The UFC brings its first main card to ESPN proper on Sunday with UFC on ESPN 1. In the main event, former two-time heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez returns to action for the first time since July 2016. Velasquez faces former title challenger Francis Ngannou.
This fight is a personal one for Velasquez. Not only was he raised in Arizona, he also won two state championships in high school wrestling and later attended Arizona State University where he was a two-time All-American. As for Ngannou, a win over a Velasquez would be a huge step toward getting back into the heavyweight title picture.
The co-main event features two lightweights, James Vick and Paul Felder, who are looking to make the jump into the top 10 of the division with a win.
UFC on ESPN 1 takes place Sunday at Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix. The event airs on ESPN following early prelims on ESPN+.
Here are 10 reasons to watch.
1. Big men face big questions
Each fighter in the main event faces a huge question. For Velasquez, that question is, what will the former two-time champion look like after a layoff of 953 days? We all know Velasquez is considered one of the best fighters to ever compete in the heavyweight division. We also know he is regarded as one of the biggest “what ifs” in MMA history due to the number of injuries he’s dealt with over his career. Now 36, Velasquez, who hasn’t fought since he knocked out Travis Browne at UFC 200, will be under the microscope.
As for Ngannou, we know he could very well be the most powerful man in the heavyweight division. His eight knockout wins can attest to that. We also know that Ngannou (12-3 MMA, 7-2 UFC) has looked like somewhat of a one-trick pony. In the two fights he’s lost in the UFC, he’s looked quite human when his punches failed to put his opponents away early. There’s absolutely no reason to believe that Velasquez (14-2 MMA, 12-2 UFC), who is a well-rounded fighter with a great gym behind him won’t have a game plan in place to negate Ngannou’s strength. And sure, Ngannou can tell us that he’s worked on his shortcomings, but he’s yet to show us any proof of those labors.
Like Velasquez, Ngannou, who is the No. 6 fighter in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA heavyweight rankings, faces a lot of pressure in this matchup. In fact, I would say Ngannou is under more pressure than Velasquez because while he has delivered some stunning highlight reel knockouts, he has also failed spectacularly when he stepped up to face the elite of the division.
2. A little something extra
If you’ve seen Felder fight, you know he doesn’t seem to need even a smidgen of extra motivation when he steps into the cage. However, he might just have a little extra something in the tank when he faces Vick in the co-main event.
The UFC booked Felder (15-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) opposite Vick (13-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) on July 14, 2018, at UFC Fight Night 133, but that fight collapsed when the promotion pulled Vick from that card and slotted him opposite Justin Gaethje in the main event of UFC Fight Night 135.
Felder was not happy about the move, especially considering it wasn’t the first time something like that happened to him last year. He also missed out on fighting at UFC 223 when his scheduled opponent, Al Iaquinta, moved to the main event of that card when Max Holloway was unable to compete against lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Felder did get to fight on the main card at UFC 226, but that took place on short notice when he stepped in to face Mike Perry at welterweight. Felder lost that bloody bout by split decision. The defeat ended Felder’s three-fight winning streak.
Gaethje knocked out Vick in the first round of their fight. The loss ended Vick’s four-fight winning streak.
With both of these ranked lightweights – Felder comes in at No. 14, while Vick registers at No. 11 – coming off losses, expect these two to deliver a spirited affair in Phoenix.
3. Stay busy
It appears as if Cynthia Calvillo is trying to make up for lost time and recent missteps.
Calvillo began 2017 with a win on an LFA card and then proceeded to go 3-0 in the UFC. By the time she stepped into the octagon to face former strawweight champion Carla Esparza in December of that year, the former Cheesecake Factory employee looked like she was closing in on a title shot of her own. Esparza ended that run when she defeated Calvillo by decision. The loss was the first of Calvillo’s career. To make matters worse, Calvillo failed a drug test related to that fight, testing positive for marijuana metabolites. The Nevada State Athletic Commission suspended her for nine months as a result of that failed test.
In November, Calvillo returned from that suspension to defeat Poliana Botelho by first-round submission. Calvillo missed weight for that bout by two pounds. She looked extremely unsteady on the scale.
