The UFC lightweight title will be decided on April 7 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, as interim title holder Tony Ferguson will take on unbeaten Khabib Nurmagomedov. The current lightweight title holder is Conor McGregor, but he hasn’t fought in a long time and there is no indication he is coming back anytime soon. Also on the main card is a women’s strawweight title rematch between champion Rose Namajunas and Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Let’s take a first look at UFC 223.
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Nurmagomedov -250 vs. Ferguson
The battle between Nurmagomedov and Ferguson will determine the lightweight champion. Nurmagomedov is 25-0 in his career, including 9-0 in the UFC, while Ferguson is 23-3 overall and 13-1 in the UFC. This fight should have happened long ago, but UFC president Dana White let Conor McGregor off the hook time and time again and McGregor still has the title. White finally gave in to all the pressure and said that McGregor will be stripped of his title and the winner of the fight between Nurmagomedov and Ferguson will have the undisputed lightweight title.
Joanna Jedrzejczyk -165 vs. Rose Namajunas
The co-main event at UFC 223 is a rematch between Jedrzejczyk and Namajunas. These two met in November of last year at UFC 217 and it was Namajunas shocking Jedrzejczyk to win the strawweight title. It was the first loss for Jedrzejczyk in her career. It was definitely a shocking defeat, as Jedrzejczyk had defended the strawweight title five times. Jedrzejczyk has blamed that loss on her nutrition team.
Anthony Pettis -115 vs. Michael Chiesa
Pettis comes into this fight at 20-7, including 7-6 in the UFC, while Chiesa is 14-3 and 7-3 in the UFC. Chiesa, who hasn’t fought since last June at UFC Fight Night 112, and has fought just once in two years, said that he has made some changes. He said to MMAjunkie Radio that he has “reinvented” himself.
Karolina Kowalkiewicz -175 vs. Felice Herrig
Kowalkiewicz is 11-2 in her career, including 4-2 in the UFC, while Herrig is 14-6, including 5-1 in the UFC. This is a huge change for Herrig to move up the rankings in the UFC. “I’m super pumped because I’ve been asking to face a top 10 fighter for a while but keep getting the toughest fighters just out of the top 10,” Herrig wrote on Instagram. “This is the match up I asked for. Ask and you shall receive. I’m excited to show people what I can do against a step up in competition.”
Al Iaquinta -140 vs. Paul Felder
Iaquinta is 13-3-1 in his career and on a five-fight winning streak, while Felder is 15-3 and on a three-fight winning streak. Iaquinta has not had anything good to say about Felder leading up to this fight, basically saying he is a UFC shill. “I think so, he’s their announcer. I’ve watched one of his fights. He won the fight and then after he was like, ‘Oh, Dana White, I wish you were here’ — I guess he wasn’t in the crowd. Why? Why does he care if he’s there? What’s that gonna do? You want to impress that guy? Iaquinta said on MMAFighting.com‘s “The MMA Hour:”
UFC 223 takes place on Saturday, April 7 at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, New York. The feature bout has Tony Ferguson taking on Khabib Nurmagomedov, while the co-main event has Rose Namajunas taking on Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Both of these fights will be part of the pay-per-view portion of the main card.
UFC 223
Lightweight – Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov
Women’s Strawweight – Rose Namajunas vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk
Featherweight - Calvin Kattar vs. Renato Moicano
Lightweight- Michael Chiesea vs. Anthony Pettis
Lightweight – Al laquinta vs. Paul Felder
Women’s Strawweight – Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs. Felice Herrig
Flyweight – Ray Borg vs. Brandon Moreno
Lightweight – Joe Lauzon vs. Chris Gruetzemacher
Women’s Flyweight – Bec Rawlings vs. Ashlee Evans-Smith
Featherweight – Alex Caceres vs. Artem Lobov
Lightweight – Evan Dunham vs. Mairbek Taisumov
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