UFC 295 Preview: Madison Square Garden

This edition of the UFC on Nov. 11 will have two championship Bouts at Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight at The Madison Square Garden In New York City.

Jiři Procházka will fight Alex Pereira in the main event, and Sergei Pavlovich will fight Tom Aspinall in the Interim Heavyweight Title Bout to replace the Jon Jones Stipe Miocic fight that was previously scheduled but was canceled after Jones tore a tendon in his arm.

Procházka has a record of 29-3-1 and Pereira has a record of 8-2. Procházka is on a 13-fight win streak, and his last fight versus Glover Teixeira was arguably one of the most entertaining fights in the history of the UFC, ending in a fifth-round submission in the final minute of the fight.

Pereira also has had his share of exhilarating fights with recent victories over Jan Blachowicz, and Sean Strickland and two fights against Israel Adesanya in which each of them won one.

Pereira is a very slight favorite in this fight against Procházka, but neither of these fighters has a chance to win this title fight and take control of the belt.

The other title fight will be sure to have some fireworks involved, with Pavlovich on a six-fight win streak, with all six of those fights ending in the first round. Pavlovich is 18-1 and has 15 first-round finishes. With a record of 5-1 in his last 6 fights, Aspinall only lost due to a knee injury TKO only 15 seconds into his fight against Curtis Blaydes.

Both of these fighters are knockout artists having at least 10 KO victories each in their respective careers and will be looking to deliver the win as fast as they can. I am predicting this fight will end before the final bell is rung. It is a title fight scheduled for 5 rounds, but I would be surprised if they make it past the third.

The other main card fights include a Women's Strawweight Bout of Jéssica Andrade (24-12) versus Mackenzie Dern (13-3), A Lightweight Bout of Benoît Saint-Denis (12-1) versus Matt Frevola (11-3-1) and a Featherweight Bout between Diego Lopes (22-6) and Pat Sabatini (18-4).

Everyone has their own reason to watch and enjoy the UFC, whether you tune in strictly for knockouts, or maybe you only pay attention to title fights, or you want to see one of your favorite veteran fighters put on the gloves for what could be their final fight. This edition of the UFC has it all and could end up being one of the top cards of the year.

Carson Schuler is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism, to contact him please email cts5357@psu.edu.