UFC Phoenix Announced for January With Three Fights
The UFC has announced their return to Phoenix, Arizona. The event is set for January 15, and three fights have already been made.
The UFC made the announcement on their website.
The fights planned for the event are as follows:
The Octagon has only visited the state of Arizona once before, and that was back in December 2014. The event was shown on FOX and was headlined by current heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic taking on Junior dos Santos. The two best strawweights on Earth, Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Claudia Gadelha, headlined the prelims of the event.
Next year’s will be on FOX Sports 1, which likely means a six-fight main card (UFC Portland was the only FS1 card in recent memory with a four-fight main card). Three of the four fights on the FOX card in Phoenix were heavyweight battles, and with two of the three bouts announced for the return to Phoenix being heavyweight fights, we might see a similar.
One name that is should be on the card is Ryan Bader. The former Arizona State wrestler currently trains out of Gilbert, Arizona, just 30 minutes away from Phoenix. He does have a main event bout with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira scheduled for November 19, which would give Bader under two months to return to the Octagon to fight in his backyard.
As for the names actually on the card, Cyril Asker and Dmitrii Smoliakov will both look to bounce back from tough losses. Asker was knocked out cold by Jared Cannonier in his promotional debut in April, dropping his record to 7-2. Smoliakov was choked out by Luis Henrique in his first visit to the Octagon back in July, which was the first loss in his nine-fight career.
Viktor Pesta and Damian Grabowski are both on their way off the roster, and will battle in a likely loser-goes home match. Pesta came to the UFC as an undefeated prospect, but has gone 1-3 since signing with the promotion, getting knocked out in his last two bouts. Grabowski was knocked out in his two trips to the Octagon so far.
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Joachim Christensen had a very fun fight against Luiz Henrique da Silva in his Octagon debut in October, but came up on the losing end of a beautiful armbar. Bojan Mihajlovic unfortunately took on Francis Ngannou as an undersized heavyweight in his first fight under the bright lights and was knocked out with ease. Now he moves to his rightful light heavyweight division.
According to Ariel Helwani, a bout between Bryan Caraway and Jimmie Rivera is being negotiated for this card, but Caraway would like to fight earlier.
UFC Phoenix will take place on January 15 from the Talking Stick Arena in Phoenix, Arizona, No main card bouts have been announced yet so stay tuned for more updates from Cage Pages.
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