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UFC 189: Start Time, Prelim Live Stream Info and Full Fight Card Predictions

The word “stacked” gets thrown around all too often in describing MMA cards, but UFC 189’s slate of fights lives up to the adjective.
Not one but two championship belts will be on the line. Robbie Lawler makes his first title defense against Rory…

The word “stacked” gets thrown around all too often in describing MMA cards, but UFC 189‘s slate of fights lives up to the adjective.

Not one but two championship belts will be on the line. Robbie Lawler makes his first title defense against Rory MacDonald in a rematch between the two welterweights from 2013. Then the main event features rising star Conor McGregor against perennial contender Chad Mendes for the interim featherweight title.

The title fights aren’t the only reason to tune in, though. The card is littered with interesting matchups and fighters who are well worth keeping an eye on. Here’s a look at the entire card and a few fighters to watch for in the buildup to the main event.

When: Saturday, July 11

Start Time: Fight Pass prelims at 7 p.m. ET (subscription required); Fox Sports 1 prelims at 8 p.m. ET; main card pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET

Where: MGM Grand, Las Vegas

Live Stream: UFC.tv

Tickets: ScoreBig.com

Cody Garbrandt

Fans who are looking to tune in to see a young fighter with a knack for delivering highlight-reel knockouts don’t have to wait for the main event. Cody “No Love” Garbrandt will bring similar traits to the table as the Notorious One when he kicks off the Fox Sports 1 prelims against Henry Briones.

No Love and Briones both made successful UFC debuts in their last fights. Garbrandt scored a third-round TKO win over Marcus Brimage, while Briones defeated Guido Cannetti via submission in the second round. However, the takeaways from the two bouts couldn’t be more different.

On one hand, Briones picked up the submission victory after getting outstruck in the first round 30-17, according to FightMetric. On the other hand, Garbrandt took on a UFC veteran in Brimage and put on a striking clinic for three rounds before ending the fight.

Most prospects with the pure power of Garbrandt are prone to rush things in the cage. It leads to mistakes and setbacks for a prospect on the rise. That doesn’t seem to be the case with Garbrandt. He’s technically sound in his striking and shows the poise to know when to go in for the kill and when to keep chipping away.

He’s one of the biggest locks on the card to finish his opponent. It shouldn’t take long for him to catch a brawler like Briones.

Alex Garcia

He didn’t look like it in his last fight, but Alex Garcia is a legitimate riser in the welterweight division. The 27-year-old picked up his first UFC loss in his last bout against Neil Magny, but he had a good reason to not look like himself.

“The fight against Neil Magny, no disrespect to him, but I feel like I won that fight,” Garcia told Mike Bohn of MMAjunkie. “I tore my ACL in the first round, but I believe I did enough to win the fight by decision. They gave it to him, and there’s no excuse. I don’t look forward to leaving any fight in the judges’ hands.”

The knee injury that took place in the first round is a testament to Garcia’s phenomenal skills that he even survived three rounds with Magny. He even managed to score three takedowns over the course of the last two rounds, according to FightMetric.

Garcia isn’t just a grappler, though. As Patrick Wyman of Sherdog notes, he is a well-rounded fighter who is still an exciting prospect:

The Tristar product has an interesting challenge ahead of him. Mike Swick will return to the Octagon for the first time since December 2012. The 36-year-old has gone 1-3 in his last four fights, but it’s hard to gauge just where he’ll be after such an extensive layoff.

Coming back after two years in good enough form to beat a fighter of Garcia’s caliber seems like a long shot. This should be the Dominican’s opportunity to add a recognizable name to his resume.

Thomas Almeida

With Garbrandt kicking off the televised prelims and Almeida kicking off the pay-per-view card, the future of the bantamweight division will be on display at UFC 189. Both are young (Garbrandt recently turned 24, while Almeida is 23), and much like Garbrandt (6-0), Almeida is undefeated at 19-0.

Even UFC President Dana White has pegged Almeida as the guy to watch, per Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting:

Whereas Garbrandt is a calculating technician, Almeida’s approach is a bit more aggressive. Dan Shapiro of Fightland contrasted the styles of the two knockout artists:

Garbrandt possesses a similar fleet-footed style as teammate Dillashaw and Cruz, bouncing around the cage on the balls of his feet, dancing in and out of the pocket while attempting to land heavy strikes.

Almeida, on the other hand, pressures forward constantly, stalking forward, cutting off angles. Hailing from Brazil’s Chute Boxe academy and the Macaco Gold Team, home of top-10 featherweight Charles Oliveira, Almeida is equally skilled in the standup game, although where Garbrandt excels in the wrestling department, he attributes his ground expertise to a brown belt in BJJ.

