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.

Fighter Profile: Patrício Pitbull

Patrício Freire better known to MMA fans as Patrício Pitbull will return to the Bellator Cage to try to win back his Featherweight title against the man who took it from him the undefeated A.J. McKee. Freire is one of Bellator’s biggest stars he and his older brother Patricky are two of the most feared fighters on the second biggest MMA promtion’s roster.

Freire was born July 7, 1987 in Natal, Brazil. Freire is a grappler who took interest in the art, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu when he was very young as a way to deal with his small size. He later achieved Black Belt in the art. Freire trained at the world famous Chute Boxe Academy to get his striking in top form while he was a teenager. It was here that Frier would train alongside notable MMA fighters including Wanderlei Silva Mauricio and Murilo Rua and Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos. Freire would then go on to take his first MMA fight at age 16.

Freire faced off against Dida Dida in March of 2004 in his MMA debut. Freire would win the bout in round 1 by TKO by Corner Stoppage. He’d then face off against Marlon Silva he’d win the bout by Unanimous Decision. Freire would then fight Tarcisio Jardim, winning by Submission (Guillotine Choke.) Joao Paulo Rodrigues would be next for The young Pitbull who would win the Bout via Submission (Guillotine Choke.) He’d then face Rafael Gargula in April of 2006 winning by Submission(Armbar) moving his record to a perfect 5-0. Pitbull would then face Jadyson Costa winning the bout by Submission (Rear-Naked Choke.) Freire would win his next fight with a leg attack, a Submission (Heel Hook.) He’d win his next five fights before moving to Bellator.

Freire would face William Romero in his Bellator debut, Pitbull would win the bout with a Heel Hook in the first round. He’d then face Wilson Reis by Unanimous Decision. He’d then take his first loss of his career and in Bellator to Joe Warren in a Split Decision. He’d get back into the win Column against Georgi Karakhanyan via TKO (Punches.) He’d then face Wilson Reis winning the bout by KO (Punches.) He’d then face Daniel Straus getting the Nod from all of the judges. He’d then fight for the Bellator Featherweight title but would lose the bout in a Split Decision.

Friere would win his next four fights before fighting again for the Feather weight title he’d win the title this time against Pat Curran in September of 2014 He’d defend the belt twice before losing it to Daniel Straus in November 2015 at Bellator 145. He’d win his next fight against Henry Corrales before moving up to Lightweight to face Benson Henderson due to a Leg injury. He’d then get his rematch with Daniel Straus Winning back his Featherweight Title at Bellator 178 in April of 2017 He’d defend that belt twice before before moving up to Lightweight where he captured the Bellator Lightweight Title from Michael Chandler. He’d defend his Featherweight title twice more before losing the belt to A.J. McKee. He’d also vacate the Lightweight Title.

He hopes to regain the Bellator Featherweight title later this month. It’ll be interesting to see who comes out of this rematch on top.

Fighter Profile: Michael Chandler

Michael Chandler plays the respect card in bid to fight Conor McGregor - MMAmania.com — Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Michael Chandler had one of the best UFC debuts on one of the biggest cards of the year in 2021 which led to him going straight into a title fight in his next outing and the straight to another title eliminator which was one of the best fights of the year. Chandler puts on a show and I think fans love the former All-American wrestler.

Chandler was born on April 24, 1986 in High Ridge, Missouri and lived there his whole childhood. Chandler was a standout student and played football and was on the wrestling team. Chandler graduated High School and went to University of Missouri where he walked onto the wrestling team and would compile a 100–40 overall record in his four years as a starter which earned him DI All-American honors, an impressive feat for someone that walked on to the team and wasn’t there on an athletic scholarship.

Chandler decided to pursue MMA after finishing his Collegiate wrestling career. He began his training at Xtreme Couture, a gym owned by six time UFC champion Randy Couture. Chandler would make his debut against Kyle Swadley winning by TKO (punches) in round one. He would make his debut at Welterweight and compile a 3-0 record before making it to Bellator. Chandler would fight two bouts in Bellator at Catchweight (165) before moving down to Lightweight entering the Bellator Season 4 Lightweight Tournament, which consisted of three fights which he won all of, thus winning the tournament. He’d then fight Eddie Alvarez for the Bellator Lightweight title which Chandler would win. Chandler Would lose and win that Lightweight Bellator belt three times.

Chandler eventually landed at the UFC, he was first called on as an alternate for the Lightweight title bout between Khabib Nurmogamedov and Justin Gaethje. Chandler was not needed, but would make his UFC debut at UFC 257 in January of 2021 and secured an awesome victory against Dan Hooker via TKO (punches.) Chandler had made his arrival and the UFC brass liked what they saw in Chandler, and put him in the Octagon against Charles Oliveira for the vacant Lightweight title. Unfortunately for Chandler he would lose via TKO(punches.) Chandler would then face Justin Gaethje in November at UFC 268 unfortunately for Chandler he would drop this fight, but not before putting in one hell of a performance.

Chandler is an electric fighter to watch, it is not known who he will face. Considering he absorbed 86 significant strikes to the head I doubt it will be anytime soon.

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.