The UFC heads to Kansas for the first time in the promotion’s history for UFC on ESPN+ 4.
In the main event, two hard-hitting heavyweights with a combined 32 career knockout victories look to get back in the title mix when recent title challenger Derrick Lewis faces off against ex-champ Junior Dos Santos.
In the co-main event, two welterweights on lengthy winning streaks look to stake their claims on a spot in the 170-pound rankings when Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos faces Curtis Millender.
UFC on ESPN+ 4 takes place Saturday at INTRUST Bank Arena in Wichita. The event streams on ESPN+.
Inside, check out seven burning questions about the fight card.
1. Is Derrick Lewis more than a hard-hitting, lovable rogue?
Lewis is four years into his UFC career and we know what he is all about. He’s got a ton of personality and an equal amount of striking power, but outside of that, well, there’s not much there. And you know what? That’s perfectly fine. His sense of humor, charisma, social media presence and his ability to finish a fight, even when running on fumes, have made him one of the biggest draws in the heavyweight division. The skills Lewis (21-7 MMA, 12-5 UFC) does posses have earned him the No. 3 ranking in the USA Today Sports/MMA Junkie MMA heavyweight rankings. What Lewis’ style has not done is make him a legitimate threat to win, and more importantly, retain the UFC heavyweight title.
By no means am I complaining about Derrick Lewis, he’s missed whenever he is out of the MMA news cycle, but I am wondering is if we’ve seen everything we are going to see from the 34-year-old. Lewis took a fair amount of time off after his November loss to current champ Daniel Cormier and it’ll be interesting to see if he used that time to shore up any of the weaknesses he has displayed, mainly his cardio and lack of wrestling skills. If he hasn’t, that UFC 230 title fight against Cormier might have been his first and last chance to earn a UFC title.
2. Can Junior Dos Santos get back in the mix?
In his past two fights, ex-heavyweight champ Dos Santos (20-5 MMA, 14-4 UFC) has been used as a test of sorts. In July he earned a decision over former WSOF heavyweight champ Blagoy Ivanov in Ivanov’s UFC debut. He followed that with an early December TKO win over rising heavyweight Tai Tuivasa. Those two victories put Dos Santos on his first winning streak since 2012. The 35-year-old is currently ranked No. 8 in the heavyweight division.
With momentum on his side, Dos Santos steps in to face recent title challenger Lewis. And where Dos Santos’ previous two outings felt like a test for his opponents, this one feels like a challenge for the former champ.
“I get excited to reach the top, to reach where I want to be, which is with the belt,” Dos Santos told MMA Junkie ahead of UFC on ESPN+ 4. “I’ll do whatever it takes to get there. If I have to fight these guys to get there, I will fight them. It’s another day at the job for me.”
After his win over Ivanov, Dos Santos called for a title eliminator against ex-champ Stipe Miocic. If he gets by Lewis, Dos Santos could very well earn that opportunity since Miocic is the No. 2 ranked heavyweight behind Cormier. Dos Santos and Miocic have split a pair of fights.
3. What’s Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos gotta do to get noticed?
Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos lost his UFC debut. Since that setback, he has gone 6-0, scored three knockout wins and earned three “Fight of the Night” bonuses. Despite his impressive run, dos Santos (20-5 MMA, 6-1 UFC) remains unranked and he’s never faced a ranked opponent either. That stretch continues at UFC on ESPN+ 4 when he faces Curtis Millender (17-3 MMA, 3-0 UFC) in a welterweight scrap.
After he defeated Sean Strickland, dos Santos wondered what he had to do to get noticed by the UFC. Apparently a knockout over Luigi Vendramini in September raised his profile a bit, but not nearly as much as dos Santos hoped it would. After that fight he called for a matchup against ex-champ Robbie Lawler.
Dos Santos did not get that fight, but when he meets Millender in Kansas he will compete in the co-main event. That’s a big step, as dos Santos’ previous UFC bouts all took place on the prelims. So it appears that he is at least making some inroads with the powers that be. Now it’s up to him to capitalize on the opportunity.
Millender enters this matchup with three wins in his three UFC fights and an overall winning streak of nine straight.
