Gian Villante To Face Ben Rothwell In Heavyweight Bout on UFC 249 Card

Fighting at the 265 pound weight class for the first time since 2011, Gian Villante will face Ben Rothwell at UFC 249, on April 18th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, USA.

Broken by Mark La Monica of Newsday, it was revealed on Monday night that the matchup would be added to the undercard of the pay-per-view event.

Villante’s sole fight last year was a first-round loss to Michael Oleksiejczuk. The UFC veteran has a 7-8 record in the promotion, with his longest winning streak being two-fights long.

Rothwell recently got out of his three-fight losing streak, prevailing over Stefan Struve in December with a second-round finish.

Currently set to main event the card is Khabib Nurmagomedov defending his UFC Lightweight Championship against Tony Ferguson, a fight which has been sought after for years.

Here’s the full card for UFC 249 so far:

Bout 1: Khabib Nurmagomedov (28-0) vs. Tony Ferguson (25-3) (UFC Lightweight Championship)

Bout 2: Jacare Souza (26-8) vs. Uriah Hall (15-9) (Middleweight)

Bout 3: Jessica Andrade (20-7) vs. Rose Namajunas (8-4) (Strawweight)

Bout 4: Ben Rothwell (37-12) vs. Gian Villante (17-11) (Heavyweight)

UFC on ESPN 7: Overeem vs. Rozenstruick Full Report

After three weeks out of the spotlight, UFC returned with another event. Live from the Capitol One Arena in Washington, D.C., USA, UFC on ESPN 7 was headlined by Alistair Overeem and Jairzinho Rozenstruick. Before the main event, there was 11 fights, including numerous bouts that featured ranked fighters.

Bout 1: Trevor Smith (15-9) vs. Makmud Muradov (23-6) (Middleweight)

The first preliminary fight of the evening was UFC veteran Trevor Smith facing Makmud Muradov, who was having his second fight in the promotion. Muradov displayed his jab early in the first round. Smith countered with a kick in the second minute, connecting with the groin of Muradov. They went back to fighting quite quickly. While Muradov mostly out-punched Smith in the first round, he tested out a flying knee and a kick in the closing moments.

Muradov kept a fast pace of strikes throughout the second round. Smith tried for a takedown in the final minute of the fight, although Muradov got back up in short time. Muradov landed a knockdown in the final seconds of the round, putting in a rear naked choke until the clock ran out. Smith could have easily been saved by the round ending.

It was another close round of striking for Muradov early on, keeping with the theme of the rounds before. Muradov landed right to the body, followed left and right hook that knocked Smith out cold to end the fight. Smith’s mouthpiece went flying out of the frame. Muradov finishes 2019 with six MMA wins.

My Scorecard:

Fighter	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Total
Smith	9	9
Muradov	10	10

Bout 2: Virna Jandiroba (14-1) vs. Mallory Martin (6-2) (Strawweight)

Mallory Martin made her UFC debut on Saturday, facing Virna Jandiroba. Jandiroba got a takedown in the first minute of the fight. Jandiroba had quite the entrance, wearing an interesting hat and singing along to Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive.” Martin tried for a guillotine, which Jandiroba eventually popped out of. Jandiroba put in a triangle choke from top position which Martin escaped. Martin fought back to stand-up. Martin clinched up to Jandiroba against the cage. Jandiroba landed knees in the clinch. Jandiroba got another takedown in the final minute of the round, where Martin tried again for a guillotine. Jandiroba escaped before the round concluded.

In the first 20 seconds of the round, Jandiroba got another takedown. She took Martin’s back this time, trying for a rear naked choke. Jandiroba got the choke under the chin, with Martin tapping out eventually. Bouncing back from her first MMA loss as a pro, Virna Jandiroba got the win with a dominant performance.

My Scorecard:

Fighter	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Total
Jandiroba	10
Martin	9

Bout 3: Matt Wiman (16-8) vs. Joe Solecki (8-2) (Lightweight)

The next fight was a fight between Dana White’s Contender Series winner Joe Solecki and Matt Wiman. Solecki scored a takedown in the first minute of the fight. Solecki took Wiman’s back and was dominant. He landed lots of strikes before trying for a choke. He stayed on the ground for the whole round, keeping Wiman in trouble.

Solecki got another takedown early in the second round. The referee stood them back up with over a minute left in the second round. Wiman tried for a guillotine choke on the ground as the round closed out.

