UFC 191: Prelim Preview

With UFC 191 now less than a week away, the intriguing scraps that compose its main card have stolen our collective gaze. There's its compelling main event, which matches dominant flyweight champion Demetrious "Mighty Mouse" Johnson with John Dodson in a repeat of a 2013 classic. There's the co-main event, which pairs resurgent heavyweight legends Andrei Arlovski and Frank Mir. There's its duo of light heavyweight bouts, between Anthony Johnson and Jimi Manuwa, and Jan Blachowicz and Corey Anderson. And finally, the pay-per-view action is kicked off by the booming "12 Gauge" Paige Van Zant and the unheralded Alex Chambers.

Yes, when it comes to UFC 191, fight fans have plenty to look forward to in the main card alone. Yet as always the event also offers an interesting—and free—undercard, packed to the edges with fighters who, though less well known, have a hell of a lot to offer. Let's take a closer look.

The action is set to begin in the lightweight division, as two debuting Brazilians with very impressive, albeit very different records collide. In one corner, we'll have the 26-year-old Joaquim Silva, who will enter the bout with a perfect 7-0 record and nary a decision among his victories. Across the canvas from him will be Nazareno Malegarie. Unlike Silva, he's lost three times, but he counterbalances those losses with 23 wins for an overall record that cannot be understated. And when you consider that all three of his losses came against top-level competition in Bellator—against Daniel Straus, Marlon Sandro and Rad Martinez—his accolades become even more commendable. Yes, the first bout of UFC 191's 11-fight lineup is a cool one. Of course, there's plenty more where that came from.

Up second, we'll watch as 56-fight veteran Joe Riggs looks for his first UFC win since rejoining the promotion in 2014. If he's successful in this regard, it'll be his first Octagon triumph since defeating Jason Von Flue in July of 2006. If he's unsuccessful, it'll be three UFC losses in a row and perhaps enough to warrant another UFC release. Needless to say, the stakes for Riggs are sizable, and unfortunately for him, so is the talent of his opponent. His dance partner will be Ron Stallings, who you'll remember either as the man who bravely stepped up on short notice against Uriah Hall in January of this year, or as the man who defeated Justin Jones a few months later in April. He'll be looking to construct a two fight win-streak against Riggs.

The next bout takes us off UFC Fight Pass and onto Fox Sports 1, where finish-savvy featherweights Clay Collard and Tiago Trator will duke it out to return to the win column after tough losses in their last outings. The two fighters have their backs to the wall, and we can expect that special kind of ferocity from each as a result. All signs point to gutsy performances from both.

When the featherweights wrap up their appealing scrap, we'll be treated to the first of the card's two women's bouts. This one will pair 23-year-old submission specialist Jessica Andrade with tough-as-they-come TUF veteran Raquel Pennington. Andrade will look to build on the momentum of a July defeat of Sarah Moras. Pennington, meanwhile, will look to bounce back from a competitive February loss to Holly Holm and, in the process, move her record above the. 500 mark—a figure that is certainly not indicative of her potential or toaster-sized heart.

The second last bout of the undercard represents the point where the UFC looks to get our blood pumping with the kind of action that will coax us all into buying the PPV—in other words, this is where the excitement typically begins to boil. This time around the fighters tasked with swaying any on-the-fence PPV customers are Francisco Rivera and John Lineker. In Rivera, we have a brick-fisted bantamweight, fresh off a blitzkrieg of Alex Caceres. Lineker, on the other hand, is a top-ranked flyweight, who has been punished with a bantamweight sentence after repeated misses of the 125-pound cap. For Rivera, this fight is an opportunity to score a big win over a well-known opponent and continue his rise up the bantamweight ranks (he currently holds the number 12 spot). For Lineker, it's an opportunity to silence his detractors: those fans who believe that he's simply too small to hang as a bantamweight. Yes, this one represents a chance for two sluggers to make a statement and both, historically, make their post compelling points with their fists. Gamble on a knockout.

Speaking of knockouts, that's probably what we'll get in the final bout of UFC 191's undercard too, when hard-hitting British veteran Ross Pearson trades leather with dynamic prospect Paul Felder. When we last saw Pearson, he had the momentum of a knockout of Sam Stout snapped by a grinding decision loss to Evan Dunham. Felder, on the other hand, last saw action just over a month ago when he experienced his first pro loss in a downright barnburner with Edson Barboza. In this one, the two strikers will look to get back on track the best way they know how: abruptly and with emphasis. That is to say, both will likely be headhunting from the opening bell, and whether it's one of Pearson's slick counter hooks or one of Felder's dizzying spinning attacks that lands, this one is likely to end in spectacle—the perfect way to ring in the PPV.

With an exciting title fight and appearances by legends, contenders, and prospects throughout, UFC 191's main card is not one to miss. But in the anticipation of this pay-per-view, don't forget to tune in for the undercard, as it is crowded with just the kind of fighters and matchups that fight fans love most.