Former UFC Title Contender Booked, Ben Askren Challenges GSP, Saturday's UFC Fight Night Card
- The UFC returns this Saturday night with UFC Fight Night 138 on FOX Sports 1 featuring Volkan Oezdemir vs. Anthony Smith. The light heavyweight contest will take place from Canada along with Artem Lobov vs. Michael Johnson and several other bouts.
Below is the fight card for the event:
MAIN CARD (FOX Sports 1/10 p.m. ET)
Light Heavyweight: Volkan Oezdemir vs. Anthony Smith
Featherweight: Michael Johnson vs. Artem Lobov
Light Heavyweight: Misha Cirkunov vs. Patrick Cummins
Bantamweight: Andre Soukhamthath vs. Jonathan Martinez
Light Heavyweight: Gian Villante vs. Ed Herman
Welterweight: Alex Garcia vs. Court McGee
PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX Sports 1/8 p.m. ET)
Welterweight: Nordine Taleb vs. Sean Strickland
Lightweight: Thibault Gouti vs. Nasrat Haqparast
Featherweight: Calvin Kattar vs. Chris Fishgold
Female Bantamweight: Sarah Moraes vs. Talita Bernardo
PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass/6:30 p.m. ET)
Lightweight: Don Madge vs. Te'Jovan Edwards
Heavyweight: Arjan Bhullar vs. Marcelo Golm
Lightweight: Stevie Ray vs. Jessin Ayari
- Former UFC heavyweight title challenger Alistair Overeem will return later this year when he meets Sergei Pavlovich at UFC Fight Night 141: Blaydes vs. Ngannou 2 from the Cadillac Arena in Beijing, China. The card features Curtis Blaydes vs. Francis Ngannou in a rematch.
Overeem (43-17) has dropped his last two fights, including a knockout loss to Blaydes earlier this year. His last win was over former UFC champion Fabricio Werdum in the summer of 2017 via majority decision. Pavlovich (12-0) will be making his Octagon debut after holding the Fight Nights Global heavyweight belt. Of his 12 wins, nine have ended via finish.
The card takes place November 25 and will mark the debut of the UFC in Beijing after previously holding an event in Mainland China last year with Michael Bisping vs. Kelvin Gastelum.
- Ben Askren isn't planning on taking on gatekeepers when he makes his Octagon debut likely in 2019. Instead, the unbeaten former Bellator champion has issued challenges to the best of the best, including an attempt to rekindle his "rivalry" with Georges St-Pierre.
Hey @GeorgesStPierre please name your terms of engagement!!! Who would you like me to beat up or how many twitter followers would you like me to have. You name it's done. Then I'll see you in Montreal.
— Ben Askren (@Benaskren) October 26, 2018