Dolidze vs. Imavov

After a week off from UFC action, we are finally back in the UFC apex for a middleweight bout between two top 15 fighters. We will also see the return of fan favorite Drew Dober as he looks to start a winning streak. The card doesn't feature a ton of huge names but there are plenty of entertaining mixed martial artists along with future stars this Saturday at 6pm.

Main Event

    The 8th ranked contender at 185 pounds, Roman Dolidze, looks to bounce back in a big way from his loss to Marvin Vettori nearly a year ago. It was only the second loss of his professional career that has included plenty of highlight level finishes. The Georgian born fighter looked to have found a home at middleweight despite starting his career all the way up at heavyweight. He's 5-1 as a middleweight and didn't look all that bad in his unanimous decision loss last March. While Roman is getting older, this looks to be a last chance at a title push. Winning this Saturday would be a huge step in the right direction and would give him a chance at a highly ranked contender.

    Dolidze's opponent, Nassourdine Imavov, has looked really sharp in his UFC career and will look to get one of the biggest wins to date. He last suffered defeat against future champion Sean Strickland back in early 2023. Imavov doesn't have the highlight reel like his opponent, but he has a bright future in the sport as he's only 28. There will be plenty of fights in his career still to come but this will be huge in determining if the Russian is legit in pursuing for a UFC title.

Other Fights

• Renato Moicano vs. Drew Dober- 15th ranked lightweight, Drew Dober is back in the octogen, and fireworks are almost guaranteed. He will fight another ranked lightweight who is also coming off a knockout. Dober loves to go at his opponent, and he will certainly do that against the Brazilian, Moicano. Moicano is a wrestler and submission specialist with sneaky power. This will not be an easy task for Dober as he's the underdog in this co-main event brawl.

• Molly McCann vs. Diana Belbita- This one will be an interesting scrap between two similar fighters. Both have a background in wrestling but love to stand up and there's no obvious pick in this one. England loves Molly McCann and it's good to see her get back in the ring after dropping her last two fights by first round defeats. She will be facing a familiar foe in Belbita who she beat back in 2019. McCann won by unanimous decision, but Belibita believes she has improved enough to get the win this time and bounce back from losing her last fight as well. 

• Aliaskhab Khizriev vs. Makhmud Muradov- Undefeated Russian, Aliaskhab Khizriev returns to the ring for a bout against a similar styled fighter in Makhmud Muradov. Khizriev is a young and upcoming fighter that many UFC fans are eager to see rise the ranks. He has the capabilities to finish a fight however he would like and really hasn't shown any weakness in his MMA career. The two foreigners will square off in a future star's battle.

In The News

What's next at 185?

    After an extremely controversial fight in the UFC's first headliner, Dricus Du Plessis took the belt from Sean Strickland. Many scored the fight in Stricklands favor, but ultimately the judges gave the fight to the South African. There are many routes the UFC can take for Du Plessis' first defense. Ill rank them from least likely to most likely.

3. Sean Strickland- I think that Strickland won the fight, and this is what should happen. Sean looked really sharp in that fight. I'm a huge believer that you need to take the belt decisively from a former champ and Dricus needs to prove he truly did that in a rematch. However, Dana White has said he doesn't think the UFC will go this direction and it's really quite unfortunate. Strickland is the most deserving and he really has become a household name for the UFC. Hopefully he will get another chance at the belt another time.

2. Khamzat Chimaev- The undefeated wrestler has looked sharp his whole time in the UFC, and he looks about ready for a title shot. He also claims that Dana White offered him a title shot after his win against Kamaru Usman last October. Chimaev will get a chance at the 185 throne eventually, I just think he's going to need another big one to get it for sure. I could actually see him fighting Strickland in his next fight as a number 1 contender match.

1. Israel Adesanya- As undeserved as it would be a title shot for Adesanya is going to happen. He has hinted at a return multiple times and this will sell a bunch of paper views. Du Plessis hates Adesanya and Adesanya hates Du Plessis, it just makes sense from a business perspective. Adesanya really doesn't deserve this title shot after losing his last fight to Strickland, but I get it, he's an all-time great. I would expect to see this happen at UFC 300 in April if this happen... but well get to that in a moment.

Adesanya and Du Plessis facing off back in 2023

300 Main Event

    

    We are due to find out the main event for UFC 300 in the next few weeks and it could be as soon as today. There have been plenty of hints to what it might be, but no one really knows. The biggest prediction anyone has is the return of Connor McGregor against fifth ranked Michael Chandler. Personally, I don't think we are going to see it but my fingers are crossed. I believe the most likely option is that Leon Edwards will be headlining the card. I'm not sure who they will have him fight but let me explain how I got to this Leon Edwards prediction:

• Connor McGregor- I don't think they need him on this card, and they won't rush his return. A card as stacked as UFC 300 will sell plenty as is. Save him for another card where you can get a million PPV buys in the summer.

• Islam Makachev- Ramadan and he's not super active. It's that simple.

• Amanda Nunes Return- I think we will see it in 2024, but Dana White won't want her to headline the biggest card in years. 

• Khabib/GSP/Jon Jones/Brock Lesnar- Three of the greatest ever, but they are either hurt or have said they won't leave retirement and honestly, I believe it.

• Tom Aspinall- Unless it's against the next guy in a super fight, I don't see it happening.

• Alex Pereria- Now for one of the realistic one, Pereria is super active and likes to fight. However, the reality is he wouldn't headline this PPV unless it's against either Israel Adesanya or Tom Aspinall. Adesanya seems like the perfect headline fight, but I think Adesanya would rather worry about his natural weight class at 185 now that Du Plessis has the belt and has called him out. As for Tom Aspinall, it would be a super fight with Pereria trying to win a belt in a third division, something that's never been done. I could see this happening one day, but not yet. He needs to worry about light heavyweight and with the timeframe and lack of options, I could see him headlining whatever is after UFC 300.

• Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya- I just talked about this one and it makes a lot of sense, however this would be a really quick turnaround for Du Plessis, and I could see them waiting a bit longer for this African super fight. This is easily the most likely besides Leon in my opinion.

I've established why I think the 185-pound English king will be headlining the card, now let's go over the two fighters I could see across from Edwards this April.

• Belal Muhamed- Belal is easily the most deserving and that's why he's the second ranked contender in the weight class. He is on a 7-fight win streak and has beat some of the bigger names in the weight class, notably Gilbert Burns in his last contest. The one knock on Belal is that he's not very dominant and he is a very unknown fighter. He has absolutely no brand to his name and the MMA community would be pissed if he was on the main card of such a big event. He also has won 6 of the 7 fights in his win streak by decision, including multiple very controversial and close ones. He will get his title shot eventually, but it might have to wait if it's going to be on 300.

• Shavkat Rakhmonov- The Nomad and arguably the fighter with the most potential on the UFC roster. He is 18-0 with 18 finishes in dominant fashion. He doesn't have a huge personality, but fans really seem to enjoy him. Is he as deserving as Belal? No. But I think he gets this title shot because its more exciting and in the long run could pay off if Shavkat becomes a household name years down the line. He may not have fought the names that Belal has, but Rakhmonov has that "it" factor you need to have in order to be constant winner.