As expected, Solecki got another takedown in the third round. Solecki got on Wiman’s back this time. Wiman was able to avoid chokes and strikes until the round ended. Wiman was shouting at Solecki while on the ground as the third round concluded. When going to the scorecards, Joe Solecki got his first win in the UFC via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26 & 30-27).

My Scorecard:

Fighter	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Total
Wiman	9	9	9	27
Solecki	10	10	10	30

Bout 4: Bryce Mitchell (11-0) vs. Matt Sayles (8-2) (Featherweight)

Undefeated “Thug Nasty” Bryce Mitchell fought Matt Sayles in the next preliminary fight. Mitchell got a single leg takedown early on. On the ground, Mitchell tried for an arm triangle choke which Sayles escaped. Mitchell put in a rare twister

My Scorecard:

Fighter	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Total
Mitchell
Sayles

Bout 5: Jacob Kilburn (8-2) vs. Billy Quarantillo (12-2) (Featherweight)

In a double debut, Jacob Kilburn and Billy Quarantillo competing in their call-up fight. Early on Quarantillo was striking in a clinch. On the ground, Quarantillo tried for a north south choke. Quarantillo went back to full mount, letting go of the choke. He started to let his hands go on Kilburn while in dominant positions. After landing many punches on the back of Kilburn, Quarantillo tried for a rear naked choke. Kilburn survived the five minutes, but took tons of damage.

Quarantillo got another takedown as the second round started. Quarantillo tried for a triangle choke but couldn’t get it. After some tweaking to the triangle choke, Kilburn tapped out. He was given a belt after the fight and also told everyone that tomorrow is his birthday.

My Scorecard:

Fighter	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Total
Kilburn	8
Quarantillo	10

Bout 6: Thiago Alves (23-14) vs. Tim Means (28-11-1) (Welterweight)

The preliminary card wrapped up with Thiago Alves facing Tim Means. Both fighters were attempting to come back from a previous loss. Both fighters got to some fast paced striking early on. Means shot for a takedown which Alves avoided by staying against the fence. Means landed some good strikes. He knocked down Alves with a left hook in the third minute of the fight. Means put in a guillotine choke on the ground which tapped Alves out. A slick combination of strikes brought Alves to the ground, and grappling did the rest to give Tim Means the win.

My Scorecard:

Fighter	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Total
Alves
Means

Bout 7: Rob Font (#10) (16-4) vs. Ricky Simon (15-2) (Bantamweight)

Kicking off the main card, Rob Font faces Ricky Simon. The last fight for Simon was his first loss since joining the UFC. Going into this fight, Font was ranked #10 in the featherweight division. Font got a double leg takedown in the first minute of the fight. They got back up, with Simon putting Font up against the cage. They split up shortly, going back to stand-up. Simon tried for his own takedown but Font stopped it. Simon had Font retreating after he landed a good combination. Simon got a takedown finally. When they got back up into a standing clinch, Simon landed some good knees to the head. Simon got another takedown, trying for a guillotine. Font stood up before escaping the choke. Font came forward with his own nice combination of strikes. Simon got another takedown in the final minute of the fight.

Font stuffed a takedown in the first minute of the second round. Font’s sharp striking, including a nice jab was showcased in the second round. Simon got a takedown in the third minute of the round, although it looked like Font was going to stop it for a second. They did get back up quite quickly. Font’s striking was showcased better in this round than the one before. Simon got another takedown in the final minute of the second round.

Both fighters had strong stand-up at the start of the third round. Simon got another takedown halfway through the final round. Font’s jab was further put on display. The fight went the distance and was praised by the crowd afterwards. By unanimous decision, Rob Font took the fight (29-28, 29-28 & 30-27).

My Scorecard:

Fighter	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Total
Font	9	10	10	29
Simon	10	9	9	28

Bout 8: Cody Stamann (18-2) (#9) vs. Song Yadong (15-4) (#13) (Bantamweight)

In the first bout of the evening that was a battle between two ranked fighters, Cody Stamann fought Song Yadong. In the first round, Yadong was the first one to come forward with good punches. Stamann got a takedown in the second minute of the fight. Yadong tried for a guillotine on the ground. While cranking the guillotine, Yadong landed a knee to the head which is not allowed since Stamann was grounded. After a point was deducted, the fight resumed. Back in stand-up, Yadong was the better striker. Stamann got a single leg takedown as the first round concluded.

In the opening minute of the second round, Yadong stopped a takedown and went back to stand-up. He got another takedown with just over a minute left.