4. Can Ben Rothwell return to the top of the heavyweight division?
The last time fans saw Ben Rothwell in the octagon was April 10, 2016. Rothwell was on a four-fight winning streak and was ranked No. 4 in the heavyweight division at that time. The only fighters ranked above him were then champion Fabricio Werdum, former titleholder Cain Velasquez and future kingpin Stipe Miocic. Heading into his UFC Fight Night 86 fight against ex-champ Junior dos Santos, Rothwell was closing in on a title shot of his own.
Before we talk about the Dos Santos fight, we should reflect on Rothwell’s winning streak. During that run, he knocked out Brandon Vera and Alistair Overeem and submitted both Matt Mitrione and Josh Barnett via gogo choke. And lest we forget, there was also the memorable post-KO dance he broke out after the Overeem win.
Alas, Rothwell dropped a one-sided decision to Dos Santos, which not only ended his winning streak but dropped Rothwell to the No. 8 spot in the rankings. A knee injury then forced Rothwell from a scheduled matchup against Werdum, who by then had lost the title to Miocic. Then, in March 2017, Rothwell was informed of a potential USADA anti-doping violation. That out-of-competition drug test failure for an “anabolic androgenic steroid of exogenous origin” netted Rothwell a two-year suspension.
Now 37, Rothwell (36-10 MMA, 6-4 UFC) returns at UFC on ESPN+ 4 where he faces the No. 13 ranked Blagoy Ivanov (16-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC), who in an odd coincidence is also coming off a unanimous decision loss to Dos Santos. The 32-year-old Ivanov is the former WSOF heavyweight champion and had won five in a row before his loss to Dos Santos.
Rothwell has a tough road ahead of him if he wants to get back to the top. The heavyweight division looks a lot different than it did when he last fought, with fighters like Marcin Tybura, Tai Tuivasa, Curtis Blaydes, Alexander Volkov, Francis Ngannou and Derrick Lewis populating the rankings.
5. Is Drew Dober ready to take the next step?
A member of the UFC roster since 2013, Drew Dober had never won three straight fights inside the octagon until he earned a one-sided decision victory over Jon Tuck in August. After that win, which gave Dober a record of 5-1 since 2016, the 30-year-old lightweight said he was ready for a test in his next outing.
“I don’t have any individual names, but there’s a rank of 10 guys I have my eyes on,” Dober told MMA Junkie. “You can choose any name on that top-10 list. I want to fight anyone and everyone. If you can make it an exciting fight, I’ll come in and bang with anyone. Let’s get more ‘Fight of the Nights.'”
While Dober (20-8 MMA, 6-4 UFC) didn’t land a fight against a top-10 opponent in Kansas, he will get the test he asked for. Dober is the underdog in his lightweight matchup against Beneil Dariush (15-4-1 MMA, 9-4-1 UFC). The last time Dober was not the favorite was when he lost to Olivier Aubin-Mercier by submission at UFC 206.
If Dober can get past Dariush, who has become a gatekeeper of sorts over the past few years, he’ll most likely get a ranked opponent in his next fight.
Dariush ended a two-year winless stretch with a decision victory over Thiago Moises in November.
6. Can a focused Louis Smolka make some noise?
Louis Smolka approached his UFC Fight Night 141 with clear eyes and a clearer focus.
“They’re going to cut whoever loses,” Smolka told MMA Junkie before his matchup against Su Mudaerji. “I think I have to win this fight (to stick around). I think it’s a four-fight contract, but I’ve got to win this. It’s pressure, but I’m just trying to win. I’m going to put on a good show and I’m going to go out there and fight. I’m going to get this win. I’m going to get it no matter what.”
Smolka, who had been released by the UFC in early 2018 after an 0-4 run, re-signed with the promotion in November as a short-notice replacement after three wins on the regional circuit. Smolka submitted Mudaerji in the second round of that matchup and earned himself another fight with the UFC. Smolka (15-5 MMA, 5-5 UFC) faces Matt Schnell (11-4 MMA, 2-2 UFC) in a bantamweight matchup in Kansas.
After the UFC released him, Smolka changed gyms and addressed a drinking problem that saw him rolling into training hungover more often than not.
With a new focus on his career and full training camp under his belt, Smolka, who was once a top-15 flyweight contender, has a chance to get back in the mix. To do so, the 27-year-old will most likely have to win all four fights on the contract he signed before UFC Fight Night 141.
Schnell began his UFC career with two knockout losses, but he has won his two most recent fights by decision.
