UFC 209 is here, and it goes down tonight (Saturday, March 4, 2017) from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. There will be three preliminary bouts airing on UFC Fight Pass at 6:30 p.m. ET while the rest of the prelims will air on FOX Sports 1 8 p.m. ET. The main card will
UFC 209 is here, and it goes down tonight (Saturday, March 4, 2017) from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. There will be three preliminary bouts airing on UFC Fight Pass at 6:30 p.m. ET while the rest of the prelims will air on FOX Sports 1 8 p.m. ET. The main card will feature five bouts and will air on PPV (pay-per-view) at 10 p.m. ET.
A UFC Welterweight Championship rematch between current champion Tyron Woodley and five-time kickboxing world champion Stephen Thompson will headline this event. Rashad Evans vs. Daniel Kelly in a middleweight bout will serve as the co-main event. Rounding out the main card is Lando Vannata vs. David Teymur in a lightweight bout, Amanda Cooper vs. Cynthia Calvillo in a strawweight bout and Alistair Overeem vs. Mark Hunt in a heavyweight bout.
According to oddsmakers, Thompson is a -145 favorite over Woodley, who is a +125 underdog. Here are the betting odds:
MAIN CARD (PPV/10 p.m. ET)
UFC Welterweight Championship: Tyron Woodley (+125) vs. Stephen Thompson (-145)
Middleweight: Rashad Evans (-230) vs. Daniel Kelly (+190)
Lightweight: Lando Vannata (-390) vs. David Teymur (+320)
Female Strawweight: Amanda Cooper (-105) vs. Cynthia Calvillo (-115)
Heavyweight: Alistair Overeem (-130) vs. Mark Hunt (+110)
PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX Sports 1/8 p.m. ET)
Heavyweight: Marcin Tybura (-160) vs. Luis Henrique (+140)
Featherweight: Darren Elkins (+550) vs. Mirsad Bektic (-800)
Bantamweight: Iuri Alcantara (+110) vs. Luke Sanders (-130)
Heavyweight: Daniel Spitz (+125) vs. Mark Godbeer (-145)
PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass/6:30 p.m. ET)
Light Heavyweight: Paul Craig (+120) vs. Tyson Pedro (-140)
Bantamweight: Albert Morales (-135) vs. Andre Soukhamthath (+115)
The T-Mobile Arena will bear witness to a little bit of everything when it plays host to UFC 209 in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
The event is headlined by a welterweight title fight between Stephen Thompson and Tyron Woodley, but there’s plenty m…
The T-Mobile Arena will bear witness to a little bit of everything when it plays host to UFC 209 in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
The event is headlined by a welterweight title fight between Stephen Thompson and TyronWoodley, but there’s plenty more to watch. The main card kicks off with a titanic heavyweight bout between Alistair Overeem and Mark Hunt, moves to the middleweight debut of Rashad Evans and features a huge opportunity for lightweight prospect LandoVannatta in the penultimate fight.
It all figures to be a night of fights that should be equally entertaining and important to their individual weight classes.
Here’s a look at the complete lineup of fights, TV information, predictions and a closer look at some of the night’s biggest fights.
Alistair Overeem vs. Mark Hunt
Stephen Thompson and TyronWoodley aren’t the only ones settling a score at UFC 209. Heavyweights Mark Hunt and Alistair Overeem will meet for the second time, with Overeem taking the first fight in 2008 by first-round submission.
That was nearly a decade ago, though. Both fighters have evolved considerably since then, and the terms of engagement should be different this time around.
At the time, Overeem was much more inclined to finish fights with submissions. He has 19 such finishes in his career but hasn’t recorded one since 2009. Now, Overeem is a much more polished kickboxer in the Octagon, patiently looking for the finish on the feet.
That sets up an interesting proposition in a matchup against Hunt. The Super Samoan is one of the most powerful strikers in the sport, and every minute in the cage with him is another chance for him to land a strike that will end the fight.
However, Overeem appears to be cognizant of that.
“There is some skill difference, but in general, it’s a 50-50 coin toss,” Overeem said, per Brett Okamoto of ESPN.com. “One mistake, your winning streak is over and you’ve got to start over again.”