Stamann’s wrestling continued in the third round, getting another takedown and just smothering Yadong. When Stamann got on Yadong’s back he really started to let his fists go. Stamann finished strong, throwing lots of punches before the horn went. Heading to the judges, the fight was decided to be a majority draw. (29-27, 28-28 & 28-28)

My Scorecard:

Fighter	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Total
Stamann	9	10	10	29
Song	9	9	9	27

Bout 9: Aspen Ladd (8-1) (#5) vs. Yana Kunitskaya (12-4) (#7) (Bantamweight)

In the last of many bantamweight fights of the evening, Aspen Ladd fought Yana Kunitskaya in a ranked fight. They went into a standing clinch, with was broken after the referee saw Kunitskaya grab the fence. She put in another standing clinch only moments later. Ladd got a trip takedown with two minutes left in the round. Ladd got on the back of Kunitskaya and started to unload strikes. She did so until the round ended.

Ladd tried for a takedown in the second round, although Kunitskaya blocked the attempt. Ladd got a takedown upon another attempt. Just like the last round, Ladd stayed in top position until the round ended.

At the very start of the final round, Ladd dropped Kunitskaya with punches. Ladd went to the ground at took the back of Kunistkaya, throwing strikes until the referee stepped in. A dominant win for Aspen Ladd after suffering a tough first loss as a pro before.

My Scorecard:

Fighter	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Total
Ladd	10	10
Kunitskaya	9	9

Bout 10: Stefan Struve (29-11) vs. Ben Rothwell (36-12) (Heavyweight)

Coming out of retirement, Stefan Struve fought Ben Rothwell on the next bout of this show. Struve landed leg kicks to start off. Rothwell put Struve up against the cage in the second minute. Struve was hit in the groin as the round was more than halfway through. Struve was down for a while, and took many minutes to regain his composure. Struve eventually went back to the fight.

Rothwell was hit in the groin in the first minute of the second round, although it didn’t take long to resume. As Rothwell was throwing kicks later in the second round, Struve was hit with another kick to the groin. A point was docked from Rothwell this time. Rothwell started rushing Struve when they resumed. Struve was dropped with uppercuts and finished in the closing seconds of the fight.

My Scorecard:

Fighter	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Total
Struve	10
Rothwell	9

Bout 11: Cynthia Calvillo (8-1) vs. Marina Rodriguez (12-0-1) (Strawweight)

My recap of Cynthia Calvillo vs. Marina Rodriguez can be found at Fansided MMA.

Result: Cyntia Calvillo vs. Marina Rodriguez via Majority Decision (29-28, 28-28 & 28-28).

Bout 11: Alistair Overeem (45-17) vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik (9-0) (Heavyweight)

In the main event of the evening, UFC veteran Alistair Overeem faced up and comer Jairzinho Rozenstruik. Before the fight started, Overeem offered to shake hands but Rozenstruik did not respond to the offer. Overeem landed a trip takedown in the second minute of the fight after a pretty slow start of a couple of minutes. He focused on strikes while in half guard. Rozenstruick almost escaped bottom position, but Overeem stopped it, transition into side control. Overeem landed some elbows to the head from the position.

Overeem went into a standing clinch in the second round. He put Rozenstruick up against the cage and landed strikes. With two minutes left in the fight, the referee brought the fighters back to stand-up. Rozenstruick ate lots of hard strikes in the round, not showing much weakness from it.

Rozenstruick opened the third round with some punches. Overeem tried for a double leg takedown in the first minute of the third round but didn’t get it. He tried for another one with two minutes left in the round, this time securing it after some fight.

Rozenstruick had his first jolt of offense in the fourth round. With under two minutes left in the round, Rozenstruick came forward with another good combination, including a head kick.

The pace of the striking in the final round was much slower. After the 10-second clapper hit at the end of the fifth round, Rozenstruick threw a right hook which dropped Overeem and ended the fight. The punch cut the top lip of Overeem very deeply. With the hard knockout win, Jairzinho Rozenstruick extended his undefeated record into double digits. The win was also his first that went into the fifth round. After the fight he called out Francis Ngannou.

