Fighting Night will be in Paris this weekend, the first game for the UFC to enter France. Despite the steady withdrawals of players in the past few weeks, the battle cards have been slightly top-heavy, but the headline main and joint main matches of UFC Fighting Night 209 are still not lost to any digital tournament lineup.
The headline home match is a heavyweight showdown, the French player is currently no. 1 in the weweight, Cyril Gayn, will face the recent consecutive KO wins of Ty Tuvasa, although this game can not be determined to provide the next championship challenge, but the current heavyweight situation is confusing, Nagano does not know when to return, Mioch vs Jones is undecided, so the winner of this game will undoubtedly take the first advantage by waiting for work.
In the joint home race, "five-star" Robert Whitaker will decide who is the second middleweight under the black dragon with "Italian Dream" Malvin Vittori, and once Pereira beats Adisaya in UFC 281, the winner of this game should not run if he wins the championship challenge.
This article is a preview of the UFC Fighting Night 209 main game in order of appearance:
Featherweight: Charles Jouldan (13-5-1, 4-4-1 UFC) vs Nathaniel Wood (18-5, 5-2 UFC)
Joordin is from Quebec, Canada, so France, where the game is played, can also be regarded as his half home. This is the Canadian's fifth octagonal cage competition in nearly a year, so while he didn't have much success before entering the UFC, he honed his craft through experience in multiple races, and his strategy is to fight as much as possible and look better with each appearance. Joordan has shown great resilience in past matches and can adapt to opponents during combat, so much so that he is usually a horror figure in the third round. Although the last match against Shane Burgos in July was unfortunately defeated, with amazing physical strength and ability to resist blows, Joordin still won the third leg without a doubt.
Wood from London, England, came to the UFC as a much-anticipated youngweight fighter and quickly scored some impressive victories after entering the octagon. However, after 2020 began to be a bit of a setback, with various problems preventing Wood from competing until July this year, when he returned with a promotion to the featherweight, performing well in the unanimous victory over Charles Rosa, and the speed and power advantage he demonstrated in the newweight seemed to have helped him tremendously.
For Joordan, who has more physical strength and a preference for counterattack, the opponent likes to take the initiative to attack, which can be used, but wrestling is still his biggest hidden danger. If the game is delayed to a decision, Joordin should have an advantage in points.
Featherweight: William Gomis (10-2, 0-0 UFC) vs Gianno Ellens (13-3-1, 0-0 UFC)
The showdown between the debutants was a late substitute into the main lineup. Gomis in mainland France plays at home, he is more speedy and oppressive, but sometimes he plays chaotically. Gomis likes to keep his feet moving, sniping his opponents at medium and long range, occasionally using wrestling techniques to bring them down.
Ellens is a taekwondo athlete from the Netherlands who seems to have some problems with his defense in past matches compared to his speed and offensive technique.
Although Ellens is fast, if he can grasp the opponent's defensive loopholes and snipe accurately, Gomis will win more.
Lightweight: Naslat Hack Palast (13-5, 5-4 UFC) vs John Maedesi (18-7, 11-7 UFC)
Nasrad, who was born in Afghanistan, entered the UFC at the age of 22, and the expectation was that he would soon enter the lightweight rankings. But in the five years since, his stagnation has been frustrating. He was still a very gifted warrior, but he tended to rely too much on that talent and seemed to make few adjustments. Having said that, Nasrad is still only 27 years old and still has a lot of time to progress.
"Bull" Maedesi came to the UFC in 2010 and quickly reached the ceiling, and the frequency of participation due to injuries is not high. Although Madesy prefers to keep his pace slow by default, he can often fight back if the other side continues to exert pressure.
Nasrath should still keep moving forward in this game, and while it is possible to show flaws in the attack, his speed and strength should help him pass the test and turn to wrestling even if hit. This game is bullish on a more well-rounded and young Nasrad.
Middleweight: Alessio di Kirico (13-6, 4-6 UFC) vs Roman Kopilov (8-2, 0-2 UFC)
Chirico from Italy is a physically strong warrior with more comprehensive skills, but he often performs frustratingly in matches, with a slower pace and little desire to end.
