UFC Fight Night 114: Sergio Pettis vs Brandon Moreno

Date: 6th August, 2017, 3am (BST)

Location: Mexico City, Mexico

Venue: Arena Ciudad de Mexico

Sergio Pettis vs Brandon Moreno

If Demetrious Johnson defeats Ray Borg at UFC 215, the winner of this bout will be next in line to take on the pound-for-pound king. Johnson is in a league of his own and has practically cleaned out the flyweight division, with these guys the only worthy challengers left.

Moreno is the ex-World Fighting Federation champion which earned him a place on ‘The Ultimate Fighter: Tournament of Champions’ cast. Unfortunately for him, he lost his first fight but since he has been on a tear. He was awarded his first fight in the UFC against the hugely talented Louis Smolka – who was riding a four fight winning streak – but surprisingly made short work of him, choking him out in the first round with a guillotine. Proving this wasn’t a fluke, he went on to beat Ryan Benoit and Dustin Ortiz, leading him on a collision path with another red hot flyweight.

Pettis has been yo-yoing between the bantamweight and flyweight divisions. His last four fights have been at flyweight; a loss to Ryan Benoit and three wins on the bounce in response, defeating seasoned top contender John Moraga along the way.

These two youngsters will going into this fight desperate for a finish but will approach it differently. Pettis’ strengths lie in his Kickboxing and he will hope to pick Moreno apart with lightening precision, relying on his slippery takedown defence to keep the fight on the feet. Moreno is no slouch on the feet but with 10 submission wins under his belt, he will want to be on the mat hunting Pettis’ back.

See below for a statistical breakdown:

Randa Markos vs Alexa Grasso

TThese two pocket rockets will be battling it out in the strawweight division with Grasso fighting on home soil in front of her adoring fans. Markos who is from Iraq but resides in Canada will have to adjust the high altitude conditions in Mexico City.

Coming off a close yet impressive decision victory over former champion; Carla Esparza, Markos is eager to gain some consistency inside the octagon who hasn’t strung two wins together since 2013. A sign of how competitive the strawweight division has become, she now faces a young and promising fighter with only one loss to her name. This loss was also a controversial decision loss to Felice Herrig which could have gone either way. She now has home advantage and out for retribution which should produce a great contest between the experienced Markos.

See below for a statistical breakdown:

Alan Jouban vs Niko Price

Jouban’s impressive three fight winning streak was snapped convincingly by Gunnar Nelson in his last outing, and he has not been gifted a comfortable fight to get back to winnings ways. Price has finished all but one of his opponents and if you put aside his marijuana misdemeanours, he would have nine finishes from his 10 fights. However, his most recent win was deemed a ‘no contest’ for testing positive. His confidence won’t waver in the slightest though, as he goes into the biggest fight of his career. Jouban is incredibly well-rounded, but another good performance from Price could propel him towards the top 10 rankings.

See below for a statistical breakdown:

Martin Bravo vs Humberto Bandenay

Two new and young featherweights are looking to make roads in the UFC. Vastly experienced for their age, Bravo makes his second UFC appearance whereas Bandenay is making his debut. Both of these guys are certainly UFC calibre and it promises to be a fiercely contested battle.

Bravo is fighting in his home country and has the confidence of never tasting defeat, but he is giving up a lot of range to the Peruvian who will go all out to make a statement on his first UFC appearance. As there are no UFC striking and grappling stats to go off for Bandenay, we have broken down the finishing of all their fights to give you an idea of what to expect.

See below for a statistical breakdown:

Sam Alvey vs Rashad Evans

This is a fight that has gone completely under the radar but is a very significant one for both of these veterans. Evans is a former light heavyweight champion and UFC legend but a series of debilitating injuries over several years has impacted his performances significantly. He has lost his last three fights and his career will be hanging in the balance if he can’t get past Alvey.

Alvey has looked phenomenal recently but lost his last fight against Thales Leites to a decision and is excited at the prospect of bouncing back with a win against the biggest name he has fought. This will be a huge feather in the cap for Alvey but if the Evans of old turns up he could be in for a long night. However, the harsh conditions at altitude will test their gas tank and this is likely to end up in a gritty, attritional chess match.

See below for a statistical breakdown:

Alejandro Peréz vs Andre Soukhamthath

Soukhamthath is hoping for his first UFC win in his second appearance, but this will be a tall order against Peréz. Soukhamthath lost on his debut against Albert Morales who Peréz would have beat in his most recent fight if he didn’t hit him after the bell. As a consequence, he was deducted a point and the fight ended in a draw. Peréz gives up a reach advantage but has the experience of fighting under the octagon lights.

See below for a statistical breakdown: