UFC 249 will be held at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville on May 10 (AEDT) and is headlined by an Interim Lightweight title fight between Tony Ferguson and challenger Justin Gaethje.
It has been a long time in between drinks for fight fans with Covid-19 putting a halt on all fights since March 15 in Brazil. This was no fault of President Dana White who did everything in his power to break protocol and keep the UFC running.
Well, he has gotten his way and the UFC returns this weekend with a truly remarkable card of fights.
It’s not the Lightweight fight that we all wanted to see with Khabib Nurmagomedov stuck at home, but the main event between Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje will no doubt create some fireworks.
The Co-Main Event sees the return of former Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz who is taking on current double-champ Henry Cejudo.
There are two Heavyweight fights on the Main Card and Cowboy Cerrone and Anthony Pettis will finish the Prelims.
Our full UFC 249 Preview of every fight on the main card, as well as our betting suggestions, can be found here.
UFC 248 Main Card
Sunday, March 8 (12PM AEDT)
MAIN EVENT
Israel Adesanya is everything you want in a UFC Champion.
He’s exciting. He’s undefeated. And he is full of personality.
Since his UFC debut, he has continued to rise to the challenge and defeat whoever has been put in front of him. And he’s continued to get better.
He beat an ageing Hall-of-Famer in Anderson Silva, went to war and came out victorious against Kelvin Gastelum and then knocked out the former champ in Rob Whittaker.
On paper he is taking on a 42 year old who has lost three of his last four fights.
In reality, this is his toughest challenge yet against one of the most dangerous men in the sport.
There are good wrestlers and then there is Yoel Romero. His credentials are unmatched in the UFC. He won multiple medals at the World championships and a silver medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.
The record shows that he has won just once in his past four UFC fights however this is slightly deceiving.
Plenty of people had him winning his second fight against Whittaker (split decision loss) and he then lost a very close fight against the undefeated Paulo Costa.
Despite his wrestling skills, we have rarely seen them used inside the Octagon. In eight wins he has six by KO/TKO and two be decision.
His take down defence is impeccable and this allows him to keep the fight standing so that he can take advantage of his striking. The problem with this tactic is when he runs into fellow strikers!
And Adesanya is just that. He is a striker. And one of the best in the sport.
I, like many others, was not convinced that Adesanya would live up to the hype and self belief before the Whittaker fight.
I am a believer now and I think he weather the early storm and takes advantage of Romero’s biggest weakness in my opinion, his cardio, and finished the fight late or gets the decision.
Back Israel Adesanya To Win In Rounds 4, 5 or by Decision @ $2.30
C0-MAIN EVENT
Weili Zhang became the first Chinese UFC Champion when she won the Women’s Strawweight title against Jessica Andrade in Shenzhen, China in August of 2019.
Andrade is one tough opponent and she absolutely steam rolled her and overwhelmed her with her power and intensity.
She lost her first ever professional MMA fight but has since gone on to win her next 19 in a row including four in the UFC promotion on her way to becoming the champion.
She is an incredibly strong and well rounded fighter who possesses many weapons and has a number of ways in which she can win a fight.
She takes on former champ, Joanna Jedrzejczyk , who presents as her biggest threat and challenge to date.
Jedrzejczyk defended her Strawweight title a total of five times in her reign as champion and she has been defeated by only two people in her career. Rose Namajunas and Valentina Shevchenko.
She won her first 14 professional MMA fights before back to back losses to Namajunas before stepping up in weight to take on Shevchenko.
She looked fantastic against Michelle Waterson in a unanimous decision victory and her Muay Thai style can provide plenty of challenges for the champ.
It was not long ago that Joanna was champion however the division is a much different place.
I find it very difficult to imagine Zhang losing this belt anytime soon and I think she will be too busy and ultimately strong for Jedrzejczyk and with the fight being five rounds, I think she will overwhelm her before the judges are needed.
Back Weili Zhang To Win By KO/TKO/Submission @ $2.50
Beneil Dariush finds himself on a three fight win streak in the Lightweight division including two performance of the night bonuses in his last two fights.
He beat Drew Dober with a triangle arm-bar in March last year before a read-naked-choke win over Frank Camacho in October in Singapore.
His overall record stands at 17 wins from his 22 fights with a draw against Evan Dunham at UFC 216.
Drakkar Klose has tasted defeat just once in his 13 fight pro career to date.
That loss came against David Teymur at UFC 218 in December 2017 by unanimous decision.
All six of his fights have needed the judge’s decision to decide the fight and I don’t think this fight will be any different.
I do not have it going his way however.
Back Beneil Dariush To Win Via Decision @ $3.10
Chinese fighter Li Jingliang is on a three fight win streak in the UFC with his last two coming by way of TKO.
His debut fight came at UFC 173 with a split decision win back in May 2014 and his overall record in the UFC stands at 9 wins and 3 losses from 12 fights.
Six of those nine wins have come by KO/TKO and he is a fighter that is extremely dangerous to anyone in this division.
Neil Magny made his debut in the UFC Promotion way back in February of 2013 with a unanimous decision win over Jon Manley.
He holds the UFC record for most wins 5 (tied) in a calendar year back in 2014 .
He has wins over Kelvin Gastelum, Hector Lombard, Johny Hendricks and Carlos Condit however he has not fought since November 2018 after testing positive to a banned substance.
On paper this looks like a very exciting match up between a fighter that has won seven of his last eight fights and one of the ore dangerous men in the division on his day.
I’m finding it very difficult to pick between these two however I am confident that the fight will last the three rounds and the judge’s will be needed.
Back The Fight To Go The Distance @ $1.85
Cowboy Oliveira made his debut in the UFC back in March 2015. A fight which he lost by submission to Gilbert Burns.
He has nine wins from his 16 fights in the promotion with one of those being a No Contest against Tim Means.
Cowboy is 32 years old and this is a very important fight for him as he has lost his last three on the trot and he has won just two of his last six fights.
Max Griffin’s recent form inside the Octagon does not look much better.
Since joining the UFC in 2016, he has just three wins from eight fights including losing three of his last four.
His last six fights have been by decision and he too is in desperate need of a win in order to gain another contract from Dana White.
Cowboy will be out to make a statement here and I think he can bounce back and get the W with a finish in this one.
Back Alex Oliveira To Win By KO/TKO/Submission @ $2.75
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EARLY PRELIMS