That’ll be important for him as sticking Hunt on the end of his jab and outpointing him will be key. The Reem also has the advantage in the clinch, but this could be a fight that’s over as soon as someone lands that fight-altering strike.
It should be an interesting heavyweight collision between the two, but Overeem should hold the advantage. He was on a four-fight win streak before losing to StipeMiocic but had the champion in trouble before failing to finish the fight and having the tables turned on him.
Dan Kelly vs. Rashad Evans
One of the key fighters to keep an eye on in this card is Rashad Evans who looks to rejuvenate his career by dropping down to middleweight.
The former light heavyweight champion doesn’t have the athleticism to be a contender in his former home, but his size and strength could prove to be a huge advantage at 185 pounds. According to Jon Anik, Suga’s weight cut to the new class went swimmingly:
Evans isn’t walking into the easiest matchup, though. Dan Kelly might be one of the most underrated middleweights in the organization right now. The 39-year-old is a former Olympic judoka and comes into this fight with just one loss to Sam Alvey in 2015, but with three straight wins.
Evans is obviously the more skilled fighters. He’s a former champion with wins over the likes of ChaelSonnen, Dan Henderson and Michael Bisping to his name, he’s simply fought at a level that Kelly has never reached.
This is a good fight because it should give us a pretty good idea of Evans’ ceiling as a 37-year-old middleweight. If he loses, his days as a relevant fighter are done. If he wins a close fight, his middleweight career may have legs and if he blows Kelly out, well, it’ll be interesting to see just how far he can take the late chapters of his career.
Stephen Thompson vs. TyronWoodley
This is one of those cases where the sequel might just be better than the original. Stephen Thompson and TyronWoodley battled to a majority draw at UFC 205 last November and now they come to UFC 209 to settle the score.
The first fight was close on paper but wasn’t all that close if you watched each individual round. Every judge gave Woodley Rounds 1 and 3. Every judge gave Thompson Rounds 2 and 5.
This time around, with both fighters much more familiar with how they can win—and lose—the fight, the rounds could be much closer.
However, Woodley is the fighter with the ace in the hole. T-Wood dominated the first round of the fight with his wrestling, scoring a takedown early and winning the round easily with his smothering top game.
Woodley never went to the wrestling well again, though. He neutralized Wonderboy’s kicks but didn’t attempt another takedown.
With a whole camp to formulate another plan to beat Thompson, Woodley should look to go back to his wrestling more often, which is how he can win rounds emphatically.
With Thompson showing very little in the way of a bottom game to get back to his feet or work submissions, Woodley should be able to drag the fight to where he has the biggest advantage to take a decision victory this time around.
They’ve already done the dance before, now as they set up to lock horns again, Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson both appear to have a chip on their shoulder. UFC 209 will be the stage for one of these men to prove that they are the best in the world. While the first battle may not have been an exciting “Dragon Ball Z” brawl, Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson had five rounds to figure each other out and will need five more to cement who will be the king of welterweights.
They’ve already done the dance before, now as they set up to lock horns again, Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson both appear to have a chip on their shoulder. UFC 209 will be the stage for one of these men to prove that they are the best in the world. While the first battle may not have been an exciting “Dragon Ball Z” brawl, Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson had five rounds to figure each other out and will need five more to cement who will be the king of welterweights.
Let’s face it, whether you’re a fan of Tyron Woodley or not, you have to admit that he did the most damage during his championship fight at UFC 205. The big moments were owned by Woodley as he dominated top position in the opening round then had severely damaged Thompson in the fourth frame. But in between those two occasions, Woodley was on the losing end of a competitive kickboxing match with his foe. What Woodley will have to do different in this match is throw a bit more volume in spurts and avoid relying on his big right hand as he’s want to do. Leg kicks will serve him well in this match and going for double legs, successful or not, will be paramount to put doubt in Thompson’s head.
