The return of Jones, the defense of Nurmagomedov, the fights of Yan and Volkov, the ACA super tournament: the main events of March in MMA

UFC 285

Date and place

: March 4, Las Vegas (USA).

Significant fights

: Jon Jones - Cyril Gun (heavyweight title), Valentina Shevchenko (c) - Alexa Grasso (flyweight title).

At the beginning of the month, the next numbered UFC tournament will be held, and it will be headed by one of the most intriguing fights not only of the month, but of the whole of 2023.

Jon Jones will try to do the almost impossible: return to the octagon after a three-year break and immediately win the title in a new weight category for himself.

Opposing him will be the former owner of the temporary belt Cyril Gan, who was second only to Francis Ngannou.

In fact, everyone knows what to expect from a Frenchman.

Gan is one of the most versatile and dangerous heavyweight strikers, which he will try to confirm in a future duel.

Jones' condition, by contrast, raises big questions.

And it's not just colossal simple.

For most of his career, John worked out at the Jackson Wink gym, but in 2021 he was expelled from there by one of the founders, Mike Winkeljohn, as a result of which he was forced to look for new coaches.

To everyone's surprise, Henry Cejudo took on the role of mentor.

And it is extremely difficult to predict whether the former UFC champion in two divisions will be able to properly prepare a compatriot for a fight.

After all, he always needed a spiritual mentor who could help him fight internal demons.

In the second most important duel, Valentina Shevchenko will defend her belt for the eighth time.

In June, she lost a fight with Tayla Santos and won only by a split decision, leaving many to doubt her invincibility.

You will have to restore your reputation in a duel with Alexa Grasso, a promising girl who has made tremendous progress after moving to 56.7 kilograms.

During this period, the Mexican won all four battles, but rose only to the sixth line of the rating, which is explained by not the highest level of opposition.

Bookmakers also do not believe that she will be able to provide worthy resistance to an athlete from Kyrgyzstan.

Bellator 292

Date and place

: March 10, San Jose (USA).

Significant fights

: 

- Benson Henderson (lightweight title),

- Tofik Musaev (Lightweight Grand Prix),

- Linton Vassell,

-

,

- Tony Johnson.

A week later, a large-scale show will be arranged by the second largest MMA promotion on the planet.

And this time, not star foreigners will rule the ball, but Russians, of whom as many as six have been announced.

It will not do without a duel between two compatriots.

The eighth number of the light division Islam Mammadov will fight with undefeated Shamil Nikaev.

The Chechen wolf was the star of the ACB, but has only entered the cage twice in the last five years.

Khalid Murtazaliev will be the first of his compatriots to test himself.

In October, he knocked out compatriot Khadzhimurat Bestaev, and now he will face off against mixed martial arts veteran Tony Johnson.

The American made his debut in MMA already in 2007, but since then he has only had 12 fights (9-3) and has not reached great heights.

Valentin Moldavsky will try to confirm the title of the first number in the heavy category and secure a rematch with Ryan Bader.

To do this, he needs to deal with Linton Vassell again.

In March 2019, the age-old Briton lost to the Russian by unanimous decision, but after that he gained a second youth and won four fights in a row (three times by knockout).

And although now he is on a horse, he obviously has not become better.

The two-time world sambo champion surpasses him in wrestling, and he is hardly weaker in the standing position.

Alexander Shabliy is also considered the favorite of his duel.

In a good way, it was he who was supposed to fight Patricky Freire for the 70.3 kilogram title at the end of 2022, but the lack of popularity played a role.

After all, by this moment he managed to deal with ex-champion Brent Primus, while Usman Nurmagomedov did not win a single top, but he got the status of the first contender.

And now Shabliy has a long way to go if he hopes to get the coveted trophy.

To do this, he needs to win the Grand Prix, in the first round of which the unpredictable Tofig Musaev is waiting for him.

During his career, he lost four times, and moved to Bellator against the backdrop of a devastating defeat from Roberto de Souza.

But he suddenly shocked everyone and in 27 seconds knocked out the first number in the ranking of Sidney Outlaw at that time.

It is noteworthy that Nurmagomedov himself will hold the first defense of the belt in San Jose.

He will have to pass the most difficult test in the form of a meeting with one of the most titled representatives of the category, Benson Henderson.

Although the 39-year-old fighter is not as dangerous now as he was during his WEC and UFC performances, he always has a couple of tricks up his sleeve.

No wonder he is called one of the most cunning lightweights in history.

