John Jones - Dominic Reyes
UFC light heavyweight title fight
Tournament: UFC 247
Date and place: February 9, Houston (USA)
By far, the main event of February in mixed martial arts will be the next defense by John Jones of the UFC light heavyweight title. One of the greatest fighters in history and the first number of the pound-for-pound rating (regardless of weight category) will defend the honorary title for the 11th time in his career, and his rising star Dominic Reyes will be his rival.
The fight with Thiago Santos became an alarming bell for both Jones himself and his army of fans. For the first time in a long time, an American did not surpass his vis-a-vis on all fronts and in many aspects looked weaker than the Brazilian. And this despite the fact that the first applicant seriously injured his leg and the greater half of the battle was limited in movement. Despite this, he made John a serious competition and made him wonder if the champion remains as invulnerable.
In these conditions, the duel with Reyes is the toughest test for Jones. The American quickly burst into the UFC and won six victories in two and a half years, four of which were premature. Only once Dominic could not demonstrate his superiority over the opponent, but in a fight with Volkan Ozdemir, two judges sided with him.
Reyes is distinguished by outstanding physical data, an excellent percussion technique and a powerful blow that Owin Saint-Prue and Chris Weidman have already experienced on themselves. The inconvenience to rivals is added by the fact that Dominic is left-handed, and this is always inconvenient for a person with the opposite stance, which is Jones.
Nevertheless, the American is not in vain considered one of the most intelligent and prudent fighters in the history of MMA, and his coaches are one of the main masters in building plans for the fight. Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljon will definitely figure out how to level out Reyes' strengths, and their ward will try to bring it to life. If John succeeds in avoiding missed shots in the first few minutes and dragging his opponent into the ground, he may not have a chance of success.
Valentina Shevchenko - Kathleen Chukagyan
UFC Flyweight Champion Title Fight
Tournament: UFC 247
Date and place: February 9, Houston (USA)
The second most important event of the first UFC tournament in February will be the defense of the flyweight title among women. Valentina Shevchenko will face off with Kathleen Chukagyan and make an attempt to get around Amanda Nunez in the pound-for-pound ranking.
On paper, the confrontation between Shevchenko and Chukagyan seems fascinating. Valentina is an outstanding specialist in percussion technique and is deservedly considered one of the best female fighters in history, and Kathleen is on the rise and occupies the first line in the flyweight rating. If you leave the champion behind the brackets, the American owns the longest winning streak in the division, but all this does not correctly reflect the real situation.
The flyweight in women is in many ways reminiscent of a similar category in men: with the exception of the title holder, the rest of the athletes are at about the same level, which is why none of them can boast of a serious winning streak. This also applies to Chukagyan, who has only two matches won in a row on her track record. In addition, even in them she prevailed only with the help of judges, and during her career she only completed the battle three times ahead of schedule.
By and large, Chukagyan has nothing to oppose Shevchenko. Like the opponent, she likes to fight on her feet, but does not have the skill to do it on an equal footing with a native of Kyrgyzstan. Yes, she can try to drag her into the clinch, thereby reducing her attacking potential, but no more. Valentine surpasses the opponent in all respects and is a clear favorite of the upcoming battle.
Corey Anderson - Jan Blahovic
Tournament: UFC Fight Night 167
Date and place: February 16, Rio Ranch (USA)
A week after the duel, Jones and Reyes are most likely to determine a new contender for the light heavyweight title. At the moment, Anderson and Blakhovich occupy the fifth and sixth lines in the ranking, respectively, and have been successfully performing recently. The American did not concede during four fights, and the Pole won in six of the last seven fights.
It is especially worth paying attention to the fact that Anderson and Blakhovich got the upper hand over almost every serious representative of the division. So, Corey cracked down on former title contender Glover Teixeira and the talented Johnny Walker, and Ian left no chance for ex-middleweight champion Luke Rockhlod, Jacquard Souze and Nikita Krylov. Given the general situation in the division, it is the American and the Pole who are next in line for the belt.
The principle that this opposition is added by the fact that previously athletes have already met among themselves. This happened in 2015 at the UFC 191 tournament, where Anderson was successful. It should be noted that at that time Blakhovich had only two fights in the largest MMA promotion on the planet and was far from its best form.
It is also worth adding that the Russian fighter Gadzhimurad Antigulov will perform at this tournament, who will try to interrupt a series of two defeats and keep his residence registration in the promotion. In the opposite corner will be Devin Clark, throughout his career alternating successes with failures. In the last five fights, he was thrice defeated three times, and all three rounds were never held. Twice he was "strangled", and once again was knocked out.
Magomed Mustafayev - Brad Riddell
Zubayra Tukhugov - Kevin Agillar
Tournament: UFC Fight Night 168
Date and place: February 23, Auckland (New Zealand)
At a tournament in New Zealand, two Russian athletes will demonstrate their skills. Magomed Mustafayev will try to win a fourth victory in the UFC and designate his claim to be in the top 15 rating, and Zubayra Tukhugov will try to leave the octagon for the first time in four years as a triumph.
During his short career in the Absolute Fighting Championship, Mustafayev was remembered for an impressive knockout in a duel with Rafael Fiziev. Given the fact that Brad Riddell is training with a Kazakhstani in the same gym, the fight promises to become more important. For the second time in a row, Magomed can take over the representative of Tiger Muay Thai and win the 15th career victory.
As for Tukhugov, the goal of teammate Khabib Nurmagomedov is to put an end to his unsuccessful series. Over the past four-plus years, he has been in a cage three times, but only once left her winner. After a triumph over Philip Nover, he lost to Renato Moikano, failed a doping test, and after returning he could not cope with Leron Murphy.
It is difficult to call his future counterpart the future promotion star, but he has a certain potential. The assets of Kevin Agillar include the championship in the regional promotion Legacy Fighting Alliance, as well as a successful performance on the Dana White's Contender Series. The American has good standing skills and actively uses his legs, which may well become a problem for Tukhugov.
Valentin Moldavsky - Xavi Ayala
Tournament: Bellator 239
Date and place: February 22, Tuckerville (USA)
In late February, Valentin Moldavsky will try to continue his impressive career in the United States. So far, Fyodor Emelianenko’s teammate has fought three times in the Bellator and has never lost. And this despite the fact that one of his rivals was former first challenger for the light heavyweight title Linton Wassell. However, in a more prestigious category, he was unable to create a counterpart to serious problems and yielded by unanimous decision.
The next opponent of Moldavian will be a bright puncher Javi Ayala, who has already managed to be remembered by the Russian public. In 2016, he sent Sergey Kharitonov to a blank knockout, and in the past he had to fight Vitaly Minakov. True, none of the two attempts were successful. Ayala first withdrew from the battle due to unnamed health problems, and then the Russian was unable to fly to the United States due to visa problems.
In this regard, the leadership of Bellator decided to replace Minakov with another Russian who is ready to firmly establish himself in the heavyweight elite. Moldavsky looks pretty confident in the stance, but the main emphasis is on the fight. This may be the key factor in the battle with Ayala, who prefers to fight exclusively on her feet. If Valentine can transfer Xavi to the ground, then he will have a much greater chance of success.