Kopilov has yet to win at the UFC, and his time to turn things around may be running out. On the stage of his native Russia, Kopilov often used speed and strength to crush his opponents. Kopilov is faster and quicker, can win frequently with a change of fist, and avoid enough damage. However, it is not enough to do this when fighting stronger athletes in the UFC, and winning against Chirico in this game is crucial for him.
Given Kiriko's lack of offensive enthusiasm, Kopilov may have gained some advantage by keeping his distance and hitting with precision. However, since Kiriko is a wrestler with a heavy hand, it seems that Kiriko has a greater chance of winning.
Middleweights: #1| Robert Whitaker (23-6, 14-4 UFC) vs #2 | Marvin Vittori (18-5-1, 8-3-1 UFC)
"Five Star" Whitaker once again began his path to the midweight championship. After starting his career in the sub-middleweight and achieving a less than ideal record, the five stars decided to move up to the middleweight in 2014. With the extra speed and fitness gained by the weightlift, Whitaker's middleweight path was smooth sailing, quickly becoming a championship challenger. Defeated Juul Romero in a big battle in 2017 to become the middleweight interim champion and subsequently became the undisputed champion after the second retirement of GSP Georges Saint Pierre. Since then, he has been affected by injuries and has been withdrawn consecutively, losing the game in a one-sided manner in the 2019 title defense against Isriel Adisaya. The former champions have since revived, increasing the frequency of matches while winning consecutive victories, and have made clear progress in the second game against Adisaya in February. Whitaker is now clearly the second-best midweight in the UFC, and as long as he remains in form, it seems inevitable that a third challenge for the title will be inevitable.
"Italian Dream" Marvin Vittori has been on the rise since joining UFC in 2016. With his strong body and extreme endurance, he has won many crushing victories, but in the previous championship battle to Adisaya, he also exposed some of the Italian's problems, his attack lack of diversity, the predictable way of playing, and a technically well-rounded champion like Adisaya can control the situation for most of the time he plays.
The five stars are obviously the most comprehensive warriors in the middleweights now after Adisaya, so as long as you avoid being knocked down and suppressed by Vittori, the probability of five stars winning is very high. Adisaya, who had played with both before the game, predicted that five stars would have at least an 80% chance of winning, which is already very telling.
Heavyweight: #1| Cyril Gayne (10-1, 7-1 UFC) vs #3 | Ty Tuvaza (14-3, 8-3 UFC)
Although losing the championship united battle with "Iron Blooded" Nagano, it is clear that Gayn is still extremely advantageous in the UFC's heavyweight class. As a Muay Thai practitioner, Gain has a sense of foot movement and distance that is rare among heavyweights. Since 2021, his rise has been impressive, defeating "Little Ju" Santos, "Second Floor" Volkov, "Suriname Cannon" Rosenschuk, and "Hot Egg" Lewis. In heavyweight competitions that often degenerate into heavyweights, Gain's speed, distance control and agility at the standing level seemed to be an unsolvable conundrum until he ushered in a championship battle with Nagano in January, and Iron Blood took an unexpected strategy in the game, grinding a victory through wrestling and ground suppression, which undoubtedly revealed some of Gaine's weaknesses to other heavyweight competitors.
For Tuvaza, the journey to UFC racing has been like a roller coaster ride, first from a bright future to a disappointment, and now it's all back, and the Australian's extraordinary personality and "shoes and wine" hobbies have made him a potential star in the UFC heavyweight. His style of play is typical of heavyweight punches and fights, which was fully evident in the previous match against Lewis, who ended the macho battle after carrying a hot egg with amazing resistance to blows. His technique is even a little rough and easy to be restrained by wrestling, but it is enough to be violent in heavyweight.
Unfortunately, in this game, Tuvaza faced Gaine, which is a rare technical master in the heavyweight class. The Frenchman's foot movement and distance control ability seem to give opponents no chance in standing battles, and Tuvaza, who is also restrained by wrestling, probably has no desire to bring the game to the ground. As long as the focus is not on the opponent's cold punch, The Home Guy should be able to easily win.