Almeida’s task is different than Garbrandt’s on Saturday night. He’ll take on a veteran in Brad Pickett who has nine UFC fights to his name. Granted, he’s only 4-5 in those fights, but he’s fought elite opposition since coming over from WEC.

In 34 fights, he’s only been finished by (T)KO just once. If Almeida can finish him, it’ll be a big boon for his stock.

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Mendes vs McGregor: Keeping Down, Not Taking Down, May Decide UFC 189 Main Event

It’s easy to get lost in promotional bluster when it comes to a Conor McGregor fight. Anything from a life-changing book-on-DVD to controversial rib fractures to testicles on the forehead of an opponent may come up along the way, and it’s a…

When he meets Chad Mendes in the UFC 189 main event on Saturday night, though, that path will be walked. The promotion will be done. “The McGregor Show,” as the Irishman has so humbly titled his debut as a pay-per-view headliner, will be on.

It will be time to put up or shut up, at least until the next opponent comes along and the promotion for that bout starts.

Given his ability to polarize the MMA collectivity with his salesmanship, there seems to be an oversimplified consideration of McGregor’s chances against Mendes: On the feet he can win, but he hasn’t proved he can wrestle, and that’s where he’ll lose.

This is a theory largely born out of those who don’t like the brash featherweight’s antics, and it’s further buoyed by the fact that his supporters have almost nothing concrete to support a retort. McGregor has made his UFC bones by blasting strikers unconscious in spectacular fashion, and he has never faced anyone with the wrestling chops of Mendes.

On Saturday, it goes without saying, that’s going to change. Mendes, even on short notice, cuts a formidable figure. In fact, no man has ever hit the scales at 145 pounds and managed to best the Team Alpha Male product other than of current champion Jose Aldo, who did it twice.

Beyond Aldo, a case can be made for Mendes as the best featherweight in the world. UFC 189 will see McGregor look to steal that spot by overcoming Mendes’ elite wrestling and a striking game that has evolved into one of the best in the weight class as well.

But it’s that wrestling that remains the focus. Mendes, even as the best striker he’s ever been, is not better at plying that trade than McGregor. Everyone knows that his success will come on takedowns and that takedowns will be available because there’s no proof McGregor can fend them off.

And yet what if there’s no proof needed? What if there is a path to victory for McGregor that involves being taken down multiple times by Mendes and having it proved largely irrelevant?

The “wrestling as McGregor’s kryptonite” theory doesn’t really account for the reality that taking a man down and holding him down are not the same thing. Countless fighters—most of them excellent strikers, like McGregor—have succeeded with marginal takedown defense. They’re just very good at getting up.

Anderson Silva was never much at defending takedowns, preferring to use his guard defensively until he could make space and escape or score a submission. He won 16 straight UFC fights with that strategy, and he was still improving his takedown defense when he was last seen at age 39.

Carlos Condit, an interim champion himself at one point, has often had wrestlers put him on his back. His tricky guard leads to frequent sweeps or overbalancing opponents enough to get up.

Nick and Nate Diaz, both UFC title contenders at their respective peaks, are often taken down only to scramble away thanks to a whizzer grabbed on the way down. That, or they’ll work guard long enough to get back up and start wailing on opponents with punching combinations that seem to go on for days.

Even Jose Aldo, initially to be McGregor’s foil on Saturday, has punctuated the more recent days of his title reign by occasionally conceding a takedown before slipping away like a wet fish bouncing on a dock.

The fact is that being taken down won’t be the end of McGregor against Mendes. To say otherwise is to border on belligerent ignorance to the sport itself. Not all strikers defend takedowns outright; many simply get up when they’re taken down.

McGregor himself has done as much. Though his wrestling is not on the level of Mendes, Dennis Siver is underrated in the field because his highlights all involve throwing spinning kicks, and he took McGregor down when they fought.

In response, McGregor popped his hips out and walked on his hands until he was against the cage, then he forced himself upright and made his escape. Try as he might, Siver could do nothing. He watched his man walk out of his grasp and start trouncing him.

It’s a small sample size, but it aids in proving a point: Conor McGregor may not need to defend the takedowns of Chad Mendes. When one is as big, strong, athletic and focused as McGregor is, it becomes hard to imagine anyone holding him down for more than a few minutes—much less 25 minutes. It may be more about what he does with the position once he’s taken down than about the fact that the takedown happens in the first place.

To take your man down is far different than to keep your man down. Mendes will need to do both, and win the stand-up battle as well, to be successful at UFC 189. If he can’t, the risk he ends up like all the McGregor foes who came before him is far higher than detractors care to admit.

Follow me on Twitter @matthewjryder!

