Half of tonight's fights could certainly at the very least headline a standard fight night! Having them all jam packed together is pretty nuts!
These fights don't have like, household name star power, but it's definitely got a ton of mid range, known and respected fighters all over the place. It's got to be one of the deepest events the UFC has put together in a awhile. It may not have household names, but even a medium level MMA fan is going to be pretty satisfied I believe.
There's only about two fights I'm kind of uninterested in, or I simply don't know much about. Heavyweights Kennedy Nzechukwu vs
Łukasz Brzeski start off the night and I think I saw Kennedy fight once but he didn't really leave much of an impression on me. Cody Durden vs Joshua Van are two flyweight fighters I also am fairly unaware of. I've heard of them but they don't exactly jump off the page for me too much. I may not be all that pumped about these fights, but that could actually benefit these fighters since that fact actually makes them stand out in a way. This is an opportunity for these guys to make a name for themselves!
Besides those two fights every other fight has my interest to at least a decent extent.
Clay Guida and Chase Hooper fight in a very cool clash of generations fight. Chase is a young, lanky, grappling heavy fighter who is improving at striking a bit. Clay is a very seasoned and gritty fighter that can wrestle at a high level. Tends to have a ton of cardio as well. Very cool matchup I'd like to see Clay win. If his age doesn't show too much, I actually see him getting the upset here. Will be an interesting test for both though and any result wouldn't shock me. This is a fight that will age well in terms of MMA math. There's practically two decades between these two in age!
Michael Chiesa and Max Griffin is not a welterweight fight fans have not exactly been begging for but, the more I think about it, the more this fight is pretty dang intriguing. Max Griffin is very game and well rounded. For awhile it felt like the guy fought constantly. He's still fairly active but I simply haven't seen him in awhile. I'm glad to see him fight since he's 39 and in the final stretch of his career. Chiesa is one of the oddest fighters I've really ever watched. There's been points in his career that I thought he stunk, thought he was average, and thought he was a dark horse championship contender. I guess he's just a good pro fighter LOL. This will be a good fight between two veteran journeyman, I'm actually kind of excited for it just for the love of the game. I think Chiesa wins but who really knows.
Chris Weidman vs Eryk Anders feels like a good old American brawl waiting to happen. Chris was a former All-American wrestler, and Eryk helped win a National Chamionship in football at the University of Alabama in 2009. 'Merica, baby. Chris was a former UFC champ many years ago now and Anders is just super athletic and can hang with most. Both guys are at the ends of their careers as well and while it's unlikely this fight will impact any rankings towards a championship, this once again is a fun fight for the love of the game. I actually think Anders got this due to his athletic ability and since Weidman has been riddled with injuries the past half decade or so. This fight will take place at 195 pounds, which is kinda cool.
Randy Brown and Bryan Battle duke it out in a welterweight bout although Battle did miss weight by four pounds which stinks. Randy Brown has been a bit underwhelming and he's an ok fighter but I think he can be a bit overconfident at times. Bryan Battle's stock is rising thanks to some good performances with a sellable fighting style. He's also pretty outspoken on the mic. He's gotta make weight though. This isn't the first time he's missed the mark. I'll take Battle, but missing weight is really bad. I hope Brown takes the penalty money from Battle, some fighters decline it which is unwise to me.
Mosvar Evloev and Aljamain Sterling are set to battle in a rather big featherweight match. These guys are definitely knocking on the door for a championship opportunity. Mosvar is stacking names in a big way, and Aljamain is a former champion at Bantamweight. I think it's silly that Aljamain gets so much hate. I used to dislike him too, but I think he's slowly growing on me. I don't know if I am being contrarian or feel bad or what but, the amount of hate he gets is just lame. The amount of hate grapplers get is just lame. The striking love versus grappling hate is reaching silly levels man. Aljamain seems to be maturing slowly too and handling the hate a lot better. I would not mind seeing Aljamain have a comeback nobody asked for, just to annoy all the kickboxing fans disguised as MMA fans. Goodness. This is a big big fight. I think Aljamain gets it done due to experience.
Vicente Luque vs Themba Gorimbo is just a good fight. Vicente is truly the Welterwight version of Dustin Poirier. It is kind of insane he's never had a title shot though. Themba is on a nice win streak but, Vicente is really as good as it gets without ever being a champion. I assume Vicente gets it done.
Dominick Reyes vs Anthony Smith could actually be an insane fight. These guys feel like mirror images of each other in the light heavyweight division. Feels like this fight was always meant to happen. I think Dominick gets it done. He's more athletic and I actually agree with the MMA math here. Dominick arguably beat Jon Jones back in 2020 while Anthony Smith looked utterly terrible against Jones.
Nate Landwehr vs Dooho Choi is about to be a ferocious collision. I swear, neither one of these guys seem interested in fighting for championships. They just bring the pain. Every. Time. I'm actually concerned for both of these guys because neither one of them understand the concept of quitting. There will be blood. I doubt the 'winner' will feel like a winner in this one. Thinking of this fight makes me want to run through a brick wall. Little to zero chance this fight won't be nuts.
Bryce Mitchell vs Kron Gracie is an interesting featherweight bout and I hope and believe Bryce will win. I may be in the minority among MMA fans, but I believe Bryce actually has a pretty high ceiling in the sport, whereas Kron doesn't whatsoever. Kron is a good enough grappler, but nothing Bryce can't handle. The only reason Kron is even in the UFC is due to his last name. This is a gift opportunity for Kron. Not sure he deserves it. Kron has like a 10 percent chance of winning I believe. But MMA has made a fool of me more than once. I lean pretty heavy towards Bryce. I saw a pic of Bryce on socials somewhere and he actually looks to be in the best shape I've ever seen him.
Ciryl Gane vs Alexander Volkov looks like a fantastic high level heavyweight match! Rematch actually. Gane beat Volkov by decision roughly three and a half years ago. Volkov has surprised me many many times, but Gane is a bit of a freak athlete and striker. I think Gane has this, but this will be very interesting. Volkov looks in great shape.
Shavkat Rakhmonov vs Ian Machado Garry looks to be an amazing fight in the welterweight division. The winner certainly will get a title shot. I like Shavkat a lot. While Garry is more technical, I think Shavkat has the correct combo of technical skill and nastiness to expose Garry. I also really don't like Garry AT ALL. He is a good heel I'll give him that. Shavkat got this I believe.
Champion Alexandre Pantoja and newcomer Kai Asakura fight for the Men's Flyweight Championship!! I've steadily become a pretty big supporter of Panyoja. He fights with heart and skill and fearlessness. Really good stuff. I'll always appreciate his reign no matter what happens. Kai is a very intriguing fighter who gets the extremely uncommon opportunity to fight for a title in his UFC debut! Kai is apparently a Sean O'Malley level star in Japan and Asia in general. Nobody is really questioning this opportunity it seems. So I am not either. He seems ferocious and he's fought in One Championship which is an organization I am quite familiar with. One is no joke whatsoever. I think Alexandre wins.
Fights have started! No female fights tonight.
