This Friday night will see the UFC grace the TD Garden in Boston, over 22 months after their last event in the city.
As UFC 220 had light-heavyweight tile stakes the last time the UFC visited and the main event on the weekend does as well.
Former middleweight champion Chris Weidman will move up to 205 lbs for the first time in an attempt to claim his second world title.
His opponent, Dominick Reyes, will be looking for his first attempt at gold and should secure it if he can get past Weidman.
The undefeated fighter has breezed past his competition as of yet and if he can do the same to ‘The All-American’, then a fight with Jon Jones in the future looks set.
The co main event will see a rematch of a fight that ended in controversy just last month.
When Jeremy Stephens faced off with Yair Rodriguez in Mexico City on September 21st, nobody expected the pair to just fight for fifteen seconds and no result to be achieved.
The fight was supposed to be a classic, but an early eye poke forced an end to the contest without conclusion.
Thankfully however for the fans, the bout has now been rescheduled for October 18th.
Despite the fight ending in the worse way last time, it has massively added hype and potentially put it as the one to watch on this fight card.
Both men want clarity on the ending and one will get it on Friday.
Liverpool’s Molly McCann is another stand-out fighter on the card as she faces Diana Belbita. The fight is hugely significant in the trajectory of her career in the sport.
Check out my full preview of that fight here.
‘The Dentist’ Darren Stewart can similarly get England’s backing with a win in Boston as he will look to secure his fifth UFC victory in Boston and one that will be his career’s biggest when he faces an undefeated, rising fighter who he can gain plenty from.
AKA’s Deron Winn is one of many of his gym’s upcoming fighters who are regularly alongside the flood of ex-champions like Daniel Cormier and Cain Velasquez as well as current lightweight champion and most dominant fighter in the sport Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Winn is a wrestler by trade but showed a lack of that in his UFC debut as he stood with Eric Spicely throughout the contest, which was awarded with the fight of the night bonus.
If the American implements the same game plan against Stewart, the fight should favour the Englishman, especially as he has the power to hurt Winn who won’t be able to just take the shots like he did in his last bout.
The event could possibly be where Stewart finally receives his well-earned mainstream support from his home nation.
A fight to watch out for on the preliminary card is a featherweight bout between Kyle Bochniak and Sean Woodson.
Bochniak is a Boston-native and will surely soak in the energy of his home crowd when facing the undefeated Woodson.
The pair are known to put on a great fight and this Friday should be no different.
Bochniak’s fight with Zabit Magomedsharipov still holds him in UFC history and if the fight with Woodson can replicate that fight excitement level by 50%, then it will be one to remember as well.
Ultimately, Friday night in Boston is unmissable and with two of England’s finest competing, it exemplifies how far the sport has come on in these shores globally.
Predictions:
Dominick Reyes to defeat Chris Weidan via fourth-round TKO/KO
Yair Rodriguez to defeat Jeremy Stephens via decision
Greg Hardy to defeat Greg Sosoli via first-round TKO/KO
Gillian Robertson to defeat Maycee Barber via second-round submission
Darren Stewart to defeat Deron Winn via third-round TKO/KO
Molly McCann to defeat Diana Belbita via decision
Picture by Peter Gordon under Creative Media Commons
