Early Look at the Fight Pass Prelims for UFC 200

Takanori GomiThe Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will be in the new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday July 9th, 2016 with UFC 200, the most stacked card in the promotion’s history with 12 exciting bouts, including three title fights and the return of Brock Lesnar. The main card will be kicking off at 10pm ET on Pay Per View, with preliminary action preceding it on FOX Sports 1 at 8pm ET and UFC Fight Pass at 6:30pm ET. If interested in wagering on any bouts for this mega UFC 200 fight card, all betting lines are made available at Several Bookmakerss. Getting the action started for UFC 200 for the Fight Pass prelims will be a lightweight contest between PRIDE/UFC veteran Takanori “The Fireball Kid” Gomi and New Jersey’s Jim Miller. These fan favorite fighters are certainly expected to get the show rolling on a high note. This is “do or die” time for both Gomi and Miller, as both 155-pounders are currently on two-fight losing skids and will be looking to avoid falling to three losses in a row. Miller has a number of advantages heading into this contest and is a favorite to win at the sportsbooks, but hardcore fight fans still hope “The Fireball Kid” can find a way to pull it off. The injury bug has so far struck the UFC 200 fight card just once, and it resulted in Strikeforce veteran Derek Brunson being removed from his scheduled match-up against “The Armenian Assassin” Gegard Mousasi. Stepping in to replace Brunson is Thiago “Marreta” Santos, a Brazilian striker who has been red-hot, riding a four-fight winning streak with four of those victories coming by way of T/KO. Mousasi vs Santos is an excellent match-up in the UFC’s middleweight division and could prove to be a contender for the evening’s ‘Fight of the Night’ bonus, if the fight plays out on the feet. The fact that this fight is middling the Fight Pass prelims speaks volumes on how stacked this UFC 200 fight card is. “The Dreamcatcher” will be looking to make it two in a row for himself following a unanimous decision win over former UFC Middleweight title challenger Thales Leites back in February. On the other end, Santos will be hoping to score the biggest victory of his professional mixed martial arts career. The featured bout on the UFC Fight Pass prelims for UFC 200 will be a barn-burner between two of the biggest fan favorites in the UFC’s lightweight division in Diego “The Nightmare” Sanchez and Joe “J-Lau” Lauzon. A match-up long in the making, these two are finally set to throw down and potentially take home the evening’s ‘Fight of the Night’ honors, as they are both often prone to do. This would also be a rare “winner vs loser” match-up in the UFC’s 155-pound division, with Sanchez coming off a unanimous decision win over Jim Miller and Lauzon coming short on the judges’ scorecards against Evan Dunham in his latest outing inside the Octagon. Both men are nearing the end of their respected careers, so a victory here would be huge for either of them, and I expect they will go all out in an effort to earn it. Sanchez vs Louzon is certainly a match-up that has “fireworks” written all over it. If there is one fight on this UFC 200 card that should guarantee to entertain, I think it is safe to say that it will be this one.

Written by Gabe Killian

Leave a Reply

UFC Fight Night 90 Betting Odds

MMA Odds and Ends for Tuesday: Michael Chiesa out at UFC Fight Night 91, Johnson vs. Teixeira rebooked for UFC 202