DAVID ESTRADA ON MMA: UFC strawweights, heavyweights to entertain Texas
Published 12:31 am Saturday, May 13, 2017
The UFC is returning to the Lone Star State for a pay-per-view event for the first time since October 2015 when Daniel Cormier defeated Alexander Gustafsson in Houston’s Toyota Center at UFC 192.
UFC 211 in Dallas’ American Airlines Center tonight will highlight the two opposite ends of the mixed martial arts spectrum. Unlike any event ever, it’ll feature two championship title bouts with one in the smallest UFC weight class, the 115-pound women’s strawweight division, and the other in its largest weight class, the 265-pound men’s heavyweight division.
The two strawweights together won’t equal the mass of one of the heavyweights.
In the co-main event of the evening Joanna Jedrzejczyk will face fellow strawweight Jessica Andrade. The Polish Jedrzejczyk interestingly claimed the title at the same Dallas venue two years ago at UFC 185. Now the four-time defending champion, Joanna will be facing the Brazilian buzzsaw Andrade who’s been on a three-fight tear of victories.
After watching the super-speedy women battle for the title, fans should be prepared for an extreme change. The power-laden heavyweight men will enter the Octagon. Former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos will look to regain the title from current champ Stipe Miocic. The two last clashed in a 2014 non-title bout that JDS won. That was Miocic’s last loss before ascending the ranks to become the UFC heavyweight champion. What makes this rematch intriguing as that it’s the champion Miocic who faces someone he’s proven to be vulnerable to.
The beauty of UFC 211 is that it not only shows the red and violet of the spectrum, it has all the vibrant colors in-between.
It’s a deep card, clearly the most talent-laden of the year, featuring two other former UFC champions, several top-10 ranked fighters, and a world submission grappling winner.
In a pivotal welterweight matchup, No. 5 ranked brawler Jorge Masvidal will face multiple world submission grappling champion and UFC staple No. 3 ranked Demian Maia. Maia brings the art to mixed martial arts with his long list of masterful Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu submission victories.
Also in the main card, fan favorite and former 155-pound UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar will keep trying to climb the 145-pound featherweight ladder as he faces the younger, dynamic Yair Rodríguez. Rodríguez is on a 6-0 undefeated streak in the division, which sets up a classic new versus veteran pairing.
The main card is so deep, a former champion has a bout on the undercard. Eddie Alvarez, who lost his UFC lightweight belt to the outspoken Conor McGregor last November, will be going toe-to-toe with Dustin Porrier, who hails from just down Interstate 10 in Lafayette. This matchup has high potential to be the fight of the night (an award with monetary incentive given to fighters who bring the fans off their seats).
Southeast Texans can tune in to FX tonight to view the preliminary card starting at 7. The main PPV event kicks off at 9.