Eight title fights, Ankalaev's campaign for the belt and a test for Nurmagomedov's brother: the most anticipated events of July in MMA

PFL 6

Date and venue:

 July 1, Atlanta (USA).

Significant fights:

- Dilano Taylor,

- Jarrah Hussein Al-Silavi,

- Abigail Montes.

The program of major July tournaments will be opened by the Professional Fighters League, where the determination of future playoff participants is in full swing.

But if Magomed Magomedkerimov and Magomed Umalatov have their first fights this season, then Marina Mokhnatkina will try to return to winning ways.

Previously, she was unable to cope with one of the strongest female fighters at the moment - Kayla Harrison.

The Russian woman lasted all 15 minutes, but the judges were not on her side.

This time, she faces a much less difficult test.

Abi Montes has only four professional fights and only two of them were in major promotions.

In the first, she barely defeated the famous boxer Clarissa Shields, and in the second she lost to Alena Kolesnik.

Mokhnatkina is clearly superior to her rival in terms of experience, which can be a serious factor.

Umalatov, on the other hand, will have to fight the last of the offenders - Tibau.

Jarrah Hussein Al-Silawi got into the Grand Prix through the Candidates competition and caused a sensation right off the bat, and before that he performed quite well in Brave.

But it is extremely unlikely that he will be able to compete with the undefeated Russian and prevent him from winning the 12th time in a row.

Magomed has an impressive arsenal in the standing position, is dangerous on the ground and rarely brings the matter to the decision of the judges.

Only Leandro Silva managed to hold out with him for 15 minutes.

One of the main events of the evening was supposed to be the confrontation between Magomed Magomedkerimov and Joao Zeferino, but it failed for the third time.

Previously, a Russian was the culprit - first because of health problems, and then with a visa.

This time, the Brazilian has already let him down, who has not passed the weighing procedure.

He will be replaced by Dilano Taylor, who, as recently as May, replaced Magomedkerimov himself and by a referee's decision took over Zeferino.

In 2022, Postman has already won two victories, but his opponent will be the favorite of the fight. 

UFC 276

Date and venue:

 July 2, Las Vegas (USA).

Significant fights:

 Israel Adesanya - Jared Cannonier (light heavyweight title), Alexander Volkanovski - Max Holloway (featherweight title).

A day later, another numbered tournament will be held by the UFC.

And although not a single Russian will fight on it, there are plenty of significant events.

Here and potentially the last battle in the career of Donald Cerrone, and the next performance of the star Sean O'Malley.

The show will be crowned by two title fights at once, and one of them is especially principled and expected.

This is the third duel between Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway.

According to its results, not only the king of the division up to 65.8 kg can be determined, but also the future rival of Charles Oliveira.

It's no secret that Volkanovski has long wanted to become a two-weight champion and is seriously considering moving up to adjacent weight.

And apparently, Dana White is not opposed to arranging a meeting with Oliveira if he wins against Holloway.

True, this does not seem to be such an easy task.

Even if the Australian leads the series with a score of 2:0, the result of the second fight is considered controversial.

Then Max looked more than impressive, and only two of the three judges took Alexander's side.

As for the battle between Adesanya and Kannonir, the defending champion seems to be the clear favorite here.

In the standing position, it will be very difficult for an American to oppose anything to a star kickboxer, and he is hardly capable of following the example of Jan Blachowicz and trying to torture him on the ground.

Jared does not have serious wrestling skills and averages only 0.23 takedowns per three rounds.

If Israel does not gape, and the applicant does not hit the lucky punch, it will be extremely difficult to count on the transition of the belt.

UFC 

Vegas 58

Date and venue:

 July 9, Las Vegas (USA).

Significant fights:

 Rafael Fiziev - Rafael dos Anjos,

- Douglas Silva de Andrade,

- Jamie Pickett.

A week later, another match will take place, with which the championship has problems.

True, if the third battle between Volkanovski and Holloway was canceled only once, then the battle between Fiziev and Dos Anjos was canceled twice.

First, it was moved from February to March, and then a native of Kyrgyzstan caught the coronavirus.

And if he manages to recover from his illness and get the better of the ex-champion, he will have one of the longest winning streaks among current competitors in the lightweight division.

Only Beneil Dariush (7), Islam Makhachev (10) and Oliveira (11) have won more than six times in a row.

Also, two Russians will perform in Las Vegas, however, they are in completely different positions.

Said Nurmagomedov is trying to join his namesake Umar and break into the top 15 in the lightest category, and Denis Tyulyulin is trying to gain a foothold in the largest MMA promotion.

In March, he came out on a short notice and lost ahead of schedule to Aliaskhab Khizriev, but left a good impression of himself.

And if he manages to deal with Jamie Pickett, then he will surely remain in the UFC.

Nurmagomedov, on the other hand, will face off against Andrade, a victory over which is practically a guarantee of reaching a new level.