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Mendes vs. McGregor: Latest Comments, Weigh-In Info and Predictions for UFC 189

Both “The Notorious” Conor McGregor and Chad “Money” Mendes made weight for the main event scrap at UFC 189. Mendes was half a pound under the featherweight limit at 144.5 pounds, and McGregor was right on the money (no pun intended) at 145.
In case yo…

In case you missed it, here’s a look at the weigh-ins for the entire card:

Dale Jordan of MMA Mad tweeted this image of McGregor on the scales in front of a pro-Notorious crowd in Las Vegas:

Every fighter scheduled to compete on the card made weight with the exception of Jeremy “Lil’ Heathen” Stephens. He was three-and-a-half pounds over the featherweight limit of 146 pounds. Here’s a look at the full weigh-in results:

Chad Mendes (144.5) vs. Conor McGregor (145)
Robbie Lawler (169.5) vs. Rory MacDonald (170)
Dennis Bermudez (146) vs. Jeremy Stephens (*149.5)
Gunnar Nelson (169.5) vs. Brandon Thatch (170.5)
Brad Pickett (136) vs. Thomas Almeida (136)
Matt Brown (171) vs. Tim Means (171)
Mike Swick (170.5) vs. Alex Garcia (171)
Cathal Pendred (171) vs. John Howard (170.5)
Cody Garbrandt (136) vs. Enrique Briones (136)
Neil Seery (125.5) vs. Louis Smolka (126)
Yosdenis Cedeno (155) vs. Cody Pfister (156)

Per Shaheen Al-Shatti of MMA Fighting, Stephens did not attempt to cut the excess three pounds, which can be very dangerous. Instead, he elected to forfeit 20 percent of his purse to his opponent Dennis Bermudez.

Without question, the card lost a little bit of its luster when Jose Aldo was forced to back out because of a rib injury, but McGregor has proven to be such a magnetic presence, fans still packed the joint to capacity, per UFC president Dana White:

McGregor made weight, but he didn’t exactly look healthy. In fact, he looked frail and cranky. Once he got off the scales, McGregor ran into Mendes‘ stablemate and UFC featherweight contender Urijah Faber. The latter looked to be in the mood for a little horseplay, but an ill-looking McGregor just wanted to get to the bathroom. Take a look at the Instagram video Faber posted:

I’d picked Mendes to win the moment he stepped in for Aldo, but seeing how tough McGregor‘s weight cut appears to have been, I’m even more confident Money wins. A tough weight cut and an opponent with a non-complementary skill set is a bad combination for McGregor.

Mendes will take McGregor down and pound him out by the second round.

None of the other fights figure to be swayed by the weigh-ins. Here’s a look at all of the predictions for the fights on the card:

Other Fighters Who Will Make Biggest Impact

Rory MacDonald

The welterweight title is about to change hands on Saturday night. Rory MacDonald has seemingly been groomed for this title the last five years. The time has finally come for him to walk in his mentor Georges St-Pierre’s footsteps.

MacDonald lost to Lawler in their initial meeting back in November 2013. A late knockdown sealed the deal for Lawler. This time a stronger and more confident MacDonald will use his length, accurate striking and dominant ground game to earn a unanimous-decision win and the 170-pound championship.

Thomas Almeida

There’s a superstar on the rise in the bantamweight division and his name is Thomas Almeida. No matter who’s there when he gets in range of a title shot, they will likely be in serious trouble against the 23-year-old Brazilian.

His striking is diversified, controlled and vicious. His ground game is underrated and serves as another weapon in his back pocket should an opponent avoid his punches, elbows, knees and kicks. Almeida is the total package and the best MMA prospect since Jon Jones made the climb through the light heavyweight ranks.

On Saturday, he’s going to thrash the 36-year-old Brad Pickett in what will serve as the major coming-out party for a future champion.

Follow Brian Mazique on Twitter.

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UFC 189’s Tim Means: Tough Times Made a Tough Fighter

LAS VEGAS — Tim Means has been waiting to land a big fight and couldn’t be more excited about whom that opportunity will come against at UFC 189.
The scrappy welterweight will make his first venture into the deeper waters of the 170-pound di…

LAS VEGAS — Tim Means has been waiting to land a big fight and couldn’t be more excited about whom that opportunity will come against at UFC 189.

The scrappy welterweight will make his first venture into the deeper waters of the 170-pound division when he steps in to trade leather with Matt Brown on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Much like The Immortal, Means operates with an aggression-driven, high-volume style that he effectively uses to push the pace and then attack from various distances. He can use his range to keep the fight at a distance, but he’s equally willing to engage in gritty exchanges inside the pocket.

The hard-nosed Ohio native possesses many of those same weapons, and the matchup between Means and Brown has many in the MMA community anticipating an action-packed affair when they collide on at UFC 189.

In addition to the fight being an interesting stylistic pairing, Means also sees a tremendous opportunity to advance his career on Saturday night.

