UFC commentator John Gooden gives BTSport.com the inside track on this weekend’s monster card featuring two world title fights and a host of other must-see match-ups.

Chicago’s iconic United Center has seen its fair share of sporting icons entertain the natives with the likes of Michael Jordan, Denis Rodman and Scottie Pippen once calling this place home.

This weekend, athletes of a different discipline will have their chance to write history as the city plays host to the world’s premier mixed martial arts promotion on Saturday night.

The vacant bantamweight throne is among the issues to be resolved at UFC 238 with a new king to be crowned when flyweight champ Henry Cejudo takes on Brazil’s Marlon Moraes for the 135lb strap.

There is further championship action from women’s flyweight division too as Valentina Shevchenko makes her first defence of the belt against Jessica Eye.

Elsewhere, Tony Ferguson and Donald Cerrone trade leather in what promises to be a fan-friendly skirmish in the lightweight division that might well prove to be an unofficial eliminator for a 155lb title shot.

But it is the bantamweights who take centre stage with no fewer than five top-ranked fighters jostling for position in a division stacked with talent and in need of a new champion.

Having triumphed over two of the UFC’s most talented champions in Demetrious Johnson and TJ Dillashaw in his previous two fights, current flyweight king Henry Cejudo goes in to Saturday’s showdown full of confidence as he aims to become the promotion’s fourth reigning ‘champ-champ’.

And speaking exclusively to BTSport.com, UFC mic man John Gooden claimed the 32-year-old is well on his way to establishing a lasting legacy in combat sports.

“He’s had, in wrestling, 12 national titles. He was 2008 Beijing gold medallist. The youngest US wrestler to get the gold,” Gooden explained.

“He then beat the man that beat him in Demetrious Johnson, doing so in one of the biggest, if not the biggest, upsets of 2018. He keeps on achieving.

“He has everything technically to be successful in this fight when you look at him as an individual. His wrestling is obviously quite superb and he’s created this style of fighting which we’ve seen evolve since he’s been with the UFC. He has it in all ranges now. He is a threat wherever the fight goes which makes him a very competitive guy whoever he fights.

“I believe he struggled to make 125lb but as the professional he is, he always tried to hit the scales. We’ve seen him not hit that 126lb limit before with the UFC. He’s a bigger-bodied type and from pictures that I’ve seen of this camp, he looks in phenomenal shape which I think might see us witness an even better, more explosive Henry Cejudo.”

However, standing in the opposite corner is a man with all the credentials and all the confidence of a soon-to-be UFC champion.

“Marlon Moraes is a world champion outside of the UFC,” Gooden continued.

“He came over to the promotion and his debut fight was against Raphael Assuncao, which is one of the toughest fights out there. Assuncao is a real veteran who has always been right there at the top of that bantamweight division.

“He lost, it was close, but then since that fight he has looked incredible. A four-fight win streak, three finishes, three performance bonuses in the making of those - and it’s not just knockouts with his fists and his legs, he’s also taking submissions.

“His last win was getting that fight back against Assuncao in Brazil. A fight that I was there to witness and he did so emphatically - and while he was ill. He really is a phenomenal talent who is hitting a rich vein of form and would be, with his skillset, a deserved champion.

“But he has a massive task ahead of him with the flyweight champion who is just so buoyed by his recent successes and this mind-set that makes him almost unbeatable in many respects.

“I think that they both have advantages over one another but this could be a really interesting matchup. You have a very technical operator with Cejudo against a real powerhouse like Moraes but he’s not short of the real technical nuances that make a great fighter as well.

“This is absolutely out of the top drawer of matchmaking. Period. It’s going to be a fantastic fight to watch.”

Recently crowned flyweight queen Valentina Shevchenko was treated to a hero’s welcome in her native Kyrgyzstan after returning home as the country’s first ever UFC world champion in April.

The 31-year-old brought parts of the country’s capital, Bishkek, to a near standstill as she celebrated her five-round victory over former strawweight queen Joanna Jedrzejczyk in style.

