Poor Dana White must have aged about 10 years during the UFC Fight Night 88 weigh-ins on Saturday night.
With so many grudge matches and explosive personalities on the highly anticipated Las Vegas card, the UFC president was always going to have his work cut out for him during the obligatory post-weigh-in staredowns.
If you mess with Bryan Caraway, be prepared for the wrath of Miesha Tate https://t.co/3eWBEYCcOt
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) May 28, 2016
However, tension reached its peak at a somewhat unexpected time, just before Renan Barao and Jeremy Stephens were about to face off.
There hasn’t been any real animosity between the two fighters in the lead up to their fight, but for a split-second, Dana White may have thought he was going to have another Jon Jones-Daniel Cormier-esque brawl on his hands.
After coming in on 146 lb for his featherweight debut, former bantamweight champion Barao went sprinting over to Stephens with his head glued to the floor. In the mean-time, Stephens had taken two large steps forward and by the time he looked up to give an intimidating stare, the Brazilian had already invaded his space, prompting Stephens to shove Barao backwards.
The Fight Pass prelims featured bout between top 135-ers Aljamain Sterling and Bryan Caraway promises to be a fiery affair as Sterling has been really ramping up the smack talk in the build-up to the fight.
Caraway is particularly unhappy over Sterling claiming he’s leeching off his girlfriend Miesha Tate’s success. He had absolutely no desire to exchange pleasantries with the undefeated rising star after Sterling tried to shake his hand at the weigh-ins.
Bryan Caraway didn't have time for pleasantries during his faceoff with UFC Vegas opponent Aljamain Sterling https://t.co/Rhgg36MGlg
— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) May 28, 2016
There’s a lot riding on the headline bout between Thomas Almeida and Cody Garbrandt. Two pristine undefeated professional records go on the line, while the winner is set to be thrust right into the title frame, which should become clearer after Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber complete their trilogy at UFC 199.
The two engaged in a fairly heated staredown in Vegas on Saturday night with Garbrandt getting ‘all up in the Brazilian’s grill’ talking endless trash talk to the man who has little-to-no English.
