UFC 229 kicks off from Vegas tomorrow night and is headlined the most interesting matchup of the year! Obviously all the talk has been on Conor/Khabib but we have ourselves a few interesting fights including a couple of Tennessee’s own.
(Lightweight Championship) Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor: The fight that everyone has been after especially the two actually entering the cage. Everyone knows the stakes with Khabib’s perfect (26-0) record on the line against The Irish Guerrilla aka the first man to hold championships in two different weight classes concurrently. Conor hasn’t faced a wrestler at Khabib’s level buuuuuuut the Russian hasn’t seen striking ability like he will on Saturday night. I absolutely cannot wait for this fight.
Tony Ferguson vs. Anthony Pettis: Another lightweight banger y’all. Tony is on a 10 (10!!!!) fight win streak with his last fight securing him the interim title. Across the cage will be Showtime Pettis who has some serious ups and downs the last couple of years though his last performance was his best since 2014. Whoever wins probably gets the next crack at the 155 lb title….assuming Conor/Nate III doesn’t come to fruition.
Ovince Saint Preux vs. Dominick Reyes: OSP is the first of two Tennessee fighters on the card. He was on the Vols football team from 2001 to 2004 playing defensive end/linebacker and has a 23-11 record since making the jump to MMA. Ovince is coming off another super impressive submission victory back in June but has an interesting opponent across the cage. Dominick Reyes is 9-0 with eight finishes…the one decision win he has is also the only time he’s fought outside of the first round. Super underrated light heavyweight matchup here.
Derrick Lewis vs. Alexander Volkov: We got ourselves a heavyweight scrap, to say the least, with these two. Volkov is on a six fight win streak with knockouts over Stefan Struve and Fabricio Werdum. He is a former Bellator Heavyweight Champion too which I think people either forget or never knew. He’s squaring off with a guy known for his knockout power although Derrick Lewis is coming off a terrible fight with Francis Ngannou back in July. Lewis got the dub but both men showed serious gun shy-ness in a fight all of us were hype for. Expect both of these cats to let it loose tomorrow night. Barnburner alert.
Michelle Waterson vs. Felice Herring: With how things are looking in the strawweight division an impressive win here could put either lady one win away from a title shot. Felice lost a split decision to Karolina Kowalkiewicz in April but was riding a four fight win streak prior to that L. Michelle has lost two of her last three and hasn’t really matched the excitement that came from her first round submission of Paige VanZant (the opponent wasn’t impressive but the dominance was) all the way back in 2016.
Sergio Pettis vs. Jussier Formiga: Man I am fired up for this matchup. Both fellas are coming off impressive victories (Sergio decisioned Joseph Benavidez, Jussier finished Ben Nguyen with a gnarly rear naked choke) and are trying to stake a claim as the ‘next man up’ in the flyweight division. This is a certified banger to cap off the prelims.
Scott Holtzman vs. Alan Patrick: Holtzman was born in Knoxville, went to UT and even spent some time with the Knoxville Ice Bears…the guy is Tennessee through and through y’all. He’s also 11-2 while riding a two fight win streak including a nice win over Darrell Horcher last December. Not to be out done Alan Patrick sits at 15-1 and is cruising along on a three fight winning streak of his own here in the lightweight division. This kicks off the prelims on FS1 and should set a hell of a tone for the rest of the night.
John Mosley is the independent wrestling and TV aficionado of the SoBros Network. He graduated from ETSU with a degree in Radio, TV and Film along with a minor in Film Studies. Since graduating he’s done pretty much nothing but watch, film, edit or commentate for local wrestling promotions and is the current color commentator for Resolute Wrestling. #Preds #Titans #DefendOrVacateConor – Follow on Twitter: @SoBroMose
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