7. What about the debuts?
If you’re a debuting UFC fighter, it could pay dividends to make that debut on a card like UFC on ESPN+ 4. That is to say, a card that is not particularly deep, because the odds of stealing the show are a bit higher.
Two fighters who earned UFC deals of the strength of their performances on the Dana White’s Contender Series fight make their first official trip to the octagon on this card.
Grant Dawson earned his UFC contract with a submission win on the DWCS 6 card. The 25-year-old featherweight had his first fight with the promotion delayed due to a potential USADA violation that was eventually dismissed. Dawson (12-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC), who has never fought into the third round, faces Julian Erosa (22-6 MMA, 0-1 UFC).
Former LFA heavyweight champ Jeff Hughes is the other fighter who will debut on the UFC on ESPN+ 4 card. Hughes, who is a teammate of former heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic, earned his UFC deal on the strength of a first-round TKO win on the DWCS 14 card.
The 30-year-old Hughes (10-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) faces Maurice Greene (6-2 MMA, 1-0), a foe he is very familiar with. The two met this past April at LFA 38. Hughes retained his title in that five-round contest, winning the bout with scores of 50-45, 50-45 and 48-47.
Thoughts to ponder
Niko Price is coming off the shortest fight of his MMA career. Unfortunately for him, he was on the losing end of that matchup. Abdul Razak Alhassan knocked out Price in 43 seconds at UFC 228. Price (12-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) took some time off after that September fight. He makes his return to the octagon against veteran competitor Tim Means (28-10-1 MMA, 10-7 UFC), who ended a two-fight losing skid in November with a 78-second knockout of Ricky Rainey. Expect this welterweight matchup to be an exciting striking contest. The thing to watch for is how aggressive Price is going to be out of the gate. If he’s over-aggressive in trying to get back in the win column, he could find himself in trouble against a fighter as experienced as Means.
Tim Boetsch has not fought since Antonio Carlos Junior submitted him in April 2018. Boetsch (21-12 MMA, 12-11 UFC) returns to the octagon to face Omari Akhmedov in Kansas. Like his opponent, Akhmedov (16-4-1 MMA, 5-3-1 UFC) is coming off a long layoff. His most recent bout was a December 2017 draw with Marvin Vettori. The 38-year-old Boetsch is using this middleweight fight as a gauge of what his future holds. The veteran of 23 previous UFC fights told MMA Junkie this could be the last time we see him inside the octagon before he moves on to a life of shaved ice and competitive barbecue.
When Anthony Rocco Martin accepted a short-notice lightweight matchup against Olivier Aubin-Mercier in 2017, he had five weeks to cut around 40 pounds. He made weight but lost the fight. It was after that defeat that he decided to move to welterweight. Now 3-0 at 170 pounds and coming off a big win over Jake Matthews, which earned him a new contract, Martin (15-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) is eager to prove he belongs in the welterweight rankings. To make that jump, Martin has to get by Sergio Moraes (14-3-1 MMA, 8-2-1 UFC), who has won two straight since Kamaru Usman knocked him out in September 2017.
A week after Diego Sanchez trounced Mickey Gall at UFC 235, and Gall seemed to blame his performance on a bad weight cut, we are once again forced to consider the effectiveness of cutting weight. While Gall struggled against Sanchez after depleting his body, Martin has thrived since he stopped cutting weight, as have Robert Whittaker, Kelvin Gastelum, Dustin Poirier and a handful of other fighters who are now competing at a more natural weight. It makes you think that maybe, just maybe, cutting weight is as antiquated as physicians using bleeding as a cure.
Former Invicta FC bantamweight champion Yana Kunitskaya got her foot in the UFC door by getting knocked out by then women’s featherweight champ Cris Cyborg in March 2018. She bounced back from that loss with a win over Lina Lansberg in a bantamweight matchup in October, but she was unhappy with her performance. After saying she was eager to get back in the cage, Kunitskaya sat and waited for a booking. The No. 14 ranked Kunitskaya (11-4 MMA, 1-1 UFC) faces the No. 10 ranked Marion Reneau in Kansas. Reneau (9-4-1 MMA, 5-3-1 UFC) is coming off a decision loss to Cat Zingano in July. Kunitskaya said she has struggled with the mental part of the fight game since joining the UFC, it’ll be interesting to see if she can put things together against Reneau.
For more on UFC on ESPN+ 4, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
