UFC 283: Previewing Glover Teixeira vs. Jamahal Hill and the Rest of the Card
UFC 283, the Las Vegas-based promotion's first pay-per-view event of 2023, is slated for January 21 in Rio de Janeiro, and it looks like a great way to kick off the new year.
The card will be headlined by a fight for the vacant light heavyweight title, as former champion Glover Teixeira takes on streaking contender Jamahal Hill.
There will also be a title up for grabs in the co-main event, as flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo attempts to defend his belt against Brandon Moreno, the division's interim champ. It will be the fourth time the two flyweight stars have fought.
Beyond the two title fights atop the bill, UFC 283 will include a high-stakes welterweight battle between longtime contenders Gilbert Burns and Neil Magny. And before the welterweights get to work, former strawweight champ Jessica Andrade will meet Lauren Murphy in a clash of flyweight contenders.
The opening bout of the main card, finally, will see former light heavyweight champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua partake in his final fight opposite fellow Brazilian Ihor Potieria, while the undercard will feature appearances from ranked contenders, tough veterans and rising prospects alike.
Keep scrolling for a preview of what's to come in Rio this January.
UFC 283 Fight Card
- Glover Teixeira vs. Jamahal Hill
- Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno
- Gilbert Burns vs. Neil Magny
- Jessica Andrade vs. Lauren Murphy
- Ihor Potieria vs. Mauricio Rua
- Paul Craig vs. Johnny Walker
- Gabriel Bonfim vs. Mounir Lazzez
- Zarah Fairn vs. Josiane Nunes
- Gregory Rodrigues vs. Brad Tavares
- Ismael Bonfim vs. Terrance McKinney
- Shamil Abdurakhimov vs. Jailton Almeida
- Guram Kutateladze vs. Thiago Moises
- Warlley Alves vs. Nicolas Dalby
- Luan Luiz Lacerda vs. Cody Stamann
- Saimon Oliveira vs. Daniel Marcos
Glover Teixeira (33-8) vs. Jamahal Hill (11-1)
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There's no need to beat around the bush when it comes to the UFC 283 main event: It's a bit of a weird one.
Brazil's Glover Teixeira will be taking on Michigan's Jamahal Hill for the vacant light heavyweight title. Both are among the division's best fighters, but it's unlikely either of them would be fighting for the belt were it not for a ridiculous series of unlucky breaks and unexpected twists.
It all started when Jiri Prochazka defeated Glover Teixeira to win the light heavyweight belt at UFC 275 in June. It was one of the year's best fights—actually, it was an all-time classic—and the UFC quickly moved to book a rematch between the two stars.
Regrettably, Prochazka was forced out of that planned rematch with a shoulder injury that was so severe he vacated the belt altogether.
With the light heavyweight throne empty, the UFC then pitted top contenders Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev against each other to crown a new champion.
Unfortunately, the universe again had other plans, as Blachowicz and Ankalaev battled to a draw, meaning neither man left the cage with the belt. To make matters worse, the fight itself was pretty forgettable, which made an immediate rematch a tough sell.
In the end, the UFC went another direction, calling on Teixeira and Hill to fight for the vacant belt on just a few weeks' notice. It's not a perfect solution, but it's still a solid fight.
The former champ Teixeira, despite being 43 years old, remains one of the division's most dangerous grapplers and boasts deceptive power, even if he's a bit on the slower side. Hill, meanwhile, is a member of the new guard, with seven knockouts among his victories. He's already beaten Thiago Santos, Johnny Walker, Jimmy Crute and Ovince Saint Preux, and his only loss came when he suffered an arm injury in a fight with Paul Craig.
It's going to be hard to consider anybody the true champion until they defeat Prochazka—and he's still out for a while—but this is a good matchup with a high likelihood of a finish.
At the very least, it will be a good distraction while Prochazka heals up.
Deiveson Figueiredo (21-2-1) vs. Brandon Moreno (20-6-2)
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It's pretty unusual for two fighters to meet in the cage four times. It's only happened a handful of times in MMA.
It'll happen again in the UFC 283 co-main event, when undisputed flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo and interim champion Brandon Moreno look for a decisive end to one of the most exciting and competitive rivalries in the promotion's history.
Figueiredo, from Brazil, and Moreno, from Mexico, first met in December 2020. At the time, Figueiredo was looking close to unbeatable at flyweight, and most believed Moreno was in over his head. Yet the pair ended up battling to a draw that was so entertaining the UFC had no choice but to book an immediate rematch.
