UFC 226 : Miocic vs Cormier happens this Saturday night in Las Vegas at the T-Mobile Arena where the Heavyweight belt and the title of ‘The Baddest Man On The Planet’ will be on the line between reigning Heavyweight Champion Stipe Miocic and the challenger and Light Heavyweight Champion Daniel ‘DC’ Cormier.
The card is stacked with a real superfight headliner; this is a card worth staying up late for.
What time does UFC 226 start in Ireland?
Online Prelims begin on UFC Fightpass at 11:30pm with BT Sport UFC Prelims starting at 1am and the Main Card at 3am with Jon Anik, Joe Rogan and Dominic Cruz commentating for the night.
The Card
MAIN CARD (1am)
UFC Heavyweight Championship: Stipe Miocic (c) vs. Daniel ‘DC’ Cormier
Heavyweight: Derrick ‘The Black Beast’ Lewis vs. Francis ‘The Predator’ Ngannou
Welterweight: Paul ‘The Irish Dragon’ Felder vs. Mike ‘Platinum’ Perry
Lightweight: Anthony ‘Showtime’ Pettis vs. Michael Chiesa
Light Heavyweight: Gokhan Saki vs. Khalil Rountree Jr.
BT SPORT PRELIMS CARD (1am)
Middleweight: Uriah Hall vs. Paulo Costa
Bantamweight: Raphael Assuncao vs. Rob Font
Lando ‘Groovy’ Vannata vs. Drakkar Klose
Welterweight: Curtis Millender vs. Max Griffin
UFC FIGHTPASS PRELIMS (11:30pm)
Lightweight: Dan ‘The Hangman’ Hooker vs. Gilbert Burns
Strawweight: Jamie Moyle vs. Emily ‘Spitfire’ Whitmire
Picks & Preview
Miocic vs Cormier
Oh this is going to be good, a really interesting fight for every type of fan.
On one side of the Octagon you have Heavyweight Champion Stipe Miocic standing at 6’4 and 240lbs with incredible knockout power. On the other side you have Light Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier at 5’11 and 240lbs who lives and breathes the term ‘embrace the grind’ and is an expert in breaking the will of his opponent through his wrestling skills.
Miocic is a powerful and varied boxer puncher who is very dangerous off his back foot with his counter punching skills as displayed when he won the belt knocking Werdum out cold with a short counter right hand. Miocic is the longest reigning Heavyweight Champion in UFC history with three title defences. His last fight being against the hyped heavyweight bogeyman Francis Ngannou in which Miocic completely outclassed Ngannou and displayed the depth of his skills.
Cormier is a pressure fighter who loves being in the clinch and using dirty boxing but his real skillset is in his grappling and wrestling. Cormier might be moving up a weight class now but he has a strong history at Heavyweight being undefeated in the weight class and a former Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion. Cormier has beaten every man that has stood in front of him that is not named Jon Jones. Winning the Heavyweight title and becoming a two division Champion will erase the shadow of Jones he still seems to be in.
How do they win?
Miocic : 1st Round via KO
Cormier : 4th Round via rear naked choke submission
Who wins?
Stipe Miocic
Lewis vs Ngannou
Two words. Swanging. Banging.
This fight is going to be like when you and your friend pick the same Mortal Kombat character to fight, same strengths and same weaknesses.
Both these heavyweights’ game is based completely around swinging their 4oz leather gloves looking for the KO. With both guys’ cardio problems in previous fights don’t expect this to go past the second round. This is Ngannou’s chance to prove himself worthy of another chance at the belt down the line after the five round shutout in his last title challenge. A convincing win here for Lewis could put him in serious consideration for the number one contender spot.
How do they win?
Lewis : 2nd Round via KO
Ngannou : 2nd Round via KO
Who wins?
Francis Ngannou
Felder vs Perry
This short notice fight was put together after both fighters’ upcoming opponents were moved to a different fight or injured and then was bumped to the main card after Holloway vs Ortega was pulled. The usual lightweight Paul Felder is moving up to Welterweight to meet Perry.
Perry rocketed up the rankings with knockout after knockout (including a scary KO on Jake Ellenberger which Perry celebrated with by break dancing next to the still unconscious Ellenberger) but has seemed to have hit a plateau upon reaching top 10 welterweight opponents losing his last two via decision.
Felder is a deadly technician with three recent TKOs but with his move up to welterweight he will have to prove himself capable of standing up to Perry’s weight and power. This fight will be akin to a bull and a matador with Perry looking for the KO and Felder wanting to pick Perry apart over three rounds.
How do they win?
Felder : via unanimous decision
Perry 1st Round via KO
Who wins?
Paul Felder
James Cooper