start<\/a> this evening.<\/p>\n\nHe can dish it out, but can he take it?<\/h3>\n
Welterweight: Geoff Neal vs. Ian Machado Garry<\/b><\/p>\n
Combat sports are, to paraphrase the late Yogi Berra, 90% mental and the other half physical. If this equation doesn't make sense to you, it's either because you're not as wise as Yogi or because the mental game is shrouded in mystery. Fighters have always sought to gain an advantage by poking their would-be opponents with unkind words, and only sometimes do they land as a clean punch.<\/p>\n
When this fight was originally scheduled for last summer, Garry let his wardrobe talk trash, wearing a T-shirt that featured a photo of Neal during a drunk driving arrest. The gamesmanship seemed unnecessary, however, after the fight was called off due to Neal's illness. Now it's back. \u201cHe\u2019s dead,\u201d Neal said.<\/p>\n
Between the cancellation and the rebooking, the laws of karma placed Machado Garry under personal attacks from other fighters. And the undefeated Briton appeared to shrink in the face of all the unkind words before pulling out of a fight in December due to pneumonia. How will Garry's mental game hold up?<\/p>\n
It's unfortunate that this is the narrative surrounding a fight that could propel the winner into contention. But that\u2019s where the sport now resides.<\/p>\n\n
If you wear fancy clothes to a puck drop, Henry, bring a valet.<\/h3>\n
Men's Bantamweight: Merab Dvalishvili vs. Henry Cejudo<\/b><\/p>\n
Dvalishvili is an entertaining showman, from his quirky social media videos to his jacket-stealing prank on Sean O'Malley. But while in his public appearances he can be a prankster, as a fighter, Merab is far from a joke.<\/p>\n
Dvalishvili wins his fights through fierce fighting. How relentless? In his last fight, he knocked out Petr Yan 11 times. Yan actually held up well to Dvalishvili's shots, stopping 38 of them. (Yes, Dvalishvili shot for 49 takedowns in five rounds.) But the nonstop takedown defense wore Yan down. The same thing happened to Jos\u00e9 Aldo in Dvalishvili's previous fight. Aldo stopped all 16 takedown attempts, but Merab never stopped coming.<\/p>\n
What this means is that Cejudo's Olympic wrestling experience may not be the X-factor that swings this fight in his direction. He will surely stop many takedowns, but that won't slow down Dvalishvili. Will Cejudo, 36 years old and with just one fight in nearly four years, have the stamina to cross the finish line?<\/p>\n\n
The pile of straw is deep<\/h3>\n
Strawweight: Amanda Lemos vs. Mackenzie Dern<\/b><\/p>\n
Originally, this fight card was supposed to feature a fight between Lemos and Tatiana Suarez, both top-10 contenders at 115 pounds. After losing that match due to Suarez's knee injury, what did UFC 298 end with? Another top 10 matchup.<\/p>\n
Dern isn't undefeated, like Suarez, but she's a fighting ace with more submission wins than any other strawweight, active or otherwise. This speaks to the depth of this weight class, which also includes the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in women's MMA, Zhang Weili.<\/p>\n
Here's a chance for the UFC's smallest fighters to put on a big show.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n