The rematch went down in June 2021. And while the first fight was competitive, the second was anything but, as Moreno battered the champion to a third-round submission to take the belt for himself.
In hindsight, that might have been a good place to hit pause on their rivalry, but the UFC opted to book a third fight between them. That third fight, which went down in January 2022, was once again incredibly competitive, with Figueiredo ultimately reclaiming the belt with a unanimous-decision win.
From there, Figueiredo was sidelined by a contract dispute for the remainder of the year, which forced the UFC to create an interim title. Moreno won the interim belt with a third-round TKO of Kai Kara-France in July, leaving the promotion with no choice but to book a fourth fight between him and Figueiredo to unify the titles.
It will happen at UFC 283, and if the first three fights are any indication, we're in for a treat.
At worst, this fight should put the rivalry to bed for good and open the door to a long list of fresh matchups in the weight class.
Gilbert Burns (20-5) vs. Neil Magny (27-9)
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Outside of the title fights atop the card, the biggest fight on the UFC 283 lineup will be a welterweight showdown between ranked contenders Neil Magny and Gilbert Burns.
The two welterweights have been in the division's Top 15 for what feels like forever but have miraculously never met in the Octagon before.
The fight finally came together after Magny set the record for most victories in UFC welterweight history with a submission defeat of Daniel Rodriguez in November. That feat put him in a position to pretty much call his shot for his next fight, and he was quick to set his sights on Burns.
Burns is a former welterweight title challenger, having come up short in a fight with Kamaru Usman in February 2021. He has shown some amazing knockout power in the cage, but his best weapon is his Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
His submissions are going to make him a very tough test for Magny, who has struggled against similar fighters like Rafael dos Anjos in the past. But if Magny can use his reach and cardio to somehow pull off a win, it will send him crashing into the welterweight Top Five, where a the title shot that has so far eluded him will not be far off.
Best of the Rest
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Jessica Andrade (23-9) vs. Lauren Murphy (16-5)
Jessica Andrade has proved she is one of the best fighters alive at both strawweight and flyweight. While she has suffered lopsided stoppage losses to both divisions' champions—Zhang Weili and Valentina Shevchenko—she has the chops to beat just about everyone else and seems to be content to stay busy fighting whomever until circumstances allow her to challenge for a belt again.
Her next fight will pit her against a fellow Shevchenko victim in Lauren Murphy. She should win it, but Murphy is a clever veteran who could have some tricks up her sleeve.
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (27-13-1) vs. Ihor Potieria (19-3)
Brazil's Mauricio "Shogun" Rua is a bona fide MMA legend, and at UFC 283, he will step into the Octagon for a final time. The 41-year-old former UFC light heavyweight champ, who also won the 2005 Pride Middleweight Grand Prix, will take on Ukraine's Ihor Potieria.
Potieria, who is 15 years Shogun's junior at 26, looks like a pretty brutal sendoff for the legend. He has finished seven fights by knockout and seven by sub, and he seems to have all the tools to ruin his retiring foe's fairytale ending.
Then again, he was stopped by Nicolae Negumereanu in his last fight, so he is beatable. You never know.
Paul Craig (16-5-1) vs. Johnny Walker (19-7)
Scotland's Paul Craig and Brazil's Johnny Walker are both ranked in the light heavyweight Top 15, but it's hard to imagine either winning the title any time soon. That's because they both have a habit of losing fights they probably could have won, usually because of extremely poor decision-making and game planning.
The good news is that they are both very good at pulling off ridiculous wins too—stoppages that are so improbable that they border on flukey.
Whether it's the BJJ specialist Paul pulling off another last-second submission like the one he used to beat Magomed Ankalaev, or Walker finishing with a sequence like the ones he used to beat Khalil Rountree and Misha Cirkunov, it seems unlikely this one goes the distance.
Jailton Almeida (17-2-0) vs. Shamil Abdurakhimov (20-7-0)
It's not often that we get new contenders in the heavyweight division. There just aren't that many massive men who choose fighting over more lucrative sports like football or basketball.
Thankfully, Brazil's Jailton Almeida chose MMA, and after scoring finishes in his first three UFC bouts, he'll take the biggest test of his career at UFC 283 when he battles No. 14 contender Shamil Abdurakhimov with a spot in the rankings on the line.
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