Dong Hyun Kim and Tarec Saffiedine filled in a main card slot for UFC 207 when Cain Velasquez was forced to pull out of his heavyweight bout with Fabricio Werdum. It was a big opportunity for both men to shine on the final Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event of 2016.
The fight wasn’t exactly thrilling and Kim admitted it when speaking to the media backstage:
“I wanted to have a more exciting fight. I wanted to go for a ‘Fight of the Night’ performance, but he had a great clinch game.”
“The Stun Gun” fought “Sponge” for three grueling rounds. When the score totals were read, Kim was awarded the split decision victory. Many media members felt Saffiedine had done enough to edge it out. Kim believes his pressure is what got him the nod.
“I feel that he won the first round [and] I won the second round. During the third round, I had better Octagon pressure and I took him down a couple of times. I think pressure and takedowns sealed the fight.”
Kim was asked about the gameplan going into his final bout of 2016. The South Korean fighter said the focus of his training was working on applying pressure on the feet and being wary of tie-ups.
“We knew Tarec has great takedown defense, so we prepared every little detail in the stand-up. We also prepared takedowns in a clinch situation, but he had a really good clinch game too so it was really hard to take him down.”
Going into the bout, Kim said he wasn’t impressed by Saffiedine’s performances inside the Octagon. “The Stun Gun” said there was one area “Sponge” was weaker than he anticipated, but one where he was stronger as well.
“His stand-up wasn’t as good as I thought, but his clinch game was a lot better than I thought.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLv6OqvRjkQ
Dong Hyun Kim and Tarec Saffiedine filled in a main card slot for UFC 207 when Cain Velasquez was forced to pull out of his heavyweight bout with Fabricio Werdum. It was a big opportunity for both men to shine on the final Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event of 2016.
The fight wasn’t exactly thrilling and Kim admitted it when speaking to the media backstage:
“I wanted to have a more exciting fight. I wanted to go for a ‘Fight of the Night’ performance, but he had a great clinch game.”
“The Stun Gun” fought “Sponge” for three grueling rounds. When the score totals were read, Kim was awarded the split decision victory. Many media members felt Saffiedine had done enough to edge it out. Kim believes his pressure is what got him the nod.
“I feel that he won the first round [and] I won the second round. During the third round, I had better Octagon pressure and I took him down a couple of times. I think pressure and takedowns sealed the fight.”
Kim was asked about the gameplan going into his final bout of 2016. The South Korean fighter said the focus of his training was working on applying pressure on the feet and being wary of tie-ups.
“We knew Tarec has great takedown defense, so we prepared every little detail in the stand-up. We also prepared takedowns in a clinch situation, but he had a really good clinch game too so it was really hard to take him down.”
Going into the bout, Kim said he wasn’t impressed by Saffiedine’s performances inside the Octagon. “The Stun Gun” said there was one area “Sponge” was weaker than he anticipated, but one where he was stronger as well.
“His stand-up wasn’t as good as I thought, but his clinch game was a lot better than I thought.”
With an open slot available, the UFC has moved welterweights Tarec Saffiedine and Dong Hyun Kim to Friday night’s UFC 207 main card.
The bout will be the second on the pay-per-view port…
With an open slot available, the UFC has moved welterweights Tarec Saffiedine and Dong Hyun Kim to Friday night’s UFC 207 main card.
The bout will be the second on the pay-per-view portion of the program from Las Vegas. It replaces a heavyweight contest between Fabricio Werdum and Cain Velasquez that was removed after the Nevada Athletic Commission deemed Velasquez unfit to compete.
With that fight moving up off the FOX Sports 1 prelims, Brandon Thatch and Niko Price were given the televised spot off the UFC Fight Pass prelims.
Below is the updated fight card:
MAIN CARD (PPV, 10 p.m. ET)
Amanda Nunes (c) vs. Ronda Rousey for UFC female bantamweight title
Dominick Cruz (c) vs. Cody Garbrandt for UFC bantamweight title
T.J. Dillashaw vs. John Lineker
Dong Hyun Kim vs. Tarec Saffiedine
Ray Borg vs. Louis Smolka
PRELIMINARY CARD (FS1, 8 p.m. ET)
Johny Hendricks vs. Neil Magny
Antonio Carlos Junior vs. Marvin Vettori
Alex Garcia vs. Mike Pyle
Niko Price vs. Brandon Thatch
If you were worried the main card of UFC 207 would only feature four fights, rest easy. Today (Dec. 26) the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) announced that a welterweight clash between Dong Hyun Kim (21-3-1, 1 NC) and Tarec Saffiedine (16-5) has moved up to the pay-per-view (PPV) slot. “Sponge” was originally set to meet
If you were worried the main card of UFC 207 would only feature four fights, rest easy. Today (Dec. 26) the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) announced that a welterweight clash between Dong Hyun Kim (21-3-1, 1 NC) and Tarec Saffiedine (16-5) has moved up to the pay-per-view (PPV) slot.
