Preview: UFC Perth

Image: John Brannigan/Sherdog.com illustration

Buckle up folks, the Ultimate Fighting Championship road show is about to hit a whole other gear.

The world’s premier mixed martial arts promotion is set to visit five different countries in the next five weeks—on four different continents—starting with this Saturday’s fight night in Perth, Western Australia. Five road cards in a row place certain stresses on the UFC’s talent pool, especially for the three events that are not pay-per-views, and it shows in the fairly thin lineup here; on the entire card, only the Carlos Ulberg-Dominick Reyes headliner features two ranked fighters.

Beyond simple divisional stakes, however, cards like UFC Perth can…