Ultimate Fighting Championship debuts on DStv this Sunday

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a leading mixed martial arts competition, will this Sunday make its debut on the pan-African satellite TV provider, DStv.

The UFC Fight Night, which is holding in New York at 4am (WAT) on Sunday morning, will be broadcast live on SuperSport 6.

It will be recalled that UFC is the biggest mixed martial arts organisation in the world which routinely produces volatile match-ups.

This Sunday, flyweight champion, Henry Cejudo, is expected to go up against reigning bantamweight champion, TJ Dillashaw.

Cejudo has a strong boxing and ground game, forged from his days as a championship wrestler. In 2008, the then 21-year-old Cejudo became the youngest Olympic gold medallist in US wrestling history.

Dillashaw is also regarded as the complete package with sublime kicking, punching and grappling skills. Very technical, he uses good angles and is dynamic on the mat.

In the heavyweight co-main event, controversial ex-NFL player, Greg Hardy, will be challenged by veteran Allen Crowder.

Some other UFC fights which will be showing on DStv include:

Lightweight: Gregor Gillespie vs Yancy Medeiros;

Flyweight: Joseph Benavidez vs Dustin Ortiz;

Women’s flyweight: Paige VanZant vs Rachael Ostovich;

Light-heavyweight: Glover Teixeira vs Karl Roberson.

Meanwhile, below are six interesting FACTS to know about the UFC:

1. UFC is a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) series in which a series of fights take place around the world (though it is mostly based in the USA).
2. MMA is a full-contact combat sport that allows striking and grappling, both standing and, on the ground, using techniques from various combat sports and martial arts.
3. There is a ‘main’ UFC event each month which is numerically named (for example, December 2018’s main event was UFC 231 in Toronto), while smaller events are named Fight Nights and also listed numerically.
4. Each UFC event will have a ‘fight card’ (a list of the bouts to be held) which runs in reverse order of prestige, so that the most important fight (often a title bout) is held last – this is known as the ‘main event’.
5. All UFC fights are held in the Octagon – an eight-sided ring with walls made of fencing material, padding covering all the edges and corners, and measuring 30 feet (approximately 9.1 metres) across.
6. The UFC recognises the following weight classes (upper weight limit in parenthesis):

Strawweight (52.2 kg)

Flyweight (56.7 kg)

Bantamweight (61.2 kg)

Featherweight (65.8 kg)

Lightweight (70.3 kg)

Welterweight (77.1 kg)

Middleweight (83.9 kg)

Light Heavyweight (93 kg)

Heavyweight (120.2 kg)