The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heads to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada for the first time in promotional history with UFC Fight Night 89: MacDonald vs Thompson. The 13-fight card kicks off with the UFC Fight Pass prelims at 6:45pm ET, with televised prelims to follow on FOX Sports 1 at 8:30pm ET and the main card getting going at 10:30pm ET. If interested on wagering on this fight card, betting lines will become available shortly at Several Bookmakerss. Getting the action started for the UFC Fight Night 89 prelims on UFC Fight Pass will be a barn-burner in the flyweight division between former UFC 125-pound title challenger Ali Bagautinov and surging prospect Geane Herrera. Many feel this fight belongs on the main card, but for reasons unknown it will be found all the way at the bottom of the prelims. Bagautinov served his suspension following his failed bid at Demetrious “Might Mouse” Johnson’s flyweight gold and then returned to action in a losing effort against Joseph Benavidez. Following a pair of unanimous decision defeats, the Dagestani fighter looks to get back in the win column by taking out Florida’s Herrera in this rare “winner vs loser” match-up. Herrera suffered a unanimous decision loss to Ray Borg in his promotional debut, which marked the first defeat of his professional mixed martial arts career. He returned to the win column in his next outing at the TUF 22 Finale six months ago with a first round knockout of Jackson-Wink MMA product Joby Sanchez. An injury forced TriStar MMA product Alex Garcia out of his scheduled welterweight contest against American Top Team’s Colby Covington, so in steps short notice promotional newcomer Jonathan Meunier. This is expected to be a fun scrap between a pair of solid prospects in the 170-pound division. Covington looks to return to the win column in this Fight Pass prelim, following the first loss of his professional mixed martial arts career. It came in less than a minute against then-fellow undefeated 170-pound prospect Warrley Alves at UFC 194 six months ago. The Brazilian since had his own first taste of defeat, coming via unanimous decision against The MMA Lab’s Bryan “Bam-Bam” Barbarena. Meaunier is undefeated as pro at 7-0 and is a native of Quebec City, which helped him get the call when Garcia pulled out. The French-Canadian last saw action less than a month ago, where he handed Francis Charbonneau his first career defeat under the LAMMQ banner. He will aim to remain undefeat in this quick return to action by taking out the stiffest test of his career in Covington. Next up on the Fight Pass prelims is a strawweight contest between TriStar MMA’s Randa Markos and The MMA Lab’s Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger. Markos looks to return to the win column following a unanimous decision loss against Karolina Kowalkiewicz, and Jones-Lybarger looks to do the same after a unanimous decision loss to Tecia Torres in what was her UFC debut. Headlining the Fight Pass prelims in a middleweight bout between TUF: Nations winner Elias Theodorou and TUF 16 veteran Sam Alvey. This is a fight many fans look forward to, as Alvey called Theodorou out following a first round TKO of Dan Kelly a year ago. The match-up did not initially happen and both 185-pounders went on to lose in their respected bouts next time out. Theodorou dropped a unanimous decision to Thiago “Marreta” Santos at the TUF 22 Finale six months ago, which marked the first official loss of his professional mixed martial arts career. Alvey saw his three-fight winning streak snapped by Derek brunson, losing the bout via first round TKO. The victor of this match-up will get back in the win column, while the loser will drop to 0-2 and potentially be put on the chopping block. There is a lot at stake here and both middleweights are expected to leave it all inside the Octagon when they square off in Ottawa.