Calvillo (7-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC), who is the No. 10 ranked fighter in the women’s strawweight division, looks to put all of that completely behind her and focus on her goal of winning UFC gold when she faces rankings honorable mention Cortney Casey (8-6 MMA, 4-5 UFC) in Phoenix.
Casey ended a two-fight losing skid in her most recent outing when she defeated Angela Hill by split decision. Casey has gone to decision in each of her past five fights.
4. Gracie alert
If you’re looking for an anticipated UFC debut, well, UFC on ESPN 1 has a fight you just might be interested in catching. Kron Gracie (4-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC), who is the son of Rickson Gracie, steps into the octagon for the first time when he meets Alex Caceres (14-11 MMA, 9-9 UFC) in a featherweight bout.
Gracie has four previous MMA bouts to his name. Those contests took place between 2014 and 2016. Unsurprisingly, Gracie won each via submission.
The minute he steps into the octagon, Gracie will be one of the top jiu-jitsu practitioners in the UFC. His skill level on the ground is off the charts. There’s no question about that, but there are questions about the rest of Gracie’s MMA game. Sure, he defeated Tatsuya Kawajiri, but that was a nearly 40-year-old version of “Crusher.”
Gracie has been training with the Diaz brothers and Gilbert Melendez, so that’s something to consider ahead of this fight. But the gym, even if it is a gym with those three, is a much different environment than a UFC main card fight.
Caceres should be a good test for Gracie. A veteran of 19 fights in the UFC, Caceres, despite his lack of consistency over that run, is not an opponent to take lightly. However, it should be noted that six of Caceres’ 11 losses have come by way of submission.
Gracie is one of the biggest favorites on the card.
5. What’s it gonna take?
You know how some folks say UFC fighters should always call someone out when given the opportunity to do so? Well, at this point, Vicente Luque has to be wondering if it’s worth taking that advice.
Luque is on a streak of three straight stoppage wins and he has let the UFC know that he’s ready to take a step up in competition.
“There are some big guys that aren’t ranked, but that I’d be willing to fight,” Luque recently told MMAjunkie Radio. “Maybe Carlos Condit. But a guy that I’ve been looking forward to fighting is (Jorge) Masvidal. He has a style that me and him would put on a great fight for the fans. It would definitely be a knockout.”
Despite his pleas, the UFC has yet to match Luque (14-6-1 MMA, 7-2 UFC) against a big-name opponent. That trend continues in Phoenix where he faces Bryan Barberena in a welterweight scrap. Barberena (14-5 MMA, 5-3 UFC) has alternated wins and losses over his past five outings. He is coming off a TKO win over Jake Ellenberger.
Luque, who has finishes in all seven of his UFC victories, is taking things in stride.
“I’m going to keep finishing guys, even if they’re top-15, or out of the top-15,” he said. “That’s my mission: Keep finishing guys, and show the UFC what I’m capable of.”
6. We’ve got ourselves a grudge match
According to Aljamain Sterling, Jimmie Rivera has been calling him out since their days on the regional circuit with Ring of Combat. The beef between them heated up again in 2017 when they went back and forth on Twitter. At UFC on ESPN 1, the two highly ranked bantamweights finally get to settle their differences. And honestly, now might be the best time for them to do so.
The bantamweight pecking order began to work itself out with Marlon Moraes’ win over Raphael Assuncao in early February. The matchup between the No. 5 ranked Rivera (22-2 MMA, 6-1 UFC) and the No. 7 ranked Sterling (16-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) is the next important fight in the division, followed by the contest between the No. 4 ranked Cody Garbrandt and the No. 11 ranked Pedro Munhoz, which takes place at UFC 235.
The UFC hasn’t announced the next challenger for bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw and even if the promotion decides to award him a rematch against flyweight champ Henry Cejudo, the 135-pound division has the depth and talent to make for some exciting fights while the situation at the top of the division gets resolved.
7. Undefeated prospects face off
Manny Bermudez is living up to his nickname. The 24-year-old bantamweight, who goes by “The Bermudez Triangle,” has finished his past four bouts, including both of his UFC fights, by way of triangle choke. Bermudez (13-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) looks to extend that streak against fellow 24-year-old Benito Lopez (9-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC). The matchup is one Bermudez requested after his “Performance of the Night” bonus-winning victory over Davie Grant in July.
