UFC Sacramento Preview

UFC Sacramento Preview

By Anuj Datta

After the rollercoaster that was UFC 239, the attention turns to this weekend’s card.

The main event of UFC Sacramento is a women’s bantamweight bout between former featherweight champ Germaine De Randamie and undefeated prospect Aspen Ladd. Its number 1 against number 4 in the rankings so looks almost certainly to be a title eliminator.

However, there’s another bantamweight clash that fans will be looking forward to the most. The co-main event features the return of hall of famer Urijah Faber.

The California Kid couldn’t have picked a better time to return. Sacramento is the home of team Alpha Male, the gym he founded fifteen years ago, which is home to several UFC fighters. It is also where he announced his retirement two and a half years ago. The itch was too much to bear, as it has been for many fighters who hang up the gloves.

The former WEC champ had little regret from a glittering 13-year career, maybe the only one being unable to claim gold in the UFC.

His opponent on Saturday is no joke, the up and coming Ricky Simon is 3-0 in the organisation and 15-1 overall. A win for Simon wouldn’t necessarily propel him up the rankings but it would be the biggest scalp on his resume to date.

Josh Emmett faces Mirsad Bektic in an exciting fight at featherweight. Emmett has provided sensational knockouts in his last two victories and will be looking to continue the momentum when he takes on Bektic.

Since moving to Tristar, Bektic has credited his recent progress to head coach Firas Zahabi who has a reputation for moulding fighters and taking them to the next level. The loss to Darren Elkins is the sole blemish on his record and a win over Emmett will make that a distant memory.

Karl Roberson was initially scheduled to face John Phillips but like other fights on this card, injuries have intervened. Instead he welcomes debutant Wellington Turman to the middleweight division.

Since winning a contract on Dana White’s contender series, he’s 2-2 in the UFC and a loss to a relatively unknown fighter might just spell the end of his time in the company.

To kickstart the action, another 185lb showcase in Marvin Vettori vs Cezar Ferreira. The “Mutante” Ferreira has impressive wins to his name, against stiff competition like Anthony Smith and Jack Hermansson. But as he seems on the cusp of a top 10 ranking, he loses.

Can “The Italian Dream” Vettori cement himself as a legitimate threat in the division against the third-degree black belt or will the former TUF winner gain some traction.

There was controversy surrounding De Randamie after she was stripped of her featherweight crown, soon after defeating Holly Holm to win it. The reason being she refused to fight Cris Cyborg because of her previous doping violation.

She didn’t take a step back however, beating former challenger Raquel Pennington. She will feel like she’s done enough to warrant a shot at Nunes if she takes out Aspen Ladd, who has looked dominant thus far.