Watch UFC 213 Amanda Nunes x Valentina

Amanda and Valentina lead the UFC 213 card (Photo: Reproduction/Twitter UFCBrasil)

Not long before the highly anticipated UFC 213, an event that will take place this Saturday (08), in Las Vegas (USA), and will feature two title fights. In addition to the titles at stake, two more former champions are present on the card.

See too

Amanda, Romero and Werdum are underdogs in UFC 213 betting

Video: Predictions – UFC 213 – Amanda Nunes x Valentina Shevchenko

In the main fight of the night, the women's bantamweight champion Amanda nunes takes revenge against Valentina Shevchenko. If the Brazilian loses, Brazil will be left without any of the organization's belts. In the second most important attraction of the show, the middleweights Yoel romero e Robert whittaker face each other for the division's interim belt, which currently has Michael Bisping as linear champion.

PUBLICITY:

In addition to title disputes, the event will also feature the participation of Fabricio Werdum, which forms a trilogy with the Dutch alistair overeem. If he emerges victorious, the jiu-jitsu ace could secure his place as the next challenger in the heavyweight category. Former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis is also scheduled: he faces the experienced Jim Miller.

Two more Brazilians are scheduled on the card. The average weight Thiago Marreta, which measures forces with Gerald meerschaert, and bantamweight Douglas D'Silva, who faces Rob font.

PUBLICITY:

To get you in the mood for UFC 213, the SUPER FIGHTS prepared five reasons for you to attend the event

1 – The only Brazilian belt at stake

Amanda puts the belt on the line (Photo: Reproduction/Twitter UFC)

PUBLICITY:

The bantamweight champion Amanda nunes enters into action this Saturday (8), not just in search of yet another belt defense. On his shoulders are the expectations of all of Brazil, which only has the Bahian woman as a representative at the top of the UFC. After the defeat of José Aldo at UFC 212, the Lioness is the only Brazilian world champion.

To remain the owner of the rooster category, Amanda will meet an old acquaintance. In March last year, she faced and won Valentina Shevchenko by decision. After dominating her rival for two rounds, Nunes had gas problems in the last round and came close to being knocked out. She guarantees that the issue was not so much physical, but mental and says she is prepared to silence critics of her physical preparation.

Since the two met, both Amanda and Valentina have won two fights. The Brazilian finished Miesha Tate and knocked out Ronda Rousey, both in the first round, while Shevchenko won a five-round decision over the former champion Holly holm and finished Julianna Pena. Both champion and challenger arrive at UFC 213 full of morale. It remains to be seen who will leave with 6 kg. of gold at the waist at the end of the event.

PUBLICITY:

2 – Interim belt voucher

Romero and Whittaker fight for the middleweight belt (Photo: Reproduction/Youtube FightHubTV)

Yoel romero arrives at UFC 213 with eight straight wins and undefeated in the UFC. Robert whittaker He has seven wins in a row and hasn't lost since moving up from welterweight to middleweight. However, the confusion that took place in the category up to 84 kg. made the two face each other only for the interim division title. In the second most important fight this Saturday (8), Romero and Whittaker battle for the provisional belt and the right, in principle, to face the linear champion Michael Bisping.

Nothing is guaranteed, as the Englishman remains interested in facing Georges St Pierre e the Canadian wants his rival to wait for him until November. What is certain is that whoever wins between the Cuban and the New Zealander will win a title, albeit an interim one. The duel promises balance, as both are at their peak.

At 40 years old, Romero has only 13 MMA fights (12 wins and one loss, for the Brazilian Rafael Feijão). Having dedicated a large part of his career to Olympic fighting, the Cuban remains in excellent physical shape, and has not suffered from wars inside the Octagon. Coming from a knockout over the former champion Chris Weidman, the “Soldier of God” is number one in the ranking.

Whittaker surprised the MMA world by knocking out Ronaldo Jacare in April. In addition to the victory, the New Zealander showed a lot of quality on the ground, as he was taken down by the world jiu-jitsu champion and survived to knock him out in the second round. In addition to “Jaca”, Whittaker has, among his victims, names such as Uriah Hall, Derek Brunson and Rafael Natal.

3 – To close the trilogy

Werdum and Overeem have already faced each other twice (Photo: Reproduction/Youtube/UFC)

Fabricio Werdum e alistair overeem They are old acquaintances. After having already faced each other on two occasions, with one triumph for each side, the two are preparing for a trilogy that could define the next challenger for the heavyweight belt, which is currently in the possession of Stipe Miocic, who already knocked out the duo in 2016.

Former heavyweight champion, Werdum has had a practically flawless campaign in his return to Ultimate. In eight duels, there were seven victories, including the knockout over Mark Hunt and the conclusions about Rodrigo Minotauro e Cain Velazquez, which earned it the linear title. His only setback was against Miocic, who knocked him out at UFC 198, in Curitiba. The recovery came timidly, with an unconvincing victory against Travis Browne, last September.

Overeem, in turn, has experienced ups and downs in the UFC. Although he had a devastating debut against Brock Lesnar, the knockouts suffered against Antonio Pezão, Browne and Ben Rothwell put their credibility on the line. However, the Dutchman reinvented himself and lined up Stefan struve, Roy Nelson, Junior Gypsy and Andrei Arlosvski, until he was stopped by champion Miocic. Like Werdum, he only had one fight after the setback, knocking out Mark Hunt at UFC 209, in March this year.

4 – Anthony Pettis back to lightweight

Pettis returns to the lightweight division (Photo: Reproduction/Facebook UFC)

If we go back in time a little more than two years, the prestige of Anthony Pettis it was almost the opposite of the current one. Former UFC lightweight champion, 'Showtime' was considered one of the top fighters in the world and seen as a 'monster to beat' in his category. However, what we saw was a technical decline for Pettis, who faced a true astral hell.

After losing the belt after being completely dominated by Rafael dos Anjos, suffered two more defeats to Eddie Alvarez and Edson Barboza. The bad results made him move to featherweight, but the scenario didn't change much. The debut was with a finish in Charles of the Bronx, which provided him with the chance to compete for the interim division title. However, in addition to not making weight, in the Octagon he did not see the color of the ball against Max Holloway, who knocked him out in the third round.

Now, back at lightweight, Pettis faces the tough guy Jim Miller, a veteran who has no less than 26 fights in the house. If your arm is raised at the end of the fight, 'Showtime' puts itself back in a good position. If he is frustrated by his more experienced opponent, his future will become increasingly compromised.

5 – Other Brazilians in action

Marreta and Douglas fight on the preliminary card (Photo: Reproduction/Facebook-Montagem SL)

Participant of TUF Brasil 2, Thiago Marreta He was known for his powerful shots, which have already given him three of his six victories in the organization. After achieving four good results, the Rio native was knocked out by Gegard Mousasi and surprised by Eric Spicely, but redemption came in February of this year, when he knocked out Jack Marshman. If you emerge victorious against Gerald meerschaert, Marreta can once again dream of bigger flights in the hotly contested middleweight category.

The first Brazilian to take action on Saturday, bantamweight Douglas D'Silva tries to maintain his good form. After debuting with a defeat, the man from Pará recorded two consecutive victories, the most recent with a brutal knockout against Enrique Briones, last November. At 32 years old and with an impressive record of 24 wins and just one setback, Douglas wants to prove himself against Rob font, 15th in the ranking at 61kg, which can compete against the best-known names in the world.

*João Vitor Xavier collaborated