“I was looking through records the other day and saw another undefeated bantamweight,” Bermudez said after the stoppage. “I think me and him would have a great fight: Benito Lopez. I’m ready and able to take his undefeated record off the map. If he wants to do it, just let me know.”
Lopez, whose nickname is “The Golden Boy,” has not fought since he earned a decision over Albert Morales in December 2107. Lopez had his streak of five first-round stoppages come to an end with that victory on the Dana White’s Contender Series 7 card.
This matchup could be a sleeper pick for “Fight of the Night.”
Expect the winner of this contest to receive a bump up in competition in his next outing.
8. A fresh start in 2019
Most of the talk about Andrea Lee over the past few months has focused on her personal life. A few weeks after her win over Veronica Macedo at UFC Fight Night 129, Lee was forced to address photos of her husband that showed his swastika and Nazi SS bolt tattoos. She badly botched things in her first statement about the images but did better in a second apology. Two months after that, a warrant was issued for Lee’s husband on domestic assault charges. He remains on the run from authorities.
Lee then had her scheduled UFC on FOX 31 matchup against Jessica-Rose Clark fall through on weigh-in day when Clark was deemed medically unfit to compete.
Lee took the incident in stride.
“It’s kinda funny actually, considering how crappy 2018 has been,” she wrote on Instagram.
Lee (9-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC), who is on a five-fight winning streak looks for a fresh start to 2019 when she faces Ashlee Evans-Smith (6-3 MMA, 3-3 UFC) in a flyweight bout. Evans-Smith is coming off an April decision win over Bec Rawlings.
9. Close to a breakthrough
If you watched Scott Holtzman’s UFC 229 fight against Alan Patrick, you could hear the UFC commentary team of Jon Anik, Joe Rogan and Dominick Cruz adjust their focus about midway through the first round of the bout. The trio started the fight with high praise for the favored Patrick, but when it became clear that Holtzman was going to give Patrick a tough time, they began to focus on the underdog’s performance.
When Holtzman knocked out Patrick with devastating elbows on the ground in the third round, Anik described the win as “The breakout performance that maybe had eluded Scott Holtzman, huge victory for him tonight.”
Holtzman, who had gone the distance in his five previous UFC outings concurred with Anik.
“I don’t think any of my other wins, I’ve shown my full potential,” Holtzman said after the fight. “I think this win, we’ve started to show some of my full potential, how I fight in the gym, how I can put it all together … I belong up here with the best guys in the world. I think Alan and I were both on the fringe of breaking into the top 20, so I think this is a good argument for a good top-20 opponent for me. That’s what I want.”
Holtzman (12-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) did not get his wish, but he is matched up against a tough veteran opponent in Nik Lentz (29-9-2 MMA, 13-6-1 UFC), who has been with the UFC since 2009. Lentz has alternated wins and losses over his past five fights and is coming off a TKO win over Gray Maynard at UFC 229.
10. This could be the last dance
To say things have fallen off for Renan Barao would be kind. Barao lost his first pro fight and then went 33 contests without a loss. During that stretch, he won and defended the UFC bantamweight title. During that time he was described as an unbeatable monster. And then he wasn’t.
Barao’s record over the past five years is 2-6. He’s lost his past three bouts and in his most recent fight he came in nearly six pounds heavy for his bantamweight matchup against Andrew Ewell. Barao lost that fight by split decision. He looked like a shadow of his former self in the setback. Unsurprisingly, you’ll no longer find Barao’s name in the 135-pound rankings.
Barao (34-7 MMA, 9-6 UFC) faces Luke Sanders (12-3 MMA, 2-3 UFC) in a bantamweight contest in Phoenix.
Sanders’ career is somewhat similar to Barao’s. Sanders was 10-0 when he joined the UFC. Before he signed with the promotion, he had won and defended the RFA bantamweight title. In his first fight with the UFC, which took place at featherweight, Sanders won a “Performance of the Night” bonus for his submission win over Maximo Blanco. Since then he has gone 1-3 and is coming off a submission loss to Rani Yahya.
It’s not out of the realm of possibility that the loser of this contest could find himself released by the promotion.
For more on UFC on ESPN 1, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