My Scorecard:

Fighter	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Total
Overeem	10	10	10	10
Rozenstruick	9	9	9	9

UFC returns next week with UFC 245, a pay-per-view headlined by three championship fights. Here’s how the card looks as of right now:

Kamaru Usman (15-1) vs. Colby Covington (UFC Welterweight Championship)
Max Holloway (21-4) vs. Alexander Volkanovski (20-1) (UFC Featherweight Championship)
Amanda Nunes (18-4) vs. Germaine de Randamie (9-3) (UFC Bantamweight Championship)
Jose Aldo (28-5) vs. Marlon Moraes (22-6-1) (Bantamweight)
Petr Yan (13-1) vs. Urijah Faber (35-10) (Bantamweight)
Mike Perry (13-5) vs. Geoff Neal (12-2) (Welterweight)
Ketlen Vieira (10-0) vs. Irene Aldana (Bantamweight)
Ian Heinisch (13-2) vs. Omari Akhmedov (19-4-1) (Middleweight)
Matt Brown (21-16) vs. Ben Saunders (22-12-2) (Welterweight)
Daniel Teymur (7-3) vs. Chase Hooper (8-0-1) (Featherweight)
Brandon Moreno (15-5-1) vs. Kai Kara-France (20-7) (Flyweight)
Jessica Eye (14-7) vs. Viviane Araujo (8-1) (Flyweight)
Punahele Soriano (6-0) vs. Oskar Piechota (11-2-1) (Middleweight)

UFC on ESPN 4: Dos Anjos vs. Edwards Preview

While UFC has made numerous appearances on ESPN’s internet streaming service “ESPN+,” on Saturday the promotion will be making only it’s fourth appearance on the network’s flagship channel. Main eventing UFC on ESPN 4 will be Rafael dos Anjos and Leon Edwards. Dos Anjos will arguably play gatekeeper against Edwards, who is on a seven-fight winning streak. Before the main event is a dozen other MMA bouts.

Bout 1: Domingo Pilarte (8-1) vs. Felipe Colares (8-1) (Bantamweight)

Starting off the evening will be a string of three bantamweight bouts. With equal records, Domingo Pilarte and Felipe Colares will open the night. Pilarte impressed Dana White on the second season of the Contender Series, earning a contract which will begin off this weekend. Colares is hoping to bounce back from his debut in February when he lost via decision, giving him his first career loss.

Bout 2: Mario Bautista (6-1) vs. Jin Soo Son (9-3) (Bantamweight)

The second bout will be a battle of two fighters hoping to come back from a debut loss in the UFC. Mario Bautista got his first professional L back in January, losing to Cory Sandhagen. Jin Soo Son lost to Petr Yan in his respective debut. Soo Son trains out of Korean Zombie MMA, who’s top talent is of course “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung. Mario Bautista trains at The MMA Lab. Prior to his UFC career, Soo Son was a veteran fighter in the JMMA promotion “DEEP.”

Bout 3: Ray Borg (11-3) vs. Gabriel Silva (7-0) (Bantamweight)

In the final men’s bantamweight fight of the night, Ray Borg will face the undefeated Gabriel Silva. Borg lost in March against Casey Kenney after struggling to find a fight throughout 2018. Kenney was actually the second replacement fighter for the bout, with Pingyuan Liu and Kyler Phillips being injured and pulled from the bout previously. Before then, Borg’s last fight was a championship loss to Demetrious Johnson. Gabriel Silva will defend his undefeated streak in his UFC debut. He got a quick round one win in his last fight in the LFA promotion.

Bout 4: Roxanne Modafferi (23-15) vs. Jennifer Maia (16-5-1) (Flyweight)

Roxanne Modafferi, one of women’s MMA’s biggest names, faces Jennifer Maia, who started her UFC run around this time last year. While Modafferi has fought since 2003, he UFC career started in only 2017, having a 2-2 record since. Similarily, Maia has a 50/50 win rate in the UFC, only fighting twice though. They’re both coming off of wins, both via decision.

Bout 5: Sam Alvey (33-12) vs. Klidson Abreu (14-3) (Light Heavyweight)

Entering his 18th UFC bout, Sam Alvey will face Klidson Abreu, who will only be experiencing his second walk to the octagon. Alvey will aim to break his two-fight losing streak, getting finished via punches two times in a row. Abreu will try to get his first victory in the UFC, losing to Magomed Ankalaev via decision in his first outing.

Bout 6: Raquel Pennington (9-7) vs. Irene Aldana (10-4) (Bantamweight)

Veteran UFC fighter Raquel Pennington will fight Irene Aldana in the next matchup. Pennington hasn’t won since 2016, losing to two high profile fighters in Amanda Nunes and Germain de Randamie, who have both main evented their last bouts. Meanwhile, Aldana sees herself attempting to improve to four wins in a row, turning her UFC career around after starting it off with two losses.

