With this coming summer season season set to deliver a number of the most high-profile fights of the yr for the UFC, let’s check out probably the most anticipated bouts at the moment booked on paper forward of an enormous schedule for the game chief.
Islam Makhachev vs. Dustin Poirier – UFC 302
Simply mere weeks away, an enormous undisputed light-weight title battle lands in Newark, New Jersey in June – with pound-for-pound primary, Islam Makhachev seeking to rack up a 3rd profitable protection of his divisional title.
And matching with a contemporary face following a pair of consecutive fights in opposition to former featherweight greatest, Alexander Volkanovski, dominant champion, Makhachev takes on the returning former interim champion, Dustin Poirier – who appears to strike it third time fortunate in pursuit of an undisputed crown.
Incomes his return to a title setting at UFC 302, Lafayette veteran, Poirier rallied in opposition to the surging, Benoit Saint Denis again in March – halting the Nimes native’s run by the division, with a highlight-reel KO win. Coming into at primary on our listing of the highest three most anticipated bouts of the yr – followers can wager on MMA fights – together with Makhachev’s title protection in opposition to Poirier, up and till they enter the Octagon subsequent month.
Robert Whittaker vs. Khamzat Chimaev – UFC Battle Night time Saudi Arabia
Marking the promotion’s first foray to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – former undisputed middleweight champion, Robert Whittaker appears to maintain his slot atop the division’s elite, and certain earn himself one other shot at his former crown, as he takes on unbeaten berserker, Khamzat Chimaev.
Whittaker, a fan-favorite former undisputed titleholder at 185lbs – returned to profitable methods again in February at UFC 298 in opposition to former championship chaser, Paulo Costa, battling over the course of three rounds to land himself a break up judging victory.
As for Chimaev, the Chechnya-born starlet has admittedly misplaced a head of steam constructed up since his October resolution win over former champion and pound-for-pound pacesetter, Kamaru Usman in Abu Dhabi. Nevertheless, he can go an extended strategy to producing large backing for a title battle as soon as extra with a victory over a reputation like Whittaker.
Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler – UFC 303
Arguably probably the most anticipated of those three fights we’ve chosen forward of an enormous summer season interval – particularly for the mass viewers and onlookers comes within the type of a return battle for ex-two-weight champion, Conor McGregor in opposition to rival, Michael Chandler on the finish of subsequent month at UFC 303 throughout Worldwide Battle Week.
With out a win since 2020 and sidelined for the final three years since a grotesque leg fracture, former undisputed light-weight and featherweight gold holder, McGregor makes his return to the welterweight restrict of 170lbs in tandem together with his entrance again to the Octagon.
For Chandler, the ex-Bellator MMA thrice-time light-weight gold holder will snap an nearly two-year hiatus himself from lively competitors in his much-sought-after battle with the Dublin megastar, and with the added caveat of a primary welterweight stroll since an expert debut again in 2009, each have been flapping gums aplenty – with first spherical knockout predictions fielded by each.
