UFC 216 is here to entertain our eyeballs this Saturday evening from Las Vegas, NV. After last weekend’s horrible tragedy there will definitely be a pall over the event, but the show must go on and history must be made.
The main card starts at 10pm eastern on pay-per-view, while the prelims are at 8pm, on FX. The early pre-lim fights are on UFC Fight Pass at 6:30pm.
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Now let’s get down to business.
The main event is a tough one to call. While I ultimately think that Tony Furgeson will walk away with the interim title belt, the price tag on Kevin Lee ($7,300) is too nice to pass up on what should be an entertaining, back and forth, fight.
Demetrius Johnson ($9,700) is going for history by seeking his 11th straight title defense. Don’t miss out.
Derrick Lewis ($7,500) is a freak of nature. A man that big shouldn’t be able to move like that. When he hits his opponent, you feel it through the TV. Fabricio Werdum is the former champ, but has shown puzzling decision making in the cage over his last several fights. One does not survive those mental lapses against someone like the “Black Beast”.
Both Pearl Gonzalez and Poliana Bhotelo ($7,800) prefer to keep the fight standing, but of the two, Poliana is the bigger, stronger, and harder hitting fighter. She hasn’t fought in 2 years due to injury, but Pearl is still a work in progress and should provide Poliana with a good opportunity to showcase her skills.
Either Walt Harris ($9,200) or Mark Godbeer is getting knocked out in this fight. Godbeer’s defensive tendencies (or lack thereof) lead me to believe that he will be the one hitting the mat before the final bell. Harris with a brutal knockout.
Matt Schnell ($8,200) is a slick submission grappler, and while his striking leaves a lot to be desired, he more than makes up for it with his aggressiveness on the ground. His opponent, Beltran, might be a better striker, but not so much better as to really make Schnell pay. Schnell with an early sub is the call.