The absence of a wrestling game in the first match up allowed for ‘Wonderboy’ to land some steady offense in the second, third, and fifth round. Even the fourth round looked to be owned by Thompson until Woodley unleashed his devastating right hand. If Woodley wants to play off the cage as he did the last time, he should shoot for a double when Thompson gets too far forward, turn him towards the fence, then unleash offense when his foe is cornered.
On the other side of the equation, Stephen Thompson is going to want to change up a few things. First off, where he was unsuccessful in the last bout was his lack of volume. While Woodley is known for having a lower striking volume, Thompson usually throws punches and kicks in bunches. He failed to do so in his bout with Woodley at UFC 205, which led to moments of Woodley feeling comfortable with his back to the fence. If Thompson wants to take the belt he’ll have to play the aggressive counter striker role, preferably from the southpaw stance where he’ll likely see more success. He’ll need to pot shot Woodley constantly to get the champ to move forward into a counter.
If he lays back and throws one shot at a time he may be able to get things done, but he’ll want to use his side kick to keep Woodley honest. Having his leg caught in the first round of their first fight had Thompson gun shy as far as his kicking game was concerned. He needs to channel that inner Hwoarang (Tekken reference and if you don’t get it then look that up ASAP) and unleash his kicks masking them with punches before hand. This is basic knowledge, but these are the kind of attacks he’ll need to keep in mind in order to get Woodley frustrated enough to dart forward. Once that happens, a side step into a counter left straight could seal the deal. But he’ll need those kicks to really give Woodley a different look.
Ultimately this fight will be about who has the more effective aggression as both men laid back far too often in their first battle. Look for Stephen Thompson to bait Tyron Woodley into another kickboxing match while the champion looks to throw more strikes and add his wrestling even more into the equation.
Who do you think leaves the cage champion, Tyron Woodley or Stephen Thompson?
Jonathan Salmon is a writer, martial arts instructor, and geek culture enthusiast. Check out his Twitter and Facebook to keep up with his antics.
UFC 209 kicks off live on pay-per-view (PPV) from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada tomorrow (Sat. March 4, 2017), and what an event the promotion has in store for mixed martial arts (MMA) fans. The even will co headlined by a rematch of UFC 205’s Fight Of The Night for the welterweight title
UFC 209 kicks off live on pay-per-view (PPV) from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada tomorrow (Sat. March 4, 2017), and what an event the promotion has in store for mixed martial arts (MMA) fans.
The even will co headlined by a rematch of UFC 205’s Fight Of The Night for the welterweight title between champion Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson, after their initial meeting ended in a majority draw. Our co-main event features an interim lightweight title contest between two of the best 155-pounders of all time in No. 1-ranked Khabib Nurmagomedov and No. 2-ranked Tony Ferguson.
The early weigh-ins took place this morning (Fri. March 2, 2017) and you can check out who made weight here below (keep refreshing page for updates as fighters continue to weigh-in):
Main Card (PPV, 10 P.M. ET):
Welterweight: (C) Tyron Woodley (170) vs. Stephen Thompson (169)
Lightweight:Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson (154.5)
(Nurmagomedov hospitalized and not medically cleared to fight)
Middleweight: Rashad Evans (185) vs. Dan Kelly (186)
Lightweight: Lando Vannata (156) vs. David Teymur (156)
Heavyweight: Alistair Overeem (256) vs. Mark Hunt (265)
Prelims (FS1, 8 P.M. ET):
Heavyweight: Marcin Tybura (251.5) vs. Luis Henrique (248.5)
Featherweight: Mirsad Bektic (145) vs. Darren Elkins (145.5)
Bantamweight: Iuri Alcantara (135.5) vs. Luke Sanders (135)
Heavyweight: Mark Godbeer (241.4) vs. Daniel Spitz (240)
The rematch for the UFC welterweight title is just one day away as Tyron Woodley will look to defend his belt for the second time against Stephen Thompson Saturday night in Las Vegas for UFC 209.
After a majority decision between Wonderboy and Woodley …
The rematch for the UFC welterweight title is just one day away as TyronWoodley will look to defend his belt for the second time against Stephen Thompson Saturday night in Las Vegas for UFC 209.
