UFC Glendale preview: A most violent card

If the sight of blood makes yours curdle, then UFC on FOX 29 ain't for you.

Saturday's bill at Gila River Arena in Glendale, Ariz., is teeming with first-rate purveyors of violence, beginning with lightweight fan favorites Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje, who will close out the show in one the year's most anticipated matchups.

Poirier has enjoyed quite a resurgence since moving back up from featherweight three years ago, getting his hand raised in six of seven at 155 pounds. Despite seeing his May barn burner opposite Eddie Alvarez end unceremoniously in a no-contest, the American Top Team man had himself a banner 2017. A decision victory over Jim Miller at UFC 208 and a bloody November battle with Anthony Pettis - one he won by third-round injury TKO - sandwiched the tilt with Alvarez and earned Poirier a seat at the perpetually crowded contenders' table.

Gaethje - who hails from the tiny Arizona copper mining town of Safford - had bluntly admitted that the days of his record's "0" were numbered prior to joining the UFC last year, and while Michael Johnson fell short of eradicating Gaethje's clean slate this past July, Alvarez pulled it off in their instantly classic battle with a third-round knockout at UFC 218 in December.

Now, no longer burdened by the weight of an unblemished record, the local favorite will aim to stage yet another thriller in his return to the site that housed the pair of high school state wrestling championships he claimed more than a decade ago.

Saturday's co-headliner might have undergone a late change, but bloodthirsty MMA diehards needn't fret. Alex Oliveira has them covered.

With Matt Brown nursing a torn ACL, the Brazilian stepped up on less than two weeks' notice to square off with former interim welterweight titlist Carlos Condit. "Cowboy" was last seen staging a memorable firefight of his own against Yancy Medeiros in Detroit moments before Gaethje's first career defeat - ultimately suffering the same fate - and has since boldly vowed to put Condit away in less than two rounds.

The 33-year-old Condit stepped away from the cage in August 2016 following back-to-back heartbreaking defeats to Robbie Lawler and Demian Maia, only to suffer his third straight L in a unanimous verdict to Neil Magny at UFC 219 to close out 2017. The longtime Jackson's MMA member confessed during this week's media rounds he wasn't wholeheartedly invested in the lackluster return from a 16-month layoff, but believes Oliveira will provide him the "proximity to danger" required to resurrect his forward-pressing, combo-slinging ways of old.

Rounding out the main card's trifecta of matchups with limitless potential for violence is a middleweight tilt between striking phenom Israel Adesanya and the granite-carved Marvin Vettori.

Between his pro kickboxing pedigree and spectrum-spanning arsenal, Adesanya was flooded with lofty expectations upon signing with the world's top fight factory in late 2017, and he dazzled in the Octagon just as he had repeatedly in the ring at UFC 221, staving off Rob Wilkinson's takedown attempts before dissecting him for a second-round TKO.

The Nigerian-born talent will get a stiff sophomore test in Vettori, who's compiled a promotional record of 2-1-1. The Italian product has made it his mandate to derail, if not hijack, the Adesanya hype train - this, not four months after seeing a late rally against Omari Akhmedov end bitterly in a majority draw at UFC 219.

Strap yourselves in, fight fans.

(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)

Related - UFC Glendale predictions: Will Gaethje bounce back at surging Poirier's expense?