The UFC has stacked the deck forward of their return to “Combat Island” this weekend, with UFC 253 set to function two world title fights, in addition to a bunch of intriguing match-ups – however which fights do you have to maintain a detailed eye on?
Any individual’s ‘Zero’ should go
Within the greater than quarter-century historical past of the UFC, very not often have two undefeated fighters fought for a world title. Rashad Evans vs. Lyoto Machida was one, Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier was near being one other if it wasn’t for Jones’ controversial DQ loss to Matt Hamill all these years in the past, as was Ronda Rousey versus a number of of her foes throughout the early days of the UFC’s girls’s bantamweight division.
This weekend’s headliner, although, between middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and Paulo Costa is probably probably the most anticipated such conflict in additional than a decade. By 32 mixed fights, each Adesanya and Costa have but to expertise defeat – one thing that designates the UFC 253 headliner as “must-see TV.”
And, whereas information might not matter as quickly because the cage door is locked shut, there’s something tangible about being an undefeated fighter unobstructed by the merciless sting of defeat. Firstly, every man is aware of how one can win rounds and can put themselves in place to do precisely that – regardless of the potential ramifications of such a technique.
As Corridor of Fame fighter Randy Couture as soon as stated, “If you haven’t any losses in your document, you aren’t preventing the best guys.”
This maxim might be painfully true for one of many males in Saturday’s predominant occasion.
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The post-Jon Jones period begins now
For a lot of the final ten years, the UFC’s gentle heavyweight belt has sat snugly across the waist of simply two fighters: Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier. Now, with the previous moved to heavyweight and the latter having hung up his gloves, daylight exists atop one of many UFC’s most historically talent-rich weight courses.
Dominick Reyes, the person who got here near dethroning Jones earlier this 12 months, and Polish slugger Jan Blachowicz are the 2 males designated to tussle over a brand new period at 205lbs.
Reyes shone in his first title bout, shedding a detailed five-round determination in February however the collegiate soccer standout confirmed that he belongs in rarified air within the division – and he intends to complete what he started in February by lastly elevating aloft UFC gold in Abu Dhabi.
It will not be straightforward, although. Jan Blachowicz is a fighter who has been regularly counted out by his opponents and followers alike. Former UFC champion Luke Rockhold famously stated earlier than his second-round knockout defeat to Blachowicz final 12 months that, “I do not lose to guys like Jan.”
Dominick Reyes could be clever to be cautious.
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The return of Zubaira Tukhugov
A teammate of Khabib Nurmagomedov, featherweight striker Zubaira Tukhugov has been signposted as a future title contender.
He confirmed off this potential earlier this 12 months when he earned a first-round TKO in opposition to Kevin Aguilar however one suspects he might be in for a harder time in opposition to Canadian kickboxer Hakeem Dawodu.
Dawodu possesses a various arsenal of stand-up strikes and can look to maintain on the skin of the aggressive Tukhugov the place he can look to drag some methods out of his in depth kicking toolkit. One other fascinating wrinkle to this battle is that Dawodu has frolicked coaching on the mats of SBG Eire in Dublin alongside the likes of Artem Lobov – a sworn enemy of Tukhugov’s, relationship again to the incident between him and Khabib Nurmagomedov which prompted Conor McGregor’s notorious parking storage bust-up a few years again.
Lobov has repeatedly acknowledged that he’ll at some point battle Tukhugov however, till that day comes, he should accept cheering on Dawodu this Saturday.
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Diego Sanchez continues to be counted out
The longest-tenured fighter on the UFC roster, Sanchez is clearly a distinct fighter to the one that started his profession with an undefeated 17-Zero begin. Since then, Sanchez’s affect has waned however he nonetheless stays a really succesful menace at 170 kilos.
In Sanchez’s final 12 fights, he has been the bookmakers’ underdog in 11 of them. His document throughout that point? 6-6. This tells us that Las Vegas, and even followers of the game, have begun to miss the veteran fighter, regardless of him profitable three of his final 4 within the Octagon.
He’ll face one other powerful outing this weekend in opposition to the 16-Four Jake Matthews, who has had his hand raised in 5 of his final six bouts. It’ll come as little shock that Sanchez is as soon as once more thought of extra prone to lose than win (on the cash line at the least), there’s maybe no fighter extra accustomed to proving individuals improper than Sanchez.
Can he do it once more? Time will inform, however you may ensure that he will not be missing for effort.
Will there be any last-minute hiccups?
We’ve got reached the “contact wooden” a part of this text, however it’s value noting that, regardless of the UFC’s finest efforts, the continued COVID-19 pandemic stays a possible subject.
The UFC’s security protocols have restricted last-minute adjustments to playing cards for probably the most half, however one solely must browse again by these pages for information of fighters being pressured to withdraw from playing cards on account of a constructive take a look at.
One hopes that the MMA gods aren’t searching for any such sacrifices this weekend, or at the least not on the prime of the cardboard. However, as has occurred to the likes of Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, Ion Cutelaba and a handful of others on this “new regular” that we have been pressured to endure, it is one thing that’s nonetheless onerous to mitigate in opposition to.
However we should suppose constructive ideas and cross our fingers that UFC 253 stays intact. Let’s simply hope that everybody has been washing their fingers…
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