Watch UFC 230 this Saturday

D. Cormier (left) and D. Lewis (right) face each other for the heavyweight title. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram @ufc

It's time for UFC 230, an event that takes place this Saturday (03) at the legendary Madison Square Garden in New York (USA). The main duel of the night has a belt at stake. The heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier puts his reign in dispute against the giant Derrick Lewis. In the co-main event of the attraction, the Brazilian Ronaldo Jacare faces the former middleweight champion Chris Weidman, with an eye on a chance for the title and to avenge the Brazilians Anderson Silva, Vitor belfort e Lyoto Machida – already defeated by the North American

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In addition to Jacaré, the UFC 230 fight program has two more Brazilians in action: Sheymon Moraes will face Julio Maple e Marcos Foot measures strength against Adam Wieczorek.

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To get you into the mood UFC 230, five reasons for you to attend the event:

– Cormier in search of history

Daniel Cormier e Derrick Lewis will face each other in the main fight of UFC 230 for the heavyweight belt. The two fighters were called up to be the protagonists of the last clash of the night a month in advance. And, even with little preparation time, Cormier can make history. If he wins the fight, he will be the first fighter to hold two belts simultaneously – he is also light heavyweight champion (up to 93,1 kg) – and defend both titles.

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On the other hand, Lewis returns to the octagon in record time. In less than a month he won Alexander Volkov on October 06th at UFC 229. Derrick was 'massacred' by his rival during the first two rounds, but in the last round the 'Black Beast' managed to turn the game around and knocked him out in a surprising way.

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In 26 fights the fighter has 18 victories, 18 by knockout and five defeats. He comes from three consecutive victories in 2018 over Volkov, Francis Ngannou e Marcin tybura.

The most anticipated middleweight clash

R. Jacaré (left) and C. Weidman (right) perform the co-main event. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram @ufc

MMA fans have been waiting for many years for the confrontation between Ronaldo Jacare e Chris Weidman. The two athletes have always been at the top of the middleweight division, but have never met inside the octagon. The fight will finally take place in the co-main event of UFC 230. There is another ingredient that makes the duel even more interesting, the winner must be the next challenger for the division title. The winner must face the current champion Robert whittaker ou Kelvin Gastelum that face each other in 2019.

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Chris Weidman became known to the Brazilian public after dethroning the champion Anderson Silva in December 2013. After beating 'Spider', he also defeated Demian Maia, Lyoto Machida e Vitor belfort and became the biggest executioner of athletes in Brazil. However, his good phase ended when he lost the title to Luke Rockhold in 2015.

'All American' had a streak of three defeats Rockhold, Yoel romero e Gegard Mousasi. In July 2017 he recovered by finishing Kelvin Gastelum. The fighter currently occupies third place in the middleweight rankings. With a win at UFC 230 Weidman should become next in line for a title shot.

Ronaldo Jacare received a golden chance at UFC 230. On the 19th, the Brazilian was selected to replace Luke Rockhold in the fight against Chris Weidman. A victory over the former middleweight champion could put the Manauara in a title fight in the category. Furthermore, he has the task of breaking his rival's hegemony over Brazilian fighters.

Jacaré is going through an irregular moment in the organization. In his last six fights, the Brazilian won three and lost another three. In his last confrontation Ronaldo was defeated by Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 224 in May this year. He has 25 triumphs and six setbacks in his career.

The UFC revelation

I. Adesanya remains undefeated after 14 career duels. Photo: Reproduction/Facebook @ufc

Israel adesanya He is part of the organization's new generation of athletes and is one of the promises in the middleweight division. In three fights in the franchise he came out in all of them with his arm raised by the judges. In addition, the fighter won the “Performance Bonus of the night” on two occasions. This Saturday (03) the Nigerian will face the biggest challenge of his career so far, Derek Brunson.

'Last Stylebender' occupies ninth place in the middleweight rankings. Since his debut with the franchise, the Nigerian has won three in three clashes. His last fight was against Brad Tavares in July this year at the TUF 27 Finale. The fighter remains undefeated after 14 duels in his professional career.

Brazilian presence on the preliminary card

S. Moraes and M. Pezão perform on the preliminary card. Photo: Montage SL/MMA Press

The first Brazilian athlete to step into the Octagon at Madison Square Garden is Marcos Rogério de Lima, better known by his nickname 'Bigfoot'. After moving to light heavyweight, the Brazilian returns to the category above 120kg. The fighter from Ribeirão Pires (SP) would face Ruslan Magomedov. The Russian had visa problems and was replaced by Adam Wieczorek with just two weeks to go before the fight.

Pezão hopes to get back to good results and put an end to the franchise's irregular season. In seven fights, the São Paulo native won four and lost another three. He has 21 fights in his record, 25 wins, five setbacks and one draw.

Ending Brazilian participation in the preliminary card Sheymon Moraes faces Julio Maple by the weights. In his third fight in the UFC, the Brazilian wants to win his second consecutive victory over the North American.

In his debut with the company, the fighter was defeated by Zabit Magomedsharipov. In his last commitment, the Rio native beat Matt Sayles at UFC 227. At 28 years old, Sheymon Moraes has 12 fights in his professional MMA career, including 10 triumphs and two setbacks.

The legendary temple of sport

Madison Square Garden hosted the UFC on two occasions. Photo: Reproduction/Facebook @ufc

Madison Square Garden was for decades the Mecca of Boxing and in its ring names such as Muhammad Ali, Rocky Marciano, Joe Fraziero or Mike Tyson. Nowadays, although boxing fights are still held, most of the important fights take place in Las Vegas.

The most important clashes taking place today at Madison Square Garden are basketball and ice hockey. There are three professional teams that use the stadium as their base: New York Knicks (basketball), New York Liberty (women's basketball) and New York Rangers (ice hockey).

Madison Square Garden also became one of the homes of Ultimate in 2016 when the project regulating the practice of professional MMA in the state of New York was approved.

Since then, the gym has hosted the event on two occasions. The first was at UFC 205 in 2016 where the Irishman Conor McGregor knocked out Eddie Alvarez and won the lightweight belt. The second was in 2017 and marked the return of Georges St-Pierre after retirement. The Canadian finished Michael Bisping and took the middleweight title.