And it will be extremely interesting to see how Usman will look against the background of the owner of black belts in taekwondo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

There have never been such strong and sophisticated opponents in his career, and it is extremely difficult to say whether he can not only kill such a highly intelligent fighter, but also outplay tactically.

Henderson will certainly try to make it difficult for the opponent to work on the stand, and at the slightest opportunity to use his skills on the ground.

UFC

Fight

Night 221

Date and place

: March 11, Las Vegas (USA).

Significant fights

: 

- Merab Dvalishvili,

- Alexander Romanov,

- Jonathan Martinez,

- Carlston Harris.

A day later, the most important fights will be held by two other star fighters from Russia.

First of all, we are talking about Petr Yan, who over the past two years has turned from a champion who inspires fear into opponents into a victim of controversial judicial decisions.

In the last two bouts, he suffered extremely controversial defeats and flew out of the race for the trophy.

Although he nominally occupies the second line in the ranking, in fact he is only third in line - behind both Sean O'Malley and Henry Cejudo, who returned to MMA.

But now is not the time for Jan to think about the title of the first contender.

To begin with, he needs to get back on the winning rails and feel the lost confidence.

But a duel with Merab Dvalishvili is hardly ideal for achieving these goals.

Most likely, Peter is waiting for a grueling, 15-minute grappling session, and the fate of both athletes will be in the hands of the judges.

And here it will not be easy to count on success.

The last time Georgians lost on the jury cards was in December 2017.

Alexander Volkov will also try to revive his stalled career.

In June, he knocked out Jairzinho Rozenstruik, but instead of the representative of the top 5, he got Alexander Romanov, who occupies the 13th line, as rivals.

And this may well indicate a lack of faith in him on the part of the promotion, because at the moment there are many more status fighters in the division who have no plans for the coming months.

In fact, they are trying to turn a Russian into a gatekeeper, and there is only one way to deal with this - to “destroy” everyone in their path and confirm their right to remain in the elite.

Said Nurmagomedov is in a similar situation, having suddenly received the unseeded Jonathan Martinez as an opponent.

The American shows himself great and goes on a series of four victories, but the Russian is no better off for this.

If he gets the upper hand, he is unlikely to break into the top 10 bantamweight.

The same can be said about his namesake Abubakar, who was brought together with Carlston Harris.

He made a good debut in the championship, but did not stand the first serious test in the face of Shavkat Rakhmonov.

However, you should not underestimate him: he won 10 out of 17 fights ahead of schedule and is dangerous both in the stand and on the floor.

ACA 154

Date and place

: March 17, Krasnodar (Russia).

Significant fights

: Alikhan Vakhaev (c) - Evgeny Goncharov (title in heavyweight), Magomedrasul Gasanov (ch) - Salamu Abdurakhmanov (title in middleweight), Oleg Borisov (c) - Rustam Kerimov (title in bantamweight), Mukhamed Kokov - Hakran Diaz (interim lightweight title)

In March, a grand tournament by Russian standards is also organized by the ACA.

There will be eight Grand Prix fights in five different categories at once, as well as four title fights.

In the main of them, Alikhan Vakhaev will defend the belt in heavyweight, and the former owner of the trophy Evgeny Goncharov will become his opponent.

After losing to Mukhumat Vakhaev in February 2020, he won four victories (including over his offender) and may well be considered the favorite of the duel.

Indeed, in terms of the level of opposition, he clearly surpasses his future counterpart.

No less intriguing is the battle for the 84 kg belt, where the current and former champions will also meet.

The only difference is that Salamu Abdurakhmanov lost his title not in battle, but due to downtime caused by injuries and therefore is still considered by many to be the full-fledged king of the category.

However, it is difficult to say whether he is able to compete with Magomedrasul Hasanov in his current state.

After returning to the cage, he did not fight with the tops, taking over only Ciro Rodriguez and Rene Pessoa, who alternated successful and failed fights.

Rustam Kerimov will also try to return the belt.

He won it even before the merger of ACB and WFCA, and after that he defended it twice, but in 2020 he decided to build a career abroad and left the promotion.

However, problems with the transition to a foreign league forced him to return and re-do the way to the top.

And in order to gain a foothold on it, he needs to again cope with Oleg Borisov - the same fighter, in a duel with whom he got the trophy in Baku five years ago.

To top it off, Mohammed Kokov and Hakran Diaz will compete for the interim lightweight belt.

And this decision of the matchmakers is really ambiguous.

At the moment, there is a full-fledged champion in the division - Abdul-Aziz Abdulvakhabov, but he does not defend his title only for the reason that he has already been announced to participate in the new Grand Prix.

Therefore, this fight, in its essence, has practically no tournament value.

