UFC 197 Preview – Jon Jones vs. Ovince St Preux

Due to a leg injury, Daniel Cormier was forced to withdraw from the fight with Jon Jones, leaving the former champion facing late replacement Ovince St Preux for the interim title. Whilst Ovince St Preux takes a lot of credit for stepping up to face Jones on short notice – something that few people would consider – it’s hard to look past the man who is quite possibly the best mixed martial artist the world has ever seen. If St Preux were to beat Jones, it would be the biggest shock in UFC history, but I wouldn’t waste your money betting on it.

In the co-main event, one of the most dominant and (yet) underrated fighters in the UFC, Demetrious Johnson faces former Olympic gold medalist, Henry Cejudo for the UFC flyweight championship. Johnson and Cejudo both come into this fight on the back of winning streaks, however with Johnson being utterly dominant since the creation of the flyweight division, it’s a tough ask for Cejudo to walk away with the belt. That being said, Cejudo has an improved striking game, world class wrestling and a gas tank to match that of Johnson. However, he’s not faced an opponent with the skills of Johnson in his career thus far. Johnson has dominated the division with exemplary footwork, great wrestling and the ability to ghost away from opponents’ strikes, whilst at the same time punishing them with his own. This fight may be a little too early in Cejudo’s career, and whilst he’ll provide stiff opposition for Johnson, it’s hard to look past the champion in this fight.

Anthony Pettis vs. Edson Barboza places a former lightweight champion against a fighter who’s looking to move one step closer to the lightweight title. Both fighters posses KO power in their feet and have a penchant for the sort of fancy techniques you’d normally find in a computer game. This has the potential to be the fight of the night, blink and you may miss a devastating KO from either man.

A middleweight fight between Robert Whittaker and Rafael Natal provides an opportunity for both fighters to throw their hats in to a middleweight title picture that, right now, features the same old names that it has for the past two years. Natal is coming into this fight on the back of a four-fight win streak that has seen him take out the likes of Kevin Casey, Uriah Hall and Tom Watson. Whittaker is building a win streak of his own, also including Uriah Hall. With both fighters entering this fight with plenty of momentum it should be a tightly contested fight, just don’t expect it to set the world alight.

Your curtain jerker on this card is a featherweight bout between hot prospect, Yair Rodriguez and Alpha Fail… sorry, Alpha Male fighter, Andre Fili. Rodriguez is undefeated in his UFC career and is making a big step up taking this fight with Fili, but he has the skills to get the win and continue his rise in the division. Fili is no slouch however, and whilst he may be 3-2 in his UFC career, it’s a deceptive record – he’ll be looking to halt the hype train building around Yair Rodriguez.

Fights to look out for on the undercard: Danny Roberts vs. Dominique Steele (click the link for our Break It Down feature), Carla Esparza vs. Juliana Lima, and Marcos Rogerio de Lima vs. Clint Hester.