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April marks the beginning of some truly mind – boggling action that is set to grace the Octagon over the course of the rest of the year. Just a quick glance at the fights that are scheduled to take place will in Amazing April will have you excited for what is now just around the corner.

The next three weekends especially are going to be absolutely nail biting as the Ultimate Fighting Championship is all prepped up to deliver an astonishing trio of events on three separate television platforms, namely, FOX sports 1, FOX and Pay – Per – View. All the fights that will take place over the course of the next three weekends are hugely significant in terms of divisional rankings and hence one can expect nothing but the absolute best from all of the fighters that are expected to take part.

A couple of the fights that will happen in the near future that are especially worth a special mention are

1. Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Derrick Lewis – this will be second to only the headline and final fight on the night. The fight will put former title challenger who is now looking to go on a winning streak and challenge for the ton ten rankings against another fighter who himself is looking to crack into the top 15 rankings.

Gonzaga vs Lewis is surely one fight you will not want to miss.

2. Demetrious Johnson vs. Henry Cejudo – even though all spot lights are on Jon Jones vs Saint Preux, UFC fight night 197 has other great fights to offer too. Johnson vs Cejudo is a close one on paper and will be interesting in the octagon too.  “Mighty Mouse” is regarded as one of the best technical fighters in the sport and has turned back every single opponent that has challenged him till now and will be looking to achieve the same when he faces Cejudo too. However, Cejudo himself is high on confidence and has made steady progress up the ranking table and will be looking to keep his good form going.

It is finally happening, Jon Jones has been out of the sport for just over a year now but he is back! He will feature in the headline fight on UFC fight night 197 when he takes on Saint Preux in MGM grand garden in Las Vegas. The online website series gives us a sneak peek into the card, the fight will be telecasted on a pay per view basis on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.

The headline event will see Jon Jones who has an incredible 21 wins to one loss MMA record and a 15 wins to one loss UFC record will step into the octagon for the first time since April of 2015 when he was involved in a hit and run accident. His opponent Ovince             Saint Preux is no slouch either and has a pretty impressive record to his name too. Preux’s MMA record stands at 19 wins and 7 losses while his UFC record stands at 7 wins and 2 losses.

Originally, Jones’ opponent should have been none other than his nemesis Daniel Cormier who is out injured. Jones has an interesting take on Cormier’s injury and suspects that he may not be injured and just hurt, he thinks Cormier is making a meal out of his injury simply because he knows he will get beat by Jones and so does not want to face him on UFC fight night 197. Cormier and Jones have had many a nasty verbal and physical exchanges in the past and spectators would have liked nothing more than to see the two face off and finally put the battle to an end once and for all, however, looks like we will have to wait to see that happen. For right now, it is going to be Jones Vs Ovince Saint Preux and while these two may not have such a frictional past, it will still nevertheless be a very interesting fight.

In a trailer promoting the fight (from the online website series) Jones is shown training in the Gym while Preux is doing some construction work.

Ferreira’s UFC record has been up and down in the eight fights he has competed in, but since his last victory, Cezar “Mutante” Ferreira is convinced and positive that he can and will finally live up to the promise he initially made when he stated competitive fighting in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

The previous two years, Mutante said in an interview, were extremely taxing and probably the most frustrating two years of his life where he had to undergo back surgery and tried his level best to get back in the octagon as soon as possible but only in vain. The doctor had to fix his back with eight screws. Mutante accepted that he was in tremendous pain and was mentally defeated, he was low on confidence and motivation and was even contemplating quitting. However, he said in the interview, there was a tiny positive voice in his head that egged him not to give up and to keep going and he listened.

He is glad he listened to that voice in his head because now just two years after his surgery, the fighter says he feels brand new and is ready to take on anything or anyone that comes in his way of winning the UFC championship. Winning the championship has always been his dream and he is just about ready to make his dreams come true, he has waited an awfully long time.

Ferreira’s record is not exactly the most impressive or champion like, he has two wins and two losses to his name in the previous four outings. However, he believes his recovery will help him make a leap to the top of the ladder. Ferreira is quoted saying that he wants to be a champion and that he already feels like one.

We will wait and have to see how things unfold for Ferreira, the Mutante seems confident but is it over confidence? Or does he have a something up his sleeve which has reignited his belief of becoming champion?

He is back with a bang! Jon Jones, the former Ultimate Fighting Championship Light Heavyweight division champion will be back in the octagon after over a year. Jones has a formidable record with only one loss to his name in his UFC career and even that loss was a controversial decision where he apparently was disqualified for landing illegal elbows on his opponent while mounted in a top position. Jones’ act of course will be the highlight of UFC fight night 197, but there are also several other exciting prospects scheduled. Jones’ fight is scheduled to take place in none other than inside MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada and he will be hungry to put his name on the interim title.