Now she rules the roost, Shevchenko will be keen to begin building her legacy as a champion – and Gooden could not speak highly enough of “The Bullet”.

“She is just one of the very best female fighters on the planet,” he said.

“She has had success at 135lb and now the 125lb division has been created, she has just looked so dominant. She obviously beat the former strawweight champion, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, to win the title and she did so unanimously over five rounds.

“Shevchenko has skills absolutely everywhere but it is her Muay Thai that we know her for. Her mum is a decorated Muay Thai coach, the national coach for Kyrgyzstan I believe. She has got a fantastic style for mixed martial arts.

“She was beating much bigger women at 135lb years ago and now she is in a weight class that is much more suited to her physical size, she’s a scary prospect indeed and that is why she’s currently holding the strap.”

Jessica Eye is the woman tasked with dethroning the champion and Gooden suggested she too had benefitted from the creation of the flyweight division.

He added: “I’ve sat in a room in fighter meetings with her before and she is so passionate and so fired up and fuelled by anger her underdog tag.

“Her record does have some losses on there but apart from maybe Ronda Rousey and Holly Holm, she pretty much has fought everyone. She’s never shied away from a challenge in her life and she’s battled the odds and she won’t back down.

“She will not go away and it’s been brilliant to see her find this form in this newly-created division because weight categories are so important when you’re not fighting in the right one. That opportunity has been presented and now she’s gone on this three fight win streak and gets the opportunity of a lifetime to really put a decent final chapter to her story in showing how far you can come if you don’t give up.

“She moved to Las Vegas to train under Gray Maynard in a move that she says was about getting more individual attention and she seems like she’s enjoyed a very positive camp.”

Despite two stunning showpiece attractions topping the bill at UFC 238, there are sure to be plenty of eyeballs on the bout labelled the “people’s main event” on Saturday night as Cowboy Cerrone takes on Tony Ferguson.

The pair have become two of the most beloved fighters on the UFC roster over the course of their storied mixed martial arts careers but with a combined age of 71, time is marching on to secure the undisputed lightweight championship that both men crave.

Cerrone, in particular, has gone on record to reiterate his desire to secure one last title shot before hanging up the gloves.

“Cowboy has been mining for gold for a very long time now,” Gooden said of the 36-11-1 star.

“He’s tried it at lightweight, he came up short. He decided to try it at welterweight and it didn’t work out for him when he was coming across the real contenders of the division there. He goes back to lightweight and realises he’s actually still there or thereabouts with the elite.

“The legacy he’s created within this sport and within the UFC, you’ve got to believe that if an opening presented itself, he’s such a dependable guy to step in to that spot to challenge for gold that the UFC would present it to him. Particularly for the service he’s given and the stage at which he’s at in his career.

“Therefore with scheduling and the likes, if he gets a win here, he could very well be looking at a title shot at the end of the year. We just don’t know how things are going to unfold of course but that is a possibility and wouldn’t that be a story?”

Two men who will be keeping a very close eye on proceedings between Cejudo and Moraes go toe-to-toe over three rounds to help open the main card this weekend as bantamweight sensation Petr Yan fights perennial contender Jimmie Rivera.

“This card, when you consider the bantamweight division, is only missing Cruz and Garbrandt for a full house at the top of the bantamweight rankings,” Gooden stated.

“It’s also really good for the scheduling going ahead because everyone should be in and out of camps at the same sort of times, injuries aside. That makes this a huge opportunity for Petr Yan to put in a standout performance and be the right side of the calendar for a pairing to get close to the gold.

“Jimmie Rivera is as tough as you like. A legitimate top-ranked UFC contender. But if Yan can get a good win here, on that main card, he will turn the biggest opportunity of his young career into a candidate spot for a title shot. He only seems to be getting better. Every time we see him inside that Octagon, he’s levelling up.

“This is a huge opportunity for the Russian who is really growing a brilliant fan base despite not really being able to speak the English language. It’s been very cool to watch his rise in such a short space of time.”