Three Fights We’d Like To See in 2023

2022 Is coming to a close which means that we have come to a whole new set of dates of fightnights, Pay Per View and other exciting things in the MMA world such as hopeful new seasons of The Ultimate Fighter and another season of Dana White’s Contender Series. We’ve put a list together of top fights we want to see in the UFC and hopefully Dana White is paying attention because we have some good ones picked for the Upcoming year.

Michael Chandler vs Conor McGregor

Michael Chandler has a not so good record in the UFC, but everytime the former Bellator Champ steps foot in the UFC Octagon he puts on an electric performance we think a showdown with Mystic Mac would be a great fight for both of these guys as they both put on performances in the cage (not so stellar as of late for McGregor though.) It would make sense that these two would fight at some point they talk trash they stylistically are a mismatch with Chandler being a great wrestler and Mcgregor Being a stellar striker in his prime. This would sell ppv buys and I’d love to see it. If this matchup didn’t work out, we’d like to see McGregor take on Jorge Masvidal.

Dustin Poirier vs Colby Covington

Dustin Poirier is getting over a recent case of staph infection, but when the former interim champ is done with treatment for the nasty case on his foot we’d like to see him fight the loudmouth Colby Covington who is also a former interim Champion. I think this fight would bring a lot of eyeballs to the UFC Octagon with Poirier being the good guy everyone loves while Covington is the classic heel goofball that many people despise. We think that poirier would have the upper hand in this fight as he has proved once again that he is one of the most entertaining fighters on the UFC Roster

Valentina Shevchenko vs Zhang Weili

Valentina Shevchenko is one of my favorite fighters too watch in the UFC Octagon. She is a great striker who puts on amazing performances in the women’s Flyweight Division. Shevchenko has defended her belt seven times, with all but one of those performances being in dominant fashion. Shevchenko a solid Mixed Martial Artist and we’d love to see her fight two time Women’s strawweight champion Zhang Weili. We love watching the 115 pound queen, Weili fight each time she steps into the octagon she brings the fight, who could forget her two performances against Joanna Jędrzejczyk, which were epic.

What’s Next For Dustin Poirier After UFC 281?

It was good to see Dustin Poirier return to the UFC Octagon where he was born to be. Poirier put himself at the front of the pack for Lightweight title contusion but we don’t think a title will be next for the Louisiana native but we do have some fights we’d like to see Poirier fight. The first fight we’d love to see Justin Gaethje take on Porier in the Octagon. One other opponent that would make for an interesting fight is high level Grappler Beneil Dariush. This is a long shot, but we’d love to see Poirier move up and fight Colby Covington, the pair hate each other and it’d make for high drama.

We’d love to see Porier fight Gaethje, and so does Gaethje who said in an interview before Chandler and Poiriers fight at UFC 281 “Ideally, Poirier beats Chandler, I’d like to fight Poirier. I mean, he beat me. That’s one win I’d like to get back. It was Fight of the Year, Fight of the Decade — Fight of a Couple Years, probably. That was a hell of a fight. That’s ideal” we certainly agree that this would be fireworks just like Porier’s fight with Chandler. It’d be a great fight to watch because Gaethje is a human highlight as his nickname implies because it’s true this would be a great fight.

One fight that makes sense for Louisiana’s Poirier is a matchup between him and Beneil Dariush. Dariush is coming off a win against Mateusz Gamrot at UFC 280 in October he is riding an amazing eight fight win streak which I think Poirier could snap in the UFC cage. But it would definitely be super competitive as Dariush and an amazing grappler who much like poirier is a Brazilian Jiu jitsu Black Belt, but he is on another level in grappling in terms of Grappling for MMA as Dariush in that division is up their with guys like Charles Oliveira.

Another good fight would be a matchup between Colby Covington and Poirier. The smack talk would be epic. This would be a move up for Poirier, but I think the diamond could manage this matchup very well. Covington is a wrestler and is quite boring; he barely backs up his smack talk in the cage with his lackluster striking and boring wrestling style and was almost cut by the promotion till he turned heel. Poirier on the other hand is a top tier fighter who will bring the fight to Covington. Just remember Poirier’s only two losses in the last six years were to Charles Oliveira and Khabib Nurmagomedov are two of the best Lightweights of all time.

