Ufc 259

Date and venue

: March 6, Las Vegas (USA).

Significant fights

: Jan Blakhovich (h) - Israel Adesanya (h), Amanda Nunez (h) - Megan Anderson,

Peter Yan (h)

- Aljemein Sterling

, Islam Makhachev

- Drew Dober,

Askar Askarov

- Joseph Benavidez.

The first major tournament of the month will be held in Las Vegas and will include three title fights at once.

Of course, the attention of Russian fans will be riveted on the battle between Peter Yan and Aljemain Sterling.

The reigning bantamweight champion will make his first defense and, if successful, will take a step towards the box office battle with former belt holder TJ Dillashaw.

However, Sterling should not be written off in advance.

At a certain period of his career, he could not boast of stability, and his first campaign for the status of the first contender was interrupted by an inconspicuous middle peasant Brian Caraway.

But since the end of 2017, Aljemain has not lost any of five fights, in the last of which he effectively dealt with Corey Sandhagen - a talented and versatile fighter who looks good in a stance, which was confirmed by bright knockout victories over Marlon Moraes and Frankie Edgar.

At the same time, the greatest danger for Jan is represented by the wrestling skills of the challenger.

Sterling did not do well at the student level and only played in the third division of the NCAA, but subsequently made notable progress.

Perhaps this was facilitated by the acquaintance with the youngest champion in UFC history, John Jones, as well as training in the Serra-Longo Fight Team, where former middleweight belt holder Chris Weidman also works.

Not to be forgotten, Aljemain has a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt and is tied for third in submission wins (four) in the bantamweight division.

In the main match of the evening, a duel of two champions will take place.

The best middleweight of the organization, Israel Adesanya, will try to defeat the leader of the light heavyweight division, Jan Blachovic, and become the fifth fighter in UFC history to own two belts at the same time.

Before him, only Conor McGregor, Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunez and Henry Sejudo managed to do this.

It is worth noting that this battle became possible due to the coincidence of a number of circumstances.

Firstly, John Jones decided to go to heavyweight and left the belt in the division without a clear leader, as a result of which he went to not the most stellar Blakhovich.

Secondly, Adesanya suddenly lost an opponent, as Robert Whittaker allegedly refused to fight for the trophy.

According to Dana White, the Australian personally told him about the desire to postpone the revenge, but the fighter himself later denied this information.

The head of the UFC stripped the first challenger of this status and staged a duel between Israel and Ian.

Also at UFC 259, Amanda Nunez will enter the cage.

The Brazilian will defend her featherweight title for the second time in a row and will face Megan Anderson.

By the middle of 2019, the Australian did not have the most impressive record (8: 4), but she won twice ahead of schedule and became the first contender.

Among her rivals in the division, she stands out for her good striking technique (six victories by knockout) and outstanding anthropometric data.

Anderson's height and arm span are 183 cm each, in which she is noticeably superior to Nunez (173 and 175 cm, respectively).

But given the level of the champion, this is unlikely to be a serious problem for her.

Also in Las Vegas, Islam Makhachev will try to continue climbing to the top of the light category.

The successor of Khabib Nurmagomedov was unable to achieve a meeting with a fighter from the top 10 and was forced to agree to a fight with Drew Dober.

The American, although he has three victories in a row, is hardly worthy of being called a promotion star.

If a Russian really plans to join the championship race by the end of 2021, then he needs to defeat his opponent - confidently and, preferably, ahead of schedule.

Among other things, one of the most important fights in his career will be held by Askar Askarov.

A draw and two victories were enough for the Russian to rise to third place in the UFC flyweight ranking and be one step away from the title of the first challenger.

The most experienced Joseph Benavidez will be the last test on the way to the battle for the belt.

During his career, the 36-year-old American fought for the trophy four times, but never succeeded.

It's hard to call him a favorite this time either.

Still, over the years, it has become increasingly difficult to compete on equal terms with young opponents, especially when it comes to light weights.

Ufc

vegas 21

Date and place

: March 13, Las Vegas (USA).

Significant fights

: Leon Edwards - Belal Muhammad,

Zubair Tukhugov

- Ricardo Ramos.

A week later, the UFC Vegas 21 show will take place, in the main fight of which the next contender for the welterweight title may be determined.

Leon Edwards will fight Belal Muhammad and, if successful, is able to guarantee himself a meeting with the champion, who by that time could be both Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal.

True, it would be much more interesting to see the long-awaited duel of the Briton with Khamzat Chimaev, but he is clearly going through hard times and is thinking about retirement.

In this regard, the attention of Russian fans will most likely be focused on the fight with the participation of Nurmagomedov's teammate.

