Four Under-The-Radar Storylines For UFC Long Island
After a pit stop at the UFC Apex, the promotion is back on the road. The UFC returns to Long Island, NY, for the first time in several years, and they brought a killer main event. Top three featherweights throw down as No. 2 ranked Brian Ortega fights No. 3, Yair Rodriguez. If Rodriguez wins, he’s been told he will fight for the title next.
However, if you look past the main event, there are some under-the-radar storylines for UFC Long Island.
Ranked bantamweights on the prelims
Another week, another weird UFC bout order. Top 15 ranked bantamweights Ricky Simon vs. Jack Shore are fighting on the UFC Long Island prelims. And they aren’t even the featured prelim!! Simon has only been on the prelims three times prior to this weekend, and two of those were in his first two fights. Shore thought he was going to be on the main card for the first time, but unfortunately, he got bumped off for flyweights.
Not only is it a ranked matchup, but it is one of the best fights on the card. Simon is riding a four-fight win streak and is coming off a second-round knockout of Raphael Assuncao. Shore gets his first shot at a ranked opponent and is still undefeated.
Banger of the week
There is one clear banger of the week for UFC Long Island besides the awesome main event. No. 14 ranked featherweight Shane Burgos puts his spot in the rankings on the line against Charles Jourdain. Both of these fighters are among the most exciting in the entire organization and always put on a show. Burgos is coming off a war against Billy Quarantillo at UFC 268 to get back in the win column. Jourdain is riding the first winning streak of his UFC career with wins against Lano Vannata and Andre Ewell.
Burgos is also fighting back in New York, where he is undefeated when he fights there, and last time he was in Long Island, he put on a show against Godofredo Pepey. This fight will be awesome.
Miesha Tate drops to flyweight
At 35-years-old, former UFC bantamweight champion Miesha Tate is dropping down to flyweight for the first time after her spending her entire career at bantamweight. (As of this writing, Tate successfully made weight and is ready to go). The timing of this move is absolutely perfect because if she wins Saturday, she will fight Valentina Shevchenko for the flyweight title later this year and will try to become the second female fighter in UFC history to become a two-division champion. All of that is nice, but she does have to get through Lauren Murphy, who is always tough and is coming off a title loss in her last outing. Murphy will be looking to spoil Tate’s plans while ‘Cupcake’ is looking to leapfrog the entire division.
Welcome to the UFC, Emily Ducote
After busting her ass for several years, Emily Ducote is finally in the UFC. Ducote was a mainstay in the Bellator flyweight division from 2016 to 2018. When she was released from Bellator, ‘Gordinha’ then went to Invicta FC, where she really made a name for herself. Ducote went 4-1 and ended up winning the strawweight title in a very violent fashion when she knocked out Danielle Taylor.
https://twitter.com/AlexBehunin/status/1431475308293623808
Ducote defended her belt once before getting the call to the UFC on short notice. She takes on former UFC strawweight title challenger Jessica Penne in her debut.