Bout 7: Alex Caceres (14-12) vs. Steven Peterson (17-8) (Featherweight)

The preliminary portion of the card will conclude with Alex Caceres and Steven Peterson. Throughout Caceres’ near decade long UFC career he has had a shaky record. He hopes to break even in his UFC career with a win, currently being 9-10 in the promotion. Peterson will also aim to break even, but with a much smaller record of 1-2 in the UFC so far.

Bout 8: Andrei Arlovski (27-18) vs. Ben Rothwell (36-11) (Heavyweight)

Both experienced fighters in the UFC, Andrei Arlovski and Ben Rothwell find themselves in similar positions, attempting to snap losing streaks. Arlovski’s record has been 2-8 & 1 NC since the start of 2016. Arlovski hasn’t seen a victory in his last four fights, and has went to decision in his last seven. Rothwell is only on a two-fight losing streak, which ended his 2013-2016 run of victories, defeating names like Alistair Overeem, Matt Mitrione and Josh Barnett, all via stoppage.

Bout 9: Francisco Trinaldo (23-6) vs. Alexander Hernandez (10-2) (Lightweight)

Six months ago, Alexander Hernandez had a lot of eyes on him heading into a fight with Donald Cerrone. He was a big talker against “The Cowboy,” confident that he would win. The outcome ended up being anything but that, as Cerrone finished him in the second round with strikes. Hernandez makes his return after suffering his first UFC loss, facing Francisco Trinaldo. It’s another matchup of a younger Hernandez versus a veteran, although Cerrone was much more of a veteran than Trinaldo is. So far in 2019, Francisco Trinaldo has struggled to get a fight. He’s missed out on two different events so far due to opponents pulling out of getting injured. He hasn’t fought in just under 10 months, but his last fight was a victory over Evan Dunham.

Bout 10: James Vick (13-3) vs. Daniel Hooker (17-8) (Lightweight)

It has been seven months since Dan “The Hangman” Hooker has fought, and rightfully so. His recent loss to Edson Barboza was a beating of brutal proportions, even by MMA standards. He hung in the fight, but only by the smallest extent until it was ended. James Vick is on a two-fight losing streak. He lost a main event against Justin Gaethje last year, and wasn’t favoured in a decision against Paul Felder back in February.

Bout 11: Greg Hardy (4-1) vs. Juan Adams (5-1) (Heavyweight)

Two very fresh heavyweights in Greg Hardy and Juan Adams battle on the main card. Controversy continues to follow Hardy through his UFC career, as many object to him fighting in the UFC due to his domestic violence case in 2014. He was found guilty of assault and communicating threats, with 18-months of probation and 60-days of jail. However, the sentence was dropped after the victim in the case didn’t appear in court during the appeal. Hardy avoided any punishment over the case. He has since come through the UFC series “Dana White’s Contender Series,” and has a 1-1 record in the promotion. Adams comes into the fight after facing his first career defeat to Arjan Bhullar. Before then he defeated Chris De La Rocha in his UFC debut.

Bout 12: Alexey Oleinik (57-12-1) vs. Walt Harris (12-7) (Heavyweight)

In the co-main event slot is a heavyweight clash between Alexey Oleinik and Walt Harris. Harris is coming off his quickest victory ever, finishing Sergey Spivak in under a minute. He will face a much more experienced Oleinik, who is returning after a one round loss to Alistair Overeem. If you’re looking for a fight that will finish, it should be this one, as Oleinik has only went to decision eight times in his 70 fight career. Similarily, Edwards has only went to decision three times in his 20 fight career.

Bout 13: Rafael dos Anjos (29-11) vs. Leon Edwards (17-3) (Welterweight)

The main event of the show will be Rafael dos Anjos and Leon Edwards. Anjos has had double the amount of professional bouts as Edwards, but his matchup with dos Anjos can be justified by his seven-fight winning streak. Dos Anjos defeated Kevin Lee in a four round battle back in May, which was a bounce back from two five round decision losses, losing to Kumaru Usman and Colby Covington. Edwards defeating dos Anjos would make it the highest profile victory of his career yet, with the biggest one besides that being a win against Donald Cerrone. Continued success in the welterweight division could lead Edwards to a bout with the Champion Kumaru Usman. If the fight were to be made, it would not only be a title shot, but also a chance for Edwards to avenge a loss from 2015.

Similar to many of UFC’s recent fight nights, the show will start at an earlier time than the usual PPV time (10PM E/7PM P). The main card will begin at 9 PM Eastern Time, with the preliminary card starting three hours prior to that.