These are some fights that would make sense for Dustin Poirier after his win against Michael Chandler at UFC 281. We can’t wait to see what comes next for the Diamond.

What’s Next For Colby Covington

Love him or loathe him Colby Covington has proved that he is one of the best Welterweight fighters currently. He came out on top when he faced Jorge Masvidal Saturday at UFC 272 when the pair faced off in a lopsided contest. This leads one to ask what’s next for Colby Covington. He may not be the caliber of fighter that Usman is, but could an unprecedented third fight be called for? Could a matchup with Dustin Poirier be in the cards? Would a matchup with the winner of Gilbert Burns vs. Khamzat Chimiaev be a good fight for the wrestler? We have our thoughts!

Covington has proved that he has an amazing gas tank and that he is one of the biggest personalities in the Sport, almost like he’s America’s answer to Conor McGregor. One fight that would definitely sell would be a match up between Covington and Kamaru Usman. The pairing have fought twice before with Usman winning both times, but the two don’t like each other and it would definitely sell PPV if they got together and fought for the belt sometime down the line.

Poirier and Covington do not like each other; the pair have traded verbal barbs with the former interim Lightweight Champion saying of Covington “I’ll never fight Colby (Covington) in an Octagon where there’s finances on the line. If I fight Colby, we’re both going to jail – I’m going to jail. You will never see me fight Colby Covington in the UFC.” But if the money is right this would be an interesting fight which I think Poirier comes out on top. This fight is really a no win situation for either of them.

Most likely I see Covington fighting the winner of Burns vs Chimiaev. The pair will be facing off against each other at UFC 273 in April and I think that the winner might face Covington sooner rather than later. Chimiaev is an undefeated Russian Wrestler who destroys everything in his path. The Russian who trains out of Sweden has recently become one of MMA’s biggest rising stars. He has recently become training partners with Englishman Darren Till. Covington has gone out of his way to trash talk Chimiaev referring to him as ‘c**shot.’

It’d be an interesting fight for sure as would a matchup with submission specialist Burns who has many achievements in the Grappling world and is currently ranked second in the welterweight division, Since Burns added Striking precision to his arsenal he has become lethal and could out strike and out grapple Covington.

Fighter Profile: Chan Sung Jung ‘The Korean Zombie’

Will shoulder tear affect Chan Sung Jung's ability to fight Volkanovski? - MMAmania.com — Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Chan Sung Jung who goes by the name “The Korean Zombie” is one of the best Featherweights in The UFC. His road to the UFC is quite fascinating and when he steps into the UFC Octagon he shows everyone why he is where he is in the division with Knockout power and submission skills. Jung Is currently in talks to replace Max Holloway in his title fight against current champ Alexander Volkanovski.

Jung was born on March 17, 1987 in Pohang, South Korea. Due to being a smaller individual he was often bullied and due to this his aunt intervened and took him to a Hapkido gym and he also studied kickboxing. Eventually he would also take up Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Judo. Jung would eventually join the Navy and would take up Taekwondo and would eventually take to Sambo which he won a tournament in. At age 20 Jung would take a step towards his destination of the UFC when he would start training MMA.

Jung made his MMA debut in June of 2007 against Hyung-Geol Lee, he’d win by Submission (reverse armbar.) Jung would then fight in the Pancrase: 2007 Korea Neo-Blood Tournament where he’d fight twice in one night winning both fights and the tournament. Jung would then fight in the Korea FC tournament winning three fights in one night and thus winning the tournament. He’d fight seven more fights including two losses in the WEC before ending up in the UFC due to the merger with that organization.

