UFC Vegas 62 wasn’t stacked with high-level names. Aside from UFC vet Cub Swanson and legendary submission expert Misha Cirkunov, there were many new, young guns on the card. But there were top-notch battles and excellent performances, despite there was no stoppage in the main event of the evening!
Dusko Todorovic survived the brutal barrage of punches in the first, then recovered in the second and grounded and pounded Jordan Wright to sleep. Dana White loved the bout and both Octagon warriors were rewarded with an extra 50k (Fight of the Night bonus).
After a slow start, Tatsuro Taira crushed CJ Vergara’s pace in the second and finished him via a slick armbar. Jonathan Martinez chopped Cub Swanson down with a legendary inside-leg kick. Both fighters earned an extra 50k for the Performance of the Night.
There hasn’t been a UFC spectacle for a while, but UFC 280 pay-per-view returns this week with another super-promising show.
The promotion travels across the pond to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. According to the names, this looks like the most powerful UFC fight card in 2022.
In the main event of the evening, the grappling phenom and the Octagon warrior with the greatest number of submission stoppages, Charles Oliveira, squares off against a dangerous wrestling machine with a powerful left hand, Islam Makhachev.
This is the clash of BJJ and wrestling, but Charles has knockout power in his hands too. After a brutal KO win over Michael Chandler, everybody noticed how hard this Brazilian can hit. He is also very solid in defending strikes, plus his cage control aspect of the game has improved significantly. Makhachev is better in top control and pressure, but I’d rather go with the Brazilian.
Prediction: Charles to win (+155)
Aljamain Sterling is not a fan-favorite, that’s for sure! Yet, his lateral moves rock, and he never sits at one spot, so he could be a serious threat to one of the greatest punchers at 135 the world has ever seen, TJ Dillashaw. You can expect toe-to-toe combat and trading barbs here, Aljamain will not engage with TJ, he will probably try to slow the bout down and score a unanimous decision win. Or we might see a submission attempt if the bout gets dragged to the ground, but TJ hits like a mac truck, anything could happen!
Prediction: TJ to win (+155), or the fight lasts over 4.5 rounds (-195)
There are tons of Sean O’Malley’s fans all-around the globe. His Taekwondo kicks and excellent long-range strikes earned the hearts of millions of people in the world, but he can forget about it against Petr Yan. The dangerous Russian is a pressure fighter with furious punches and superb space control. It’s a big problem for Sean, especially considering Petr’s cardio – this guy never gets tired!
Prediction: Yan to win (-280)
You can see the full UFC 280 fight card below.
Main Card (ESPN+ PPV, 2 PM ET, 8 PM CET)
UFC Lightweight Championship: Charles Oliveira (33-8-0) vs. Islam Makhachev (22-1-0)
UFC Bantamweight Championship: Aljamain Sterling (21-3-0) vs. T.J. Dillashaw (17-4-0)
Bantamweight: Petr Yan (16-3-0) vs. Sean O’Malley (15-1-0)
Lightweight: Beneil Dariush (21-4-1) vs. Mateusz Gamrot (21-1-0)
Flyweight: Katlyn Chookagian (18-4-0) vs. Manon Fiorot (9-1-0)
Preliminary Card (ESPNews, ESPN+, UFC On Fight Pass, 10 AM ET, 4 PM CET)
Welterweight: Belal Muhammad (21-3-0) vs. Sean Brady (15-0-0)
Middleweight: Makhmud Muradov (25-7-0) vs. Caio Borralho (12-1-0)
Light Heavyweight: Volkan Oezdemir (18-6-0) vs. Nikita Krylov (28-9-0)
Featherweight: Zubaira Tukhugov (20-5-1) vs. Lucas Almeida (14-1-0)
Lightweight: Yamato Nishikawa (21-3-6) vs. Magomed Mustafaev (14-4-0)
Welterweight: Abubakar Nurmagomedov (16-3-1) vs. Gadzhi Omargadzhiev (13-1-0)
Middleweight: Armen Petrosyan (6-2-0) vs. AJ Dobson (6-1-0)
Flyweight: Muhammad Mokaev (7-0-0) vs. Malcolm Gordon (14-5-0)
Bantamweight: Lina Länsberg (10-6-0) vs. Karol Rosa (15-4-0)
Here are my predictions for the upcoming UFC 280 fight card (this is optional, I will not count this paragraph in the number of words, you said you will ink me):
Guys, UFC 280 is the most stacked card of the year, please sit and watch it! It kicks off at 4 PM CET, or 10 AM ET, it will be the greatest UFC spectacle in 2022!