The bookies know his potential, and MMA betting experts are all backing Jones on this one. However, it is still a tricky fight, coming back from a year off is no walk in the park. Will jones be rusty? Or will he be back with a vengeance? We will put our money on the latter.

The other three fights definitely worth tuning into during UFC fight night 197 are Cody East Vs. Walt Harris, Clint Hester Vs. Marcos Rogerio De Lima and Efrain Escudero Vs. Kevin Lee.  These fights are 265lbs, 205 lbs and 155 lbs respectively.

The Hester Vs. de Lima  (205 lbs) fight will be well balanced and hard to call. Hester will be fighting in the light heavyweight division for the first time in four years.

On the other hand, de Lima is not slouch, he has successfully beaten 12 opponents, 10 of them by Knock Out. His most recent loss was in August of 2015 by submission against Nikita Krylov.

As far as the Cody East Vs Harris fight is concerned, we would be comfortable backing East who, since his last loss in 2012 to Tony Lopez has looked unstoppable and gone on to win nine fights straight and has eight knockouts to his name.

The Escudero Vs Lee fight is really unpredictable and we suggest just enjoying the spectacle rather than betting on it, it is a real wild card.

Any pay per view UFC fight night telecast is most certainly worth tuning into considering the action packed schedules and storylines and UFC fight night 197 is no exception, however, there are somethings about UFC fight night 197 which sets it apart and makes this a spectacle any MMA fan just cannot afford to miss out on.

Firstly, UFC fight night 197 will feature the return of the one and only pound – for – pound king Jon Jones, who is undoubtedly one of the most dominant fighters to ever compete in the UFC and his record (21-1) speaks for itself. There are many other reasons why you should tune into UFC fight night 197, but Jones’ eagerly awaited is certainly on top of that convincing list.

Jon Jones is also known as “Bones” and one does not need too much of an imagination as to how he has acquired that alias. Jones won 12 times consecutively in the Octagon and out of these 12 victories, nine were highly competitive championship fights and in eight of those he   successfully defended his championship and in the other won, he snatched the championship from the defending champion.

His record does reflect a single loss, but even in that loss, he was not beaten, he was disqualified and disqualified rather controversially against Matt Hamill in 2009 after having supposedly landed an illegal elbow from a top position.

Apart from the high light of the night, the return of Jones, the schedule also boasts mouthwatering FS1 Prelims and UFC FIGH PASS prelims.

The free fight card for the FS1 prelims is jam packed with some intense match ups that are difficult to call. Sergio Pettis will be looking to climb up the rankings ladder (currently 15^th ranked) and continue his winning streak on the back of a victory against Chris Cariaso previously.

Carla Esparlza is back in action after being out for a year after being on the receiving end of beat down by current strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Esparza will surely be looking to put that memory past her.

Joao Carvalho’s death came after he lost by a technical knockout in a fight that took place in Dublin. The 28 year old Portuguese fighter competed in the welterweight division and was facing opponent Charlie Ward at the National Boxing Stadium when he lost by a technical knockout in round three.

Carvalho later succumbed to his injuries and died Monday night, two days after the fight. MMA fans have been very vocal about the sport being safer than boxing and even football, but recent deaths of young men have proven otherwise. As per the Nobrega Team, all safety related standard procedures were followed after the fight and Carvalho was transported to Beaumont Hospital within 20 minutes of complaining that he was not feeling fine. Doctors did not waste any time in undertaking a brain surgery and Carvalho remained in a serious condition for 48 hours before he died.

This is the sixth recorded death in the MMA since 2007. Sam Vasquez and Michael Kirkham both died due to cerebral damage inflicted by their opponents in 2007 and 2010 respectively. Tyrone Mims passed away after his fight, but the medical cause of his death was not ascertainable. BootoGuylain, a fighter from Congo, also passed away after being beaten into a head injury.

The sport of Boxing accounts for 923 deaths in just over a century. MMA is relatively a very new sport, and so no statistical comparison can be drawn at this time. However, experts believe that MMA is heading down the same road or maybe one that is even worse if safety is not given an even higher priority.

MMA is a dangerous sport and proponents know this very well yet sugar coat this fact. The sport of Football is in the limelight for brain safety and measures will be taken to improve the same, it is high time MMA implements better brain safety standards. Do we really need to wait for more young fighters to die or be left paralyzed for life before we pull up our socks and deal with the evident safety related shortfalls in the sport?