UFC 286

Date and place

: March 18, London (UK).

Significant fights

: Leon Edwards (c) - Kamaru Usman (welterweight title), Justin Gaethje - Rafael Fiziev, Muhammad Mokaev - Zhafel Filho.

A day later, another numbered UFC tournament will take place.

For the first time since 2016, a show of this magnitude is organized in England, for which local fans are indebted to Leon Edwards.

In August, he sensationally knocked out Kamaru Usman in a rematch and won the 77-kilogram trophy, which he was allowed to defend in his homeland.

Seven years ago, his compatriot Michael Bisping received the same honor, no less unexpectedly taking the upper hand over Luke Rockhold.

But repeating this success will not be easy.

Edwards' win was more of a stroke of luck than a consequence of his dominance in the cage.

After four rounds, he was inferior on the cards of all three judges and would have lost if not for an incredible left hi-kick.

He still cannot match Usman in the fight, and if Kamaru manages to stay focused for all 25 minutes, he will certainly take a convincing revenge.

In addition to Edwards, Rafael Fiziev will also undergo a serious test in the capital of Great Britain.

Ataman goes on a series of six victories and in the case of the next one he will become a full participant in the race for the trophy.

But for this, he needs to deal with the former contender for the belt and one of the brightest punchers in the lightweight division, Justin Gaethje.

In turn, Muhammad Mokaev will try to win the ninth fight in his career and break into the top 10 of the flyweight category.

Jafel Filho, although he cannot boast of the experience of performing in the largest MMA promotion, he has a heavy blow.

He demonstrated this at Dana White's Contender Series when he dropped Roibert Echeverria to the canvas with a devastating left hook.

ONE

Fight

Night 8

Date and place

: March 24, Kallang (Singapore).

Significant fights

: Arjan Bhullar (c) -

(heavyweight title).

At the end of March, the first ever full-fledged champion in two divisions from Russia may appear in ONE FC.

Over the past year, Anatoly Malykhin managed to win a temporary heavyweight belt, and then become the full owner of the light heavyweight trophy, crushing Rainier de Ridder, who did not know defeat.

And from the title of the absolute leader of the most prestigious category, he is separated by a victory over Arjan Bhullar, a Canadian who has been avoiding meeting with him for a long time.

If you believe the manager of the Russian Alexander Skaredin, the fight was postponed three times earlier - and each time through the fault of the counterpart.

Even though this was partly due to intense negotiations on a new contract.

The last time the fighters were supposed to meet was in September, but a month before the battle, Bhullar cited an unnamed injury and withdrew.

And although now everything is moving towards the fact that the duel will still take place, it is impossible to be 100% sure of this.

UFC

on

ESPN 43

Date and place

: March 25, San Antonio (USA).

Significant fights

: Marlon Vera - Corey Sandhagen,

- Holly Holm,

- Chidi Njokuani.

The last UFC tournament in March promises to be not the richest in events.

With the exception of the duel of stellar representatives of the bantamweight, one of which may well become Yan's opponent in the future, two fights involving Russians attract attention.

And the return to the octagon of Yana Kunitskaya, who became a mother for the second time in April 2022, stands apart.

However, the promoters did not make any concessions to her, identifying Holly Holm as her rival.

Although the American is already 41 years old and in the last fight the judges gave the victory to her opponent, this does not prevent her from remaining one of the best strikers in the history of women's MMA and the ex-champion of the promotion.

A difficult test awaits Albert Duraev, who will try to rehabilitate himself for the defeat from Joaquin Buckley.

But it won't be easy to do so.

Chidi Njokuani is very strong physically, and finished his last four fights with knockouts.

And if the Russian cannot use his wrestling skills, the chances of success will be slim.

Bellator 293

Date and place

: March 31, Temecula (USA).

Significant fights

: 

- Jalil Willis,

- Lance Gibson Jr.

In turn, the long-awaited debut of UFC lightweight and welterweight veteran Rustam Khabilov will take place in Bellator.

Initially, it was supposed to take place in a fight with Andrei Koreshkov back in October 2021, but in the end it was postponed by almost a year and a half.

And now he will be opposed by Jalil Willis, a strong but not outstanding athlete, which was previously proved by Mukhammed Berkhamov.

It took Tom just over four minutes to "strangle" the American.

It will be much more difficult for Vladimir Tokov.

Lance Gibson Jr. has not yet lost any of the seven fights, and completed five of them ahead of schedule.

But you shouldn't praise the Canadian too much.

Unlike the Russian, before that he met with passing opponents and was not subjected to serious tests.