My name is Damien Drain and i am a fan of both WWE/Pro Wrestling and UFC/MMA and this is my preview for tonight’s UFC On Fox Card main evented by former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion “The Preacher’s Daughter” Holly Holm who was the woman that defeated Ronda Rousey facing Valentina “Bullet” Shevchenko as Holm is ranked 2nd in the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Rankings while Shevchenko is ranked 9th. The card tonight also features a co main event between Edson Barboza and former WEC (World Extreme Cagefighting) and 2-Time Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez in a fight that could deliver some fireworks if it’s just a straight up stand up fight. This to be fair is a card that does not feature a lot of big names but if you need to watch something tonight, if you are a UFC fan or are not a fan and want to start getting into it then this will be a decent card to start helping you get familiar with some of the fighters on the roster so let’s get to the preview for the main card as the prelims start at 6 PM on Fox and the main card starts at 8 PM on Fox right after the prelims.
First fight on the card will be a Womens Strawweight Fight as the Womens Strawweights are 115 Pounders that will feature Felice Herring who was on The Ultimate Fighter Season 20 against rising prospect Kailin Curran. Herring is a veteran of the sport believe it or not she has more expierence then Curran cause Herring is of right now 10-6 and Curran is 4-2 so there is a definate expierence advantage for Herring. Herring is a Muay Thai Kickboxer but the majority of her wins are not knockouts and submissions instead she has 6 decision wins, 3 submission wins and only 1 knockout win. Curran is seemingly starting to rise in this weight class because the 115 pound division for the most part it’s still wide-open so this is a chance for both women to potentially get near that Top 5. My feeling on this fight is Curran should win this fight Herring in her last fight against Paige Van Zant in April 2015 was absolutely beaten down now to be fair Herring went all 3 rounds with Van Zant but Van Zant absolutely dominated her and this is her first fight since then so if i have to give a prediction i’ma pick Curran and i think this fight will go all 3 rounds and Curran will win by decision.
The 2nd fight on the card is a Heavyweight Fight as the UFC’s Heavyweight Division has gotten very interesting in the last year or two in my opinion as this fight features fast rising prospect Francis Ngannou vs Bojan Mihajlovc. This is really Ngannou’s fight to lose Nagnnou many are right now labeling a future contender and could be france’s first ever champion in the UFC as Nagnnou is currently 7-1 he has 4 KO’s and 3 submissions. Nagnnou has won his first two fights in the UFC both by knockout and they were both 2nd round KO’s now i don’t know much about Bojan so because of that my prediction is Nagnnou to continue his rise and i think he will win by knockout within the first round or the second round.
Now onto the co main event which is a fight that i think could be fight of the night it’s a Lightweight fight which is 155 Pounds between Edson Barboza who is at the tip of entering the Top 5 as he is ranked 6th in the UFC’s Lightweight Rankings facing former WEC and the only 2-Time Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Gilbert “El Nino” Melendez who is fighting for the first time in a year since losing to the now current UFC Lightweight Champion Eddie Alvarez at UFC 188 in Mexico City in June of 2015 due to Melendez testing positive for PED’s before his scheudled bout with Al Iaquinta at UFC Fight Night 71 and was suspended one year. This could be a great fight Edson Barboza has won 2 of his last 3 fights which include a win in a great fight against Paul Felder at last year’s UFC on Fox card in Chicago and 3 months ago in April he defeated the former UFC Lightweight Champion Anthony “Showtime” Pettis by Unanimous Decision in a fight were Barboza’s leg kicks absolutely battered Pettis’s legs and Barboza’s leg kicks are dangerous as Barboza is the only fighter in the UFC to my knowledge that has won two fights by TKO via leg kicks. Gilbert Melendez has been a long time contender he’s lost his last two fights one to Alvarez and he lost to Anthony Pettis when Pettis was Lightweight Champion at UFC 181 in December of 2014 and is most known for his wars with Josh Thomson in Strikeforce and his absolutely insane fight with Diego Sanchez at UFC 166 i highly reccoment that fight that’s one of the best 3 round fights i think you will ever see. If i had to predict this fight i’m going with Barboza he seems like he is finally ready to enter the Top 5 which has been a challenge for him because when he gets close to getting to that elite level he falters wether it be against Michael Johnson in Febraury of 2015 at a UFC Fight Night Card in Brazil, Donald Cerrone in April 2014 on a UFC on Fox Card or his upset lost to Jamie Varner at UFC 146 in May of 2012 he seems to be so close yet ends up falling short of finally being a top 5 lightweight but here he’s got i think a very good chance of entering the Top 5 and i think he will win but i don’t see a knockout or submission Melendez is one of the toughest guys on the roster he’s never been knocked out he’s only tapped out time and that was to Anthony Pettis as most of his losses are decision losses so i got Barboza winning this fight by decision and this could be the Fight of the Night.
Now onto the main event 5 round main event as all main events in the UFC are 5 rounds wether a title is on the line or not as this is the 3rd time a womens fight is headlining a UFC card in the last couple of weeks with it being a Womens Bantamweight Bout which is 135 Pounds between former UFC Womens Bantamweight Champion Holly Holm and Valentina Shevchenko. Holly Holm is the former champion but also the woman who defeated Ronda Rousey at UFC 193 at the largest attended show in UFC history in Ethiad Stadium in Melbourne Australia which was 56,214 we all know the story of that fight with Holm dominating Rousey before KOING her in the 2nd round. Holm though is coming off losing the championship to Miesha Tate at UFC 196 in the co main event of the first Nate Diaz vs Conor McGregor as Tate choked Holm out in the fifth round in a fight that Holm was winning on the judges scorecards where Tate just in my opinion timed the takedown beautfiully got Holm’s back and was able to choke her out as Holm during the fight when she was taken down in the 2nd and 5th rounds had problems on the ground as Tate even got a 10-8 2nd round and all 3 scorecards. Valentina Shevchenko fought on that same card losing to the current UFC Womens Bantamweight Champion Amanda Nunes where she was losing the fight but was making a comeback in the 3rd round before time ran out and she lost by Unanimous Decision. This is a very important fight for Holm she is the biggest name on the card so it’s going to be very interesting to see the attendence, the total gate and the TV viewership numbers. But this is very important for Holm because after beating Ronda she lost the title decsiviely to Tate where you could argue and i will be the one to argue the same point that Holm should of waited till Ronda decided to comeback and do Holm vs Rousey 2 but that’s a entirely different story because the point is simple all of the momentum Holm built for herself after losing to Ronda is on the line in this fight if she wins then she could fight the winner of what i assume will be Ronda Rousey vs Amanda Nunes for the UFC Womens Bantamweight Championship for the title but if she loses to Shevchenko here then all of that momentum will be gone and she will have no claim to a title fight anytime soon in my opinion. My prediction though is Holm to win i don’t see her winning by knockout i honestly see this kind of being a boring fight unless the two decide to go all out i see Holm winning this fight by a decision and i don’t see it being a blowout i see this being a competitve decision but i do see Holm getting a win here but if Shevchenko can cut Holm off and even get Holm down to the ground then Shevchenko could pull off the upset
So there is my preview for UFC on Fox 20 if you want to check this card it will be on Fox the prelims start at 6 and the main card starts at 8 again this is not the most star studded card but if you are needing something to watch, if you are a UFC fan and love watching it or you are some one who has not yet watched UFC but are looking to get into it then you could if you want to check this card out and start to get a little familar with who’s on the roster so if you want leave a comment or share your predictions then shrare them in the comment section below and as one last reminder prelims start at 6 and the main card starts at 8 all on Fox so enjoy tonight’s fights.