Jung would make his UFC debut against Leonard Garcia and earned the victory by performing the first twister submission in UFC history. He’d then fight Mark Hominick in December of 2011. He’d then face Dustin Poirier winning by Technical Submission (D’Arce choke.) Jung would then drop a fight to José Aldo, one of the best featherweights in UFC history. He’d then knockout Dennis Bermudez in the first round. In his next fight he’d drop to a Knockout by Yair Rodríguez. Jung would then win back to back fights against Renato Moicano and Frankie Edgar. He’d then face Brian Ortega and would lose by Unanimous decision. In his last outing Jung would face Dan Ige winning by Unanimous decision moving his record to 17-6.

Jung is an ideal Mixed Martial Artist with striking and grappling proficiency. We can’t wait to see him fight again, it would be cool to see him pull off another awesome twister Submission.

What’s Next For Dustin Poirier?

Dustin Poirier, Conor McGregor quarrel over $500K donation

Dustin Poirier had a monster year headlining the three of the Biggest UFC cards in a post pandemic world. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to win the Lightweight title, but he does have many fights that could be in the cards. A possible fight with Welterweight Colby Covington could be in the cards. A possible fourth fight with Conor McGregor could happen if Poirier wanted to take some time off and wait for the Irish former two division champion. Another possible matchup could be between Poirier and Nate Diaz.

Poirier and Covington have exchanged verbal barbs over the internet recently with Poirier hoping that Covington didn’t have a nice Christmas, and Covington saying that when the pair sparred at their old gym American Top Team in Coconut Creek, FL Poirier would leave crying. Needless to say this bickering adds to the hype of what would be an awesome fight. Covington is coming off a loss to Welterweight champion Kamaru Usman at UFC 268. Much like Poirier, his last loss was in a title fight. It would definitely make sense to pair the two together especially with Poirier saying that he doesn’t want to make the weight cut to 155 any longer.

Poirier being one of the promotion’s biggest stars makes one think he will go after money fights. And one of the big money fights that he could go for, would be a matchup with Diaz. It’d be a grappler vs. grappler matchup but one would think fans would look past that and want to see these two guys throwing shots at each other and see who reigns supreme as both of them are adequate strikers too. Both Poirier and Diaz have beef with McGregor so this potentially sets the stage for either one of them to fight McGregor again. I think Poirier would destroy a rusty Diaz who didn’t look good in his last outing, and made fans think he was only there for a payday.

Another unlikely option would be a fourth fight with McGregor. I know the end of the last fight in their trilogy made people go into shock and even though Poirier won, it didn’t seem like this ended things between the pair. I think fans would like to see this fight at some point down the road if not immediately. For Poirier this only makes sense in the financial department. He’s already proved that 2021 Poirier can top McGregor, something that 2014 Poirier could not do. I think fans would love to see this and I think it would make the UFC money so why couldn’t a fourth fight happen.

We shall see how this plays out, it’ll be interesting to see how this works out.

Update 01/04/22: Poirier came out publicly saying that he will face Nate Diaz in a short notice fight within the next six weeks. Considering both of their star power one would expect the UFC to put this fight on a numbered PPV card. We shall see!

Our Wishlist of Fights for 2022

Where are they? Nate Diaz, Jorge Masvidal among the UFC stars with no fights lined up — Nate Diaz flexing. Photo Courtesy of Getty Images

Christmas may be over and Santa has delivered his last package, but we still have a wishlist of fights that we’re asking Uncle Dana to deliver us in the new year. The UFC has done a lot of great things persevering through the Pandemic, and we have some thoughts on fights we want to see in a post pandemic year, a full year with fans in the stands at all the PPV events. Here are our four big fight wishes for the New Year.

Dustin Poirier Vs. Nate Diaz

Dustin Poirier just lost his title shot against champion Charles Oliveira at UFC 269 earlier this month. After the fight many fans wondered what was Next for Poirier. Some even wondered if Lafyette’s own would retire. I doubt Poirier retires and I think that him being one of the promotion’s biggest stars he will go after money fights. And one of the big money fights that he could go for would be a matchup with Diaz. It’d be a grappler vs. grappler matchup but one would think fans would look past that and want to see these two guys throwing shots at each other and see who reigns supreme. Both Poirier and Diaz have beef with McGregor so this potentially sets the stage for either one of them to fight McGregor again.

