There will be a two-man commentary booth for UFC 224.
This Saturday night (May 12), UFC 224 takes place inside Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The prelims will air on UFC Fight Pass and FX. The main card airs live on pay-per-view.
It’s not often that we get to see UFC color commentator Joe Rogan call a fight in Brazil and UFC 224 is no exception. It’s no surprise that play-by-play commentator Jon Anik will be part of the event. He’ll be joined by Jimmy Smith in a two-man booth (via MMAJunkie.com).
UFC 224 will be headlined by a women’s bantamweight title bout. Champion Amanda Nunes puts her gold on the line against Raquel Pennington. This will be “The Lioness'” third title defense. Pennington earned her title shot with a four-fight winning streak and a lopsided victory over former 135-pound title holder Miesha Tate.
The co-main event will see two middleweights vying for title contention. Jacare Souza will share the Octagon with Kelvin Gastelum. Souza may be a win or two away from his first UFC title shot. Meanwhile, Gastelum is coming off a knockout win over former middleweight champion Michael Bisping. A win over Souza would put him in prime position for a potential title opportunity as well.
Mackenzie Dern will return to the Octagon when she meets Amanda Cooper. Dern battled through some adversity in her UFC debut against Ashley Yoder and would like to have a smoother performance this go-round. Cooper defeated Angela Magana in her last outing.
Bantamweights John Lineker and Brian Kelleher will collide. Lineker has gone 7-1 in his last eight bouts. The only loss in that span was to current bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw. Kelleher is 9-1 in his last 10 bouts.
It’s likely that Lyoto Machida and Vitor Belfort are future UFC Hall of Famers. On Saturday night, the Brazilian bruisers will compete to get the main card started. Belfort claims this will be his last mixed martial arts bout.
Are you watching UFC 224 this weekend?