UFC heads to the Lone Star State this weekend, as UFC 247 is set for the Toyota Center in Houston. The main event will be a UFC Light Heavyweight Championship fight between Jon Jones, the current two-time champ, and the challenger, Dominick Reyes. The co-main event is also a title fight, as champion Valentina Shevchenko will defend her UFC Women’s Flyweight belt against Katlyn Chookagian. The main card will be available on pay per view, while the preliminary bouts will appear on ESPN, and the early preliminary card will broadcast on both UFC Fight Pass and ESPN+. Check out the complete fight card as well as UFC betting thoughts on several of the key battles.
UFC 247 Odds, Preview & Predictions
- When: Saturday, Feb. 8 at 7:00 pm PDT
- Where: Toyota Center, Houston, TX
- TV: ESPN+
- Live Stream: UFC Fight Pass
Main Card (Pay Per View)
- Jon Jones vs Dominick Reyes (UFC Light Heavyweight Championship)
- Valentina Shevchenko vs Katlyn Chookagian (UFC Women’s Flyweight Championship)
- Juan Adams vs Justin Tafa (Heavyweight)
- Mirsad Bektic vs Dan Ige (Featherweight)
- Derrick Lewis vs Ilir Latifi (Heavyweight)
Preliminary Card (ESPN)
- Trevin Giles vs Antonio Arroyo (Middleweight)
- Alex Morono vs Kalinn Williams (Welterweight)
- Lauren Murphy vs Andrea Lee (Women’s Flyweight)
- Miles Johns vs Mario Bautista (Bantamweight)
Early Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass / ESPN+)
- Journey Newson vs Domingo Pilatre (Bantamweight)
- Andre Ewell vs Jonathan Martinez (Bantamweight)
- Austin Lingo vs Youseff Zalal (Featherweight)
Jon Jones (25-1, -450) vs Dominick Reyes (12-0, +360) gives Jones an opportunity to make headlines in the ring instead of other places. He beat Daniel Cormier at the start of 2015, but since then his name has been tied to just about everything except fighting, whether it was legal difficulties or testing positive for faulty sexual enhancement drugs. His comeback fight featured all kinds of drama, as UFC had to move a whole card just seven days ahead of time so that he could get around a positive drug test. In that bout, he took Alexander Gustafsson apart, and since then Jones has been back on, defending his title against Anthony Smith and Thiago Santos. His style involves delivering punishment with his boxing, and then when opponents try to get inside his reach, he also can deliver in the clinch game.
Reyes is an intriguing matchup. He played football at Stony Brook University, but then he changed over to MMA. He won his first two UFC fights and has kept going since then. He finished Jared Cannonier in under three minutes, and he wore Ovince St. Preux down to win on the cards. He had the most difficulty against Volkan Oezdemir back in March, but he was able to pick up enough points to win. Then he demolished Chris Weidman, setting up this title bout. Reyes has a solid kicking game, but it’s hard to see Jones opening up enough for that to become a factor.
UFC 247 Prediction: Jones wins via decision
Valentina Shevchenko (18-3, -1100) vs Katlyn Chookagian (13-2, +700) gives us a real grinder in Shevchenko. She focuses on the counter in her striking game and gets points by working her opponents around the cage. Her grappling game then takes over, as we saw in wins over Sarah Kaufman and Julianne Pena. When she took on Amanda Nunes, we saw that her striking game has some significant holes. Nunes delivered a lot of damage but ran out of gas because of her early pressure. Then Shevchenko came back and got enough points to win. In their rematch, neither fighter wanted to push hard, but Nunes got enough points to get a win in a yawner. Then Shevchenko cut down to flyweight and took apart Priscila Cachoeira and Joanna Jedrzejczyk to win the title. Despite the fact that she can go into stall mode, she is still the best flyweight in the gym.
Chookagian emulates Holly Holm a great deal, using volume and speed in her striking to irritate her opponents to the point of frustration, instead of delivering actual punishment. After some mixed results at both 135 and 125 pounds, she decided to add some emphasis to her punches, and her game has increased in power as a result. Chookagian will face the toughest opponent that she has met in Shevchenko. Given the champ’s passivity, Chookagian could get some points and then start rolling with an aggressive plan — but is she that bold?
UFC 247 Prediction: Shevchenko wins via decision