Derrick Lewis Vs. Stipe Miocic

Derrick Lewis has the most Knockouts in UFC history and he is one of the most entertaining Heavyweights in the division. It is rumored that Lewis wants to fight Miocic next. Miocic has been on the sidelines since losing his title to current Heavyweight Champion, Francis Ngannou at UFC 260. Miocic has stayed busy working on his podcast, at his second job at the Fire Department, and being a father two his daughter and new son, Mateo. Miocic is considered to be the Heavyweight GOAT and it’d be interesting to see the Heavyweight GOAT vs. the UFC Knockout King. Let’s not mention that Stipe is very proficient on his feet being a Golden Gloves boxing champion and could go toe to toe with Lewis.

Jon Jones Vs. Anyone in the Heavyweight Division

After a recent arrest Jon Jones’ future with the promotion looked odd. Jones being cut always seemed unlikely as the UFC would probably like to control Jones as he’s one of the promotion’s biggest stars. It was Rumored that Jones was offered a fight with the UFC Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou but the money wasn’t right in Jone’s eyes. After talks for that fight fizzled out it was rumored that Jones was offered a fight with former Heavyweight Champion, Stipe Miocic. Jones wasn’t interested in that fight either. Hopefully Jones figures out what he’s interested in, possibly another title fight offer is in Jones’ future to fight the winner of Ngannou and Ciryl Gane at UFC 270.

Amanda Nunes Vs. Julianna Peña 2

This month Julianna Peña shocked the MMA world with her defeat of Amanda Nunes at UFC 269 in the Co-main Event for the UFC Women’s Bantamweight title. Peña, who had called for the fight for many years, won via Submission in the second round. She did everything she said she would and did not fear Nunes. The two now have even more resentment towards each other as after the fight Peña went after Nunes with verbal barbs saying she was the first Mom champ when Nunes had adopted a daughter that was birthed by her wife, fellow UFC fighter, Nina Nunes. This vitriol between the two and the addition of Nunes being the most dominant female UFC champion in history trying to get one of her titles, absolutely makes this a rematch that you the viewer don’t want to miss.

What’s Next For Nate Diaz?

Diaz a Reminder of U.F.C.'s Star Challenge - The New York Times — Joe Scarnici/Getty Images

Stockton, CA native and overall badass Nate Diaz Returned to the Octagon at UFC 263 when he faced off against Leon Edwards. It was Diaz’s first fight since he fought Jorge Masvidal at UFC 244 for the BMF title. Diaz is quite the character and his Twitter game calling out opponents on the platform is second to only the Notorious one in the MMA world. It’d be great to see Diaz come back to the UFC Octagon sooner rather than later, and these are fights we think make sense for Diaz who has put on so many amazing showings in the UFC Octagon during his career.

Poirier just lost his title shot against champion Charles Oliveira at UFC 269 earlier this month. After the fight many fans wondered what was Next for Poirier. Some even wondered if Lafyette’s own would retire. I doubt Poirier retires and I think that him being one of the promotion’s biggest stars he will go after money fights. And one of the big money fights that he could go for would be a matchup with Diaz. It’d be a grappler vs. grappler matchup but one would think fans would look past that and want to see these two guys throwing shots at each other and see who reigns supreme. Both Poirier and Diaz have beef with McGregor so this potentially sets the stage for our next fight option.

The Second fight that fans would really want to see Diaz fight would be his final fight in his trilogy with Conor McGregor. McGregor just wrapped up his trilogy with Poirier, losing two consecutive fights to Poirier. This would be a great matchup for the two fighters as Diaz lost both his last two fights also so they both need wins. This trilogy would also sell a lot of PPV’s so it’s really a no brainer for the Promotion to entertain this fight. Even though Diaz says he’s not a fan of the idea of the fight, I think turning down that type of money isn’t a great move when you only have a couple fights in the sport’s biggest promotion left.