Previously, the Brazilian was dominated by two other active stars of the division - Peter Yan and Rob Font.

The first subsequently became the champion, and the second was in the top five. 

AMC

Fight

Nights 113

Date and venue:

 July 15, Krasnodar (Russia).

Significant fights:

 Vagab Vagabov - David Barkhudaryan (light heavyweight title), Dmitry Bikrev - Ruslan Kolodko (welterweight title).

In mid-July, the next AMC Fight Nights tournament will be held, and two title fights will close it at once.

The fight for the light heavyweight belt is of the greatest interest.

In early June, Vagab Vagabov suffered a crushing defeat from Dmitry Kudryashov in a boxing fight and could not have time to recover from a heavy knockout.

And this can significantly increase David Barkhudaryan's chances of success.

Not entirely successful was the debut of Dmitry Bikrev in the oldest form of martial arts.

Even though he drew a duel with Timur Nikulin, missed a lot of blows and showed certain gaps in the stance.

But even this hardly allows us to consider him an underdog in the battle with Ruslan Kolodko.

The Russian had more than two months to recover and prepare, and the Belarusian can hardly be called a top-level fighter.

His record in MMA is 13-8, and the victory over Alexei Makhno remains the loudest.

UFC 

on

ABC 3

Date and venue:

 July 16, Long Island (USA).

Significant fights:

 Brian Ortega - Yair Rodriguez,

- Lee Jingliang,

- Herbert Burns,

- Philip Rowe.

Muslim Salikhov will try to take the next step to the top.

The King of Kung Fu has been undefeated since November 2017 and may soon break into the top 15 welterweight division.

Li Jingliang will try to stop him.

In October, the Chinese was defeated by Khamzat Chimaev, after which he never entered the octagon.

In addition to Salikhov, two more Russians will perform in Long Island, however, both are far from falling into the elite.

Abubakar Nurmagomedov will return to the cage after a 15-month downtime caused by an injury and will try to win a second fight in the UFC, and Hussein Askhabov will have a successful debut.

In October 2021, he was supposed to take part in the Dana White's Contender Series show, but could not due to visa problems.

Nevertheless, the management still offered him a contract and immediately put him against not the weakest opponent.

Although Herbert Burns is largely known for his family ties with the illustrious brother Gilbert, he is also a master of Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

The tournament will be crowned by a confrontation between featherweight stars, and its victor may well become the next contender for the title.

And if for Rodriguez this may be the first opportunity to become a champion, then for Ortega it is the third.

Previously, he fought both Holloway and Volkanovski, but suffered crushing defeats.

In the first case, he missed 290 significant strikes, and in the second - 214.

ONE

Championship 159

Date and venue:

 July 22, Kallang (Singapore).

Significant fights:

 Reinier de Ridder

(light heavyweight title).

At the same time, another Russian champion may appear in the Singapore ONE FC promotion.

Vitaly Bigdash will try to keep company with the owner of the temporary heavyweight belt Anatoly Malykhin.

In the last three fights, he never lost and got the opportunity to compete for the trophy.

But to win it, you need to create a sensation.

After all, he will have to fight with Reinier de Ridder.

The Dutchman has not only a perfect record (15-0), but also titles in the middle and light heavyweight divisions. 

ACA 141

Date and venue:

 July 22, Sochi (Russia).

Significant fights:

 Magomedrasul Khasbulaev - Alikhan Suleymanov (featherweight title), Rashid Magomedov - Ali Bagov (lightweight grand prix quarterfinals).

In July, the winner of the last ticket to the semi-finals of the ACA Lightweight Grand Prix will be determined, who will face off against Artyom Reznikov.

Moreover, the fans are waiting for the classic confrontation between the drummer and the wrestler.

Bagov will certainly do everything possible to transfer Magomedov to the floor and make it impossible to use the main weapon - crushing blows in the rack.

The only question is whether Rashid will allow the opponent to easily pass to the feet.

It's been more than five years since his last fight in the UFC, but he still ranks in the top five in takedown defense percentage (89.3%).

The fight for the featherweight belt will take the place at the head of the card.

Magomedrasul Khasbulaev will hold the second defense, and Alikman Suleymanov will become his opponent.

They were originally supposed to fight in March, but the fight was postponed due to a knee injury to the champion.

And although in terms of experience, the cousin of Khabib Nurmagomedov is superior to the opponent, he has every chance to present a sensation.

The challenger goes on a series of nine victories, and won the last four battles ahead of schedule. 

Bellator 283

Date and venue:

 July 22, Tacoma (USA).

Notable fights:

 Patricky Freire - Sidney Outlaw (lightweight title), 

 - Chris Gonzalez, 

- Lorenz Larkin, 

 - Bobby King,

- Jose Augusto Azevedo,

- Justin Montalvo,

- Kai Kamaka third.

