UFC Fight Night 111 is upon us and the MMA community isn’t hyped at all. The headliner for the event that goes down in Singapore on June 17th will see a former champion take on a former title-challenger, however, I think it’s safe to say that UFC Fight Night Singapore has been flying under the radar.
Most critics of the aforementioned Singapore Fight Night card point out the fact that Correia, whom most fans consider to be a lower-tier fighter, doesn’t deserve the main event spot she’s been accorded.
Besides, yet another knock on this card- that seems to be lost in all the Mayweather vs McGregor chaos that’s transpired and continues to in the combat sports world over the past few weeks- is that the prelims don’t boast much star-power apart from Takanori Gomi, who many opine is a shell of the fighter he once was.
Forgive me if I sound biased owing to my addiction to MMA, but in my opinion, the main card UFC brings to Singapore this Saturday is jam-packed with excellent practitioners of the Savage Science.
You have one of the best fighters in combat sports history in Holly Holm, a former UFC Heavyweight Champion in Andrei Arlovski, an excellent HW technician in Marcin Tybura, a rising prospect taking on a Welterweight veteran in Covington vs DHK; and last but not the least, we have ‘The Sponge’ welcome a former UFC Lightweight Champion Rafael Dos Anjos to the 170-pound division.
If that’s not enough to get you hooked to the TV or PC, phone, tablet or whatever device the youngsters are using today; here are few reasons why you should watch UFC Fight Night Singapore-
#1 The Preacher’s Daughter returns after the most controversial fight of her career to face The Pitbull:
Holly Holm (10-3) came up short in her bid for the UFC Women’s Featherweight Championship against Germaine De Randamie at UFC 208, in what was one of the most controversial fights to ever go down inside the Octagon. Nevertheless, The Preacher’s Daughter returns to the Bantamweight division to take on former UFC 135-pound title challenger Bethe Correia.
Correia (10-2) is perhaps best known for being obliterated by Ronda Rousey however, as of late, the Brazilian slugger has made drastic improvements to her overall MMA game and is a tad better since the time she faced ‘Rowdy’.
The dynamics of this matchup are, to put it nicely, weird. Holm is one of the greatest fighters- male or female- to have ever laced up the gloves not only in MMA but also in the sport of professional boxing.
Regardless, what appears to be a shut-out victory for Holm on paper, may be easier said than done given the fact that Correia looked really good while throwing hands with one of the division’s best boxers- Raquel Pennington.
Now I’m not one to propagate the usage of MMA Math, but when you consider the fact that Pennington was the first UFC fighter to knock Holm down with a punch, the Correia-Pennington matchup may serve as a prelude that we mustn’t count out her chances against Holm in this match.
Although I don’t expect Correia to actually win this fight, one can expect her to give it her all when the Octagon door slams shut for the main event in Singapore. The Preacher’s Daughter looked great in her last fight, despite coming out on the losing end against De Randamie, and when she steps into the ring against Correia fans can expect straights, hooks, uppercuts, oblique kicks, side-kicks and…(shudders) Head Kicks galore!
And that, my friends, brings us to the big boys…
#2 Heavyweights collide inside the Octagon; possible Pitbull farewell:
Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski (25-14-1) takes on Marcin Tybura (15-2) in a battle of giants. Now, mind you, although Arlovski is ranked number-12, he is far from the fighter that he once was.
Now although we’ve heard that statement a million times before as far as the ‘Pitbull’s’ chin is concerned, the problem is that his current skid is similar to the losing streak he went on around the time of his devastating loss to Fedor Emelianenko years ago.
Arlovski really, really needs to walk away with the W in Singapore. His losses to Stipe Miocic, Alistair Overeem, Josh Barnett and Francis Ngannou have been brutal and it’s a very real possibility that this may, in fact, be the very last time we get to watch the legendary Heavyweight fight inside the Octagon.
On the other hand, you have Marcin Tybura, who lost an uninspiring decision to Timothy Johnson in his UFC debut but bounced back to put on impressive performances against Viktor Pesta and Luis Henrique.
In what may be Arlovski’s UFC swan song, we may see a new star born from the ashes of an old one. Which brings us to yet another UFC veteran vs rising prospect matchup…
#3 Dong Hyun Kim looks to tie his own UFC record:
Dong Hyun Kim (22-3-1-1) is presently riding a 3-fight win streak with victories over Joshua Burkman, Dominic Waters and Tarec Saffiedine; and will be looking to tie his own record for the longest winning streak he’s had over the course of his lengthy UFC career.
On the other hand, Colby Covington (11-1) will also be looking for his fourth straight win after besting the likes of Jonathan Meunier, Bryan Barberena and Max Griffin.
Covington has been talking a lot of trash against a lot of fighters as of late, and was recently lobbying for a fight against former UFC Lightweight Champion Rafael Dos Anjos in order to welcome the latter to the 170-pound division.
Nevertheless, here we are with Covington taking on ‘Stun Gun’, in a fight that promises to be an exciting showdown with the unpredictability of Stun Gun and the excellent wrestling dynamics brought to the cage by Covington. Well, speaking of RDA…
#4 Former Lightweight Kingpin RDA meets former Strikeforce 170-pound champ ‘The Sponge’ at Welterweight in Singapore:
Rafael Dos Anjos (25-9) put on a good performance in his first fight after being brutally knocked out by Eddie Alvarez. Although the former UFC Lightweight champ lost a decision to Tony Ferguson, he proved that he’s still more than capable of hanging with the elite at 155.
However, Tarec Saffiedine (16-6) is not a 155’er, nor is he a gimme fight at a division that Dos Anjos plans to become champion- ergo 170 pounds.
Although Saffiedine is not the high-output fighter he was when he held the Strikeforce 170-pound Championship, he still is somewhat the same with regard to his fighting style and approach. In other words, The Sponge is still good to go against the top-10 to 15 fighters in the UFC’s Welterweight division.
The clash of styles in RDA vs Saffiedine is what makes the fight so intriguing as fans will get to witness the non-stop, aggressive approach of RDA go against the tactical, defensive approach of Saffiedine.
In what will be a clash of a former UFC and former Strikeforce champion, Dos Anjos vs. Saffiedine will be the perfect fight to send us off to a flying start for the 4-fight main card this June 17th at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore. Buckle up, this one may surprise us.
Watch UFC Fight Night Singapore Live and Exclusive on SONY ESPN HD, SONY ESPN SD Saturday 05:30 PM 17th June 2017.
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