The other fight that fans would love to see would be a rematch of the ‘BMF’ title between Diaz and Jorge Masvidal. Masvidal has also lost his two last fights which happened to be title fights against Kamaru Usman at UFC 251 and 261. This again is a no brainer for the promotion as the original BMF title was won by TKO (doctor stoppage.) So fans would flock in droves to the venue and to buy the PPV event if it were to go down.

No matter which fight Diaz chooses, you know it’ll be electric. A fight with Poirier would be great as would rematches with McGregor and Masvidal. We shall see how this shakes out!

FIGHTER PROFILE: CHARLES OLIVEIRA

Charles Oliveira captured the vacant UFC lightweight title

Charles Oliveira will be making his return to the UFC Octagon to make his first title defense at UFC 269 against Dustin Poirier. Oliveira who is a submission specialist with knockout power. Oliveira is a 3rd degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Ericson Cardoso and Jorge “Macaco” Patino. And he hopes to finish Dustin Poirier by Snap, Tap, or nap. But Poirier is riding his own streak so it will be interesting to see how this one shakes out. It’s sure to be a great fight.

Oliveira was born in Guarujá, São Paulo, Brazil on October 17, 1989. Oliveira was born into a poor family and came from nothing and was raised in a favela which is a type of slum in Brazil which is a very rough place to grow up. As a child Oliveira started playing soccer, but unfortunately at age seven he was diagnosed with Rheumatic fever and a Heart murmur. This condition affected Oliveira who was told by doctors he might not be able to walk again. Despite this setback Oliveira continued walking and took up Martial Arts. He started out with a neighbor, but soon it would consume him; he won his first major Jiu Jitsu title as a white belt in 2003.

In 2007 Oliveira took his first MMA fight against Rui Machado for the Circuito Nacional de Vale-Tudo Amador promotion. Oliveira would win by Submission (Armbar.) Oliveira would then go pro, he’d make his pro debut against Jackson Pontes for the Predador FC Promotion. He’d fight twice more for that promotion that night with victories over Viscardi Andrade and Diego Braga both by TKO. Oliveira would fight for a few more different promotions and compiled an impressive record of 12-0. Oliveira caught the attention of the UFC.

Oliveira made his UFC debut on August 1, 2010 with a victory over Darren Elkins by Submission (armbar.) his next fight would be a win against Efrain Escudero by Submission (rear-naked choke.) After this fight Oliveira would have a rough patch in his career with his first loss to Jim Miller, then a no contest to Nik Lentz, and then a Loss to Cowboy Cerrone. He’d win his next two, but then drop a pair of fights to Frankie Edgar. He’d win six of his next 10 fights. Oliveira would then return to Lightweight where he has been unstoppable. Only losing one fight to Paul Felder. Oliveira has been on a nine fight win streak including a win in his last fight for the vacant Lightweight title against Michael Chandler at UFC 262 which he won by TKO (punches.)

Oliveira makes his return to the UFC octagon on Saturday at UFC 269 to defend his title. Oliveira does everything right so it will be interesting to see if he pulls off the victory against Poirier.

UFC 269 Preview

UFC 269 is approaching fast and it’s sure to be a great night of fights. It will be the UFC’s last big card of the year and let’s just say this card is full of nice holiday treats. The first fight will be between bantamweights Sean O’Malley and number 15 ranked Raulian Piava. It will be followed by another fight in the flyweight division between Cody Garbrandt and Kai Kara France. A bout between welterweights will follow between Geoff Neal and Santiago Ponzinibbio. The night will be capped off with two title fights, the first being between Amanda Nunes and Juliana Pena for the Women’s Bantamweight title. The second championship fight will be between Charles Oliveira and Dustin Poirier for the Lightweight strap.

Sean O’Malley is a fan favorite and will kick off the UFC 269 main card. He will be facing Raulian Piava. Piava has won his last three fights earning him being ranked in the Top 15 in the Division. Piava is Black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and fights out of Team Alpha Male an MMA gym run by UFC and WEC veteran, Urijah Faber. O’Malley has won his last two fights with his only loss coming against Marlon Vera by TKO at UFC 252 Miocic vs. Cormier 3. O’Malley is also a grappler with a Brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Augusto Mendes so it’ll be interesting to see how this matchup will play out.