Zubayra Tukhugov will clash with Brazilian Ricardo Ramos and will try to get back on the winning rails.

At the end of September, he could not cope with Hakim Davodu, noticeably tired by the middle of the second round.

It is difficult to call the new opponent serious, so the main question is whether the Russian will be able to approach the show in proper form and perform at his usual level.

Initially, Tagir Ulanbekov was also supposed to take part in the tournament, but his battle with Mateus Nikolaou was canceled. 

ACA 120

Date and venue:

March 26, St. Petersburg (Russia).

Significant fights

: Daniel de Almeida (h) -

Magomed Bibulatov

, Felipe Froes -

Magomedrasul Khasbulaev

.

At the end of the month, ACA 120 will take place, which promises to be one of the largest tournaments in the promotion in the first half of 2021.

Such famous fighters as Ivan Shtyrkov, Diego Brandao, Salman Zhamaldaev and Rashid Magomedov will perform at it, and the show will be crowned with two championship fights.

Brazilian Daniel de Almeida will try to defend his bantamweight title in a battle with Russian Magomed Bibulatov, and his compatriot Felipe Froes will try to regain the featherweight title.

Magomedrasul Khasbulaev will try to prevent him.

Let the fight between Froes and Khasbulaev take place on paper for the vacant title, but in fact it will become the second defense for Felipe.

The Brazilian won the belt in October 2019, but was unable to make weight before the fight with Marat Balaev in December, for which he was stripped of his title.

The 44-year-old Russian got a great chance to win the trophy, but was knocked out in the third round and retired.

Magomedrasul will try to prevent his compatriot's mistakes and become the champion of the league on the third attempt.

Previously, he fought twice for the trophy in the WFCA (World Fighting Championship Akhmat - the organization that merged with ACB to form the ACA), but lost twice.

Bibulatov, most likely, will have even harder, because his opponent not only owns the belt, but also has not lost for five years.

At the moment, Goubileo's successful streak has 11 battles, and the last defeat dates back to November 2015.

However, Magomed has something to oppose to the star Brazilian.

For him speaks both the experience of performances in the UFC, and a series of three early victories.

The last of them was won thanks to a spectacular roundhouse kick and allowed the Russian to win the ACA Knockout of the Year nomination.

Ufc 260

Date and place:

March 27, Las Vegas (USA).

Significant fights

: Stipe Miocic (h) - Francis Ngannu, Alexander Volkanovski (h)

- Brian Ortega, Thomas Almeida - Sean O'Malley.

A day later, another event will take place under the auspices of the UFC.

Usually the Absolute Fighting Championship holds one numbered show per month, but in March it will make an exception.

Within the framework of the 260th tournament, two fights for the title will take place, in the main of which heavyweights Stipe Miocic and Francis Ngannu will converge.

The Cameroonian will try to prove that he drew conclusions from the defeat three years ago, and become only the third native of Africa who managed to take the trophy in the largest MMA promotion in the world.

So far, only Nigerians Kamaru Usman and Israel Adesanya can boast of this.

As for Miocic, he can safely be considered one of the greatest heavyweight champions in UFC history, and another success will allow him to further strengthen his legacy.

In this case, he will win the seventh title fights and break away from the closest pursuers - Randy Couture and Tim Sylvia (both - five each).

In turn, Alexander Volkanovski will carry out only the second defense of the title at featherweight, but it promises to be no less difficult.

He will be opposed by an expert in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Brian Ortega, who has significantly improved his striking technique over the past few years.

In December 2018, the American already had the opportunity to compete for the trophy, but lost to Max Holloway.

Then it was noticeable how uncomfortable it was for him to resist the Hawaiian superior in anthropometry, but now the advantage in growth will already be on his side.

True, the bookmakers believe that this will not be a decisive factor in the fight, so they prefer Volkanovski.

Ortega, although good at grappling, is not strong in wrestling, so he hardly transfers his counterpart to the flooring - 0.8 takedowns on average in 15 minutes and 21% of successful passes to the legs.

In the stand, it will not be easy for him to compete with Alexander.

It is not for nothing that he is among the five strongest featherweight in history in terms of the difference between strikes delivered and missed (2.4), their accuracy (55%), as well as the number of hits on average per minute (6.16).

Also worth noting are the fights with Tyrone Woodley and Sean O'Malley.

The ex-welterweight champion will try to take over Vicente Luque and revive his career after three defeats, and the young American will try to prove that his defeat to Marlon Vera was an unfortunate accident.

His opponent will be Thomas Almeida, who at one time was also considered a potential future UFC star.

As of 2016, he had a perfect record of 21 consecutive wins, but has since won only one fight out of five.