dodson/Moraes -110 (wager $110 to win $100)

Airs on: Fox Sports 1

Here’s a hidden gem for the prelim watchers. During his entire five-year UFC tenure, Jackson-Winkeljohn product John Dodson has lost to two men. One of those men is flyweight champ and reigning pound-for-pound king Demetrious Johnson, who beat him twice, hence Dodson’s reappearance at bantamweight.

Dodson remains incredibly athletic, lightning-quick in his movements and packing river stones for a left hand. He’s no stranger to the ground or the clinch, either.

Marlon Moraes has good jiu-jitsu, but his real stock-in-trade is muay thai. He loves to wear people down with strikes from the clinch and chew them up in open space. He’s not a power striker, but he will slice opponents open and leave them in tatters. If Dodson can’t get in on the taller Moraes and land that big left flush, he may be in for a long night with the savvy, well-rounded Brazilian.

Odds accurate as of Tuesday and according to OddsShark.

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