The UFC’s assembly line keeps churning with UFC on ESPN 4 the latest in an endless supply of Saturday events.
Fortunately, the UFC’s return to San Antonio features enough intriguing matchups to give even the most burned-out fans a reason to tune in, not the least of which is the welterweight main event between former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos and red-hot Brit Leon Edwards.
UFC on ESPN 4 takes place Saturday at AT&T Center in San Antonio. The card airs on ESPN.
Without further ado, let’s get to the six burning questions that must be answered at UFC on ESPN 4.
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Can a red-hot Leon Edwards seize the moment in his biggest spotlight?
It’s a well established pattern at this point: Some fighters, whether because of their perceived marketability or reaction to the amount of noise they make on social media, get put on the fast track to success.
Then there are those who the UFC seems content to just have as another name on the roster, until they win so many fights in a row they can no longer be denied.
Such is the case for Edwards (17-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC), who’s had to scrape and claw for every bit of attention he’s received. Edwards (29-11 MMA, 18-9 UFC) has won seven consecutive bouts in the UFC welterweight division and nine of his past 10. His only main event to this point was a Fight Pass-streamed win over Donald Cerrone last year in Singapore that, let’s be honest here, few of you watched.
So now Edwards finally has the chance to seize the day, in the main event of an ESPN-broadcast card in a bout with the always dangerous dos Anjos, who is looking to reestablish himself after going 1-2 in his past three fights. With a loss, you can be sure the UFC will go back to just using Edwards as a name on European shows. Win, though, and the company can no longer deny his presence on the short list of top 170-pound contenders.
Can Juan Adams deliver in a fight he wanted?
Juan Adams has made it clear for quite some time he’s wanted a fight with Greg Hardy. And he’s also made clear why: Just as the controversy over the UFC’s use of the former NFL All-Pro player seemed to be slowly becoming part of the background noise, Adams wants to make sure no one forgets Hardy’s history of domestic violence.
That’s why Adams (5-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) called out Hardy (4-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC), calling him a “bully” and reminding everyone about his past. And he’s also not dancing around the fact that Hellen Keller and Mr. Magoo can both see that the UFC has been protecting Hardy with hand-selected opposition.
Adams now has the chance he wanted. Arjan Bhullar outgrappled him to hand him his first loss 10 weeks ago. Hardy’s highly unlikely to use a similar gameplan. Adams likes to stand and bang, with all five wins via first-round knockout. Hardy has proven, if nothing else, he has hellacious power. Will Adams be the guy who stands up to the schoolyard bully? We’ll find out.
Has Alexander Hernandez learned his lesson?
With a pair of wins in his first two UFC fights, including a knockout of Beniel Dariush in under a minute, Alexander Hernandez marked himself as one to watch in the UFC lightweight division.
Then Hernandez (10-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) got the big fight he wanted in Donald Cerrone, on the first-ever ESPN UFC broadcast. The Texan also made the regrettable decision from there to try to troll one of the sport’s most beloved fighters, inferring that he was old and his best days were behind him.
The end result was the classic scenario of the veteran serving the brash upstart a large slice of humble pie, as Cerrone picked Hernandez apart before finishing him.
Hernandez still has a bunch of potential and is being served up a a solid chance at his footing when he meets another plucky veteran in Francisco Trinaldo (23-6 MMA, 13-5 UFC). He’ll never get a better opportunity to show he’s learned the lessons “Cowboy” taught.
11 years later, can the Andrei Arlovski-Ben Rothwell rematch live up to the first fight?
One of the low-key great fights in MMA history was the battle between Andrei Arlovski and Ben Rothwell at Affliction: Banned in 2008. The duo threw down with reckless abandon before Arlovski won via flying-knee knockout in the third round. (Arlovski went for another flying knee next time out against Fedor Emelianenko, and that one didn’t go so well, but we digress).
Eleven years to the weekend after that legendary night in Anaheim, Calif., the duo gets back at it. Arlovski (27-18 MMA, 16-12 UFC), in the majority of his recent fights, has tried to outpoint his way to victory, hopefully thereby banking another win bonus and avoiding the chopping block. Rothwell (36-11 MMA, 6-5 UFC), well, he hasn’t won a fight since submitting Josh Barnett three-and-a-half-years ago.
But who knows? Back at Affliction: Banned, Arlovski had been cast off by the UFC, and Rothwell was simply trying to find his place after the IFL folded. Both have something to prove here, too. Maybe those are the right ingredients to recreate the magic.
How legit is Irene Aldana?
In a bantamweight division starving for fresh contenders, Irene Aldana seems to have it all. She’s won three straight fights. Two fights ago, her UFC 228 scrap with Lucie Pudilova earned “Fight of the Night.” Then her third-round armbar of Bethe Correia was a gutsy finish to a fight Aldana (10-4 MMA, 3-2 UFC) might have been losing, displaying heart and tenacity under fire.
The Guadalajara native could be the first big breakthrough Mexican women’s competitor. Which means the UFC is putting her in a big, featured spot Saturday night against former bantamweight title challenger Raquel Pennington (9-7 MMA, 6-4 UFC) … oh wait, update, this fight is being buried on the preliminary card.
Anyway, with Aspen Ladd losing in 16 seconds last weekend, and the UFC going to be understandably hesitant to grant Germaine de Randamie another title fight after she walked away from the featherweight belt, Aldana seems the best option the company has at the moment to build someone up at 135. Who knows? If she has yet another exciting fight this time, maybe she’ll start getting a real push from the company.
Can Ray Borg catch a break?
There are few more sympathetic figures in the UFC than Albuquerque’s Ray Borg. Occasionally, some of his problems have been of his own making, like three weight misses. Others, though, have been simply unfair, from his role as an innocent bystander in Conor McGregor’s bus attack to his baby boy’s ongoing health issues, around which the entire MMA community rallied.
Borg (11-4 MMA, 5-4 UFC) returns for a bantamweight bout against Gabriel Silva(7-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) on Saturday. He hasn’t won a fight since defeating Jussier Formiga in March 2017. Regardless of your leanings in this fight, here’s wishing “The Tazmexican Devil” an uneventful fight week and a chance to step into the cage fully healthy.
For more on UFC on ESPN 4, check out the MMA schedule.