Over the past three years, Brown has battled his way up the welterweight ladder to become a staple in the upper tier of the division, and Means knows a victory over The Ultimate Fighter alum would be the biggest win of his career.

Those conditions have Means fired up to deliver something special, and he’s confident fight fans will have something to talk about after his business with Brown is settled inside the cage.

“I’ve been wanting to face guys who go out there and fight for the bonus checks, and Brown is a bonus check fighter,” Means told Bleacher Report during Thursday’s media day event for UFC 189. “I’m looking over at him right now across the way and we could probably be cousins or something. We could probably be related, but every family has tensions now and then,” he said with a laugh.

“That guy over there is a tough guy and he’s going to come in there looking to hurt me. I just have to react and those are the fights I think are the coolest. I don’t have to shop and look for the openings—I just have to throw back. I know he’s going to be coming forward just like I am and we are going to throw down.”

Even though Means has only been competing under the UFC banner for three years, the 31-year-old welterweight has already solidified himself as a dangerous threat every time he steps into the cage.

And while he’s found both success and struggles going toe-to-toe with the world’s best, the fact that he’s even there at all is an accomplishment of epic proportions.

The Fit NHB representative has never shied away from sharing the hardships of his personal life, which have included multiple near-death experiences and a stint where he was incarcerated in the prison system.

Yet where some who travel down dark paths never find the ability to turn things around and battle their way back to a life worth living, he used fighting as both a literal and figurative means to create a new life for himself.

While the tougher elements of his past are long behind him, the lessons learned from facing up to that adversity is always front and center in Means’ mind. He keeps the chaos of his past close, and it serves as the ultimate source of motivation to push him forward toward his goals.

“Man, I’ve been shot and nearly died. I had my teeth knocked out with a shovel during a street fight. I have seen the light a few different times and that made me tougher because of it. I went through my prison stuff, but I don’t have felonies. I had a family friend who was a judge that took the five misdemeanors I had, stacked them up and sent me to prison. He did it to open my eyes. It was either going to fix me or make me a career criminal, and that criminal life is awful.

“Going through those things makes you tougher. I remember back in high school going out and scrapping dudes in cornfields just to get some respect and take some pride. Money wasn’t involved then, but getting that respect was a big thing. Even if you lost, the fact that you went out and threw down on the plywood in the cornfield, you got bragging rights. People left you alone at the end of the day.

“Not necessarily now, but when I beat Matt Brown, I won’t be alone and I’ll have his respect at the end of the day,” he added. “I’ll also have respect from the rest of the guys in my division as well.”

Duane Finley is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless noted otherwise.

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Friday Link Dump: Catch the UFC 189 Weigh-Ins LIVE Right Here Starting at 7 p.m. EST

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Mendes vs. McGregor: Latest Odds, Predictions and Pre-Fight Twitter Hype

Per Odds Shark, Chad “Money” Mendes is the underdog heading into his clash with “The Notorious” Conor McGregor at UFC 189 on Saturday. The most recent odds have McGregor as a 27-50 favorite. As a late replacement for Jose Aldo, it seems only natural th…

Heading into the final hours of hype before the fight, there doesn’t seem to be much of a letdown of emotion. The pre-fight press conference wasn’t lacking fireworks. Mendes and McGregor delivered a seemingly unlimited amount of quotable one-liners.

The UFC Twitter account captured the best of the best:

Confidence doesn’t appear to be a problem for either man.

McGregor is clearly at his best on his feet. He does have a 100 percent takedown defense rating, per FightMetric, but he’s only faced five takedown attempts in the UFC. None of those five were attempted by a wrestler on Mendes‘ level.

Mendes is obviously at a height and reach disadvantage. He stands 5’6″ with a 66″ reach, while McGregor is 5’9″ and measures 74″ from armpit to knuckle.

However, Mendes has the speed and head movement to close the distance. Because of his opponent’s massive punching power, McGregor must be wary of the big right hand. It’s the punch that can stop anyone in the division—including McGregor.

Bleacher Report’s Riley Kontek thinks Mendes will stop McGregor:

I feel like a lot of people are going with McGregor here, but he just simply has not been tested by a wrestler, especially one of this caliber. Mendes is also not bad on the feet, but he needs to beat McGregor up early, or the Irishman will get comfortable and pick at him from a distance.

It may not be a popular opinion, but I also expect Mendes to stop McGregor. If Money can take McGregor down early in the first round, it’ll set the tone of the bout. He’ll take away some of the Irishman’s confidence and get him on his heels—literally and figuratively.

After inflicting some notable damage, he’ll finish McGregor via ground-and-pound in the second round. The UFC will then be charged with finding a way to rebuild McGregor‘s invincible image.

Follow Brian Mazique on Twitter

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