UFC Glendale is a banger of a card and a fitting follow-up to UFC 223 on network television. Noted brawlers Justin Gaethje and Dustin Poirier headline the card.
| Staff Writers | Waterson vs. Casey | Adesanya vs. Vettori | Condit vs. Oliveira | Poirier vs. Gaethje |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heath Harshman (33-17) |  |  |  |  |
| Paarth Pande (32-18) | | |  |  |
| Eddie Law (31-19) |  | | | |
| Jesse Gillette (29-21) | | | | |
| Dan Doherty (28-22) | | | | |
| Mike Straus (28-22) | | | | |
| Gabriel Gonzalez (25-25) | | | | |
| Jason Payne (24-26) | | | | |
| Jay Anderson (24-26) | | | | |
| Mike McClory (23-27) | | | | |
Top-tier lightweights headline an entertainment-first card with Justin Gaethje squaring off against Dustin Poirier in the UFC Glendale main event. An important strawweight fight will also take place and a top prospect steps into the Octagon again.
Justin Gaethje is must-watch television whenever he steps into the cage, especially when he has a game opponent like Dustin Poirier. Gaethje was undefeated before making his UFC debut, and it ended up being a fight of the year candidate against Michael Johnson. He then went to war with former champion Eddie Alvarez for three rounds before a knee finished him for the first time in his career. Poirier recently beat Anthony Pettis in a one-sided affair, submitting him late in the fight. The victory got Poirier back in the win column after a no contest against Eddie Alvarez in a fight he was winning. The winner of this bout will be in prime position in the messy lightweight title picture, and six of 10 writers believe it will be Poirier.
The co-main event was supposed to be a brawl between fan-favorites Carlos Condit and Matt Brown, but unfortunately Brown pulled out with a knee injury. Replacing him is Alex Oliveira, who is coming off a fight of the year candidate against Yancy Medeiros, in which Oliveira had his opponent rocked early, but Yancy won the rock ’em sock ’em battle in the third round. Carlos Condit has been flirting with retirement for over a year now and has lost three times since the start of 2016. However, only two writers believe he’ll extend the streak to four tonight.
Israel Adesanya is a world-class striker who previously challenged for a GLORY Kickboxing title before entering the UFC. “The Stylebender” has a ridiculous record of 12-0 with 12 striking stoppages, including his UFC debut against Robert Whiteford earlier this year. Marvin Vettori is the pride of Italian MMA and is 2-1-1 in the UFC including a win over Vitor Miranda. All 10 writers believe the Adesanya hype train will keep rolling.
Opening up the main card is a battle between the biggest strawweight on the roster and a former Invicta atomweight champion. At 5’7″, Cortney Casey towers over opponents. Casey is 3-4 in the Octagon with impressive wins over Randa Markos and Jessica Aguilar. “Cast-Iron” took a tough loss against Felice Herrig in her last appearance. Michelle Waterson won her first two UFC fights by rear-naked choke, but has since dropped fights to top-tier strawweights Rose Namajunas and Tecia Torres. Six of 10 writers believe “The Karate Hottie” Michelle Waterson will get back on track at UFC Glendale.
