UFC 197 Takes Shape With Four New Matchups

UFC 197, which will emanate from Las Vegas, Nevada on April 23, is already shaping up to be a fantastic night of fighting. Not only will the card pair UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier with former divisional king Jon Jones in one of the biggest rematches in UFC history, but it will also feature a flyweight title fight between dominant champion Demetrious "Mighty Mouse" Johnson and Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo. Those two fights could almost sell a pay-per-view on their own.

Of course, given that today's typical UFC card features anywhere from 11-14 fights, we know that UFC 197 will offer far more than a championship doubleheader by the time fight night rolls around, and the rest of the card is now beginning to to take shape. This week alone, in fact, its lineup has inflated with four new matchups, each of them exciting in their own way.

The first of these new matchups will take place in the light heavyweight division, as The Ultimate Fighter 17 veteran Clint Hester (11-5) tangles with Brazil's Marcos Rogerio de Lima (13-3-1). The fight will mark Hester's first at light heavyweight, and his opportunity to rebound from a pair of second-round TKO losses to Robert Whittaker and Vitor Miranda. De Lima, meanwhile, will look to return to the win column after a first-round submission loss to Nikita Krylov back in August of 2015. Given the pair's affinity for knockouts (they own 17 collectively) this should be a good one.

The next new addition to UFC 197 will occur in the lightweight division. In one corner, we'll have 24-year-old Brazilian Gleico Franca (13-3), who will walk onto the canvas with a series of three stoppages—an anaconda choke, a knee-induced KO, and a rear-naked choke—in the rear-view mirror. In the other corner, we'll have the streaking James Vick (8-0), who will look to build on the momentum of submission defeat of Jake Matthews and keep his perfect record intact in the process. The winner will take a key step up the ladder in the perilous UFC lightweight division.

The third of UFC 197's new fights will occur at strawweight, when former World Series of Fighting 115-pound queen Jessica "Jag" Aguilar (19-5) collides with Brazilian prospect Juliana Lima (8-2). The bout will give Aguilar the chance to rebound from a one-sided thumping to Claudia Gadelha in her UFC debut, and to reassert herself as one of the top contenders in the Joanna Jedrzejczyk-ruled division. The 33-year-old Lima, meanwhile, will attempt to turn a two-fight streak into three by building on recent unanimous decision triumphs over Nina Ansaroff and Ericka Almeida.

The fourth and final of UFC 197's new features is undoubtedly the most appealing. The fight, which will go down at featherweight, will see ever-evolving Team Alpha Male staple Andre Fili (15-3) collide with dynamic Mexican prospect Yair Rodriguez (6-1). The 25-year-old Fili will touch down in Vegas on the heels of a staggering, head-kick knockout of Gabriel Benitez in his wake. The 23-year-old Rodriguez, on the other hand, will walk onto the canvas having scored exciting wins over Leonardo Morales, Charles Rosa and Daniel Hooker in his first three bouts with the UFC. Not only is this fight likely to produce one of the hottest young prospects in the ever-exciting featherweight division, but it also looks like an immediate contender for Fight of the Night and Performance of the Night Honors. No, do not be surprised if either fighter leaves Las Vegas with a $50,000 bonus check in their wallet.

As of now, UFC 197 is still more than two months away. Yet with four compelling new fights joining its duo of title fights and its Robert Whittaker vs. Rafael Natal middleweight bout, which was announced earlier this month, the card already towers on the horizon as a definite must-watch. Mark your calendars, fight fans.