UFC Fight Night 107 Preview
The UFC will be making their first trip to Europe this year and once again a new stable of fighters begins to show up.
In the UFC there are some clear divides between the weight classes and the levels of fighters as well as the ability for fighters to sell fights.
Another massive division is the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans as they stand between different sets of the fighters.
At UFC Fight Night 107 the division will be clear as the Atlantic Ocean provides the biggest divide in the promotion.
On one side is a number of fighters that tend to make the biggest noise and have plenty of opportunities to fight whether it be in the USA or Brazil or another country in the Americas.
The other side features a host of fighters that are relatively unknown in the bigger picture and that tend to only have a few chances to show their talents.
The divide between these fighters from the Americas and the fighters from Europe is as simple as the opportunities these fighters get or the choice they have to make.
Aside from the biggest names, European fighters prefer to stick on their continent when they fight.
The choice is based on the fact that they want to keep the same type of training camps that many fighters get but also need to overcome major time changes to fight in the USA.
They can suffer through those time changes or cut their camp early and head to USA where they will likely need to find a temporary home.
It isn’t impossible but fighters are creatures of habit and a lot of times they tend to perform poorly when they make the trip.
Instead, they prefer to stay in Europe and fight but that presents a problem in that the UFC has a limited amount of fights in the region.
The big fights that it takes to become a big fighter are in the USA and missing those fights is not a great way to get noticed.
Yet the perceived disadvantages keep many fighters in Europe and plugging away on cards that mean almost nothing.
UFC Fight Night 107 is one of those cards as it features some great fights but most are headlined by fighters that most fans might not know.
As a result, the fight will be on UFC Fight Pass rather than on TV or on Pay-per-View leaving even fewer people to familiarise themselves with these names.
Some could be considered some of the best in their divisions but they haven’t been able to make that big leap like Conor McGregor and Michael Bisping.
UFC Fight Night 107 will feature a lot of these names like Gunnar Nelson who takes on Alan Jouban in the co-main event.
Nelson is one of the best submission artists in the sport but rarely fights in the USA and doesn’t get seen by most of the fans.
He will look to make an impression this time around but no matter how well he does it still won’t be enough to make a massive difference.
In the main event, there is a British boxer who, like Nelson and so many more, didn’t make his way to the USA all too often.
In fact, the last time he fought in the USA was only the second time he took a loss in his MMA career.
His boxing background made him one of the top prospects in the UFC and he proved to be a good bet.
Like a lot of European fighters he never really broke through though thanks to the fact that he stuck to Britain for most of his career.
It didn’t get him in front of a lot of people and he always seemed to slip through the cracks until he eventually found the top of the division.
He struggled through two losses in his last four fights but did show up in his last fight against Ovince St. Preux.
He will look to continue that momentum into his next fight against Corey Anderson in what is a classic match-up between a boxer and a wrestler.
These are two of the examples of a number of fighters that will be featured on this card that is rare to see.
European fighters are on display as the UFC travels to London and despite the lack of name, there is certainly no lack of talent.
The Sport Addiction 