The Flyweight bout between Cody Garbrandt and Kai Kara France is the next fight of note. Garbrandt is a former UFC Bantamweight Champion and is moving down to Flyweight. Garbrandt has lost four of his last five including tough losses to tough opponents like T.J. Dillashaw and Massachusetts native Rob Font. France has won two of his last four fights and before that was on an eight fight win streak. France is fighting out of City Kickboxing, home of UFC Champions Alex Volkanovski and Israel Adesanya. It’s sure to be a good fight between these 125 pounders.

The next fight of note is between MMA GWOAT, Amanda Nunes and Juliana Pena. The five round championship bout which was originally scheduled for August 7th at UFC 265 had to be rescheduled after Nunes was unfortunately diagnosed with Covid-19. Nunes has been on an amazing 12 fight win streak, and is the only Woman to ever hold two belts as the reigning UFC Bantamweight and Featherweight champion. She is the only UFC fighter male or female to attempt to and successfully defend both their titles. During her run, Nunes has taken on and beaten a who’s who of the greatest women fighters of all time including multiple wins over Valentina Schevchenko, and victories over Cris Cyborg, Holly Holm, Miesha Tate, and Ronda Rousey.

The final fight of the night will be between reigning Lightweight Champion Charles Oliveira and Dustin Poirier. This will be Oliveira’s first title defense and he’s riding a nine fight win streak. Oliveira has a strong submission game and does everything right. He is a 3rd degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Ericson Cardoso and Jorge “Macaco” Patino and will be a hard night at the office for Poirier. Poirier is on a streak himself winning his last three fights including back to back wins against former two division champion Conor McGregor. Poiriers only loss in the last five years was to the greatest Lightweight of all time Khabib Nurmagomedov. This is sure to be an amazing fight.

UFC 269 is available for purchase on the ESPN+ app.

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What’s Next For ‘Iron’ Michael Chandler

Michael Chandler throws a shot at Justin Gaethje at UFC 268 courtesy of Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports

After Making a promising debut in the UFC against Dan Hooker at UFC 257, Michael Chandler has lost back to back fights. The first to Lightweight Champion Charles Oliveira at UFC 262 in May and on Saturday at UFC 268 against Justin Gaethje. The Former Bellator MMA champ is top of the heap when it comes to contenders in the Lightweight division so it will be interesting to see who the UFC taps to face Chandler next.

Charles Oliveira and Dustin Poirier will face each other on December 11th at UFC 269. It is presumed that the winner will face Justin Gaethje. The loser however will not face Gaethje one would think if Poirier loses to Oliveira He may face Michael Chandler. Poirier is the number one ranked UFC Lightweight and if in the unlikely event he loses to Oliveira an interesting matchup would be against Chandler. Although it would probably be more likely that Poirier faces Beneil Dariush.

Another interesting option would be a fight with Islam Makhachev. Makhachev is currently ranked fourth in the Lightweight division and is coming off an amazingly quick victory against Dan Hooker at UFC 267. Makhachev has climbed to the top of the Lightweight division and is likely to be a champion in the Division in the next few years. It’d be interesting to see Makhachev’s Sambo skill go up against Chandler’s wrestling.

Tony Ferguson would also be an interesting matchup for Chandler. They’re both on skids as of late Ferguson is coming off losses to Dariush, Oliveira, and Gaethje. It’d be great for either of these Lightweights to make a statement that they’re still contenders in the division and are still in it to eventually win or reclaim a title.

One odd note is that Conor McGregor has been linked to a fight with Chandler. The two shared an interesting exchange on Twitter where McGregor showed respect to Chandler for his performance at UFC 268. It’d definitely be a great fight and would raise Chandler’s bank account and status as a fighter. It’d be interesting to see Chandler’s wrestling against McGregor’s striking.

Chandler has made a splash in the UFC, and though he is down, he definitely isn’t out. He has a plethora of fights that he could choose from. We will see what the UFC has in store for Chandler.

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