May 16, 2020
Heavyweights Overeem, Harris headline UFC’s third Jacksonville card on TSN
For the third time since last Saturday, the UFC will be live from VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla., as Alistair Overeem meets Walt Harris in the main event of UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Harris. Catch UFC Fight Night tonight at 6pm et/3pm pt on TSN1, TSN4, TSN5 and TSN Direct.
For the third time since last Saturday, the UFC will be live from VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla., as Alistair Overeem meets Walt Harris in the main event of UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Harris.
Catch the UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Harris tonight at 6pm et/3pm pt on TSN1, TSN4, TSN5 and TSN Direct.
Harris enters the bout on a two-fight winning streak and has three wins and a no-contest in his last four outings, however the 36-year-old has not been in the Octagon since the tragic murder of his stepdaughter Aniah Blanchard last fall.
The Alabama native told TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter that he’s happy to face competition like his opponent in the main event and ready to get into the Octagon and do what he gets paid to do.
“I respect him as someone that has done a lot for my weight division and the sport, but my objective is to win fights and I’m not going to use what I’m going through as a reason,” said Harris. “It’s a fight, we have a job to do, I signed on the dotted line. I work for the UFC and I’m going in there to put on a fight and a show for the fans.”
Harris has been very impressive in his last two wins, stopping Aleksei Oleinik in :12 of the opening round via KO and Sergey Spivak at :50 of the first round via TKO.
Overeem comes in off of a late loss to Jairzinho Rozenstruik in his last bout at UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Rozenstruik in December.
The 39-year-old suffered a gruesome injury to his lip with four seconds left in the final round after absorbing a punch, with the referee immediately stopping the fight.
Prior to that setback, the former heavyweight title challenger held wins over Aleksei Oleinik and Sergei Pavlovich on a two-fight win streak.
Angela Hill has emerged as one of the UFC’s most prolific fighters as she tries to make a case for a strawweight title shot and she will have a chance to add to her resume in the co-main event when she faces former two-time title challenger Claudia Gadelha.
Saturday’s bout will be Hill’s seventh since the beginning of 2019, she has a 4-2 record over that span, with victories in her last three outings.
The 33-year-old beat Ariane Carnelossi at UFC Fight Night: Rodríguez vs. Stephens, Hannah Cifers at UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. dos Santos and, most recently, Loma Lookboonmee at UFC Fight Night: Felder vs. Hooker in February.
Gadelha won her last bout, a unanimous decision over Canadian Randa Markos at UFC 239. She has split her last four fights, also holding a win over former strawweight champion Carla Esparza in that span.
The 31-year-old twice challenged former champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk for the belt, dropping a split decision at UFC Fight Night: dos Santos vs. Miocic and a unanimous decision at The Ultimate Fighter 23 Finale.
Edson Barboza will try to break a two-fight losing streak when he faces Dan Ige, who comes in riding a five-fight winning streak.
Eryk Anders will battle Krzysztof Jotko and Song Yadong will take on Marlon Vera.
In the featured bout on the prelims card, veteran Matt Brown will look to run his winning streak to three, when he faces Miguel Baeza.
Brown has defeated Diego Sanchez and Ben Saunders both by KO, in his last two fights.
UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Harris is the UFC’s third event in a row at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, after last Saturday’s UFC 249 and Wednesday’s UFC Fight Night: Smith vs. Teixeira.