Knockdown Daily 4/4/22: A Look At The Week Ahead
We take a look at the week ahead in the Monday edition
Welcome to the Monday edition of the Knockdown Daily. Today’s issue has the latest MMA news, along with a preview for the upcoming week in the sport.
News
Amanda Ribas To Face Katlyn Chookagian In Flyweight Bout At May 14th UFC ‘Fight Night’
Amanda Ribas will go up a weight class later this year to face former title challenger Katlyn Chookagian at UFC’s May 14th event. News of the matchup was first reported by Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie earlier this week.
Ribas has appeared at flyweight before, although most of her UFC run has focused on competing at strawweight. She bounced back from her sole promotional loss in her last appearance, going three rounds against Virna Jandiroba for a unanimous decision victory last year.
Chookagian is entering the booking on a strong three-fight winning streak. Her last win in the division came just earlier this year, defeating Jennifer Maia on scorecards.
William Knight, Devin Clark To Meet At Heavyweight on April 16th UFC Card
Light heavyweight fighters William Knight and Devin Clark will compete up at heavyweight later this month, meeting at UFC’s April 16th event. News of the matchup was reported by Nolan King of MMA Junkie.
The fight is joining a card that is set to happen at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
Knight made his heavyweight debut earlier this year, losing a decision to Maxim Grishin. This move up to heavyweight wasn’t by design, but instead came due to Knight missing weight for a light heavyweight bout a day before.
Knight has previously earned three wins and one loss at light heavyweight since joining the UFC in 2020.
Clark will attempt to snap a two-fight losing streak in the matchup. His last loss came just a few months ago against Ion Cutelaba via unanimous decision.
A Look At The Week Ahead
The upcoming week in MMA isn’t that busy. However, there is certainly a big event in UFC 273 on Saturday night.
LFA 128: McKenzie vs. Clay
LFA will present the top regional card on Friday night. In the main event, prospects Aaron McKenzie and Lucas Clay will fight to become the sixth lightweight champ in the promotion’s history. Previous titleholder Nick Browne vacated his belt last year to join the Bellator roster.
Location: Sanford Pentagon, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA
Main Card (9:00PM EDT / 8:00PM CDT) (UFC Fight Pass)
Bout 9: Aaron McKenzie (10-2-1) vs. Lucas Clay (8-1) (Vacant LFA Lightweight Championship)
Bout 8: Jimmy Lawson (3-1) vs. Marino Eatman (5-4-1) (Heavyweight)
Bout 7: Sarek Shields (2-0) vs. Thad Jean (2-0) (Welterweight)
Bout 6: Mitchell McKee (1-0) vs. Jalen Jackson (0-1) (Bantamweight)
Bout 5: Devon Dixon (4-0-1) vs. Richie Miranda (3-0) (Catchweight 160 lbs)
Preliminary Card
Bout 4: Abubakar Adamu (0-0) vs. Andrew Triolo (0-0) (Bantamweight)
Bout 3: Brett Bye (1-0) vs. Jhellani Otton (2-0) (Amateur Welterweight)
Bout 2: Cheyanne Bowers (5-1) vs. Kaeley Fenhaus (1-0) (Amateur Bantamweight)
Bout 1: Zach Sulzer (1-1) vs. Jorge Apalategui (2-1) (Amateur Lightweight)
UFC 273: Volkanovski vs. The Korean Zombie
UFC will present two title fights on Saturday night from Jacksonville, Florida, USA.
In the main event of UFC 273, featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski will face veteran Chan Sung Jung, also known as The Korean Zombie. Volkanovski was first booked to meet Max Holloway in a trilogy fight, but the promotion called upon Zombie months ago as a replacement due to injury.
The rematch between UFC Bantamweight Champion Aljamain Sterling and former titleholder Petr Yan will take place in the co-main event. Sterling earned the belt in early 2021, as Yan was disqualified from a fight due to landing an illegal knee. Yan has since become an interim titleholder in the division.
Location: VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, Jacksonville, Florida, USA
Main Card (10:00PM EDT) (PPV)
Bout 13: Alexander Volkanovski (23-1) vs. The Korean Zombie (17-6) (UFC Featherweight Championship)
Bout 12: Aljamain Sterling (20-3) vs. Petr Yan (16-2) (UFC Bantamweight Championship)
Bout 11: Gilbert Burns (20-4) vs. Khamzat Chimaev (10-0) (Welterweight)
Bout 10: Mackenzie Dern (11-2) vs. Tecia Torres (13-5) (Strawweight)
Bout 9: Aleksei Oleinik (59-16-1) vs. Jared Vanderaa (12-7) (Heavyweight)
Preliminary Card (8:00PM EDT) (ESPN / TSN 5)
Bout 8: Aspen Ladd (9-2) vs. Raquel Pennington (13-8) (Bantamweight)
Bout 7: Ian Garry (8-0) vs. Darian Weeks (5-1) (Welterweight)
Bout 6: Anthony Hernandez (8-2) vs. Josh Fremd (9-2) (Middleweight)
Bout 5: Jairzinho Rozenstruick (12-3) vs. Marcin Tybura (22-7) (Heavyweight)
Bout 4: Mickey Gall (7-4) vs. Mike Malott (7-1-1) (Welterweight)
Early Prelims (6:15PM EDT) (ESPN+ / UFC Fight Pass)
Bout 3: Julio Arce (17-5) vs. Daniel Santos (10-1) (Bantamweight)
Bout 2: Vinc Pichel (14-2) vs. Mark Madsen (11-0) (Lightweight)
Bout 1: Piera Rodriguez (7-0) vs. Kay Hansen (7-5) (Strawweight)
Opinion
JMMA Monday: The Most Intriguing (And Underrated) Things We Know About The RIZIN Doubleheader
For this week’s “JMMA Monday,” I wrote about the biggest takeaways about the upcoming doubleheader of events from RIZIN. This includes my thoughts on the upcoming Ayaka Hamasaki title fight, a chance to Yusuke Yachi to get revenge and more.
“JMMA Monday” also includes a quick notes section about the top headlines from the scene from the past week.
The entire article can be read here.
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