“Sponge” was originally set to meet Matt Brown on the Las Vegas card, but “The Immortal” stepped in to fight Donald Cerrone at UFC 206. “Stun Gun” replaced Brown and was expected to meet Saffiedine on the FOX Sports 1 (FS1) prelims.
“Stun Gun” has competed inside the Octagon 15 times. He has only lost three of those bouts. The defeats came at the hands of Carlos Condit, Demian Maia, and current welterweight champion Tyron Woodley.
Saffiedine is 2-2 in the UFC. The last Strikeforce welterweight champion has earned unanimous decision wins over Hyun Gyu Lim and Jake Ellenberger. A TKO loss to Rory MacDonald and a decision defeat to Rick Story has pushed “Sponge” back a bit. He’ll look to get back on track this Friday night (Dec. 30).
In addition, Brandon Thatch’s (11-4) bout with undefeated Niko Price (8-0) has also been moved up. The bout was going to air on UFC Fight Pass, but now it’ll be featured on the FS1 prelims.
UFC 207 officially starts at 7:30 p.m. ET with the Fight Pass prelims. The action moves to FS1 at 8 p.m. before airing live on PPV at 10 p.m. Stick with LowkickMMA.com for live coverage of the event.
Former Strikeforce champion Tarec Saffiedine will now meet Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 207, the promotion announced recently.
Saffiedine was scheduled to face Matt Brown, but officials moved B…
Former Strikeforce champion Tarec Saffiedine will now meet Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 207, the promotion announced recently.
Saffiedine was scheduled to face Matt Brown, but officials moved Brown to a matchup with Donald Cerrone at UFC 206 instead. The card takes place December 30 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Following a series of injuries, Saffiedine (16-5) looks to stay relevant in the ever-crowded welterweight division with a win over Kim (21-3-1). Through four fights, Saffiedine has gone an even 2-2 with the UFC, including a recent loss to Rick Story.
Kim, meanwhile, sports a stellar 12-3 career mark inside the Octagon. He was scheduled to headline UFC Fight Night 99 this weekend vs. Gunnar Nelson before the bout was canceled.
UFC 207 features Ronda Rousey vs. Amanda Nunes for the female bantamweight title, along with Cody Garbrandt vs. Dominick Cruz for the bantamweight belt.
Two new bouts have been added to UFC 207, which is slowly coming along as one of the best cards of the year. A welterweight bout between Johny Hendricks and Neil Magny as well as Matt Brown vs. Tarec Saffiedine also in a welterweight bout are set for the upcoming event. Hendricks (17-5) is currently
Two new bouts have been added to UFC 207, which is slowly coming along as one of the best cards of the year.
A welterweight bout between Johny Hendricks and Neil Magny as well as Matt Brown vs. Tarec Saffiedine also in a welterweight bout are set for the upcoming event.
Hendricks (17-5) is currently on a two fight losing streak and is coming off a loss to Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 200 by decision. He is 3-3 in his six bouts. Saffiedine (18-5) is 3-1 in his last four bouts and was on a three fight winning streak before losing to Lorenz Larkin at UFC 202 by TKO in his last bout.
Brown (20-15) will be looking to snap a two fight losing streak after losing two to Demian Maia at UFC 198 by submission and Jake Ellenberger at UFC 201 by TKO. Saffiedine (16-5) has lost two of his last three UFC fights and is coming off a decision loss to Rick Story in May of this year.
UFC 207 takes place on December 30th at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The prelims will air on UFC Fight Pass and FOX Sports 1 while the main card will air on pay-per-view event. This event will be headlined by the return of Ronda Rousey against newly-crowned women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes. Here is the updated card for the event:
* Champion Amanda Nunes vs. Ronda Rousey – for women’s bantamweight title
‘Sin City’ was on fire yesterday, and it wasn’t because of the action going down in the casinos. UFC Fight Night 88 ran through Las Vegas last night and it was a fun evening for fight fans nationwide. The card featured some spectacular bouts that proved to be a huge night for the underdogs, as seven
‘Sin City’ was on fire yesterday, and it wasn’t because of the action going down in the casinos.
UFC Fight Night 88 ran through Las Vegas last night and it was a fun evening for fight fans nationwide. The card featured some spectacular bouts that proved to be a huge night for the underdogs, as seven of them took home the victory Sunday night.
Undefeated records were snapped, potential title contenders emerged, UFC debuts were spoiled, and fighters returning off injury let us know that they are still relevant in the deep divisions the UFC has to offer.
We have a lot run through fight fans so with that being said, lets take a look at the five biggest takeaways from UFC Fight Night 88…
