UFC 224 Main Event Review

UFC 224 is set to take place Saturday, May 12th at the Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The main event features bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes (15-4-0). Set to defend her title yet again against Altitude MMA trained, Colorado Springs native Raquel Pennington (9-5-0).

At 29, Nunes is no stranger to the spotlight, hailing from Salvador, Brazil and training with American Top Team. Nunez has intense knockout power, showcasing stoppages in 87% of her fights, with 10 of those 15 wins coming by way of knockout or TKO, and eleven first round finishes. Her last three fights included the first-round submission of Miesha Tate at UFC 200, the violent first-round knockout of Ronda Rousey 48 seconds into UFC 207, and a much closer split decision in her last fight against Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 215.

While the victory at UFC 215 was obviously much less gratifying for The Lioness, it was also a relatively controversial decision, and Cat Zingano said it best when she tweeted, “They are both going to think they won…” Meanwhile, Pennington is an up and coming fighter with wins against some notable opponents, and a split decision loss to Holly Holm. The winner of her last four fights, beating the likes of Jessica Andrade via rear naked choke at UFC 191, Bethe Correia by split decision at UFC Fight Night, and both Elizabeth Phillips and Meisha Tate by unanimous decision.

Westgate’s super book has Nunez as a -1000 favorite at the time of this article. Pennington is currently the huge underdog at +625 (and rightfully so). This is no secret, Nunes is a seasoned fighter with experience in the division, and let’s not forget she hit (a very good) Ronda Rousey, very hard, very quickly, and very relentlessly. The interesting story line here is that Nunes and Pennington are actually friends, UFC Strawweight contender Teicia Torres happens to Pennington’s fiancé, as well as a training partner to Nunes. Torres left American Top Team as she felt she was not getting the attention she deserved with Nunez and former champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk both at American Top Team. A tangled web as Torres just agreed to fight Jedrzejczyk at UCF FOX 30 in Calgary.

Sticking with the women, another interesting fight on the card is Mackenzie Dern vs. Amanda Cooper. Dern, the 25-year-old Jiu Jitsu phenom who has won more World Titles then we can list here is one, if not, the best female BJJ player in the world. Dern comes into this fight 6-0 as professional and won her UFC debut over Ashley Yoder just two months ago. Amanda will be a challenge to Dern as she brings a wealth of experience in the stand-up game and has had 4 fights in the UFC. Last night Dern missed weight by 7 pounds and will forfeit 30% of her purse, however, the fight will go on as Amanda has agreed to fight Dern at a catch weight. Cooper has brought talk to the game stating Dern does not know what she is doing in the stand-up game. If Amanda can keep this fight standing she has a punchers chance but when they hit the ground there is no questions Dern will dominate Cooper and submit her.

The UFC 224 Prelims can be seen on FX, the main card begins at 10PM ET on Pay Per View.

Article by MK Invest LLC

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