After a majority decision between Wonderboy and Woodley left both fighters feeling unsatisfied, they decided to run things back for one try. Woodley had Thompson on the ropes—or with his back against the cage—in the fourth round, but Thompson showed a lot of heart and grit that did him well on the scorecards.
Fortunately for fight fans, neither fighter wants to see this rematch go to the judges again.
Woodley, although he is the undisputed champion in the 170-pound division, is coming into Saturday as the underdog at +130, and on the flip side, Wonderboy is favored at -160, according to OddsShark.
Even though Thompson is one of the nicest guys in the division and in the organization, there’s still some bad blood between Woodley and himself, and it’s obvious to see why.
No athlete wants to draw against an opponent, especially in a sport where lives are put on the line inside of a cage. Woodley dominated the opening five minutes of their first fight back in November at UFC 205 but never looked for another takedown after the opening frame. The Chosen One chose to stand up with Thompson and challenge his karate and kickboxing skill, which might not have been the best strategy in the world.
It’s no secret that Thompson doesn’t want this fight to go back to the ground this time around, but whatever his true game plan is will remain a mystery until the Octagon cage is locked in Saturday’s main event.
Thompson’s dad doesn’t have to tell us the game plan: we already know he wants to stay on his feet against a superior wrestler.
Woodley is a very underrated wrestler when he gets on the ground. His strength and body control is elite, but he also has a very strong standup game with his heavy leg kicks, when he chooses to throw them, and a devastating right hook that can knock any fighter’s socks off, regardless of weight class.
Just take a look at the hand speed and power that he puts behind his shots during his open workout below:
There is a lot on the line in this fight for Woodley, more so than there is for Wonderboy. Thompson could lose this fight and still have a very strong following, but Woodley doesn’t have the best public relations with his fans, often being called a drama queen by UFC diehards, including UFC President Dana White.
It’s all fun and games, of course. But Woodley has said that he wants to be known as the greatest welterweight champion of all time, as he told TMZ Sports. How does he do that? By finishing off No. 1 contenders in title fights on a consistent basis.
That’s a lot of pressure for one fighter to put on himself, especially when you consider the history of the 170-pound division and its great champions. All this pressure might be too much for Woodley‘s shoulders to carry, which may be advantageous to Wonderboy come Saturday.
Who will be the more relaxed fighter on Saturday night? More importantly, who will be looking to take over this fight and get a finish?
Prediction
Woodley thinks he’s on a mission. He believes that being the greatest undisputed champion of all-time is his destiny. Unfortunately for him, he’s wrong.
Thompson didn’t show what he’s capable of at UFC 205. There was very little creativity shown: far too few wheelhouse kicks, hesitancy with his strikes and not even pressure put on his opponent. That will all change Saturday night when Wonderboy reminds fight fans why he is the No. 1 contender after taking out the likes of Johny Hendricks and Rory McDonald en route to a title fight.
Look for Thompson to create distance early with leg kicks and strikes to the body to wear down Woodley. For as great of shape Woodley is in, all that muscle he carries around does take its toll, especially in a five-round fight.
Wonderboy will land some nice wheelhouse kicks while showing off his full arsenal of karate and kickboxing maneuvers. Woodley will soon realize that he’s falling behind on the scorecards and look to finish the fight with wild punches and desperate takedown attempts, but Thompson will fight smart and efficiently, earning the unanimous decision after a dominant five-round fight to become the division’s new champion.
Tyron Woodley isn’t counting on fighting Georges St-Pierre in the future. The reigning Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight title holder will defend his 170-pound gold this Saturday night (March 4) inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Sharing the Octagon with him once again will be Stephen Thompson. While “The Chosen One” has his […]
Tyron Woodley isn’t counting on fighting Georges St-Pierre in the future. The reigning Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight title holder will defend his 170-pound gold this Saturday night (March 4) inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Sharing the Octagon with him once again will be Stephen Thompson. While “The Chosen One” has his […]
The T-Mobile Arena will bear witness to a little bit of everything when it plays host to UFC 209 in 
Make sure to keep it locked here with LowKick for the UFC 209 ceremonial weigh-in viewing party. Come back here at 7 P.M. ET for all the action: