The UFC is set for its second pay-per-view event of 2019 with two championship bouts and one of MMA’s all-time all-time elite talents at the top of the card.
After welterweight champ Tyron Woodley and challenger Kamaru Usman lock horns in the UFC 235 co-main event Saturday night, MMA fans will get to see reigning light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones step back into the Octagon just two months after his dominant technical knockout win over Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 232.
Jones’s next task is Anthony Smith, a prototypical underdog journeyman presented with the chance of a lifetime. He’s 31-13 as a pro but 14-2 since 2014 with all but two of those victories coming by either knockout or submission. Smith had competed in the middleweight division nearly his entire career before making the decision to move up from 185 to 205 pounds less than one year ago.
The decision to stop depleting his body took Smith to another level.
Notable wins over long-past-their-prime former champions Rashad Evans and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua put Smith on the map and a submission of recent title challenger Volkan Oezdemir in October earned Smith a title shot.
The UFC released the latest episode of its popular Countdown series and as you’ll see in the video below, Smith’s remarkable post-weight-gain progress has some thinking he has what it takes to shock Jones and the MMA world at large.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rPNEKQMPoo
UFC 235 takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada and is a stacked lineup from top to bottom.
Here’s a look at the complete fight card.
MAIN CARD
— Jon Jones vs. Anthony Smith (for light-heavyweight title)
— Tyron Woodley vs. Kamaru Usman (for welterweight title)
— Robbie Lawler vs. Ben Askren
— Tecia Torres vs. Weili Zhang
— Cody Garbrandt vs. Pedro Munhoz
PRELIMINARY CARD
— Jeremy Stephens vs. Zabit Magomedsharipov
— Misha Cirkunov vs. Johnny Walker
— Cody Stamann vs. Alejandro Perez
— Diego Sanchez vs. Mickey Gall
— Edmen Shahbazyan vs. Charles Byrd
— Gina Mazany vs. Macy Chiasson
— Marlon Vera vs. Frankie Saenz
— Polyana Viana vs. Hannah Cifers
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