4 Things to Watch Out for This Weekend: 13–14th February
Elite sporting competition tends to neglect the affectionate niceties associated with the second weekend of February; the tenderness of sensitive courtship, boxes of chocolates and bunches of roses don’t often grace the battlefield of rivals. As such, this weekend there is plenty at stake as international and domestic competitions crest mid-point of the sporting year. Here are 4 things to watch out for.
- The UFC Welterweight Championship: The long-awaited clash between 170lb champion Kamaru Usman and his number one contender Gilbert Burns is finally set to go down at UFC 258 in Las Vegas, the contest finally coming to fruition after two cancellations. Initially, the pair were meant to battle it out on the first UFC event on Fight Island in 2020 but the Brazilian contender Gilbert Burns tested positive for Covid-19 with one foot practically on the plane. The bout was rescheduled for UFC 256 but it was the champion who pulled the plug this time citing injury. The postponement is just one reason why this matchup is red-hot; throw in the fact that these two combatants are very close friends and former training partners, couple that with their more-or-less identical striking and grappling statistics and similar resumes in the octagon and we have an exciting title fight to look forward to. Usman in his two title defences so far has ground his opponents out through relentless pressure and frequent damage. Jorge Masvidal survived at UFC 251 after offering to replace Burns but was soundly defeated on the scorecards, spending the majority of the bout against the cage at the mercy of the champion. The Nigerian Nightmare’s clinch game is world-class; the dominance with which he ragdolled Tyron Woodley to win the belt initially has been a key part of his game ever since. But, in Gilbert Durinho Burns, he faces a challenge that he is yet to experience for this challenger is a superb transitional grappler with a 2nd-degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu but also possesses frightening knockout power which Damian Maia found himself on the receiving end of at UFC Fight Night 170. Burns would be happy to enter the clinch with Usman as the latter likes to do so often and, if the fight stays standing, strong leg kicks and intelligent hands could make a difference for the challenger. Key questions: Will Usman elect to take Burns down when his opponent has such an impressive grappling game? Will Burns try to finish Usman on the feet or utilise his wrestling and jiu-jitsu to ware his foe down? Will Usman succeed in suffocating Burns in the clinch as he has done in previous title fights?
2. Leicester v Liverpool: The lunchtime kickoff on Saturday sees Leicester City take on Liverpool as 3rd and 4th places meet in the English Premier League and, in all honesty, both teams are performing sub-par to what their places in the division suggest. The story of Liverpool’s season this campaign has been one of inconsistency, the incumbent champions turn up away from home against high-spirited West Ham and score three goals and, immediately after that, host Brighton at Anfield and lose 1–0. The Reds will need a strong performance against their visitors on Saturday after their exasperating 4–1 drubbing by Manchester City in their last outing and with a round-of -16 game away at RB Leipzig to play in the week. Leicester meanwhile aren’t having that much luck either, their last league win over a top-half team coming on January 19th at home to Chelsea. Since then, they have drawn with Everton and Wolves and lost to Leeds with this disappointing run being broken up by a 2–0 victory over a hapless Fulham which does not exactly showcase great strength in terms of the current league situation. It will be a battle of two teams desperate to stabilise their league campaigns as the season reaches its midpoint and, in the case of Liverpool, a psychological battle against a tremulous mindset. This is the first time in the Klopp-era that Liverpool have suffered back-to-back league defeats; the team that were at this point last season 19 points clear at the top find themselves 10 points adrift. Can Leicester capitalise on this lowly state of the champions? Key questions: Liverpool’s uncharacteristic errors have proved costly in their recent losses, can they keep it together and go back to the basics effectively? Will the injury of back-line mainstay Wes Morgan damage Leicester’s defence? Can Liverpool contain the insatiable goal threat of Jamie Vardy?
3. The Return of Maycee Barber: As her moniker suggests, Maycee “The Future” Barber arrived in the UFC confident that she would be able to take the Women’s Flyweight division of the organisation by storm. She proclaimed that she would break Jon Jones’s record and become the youngest ever UFC champion and, for a time, it looked as though she was going to make good that promise with little difficulty. Arriving from Legacy Fighting Alliance with a 4–0 record, Barber appeared on Dana White’s Contender Series and made an instant impression with a 3rd round TKO victory. From there, she finished three of the division’s mainstays in her next fights; Hannah Cifers, JJ Aldrich and Gillian Robertson. However, in January 2020, Barber ran into Roxanne Modafferi and fell to a unanimous decision loss, bringing her self-powered hype train to a screeching halt. At UFC 258, she makes her return in the co-main event against Alexa Grasso a 12–3 fighter whose only losses have come to Felice Herrig, Tatiana Suarez and former Strawweight Champion, Carla Esparza. While Grasso’s UFC career has not been littered with highlight-reel finishes, she has proved a high volume striker with a competent ground game and has earnt the #15 preceding her name. Can Maycee Barber recover and get her title shot before 18th May when she turns 23? Key questions: Alexa Grasso is strong on her takedown game but Barber has a 100% defence record against such attacks, can Grasso take Barber down? In Barber’s loss to Modafferi she was overwhelmed by striking, can she control the distance in this bout?
4. India vs England 2nd Test: England’s cricketers made the best possible start to their 4 match test series in India by beating the hosts by 227 runs in the inaugural contest. The famous victory was constructed on a gritty batting display headed by captain Joe Root who hit 218 in the first innings and a ruthless bowling attack that saw Bess take 4–76 in the first innings and Jimmy Anderson snatch 3–17 in the second. Furthermore, Jack Leach made a statement of return, the spinner trashing his recent run of poor form to take 4–76 in the second innings. While England triumphed in all respects, numerous changes have had to be made to the squad which may impact their performance in the next test commencing on Saturday. Jofra Archer is unavailable due to an elbow injury and Dom Bess, whose expensive full tosses in the second innings could have proved costly, has been dropped. Moeen Ali, Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes and Olly Stone have joined the pace-bowling centric new squad and Ben Foakes will get a chance behind the stumps as he replaces Jos Buttler who steps aside as per the rules of squad rotation. Similarly, India’s team adjustments have been made with the bowling in mind; heroes of the series win over Australia Axar Patel and Mohammed Siraj may make appearances having been declared fit by Kohli while left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav remains mysteriously absent but has not been ruled out. Whoever wins the toss will look to bat first and establish themselves strongly on day one; the momentum is with the visitors but it remains a coin-flip contest. Key Questions: Will Ben Foakes play to his best as wicketkeeper and, if so, what does this mean for Jos Buttler? Can Anderson bring the hunger that he displayed in the last test? And will India’s new-look bowling attack trouble Root and England’s batsmen?
Max Pleasance
