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A rarity for MMA fans will be happening this weekend as a championship bout will be taking place on free TV and the event will be taking place on a Sunday Night. The event will be headlined by a bantamweight title bout between champion TJ Dillashaw and Dominick Cruz. Also, Anthony Pettis faces Eddie Alvarez and Travis Browne faces Matt Mitrione in heavyweight action.
Main Card
Main Event
UFC Bantamweight Title Fight
TJ Dillashaw (12-2-0) (Champion) vs. Dominick “The Dominator†Cruz (20-1-0)
Dillashaw will be making the third defense of his championship, last defending it against Renan Barao at UFC On Fox 16. Cruz has only competed once in the last four years, which was a victory over Takeya Mizugaki at UFC 178. Dillashaw has yet to see a fight go to a decision since he won the championship at UFC 173, a streak that has lasted three fights. Cruz never actually lost the UFC Bantamweight Championship, but was stripped of the belt due to a series of injuries. Movement is going to play a huge factor in the fight and both men are masters of movement, but it will be Dillashaw using better striking to get a close split decision.
Co-Main Event
UFC Lightweight Division Fight
Eddie Alvarez (26-4-0) vs. Anthony “Showtime†Pettis (18-3-0)
Alvarez will be looking to build on the momentum of his first UFC win, which came over Gilbert Melendez at UFC 188. Pettis will be competing for the first time since losing the lightweight title to Rafael Dos Anjos at UFC 185. Alvarez is a former two time Bellator MMA Lightweight Champion, defeating Michael Chandler and Toby Imada to win the championships. Pettis had defended the lightweight belt once before losing it, that lone defense came over Gilbert Melendez at UFC 181. Alvarez will want to keep Pettis at range to using his boxing, but Pettis will mix it up better to get a third round TKO.
UFC Heavyweight Division Fight
Travis “Hapa†Browne (17-3-1) vs. Matt “Meathead†Mitrione (9-4-0)
Browne has only won just one of his last three fights, with that lone win coming over Brendan Schaub at UFC 181. Mitrione has won three of his last four under the UFC banner and his last seven UFC bouts have ended in the first round. Browne has a huge reach advantage over Mitrione, but Mitrione has better movement and striking, which will get him a first round TKO victory.
UFC Lightweight Division Fight
Ross “The Real Deal†Pearson (18-9-0-1NC) vs. Francisco “Massaranduba†Trinaldo (18-4-0)
Pearson has rotated wins and losses in his last six UFC appearances, with his last bout being a win over Paul Felder at UFC 191. Trinaldo will enter the fight riding a four fight winning streak, most notably defeating Norman Parke at UFC Fight Night: Condit vs. Alves. Pearson strength is his striking game, but Trinaldo will ground him to get a second round submission win.
Preliminary Card
Ben Saunders over Patrick Cote
Chris Wade over Mehdi Baghdad
Ed Herman over Tim Boetsch
Maximo Blanco over Luke Sanders
Paul Felder over Daron Cruickshank
Sean O’Connell over Ilir Latifi
Charles Rosa over Kyle Bochniak
Rob Font over Joey Gomez
Francimar Barroso over Elvis Mutapcic
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