UFC Calgary is a stacked FOX card from north of the border highlighted by an excellent lightweight rematch between top-five fighters.
| Staff Writers | Aubin-Mercier vs. Hernandez | Jedrzejczyk vs. Torres | Aldo vs. Stephens | Poirier vs. Alvarez |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heath Harshman (76-42) |  |  |  |  |
| Paarth Pande (77-47) |  | | | |
| Eddie Law (65-42) | | |  | |
| Jesse Gillette (69-45) | | | | |
| Dan Doherty (75-49) | | | | |
| Josh Evanoff (28-19) | | | |  |
| Mike Straus (72-52) | | | | |
| Jay Anderson (70-54) | | | | |
| Gabriel Gonzalez (67-52) | | | | |
| Mike McClory (60-55) | | | | |
The main event of UFC Calgary is a rematch between Eddie Alvarez and Dustin Poirier. The two met at UFC 211, and Poirier was getting the better of the former champion before Alvarez landed illegal knees. The bout was ruled a no contest, and Alvarez went on to defeat Justin Gaethje, while Poirier has topped both Anthony Pettis and Gaethje since the pair’s first meeting. Alvarez was 2-1 in the Octagon before defeating Rafael dos Anjos to win the title. Poirier moved up to the lightweight division in 2015 and has since gone 7-1. Poirier was picked by eight of 10 writers.
The co-main event is between former champion Jose Aldo and longtime slugger Jeremy Stephens. Aldo is arguably the greatest featherweight of all time, but has not won since 2016. Granted, he’s only fought current champion Max Holloway twice since then. Stephens is on one the best runs of his career, knocking out top prospects Doo Ho Choi and Josh Emmett in addition to a dominant victory over lightweight great Gilbert Melendez. The staff is split down the middle for the co-main event.
Joanna Jedrzejczyk battles Tecia Torres on the main card. The former champion has lost her last two bouts to Rose Namajunas after defending her title five times. Torres was 3-0 in 2017 before falling to the powerful Jessica Andrade earlier this year. Jedrzejczyk was unanimously chosen by the staff.
Opening up the UFC Calgary main card is a matchup between Alex Hernandez and Olivier Aubin-Mercier. Hernandez impressed in his promotional debut when he blitzed Beneil Dariush and knocked him out in under a minute in his short-notice promotional debut. Aubin-Mercier is arguably the most promising Canadian prospect in the sport, and is 7-2 in the Octagon, coming off a quick knockout of veteran Evan Dunham. OAM was given a slight 6-4 edge by the staff.