The only Bellator show in July promises to be rich too.

Not only can the next opponent of Alexander Shablia in the battle for the lightweight title be determined by its results, but six fights with the participation of Russians will take place at once.

Of course, the focus will be on Usman Nurmagomedov, who finally got a chance to prove himself in a battle with a dangerous opponent.

Chris Gonzalez has a good record (7-1) and won not only over the super-experienced Saad Awad, but also the promising Vladimir Tokov.

The younger brother of Anatoly himself will face off against Justin Montalvo (5-0), who does not know defeat.

In the promotion of Scott Cocker, he fought twice, but both times with rather weak opponents, so it will be possible to assess his real level only after meeting with a representative of the Fedor Team.

Also in Tacoma, the brother of another star of the organization, Viktor Nemkov, will perform.

He will fight with Jose Augusto Azevedo, who gained fame after a duel with Anthony Johnson.

Then he came out on short notice, but almost knocked out the former contender for the UFC title.

In turn, the undefeated Akhmed Magomedov will make his debut in a fight with Kai Kamaka-third, Nurmagomedov's partner in Eagles MMA Gadzhi Rabadanov will try to repeat Shablia's achievement and deal with Bobby King, and the most difficult test awaits Mukhamed Berkhamov.

During his career, Lorenz Larkin managed to make some noise in the UFC and took over such stars as Robbie Lawler, Jorge Masvidal and Andrei Koreshkov, and now he has decided to return to his usual welterweight division.

And if the Russian fails to find an antidote to the devastating low kicks of the American, there will be little chance of success.

UFC 

Fight

Night 208

Date and venue:

 July 23, London (UK).

Significant fights:

 Curtis Blades - Tom Aspinall, Nikita Krylov - Alexander Gustafsson.

Usually, the Ultimate Fighting Championship preferred to take at least a six-month break between shows in London, but this time they decided to hold two with a difference of only four months.

Moreover, in the main fight, two former rivals of Alexander Volkov will meet - Curtis Blades and Tom Aspinall.

The American can return to the top 3 again, and the Englishman can continue to become the most promising heavyweight in the world.

At the moment, he already has eight victories in a row (five of them in the UFC), and one more may well help him become the first contender for the interim belt.

You can't count on more, because Francis Ngannou is still recovering from the operation.

Krylov, on the other hand, will make an attempt to interrupt a series of two defeats and add to the piggy bank a victory over a superstar athlete, even if he has not given himself to mixed martial arts for a long time.

In the mid-2010s, Gustafsson was considered one of the most talented fighters and the main opponent of Jon Jones, and by the end of 2018 he managed to fight three times for the belt.

True, it fails every time.

Perhaps this broke the promising Swede.

Over the past three years, he has only entered the octagon twice and lost both times - first to Anthony Smith, and then to Fabricio Werdum.

With the right motivation, Alexander is able to break through to the top again and become a contender, but it's hard to imagine that he managed to find it at 35 years old. 

UFC 277

Date and venue:

 July 30, Dallas (USA).

Significant fights:

 Julianna Peña - Amanda Nunez (Bantamweight title), Brandon Moreno - Kai-Kara France (interim flyweight title),

- Derrick Lewis,

- Anthony Smith.

The final chord in July will be the next number tournament of the championship.

But unlike the previous one, it will include not only two fights for the belt, but also the performance of two top Russians.

Sergei Pavlovich will have the opportunity to avenge Alexei Oleinik and Alexander Volkov and soar into the top 5 heavyweight rankings.

And there is no doubt that he can do it.

Yes, Derrick Lewis is very strong, but in the same aspect as his opponent.

Unlike Alistair Overeem, he will not be able to drag him to the ground and take advantage of the shortcomings in wrestling and grappling, and in the stance, the forces are approximately equal.

Especially considering that over the years, the American's problems with endurance have become even more noticeable.

At the same time, the duel between Magomed Ankalaev and Anthony Smith is even more important.

According to White, his winner will get the right to face the defending champion Jiří Prochazka.

But in order to guarantee himself the title of the first number, the Russian needs not only to win the ninth time in a row, but to do it spectacularly.

If the fight with the American turns out to be as boring as the fights with Volkan Ozdemir and Thiago Santos, the UFC president may well change his mind and bring the Czech with Jan Blachowicz.

As for the title fights, both are intriguing in their own way.

Brandon Moreno will try to stop France rushing to the top of Kai-Kara at full speed and fight for the belt with Deiveson Figueredo for the fourth time.

And Amanda Nunez - to prove that the fiasco in the duel with Julianna Peña was just an accident.

At that time, the Brazilian clearly underestimated the threat and paid dearly for it, but is unlikely to make such a mistake twice.

In terms of her skills, she noticeably surpasses the American and remains one of the most dominant female fighters in history.