UFC fighters visit Raleigh as they prepare for their upcoming Fight Night
The UFC octagon has been everywhere from Sioux Falls to Saskatoon during its 25-year existence. It has popped up in Charlotte on four occasions, at four different venues.
It even set up shop in Fayetteville for a memorable salute to the troops in 2008.
It has never been to Raleigh, where it will sit at the heart of PNC Arena on Jan. 25 for UFC Fight Night on ESPN+. Curtis Blaydes and Cory Sandhagen beat the cage to town Tuesday for a whirlwind junket, hoping to bring new fans to the oft-misunderstood sport.
Blaydes, ranked No. 3 in the heavyweight division, will face No. 4 Junior Dos Santos in the main event of the 12-bout card while Cory Sandhagen (No. 3, bantamweight) co-headlines against Frankie Edgar, a featherweight champion dropping down a division seeking a new challenge.
The Elevation Fight Team members were making their first visit to Raleigh from their training ground in Denver, Colo. Over lunch at the Morgan Street Food Hall, they gave themselves a crash course on state geography (Eastern North Carolina is where the people are, the western half has mountains, Charlotte is a couple of hours down the road and there is no quick way to Fayetteville) and basked in what passes for a wintry day in the Tar Heel State.
“I enjoy getting to go to places I normally wouldn’t,” said the 28-year-old Blaydes, who with a win against Dos Santos would move one step closer to a possible date with top-ranked Stipe Miocic. “I’ve never been to Raleigh and probably never would have if it wasn’t for UFC.”
Their light banter and quick laughter epitomize what UFC’s athletes and organizers have believed all along about their sport – that it is one big, happy family that teases one another via social media and pays the rent by throwing hands and feet at each other.
Fighters not as aggressive as they seem
Tuesday was another first for Sandhagen in that he had never been on a promotional tour. The up-and-coming 27-year-old is co-headlining a fight card for the first time.
“I enjoy interviews, too, which let me speak about the sport and the connotations around it,” said Sandhagen, who occasionally works with children at a Denver-area trauma center between bouts. “There are a lot of negative connotations. It would be nice if people could start getting to know fighters, rather than see them as just these brutes who don’t have a conscience and beat the tar out of each other.”
Blaydes grew up in the Chicago area. He won a wrestling state title during high school and a national title in junior college. He said he continually encounters people who consider UFC athletes modern barbarians.
“People view us like they view pit bulls,” Blaydes said. “He fights? Oh, he’s probably aggressive. In actuality, I’ve never been in a street fight. I’ve never been in any fight other than in the octagon.”
UFC Fight Night
At PNC Arena
Main event
▪ No. 3 heavyweight Curtis Blaydes (12-2) vs. No. 4 Junior Dos Santos (21-6)
Featured event
▪ No. 3 bantamweight Cory Sandhagen (12-1) vs. Frankie Edgar (22-7)
Other bouts
▪ No. 10 featherweight Josh Emmett (15-2) vs. No. 14 Arnold Allen (15-1)
▪ No. 9 women’s bantamweight Sara McMann (11-5) vs. No. 11 Lina Lansberg (10-4)
▪ No. 10 flyweight Jordan Espinosa (14-6) vs. No. 11 Alex Perez (22-5)
▪ Strawweight Hannah Cifers (10-3 from Durham) vs. Brianna Van Buren (9-2)
▪ Bantamweight Montel Jackson (9-1) vs. Felipe Colares (9-1)
▪ Featherweight Herbert Burns (9-2) vs. Nate Landwehr (13-2)
▪ Middleweight Bevon Lewis (7-2) vs. Alen Amedovski (8-2)
▪ Women’s flyweight Justin Kish (6-2 from Cramerton, N.C.) vs. Lucie Pudilova (8-5).
Also
▪ Brett Johns (15-2) vs. Tony Gravely (19-5)
▪ Jamahal Hill (6-0) vs. Darko Stosic (13-3)