UFC Fight Night 106 - Vitor Belfort vs Kelvin Gastelum
When: Saturday 11th March.
Where: Fortaleza, Brazil.
Venue: Centro de Formação Olímpica do Nordeste.
The UFC arrives back in the fighting nation of Brazil with a card packed full of top ranked fighters, as well as Brazilian MMA legends in the form of Vitor ‘The Phenom’ Belfort and Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua.
The main event is a fascinating fight between The Phenom and Kelvin Gastelum. Both are at contrasting stages of their careers, and Gastelum is aiming to show the potential he possesses as he embarks on a new road in the middleweight division, moving up from welterweight (170 lbs). Since Gastelum won The Ultimate Fighter back in 2013, he unassumingly yet impressively rose up the welterweight division, beating contender after contender but constantly struggled to make weight – frustrating for everyone involved. Nobody voiced their frustration more than President Dana White, who has been pressing for Gastelum to move up to the middleweight division for quite some time. He finally has his wish and Gastelum meets a legend of the sport here. Although, not quite as terrifying as he used to be, Belfort is a danger to anyone who steps inside the cage with him and is still motivated for a shot at the title. Both fighters have extremely well-rounded and fight-ending skill sets, which is portrayed in their stats as this fight will surely be a ‘Fight of the Night’ candidate.
See below for a statistical breakdown of the fight:
Another legend of MMA graces the octagon with ‘Shogun’ Rua taking on Gian Villante. The battle-tested Rua is still out to prove he is one of the best in the division and will have the whole arena behind him expecting another knock-out victory. No stranger to wars himself, Villante will stop at nothing to prevent Rua giving the fans their wish.
See below for a statistical breakdown of the fight:
Another ludicrously talented and highly entertaining Brazilian, Edson Barboza, takes on Iranian Beneil Dariush in the next bout. Barboza has the weapons to starch any opponent, however, he has stumbled on route to a title shot against lightweight beasts. Unfortunately, Dariush is another beast.
See below for a statistical breakdown of the fight:
Next up is a flyweight bout with the winner in line for a shot against the pound-for-pound king, Demetrious Johnson. Let’s hope Borg makes weight so we can see this contest between two grappling experts.
See below for a statistical breakdown of the fight:
The sole female match-up on the card is between Bethe Correia and Marion Reneau. Both of these formidable women are very well-versed on the ground but expect a gritty stand-up battle.
See below for a statistical breakdown of the fight:
The final fighter on the main card flying the flag for Brazil comes in the form of Alex Oliveira. He takes on Tim Means in a rematch after their fight at UFC 207 was controversially deemed a no-contest. Means landed illegal knees to the head of Oliveira as he was ruled to have had one knee grounded on the mat.
See below for a statistical breakdown of the fight:
