With UFC 246 in the rear-view mirror (full recap here), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is set to stage its second event of of the new year as UFC Fight Night 166 is set to go down this Saturday night (Jan. 25, 2020) inside PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina.
The event — which will be streamed exclusively on ESPN+ — will feature a Heavyweight showdown between Curtis Blaydes against former division champion, Junior dos Santos. Blaydes is looking for his third straight win, while “Cigano” wants to get back on track after getting knocked out by Francis Ngannou in his last outing (see it here).
Before the two big men throw down, let’s take a trip down Memory Lane to see one of Blaydes’ biggest wins inside the Octagon.
Back in 2018, “Razor” found himself staring down one of the heaviest hitters in mixed martial arts (MMA), tasked to fight Alistair Overeem at UFC 225. Up to that point, Blaydes was on a four-fight win streak and was fresh off a win over Mark Hunt. Overeem, meanwhile, was coming off a tough knockout loss to the aforementioned Francis Ngannou.
The first round didn’t see much action, as the two heavy hitters were cautious in an effort to avoid getting tagged with a huge shot. Halfway through the round, “Razor” managed to score a takedown, though he didn’t do much with it.
In round two, Overeem tagged Blaydes with a huge strike, but he managed to shake it off and score another takedown and nearly pulled off a guillotine choke. Blaydes controlled the remainder of the round with another takedown in his pocket.
After taking down “The Reem” in round three once again, Blaydes unleashed a vicious onslaught of ground-and-pound, busting open “The Reem” pretty badly. Having seen enough, the referee decided it was time to put an end to the punishment. Now, Blaydes will look to put his name in the title conversation when he faces the always-dangerous "JDS” in a pivotal 265-pound collision.
To learn more about UFC Fight Night 166 click here.
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