The Best of a Bad Situation: The 6 Top UFC Fights for the Rest of 2020
Fight fans, I have some good news and some bad news. First, the bad news: There are some awful UFC fight cards coming up between now and the end of 2020. They are like roadkill that's been run over so many times you can no longer tell what sort of animal it was.
If you follow MMA, this isn't exactly a new paradigm. With ESPN in desperate need of content and UFC owners in desperate need of debt service, all parties have clung to a show-must-go-on mindset, even if it means putting Deiveson Figueiredo and Alex Perez at the top of a pay-per-view main card. Just the way it is.
Now for the good news, which is twofold. First, you don't have to buy or watch any of these cards. Those three magical letters—U-F-C—give the events an unequaled panache in the combat sports world, but the substance doesn't always equal the style. Just something to be aware of.
Second, all the six announced UFC cards from now through the end of the year have been waded through to unearth the hidden gems. These are the six must-watch bouts (though not every card is represented). We're not cherry-picking from the mains and co-mains, either, although there are some of those. So if you are wondering what and when to watch, let this slideshow be your guide.
Fights are listed in no particular order.
Takashi Sato vs. Miguel Baeza
1 of 6Event: UFC Fight Night 184
Date: November 28
Weight class: Welterweight
You may not know either of these names, but after UFC Fight Night 184, you. will be aware of at least one of them. Neither of these guys is going backwards, both are hungry, both have all the tools and both are on the cusp of a breakout on the big stage.
Sato is just 2-1 in the UFC, but in June he needed only 48 seconds to wash Jason Witt out of Las Vegas. His game is not nuanced; only three of his pro fights have ended in decision. Eleven of his wins have come by knockout.
Baeza is likely not intimidated. Caramel Thunder—hey, he stole my nickname!—has seven of his nine wins by knockout. He earned notoriety earlier this year when he flattened veteran fan-fave Matt Brown in the first 20 seconds of the second round.
If you like prop bets, the likelihood of a knockout here should be driving you toward wherever it is you do that. Follow all applicable laws and whatnot.
Marlon Moraes vs. Rob Font
2 of 6
Event: UFC Fight Night 186
Date: December 19
Weight class: Bantamweight
Both these guys are berserkers. Both know the other one is a berserker. Sometimes the math does itself.
Sure, we know that Moraes' jiu-jitsu is as good as that wood-chipper muay thai. We know Font is going to be looking for his fourth post-fight performance bonus. In his most recent fight, a full year ago in Washington D.C., Font waged a war with Ricky Simon that netted them Fight of the Night honors.
Can Font pick up where he left off? It's a tall task against a dangerous opponent made extra menacing by his desire for redemption following his October loss to Cory Sandhagen.
Kevin Holland vs. Jack Hermansson (UFC Fight Night 185)
3 of 6
Event: UFC Fight Night 185
Date: December 5
Weight class: Middleweight
One UFC fighter has managed to win four times in 2020. That fighter is Kevin Holland. That must be why the UFC tapped him to replace Darren Till atop this awful, awful fight card.
If you already have ESPN+, it's worth dropping in for this headliner. Hermansson knows something about staying busy, going 8-3 since joining the UFC four years ago, and this will be his sixth contest in the past two years. The Swedish power grappler's latest bout was a coming-out party of sorts, as he submitted Kelvin Gastelum in the first round.
Holland is outspoken, athletic and well-balanced, with 10 knockouts and six submission wins to his name. He also has a nose for the finish. His aggressive striking-based attack gets the most attention. Anyone who trains jiu-jitsu with Travis Lutter, as Holland does, will have a lot to say whenever the action hits the mat. Add in his burgeoning beef with one Israel Adesanya, and he has a lot of chips on the table.
Yes, this will be interesting. The rest of the card? Much less compelling.
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Leon Edwards vs. Khamzat Chimaev
4 of 6Event: UFC Fight Night 186
Date: December 19
Weight class: Welterweight
This is notable not only because it will be a real rip-snorter but because it also carries a whiff of palace intrigue.
You kind of feel bad for a distinguished competitor in Leon Edwards, who appears to have stepped on one of the UFC's signature matchmaking landmines. You get excited for the possibility of a breakout performance from an exciting new Russian talent. Either way, just get excited. This will be full of action, while putting two notable careers at the crossroads.
Edwards, the brash British head-hunter, might have gotten a title shot by now if people could get over their obsession with Colby Covington. Edwards sits third on the UFC welterweight rankings. Chimaev isn't ranked at all. So there's high risk and low reward for Edwards, who has received criticism for not going along with the UFC's bidding on match-making—the promotion threatened to remove him from the rankings, but he was there as of Friday morning.
That could be why they matched him with Chimaev, the latest electric prospect to emerge from Russia. The undefeated 26-year-old has stopped all nine of his opponents, six by knockout and three by submission. His most recent bout notched him a post-fight performance bonus.
Edwards will be an underdog on many betting ledgers. That's what happens when you wake up the UFC during its naptime, Leon.
Valentina Shevchenko vs. Jennifer Maia
5 of 6
Event: UFC 255
Date: November 21
Weight class: Flyweight (for Shevchenko's women's flyweight championship)
Shevchenko, the UFC women's flyweight champion, might be the most electric competitor on the women's UFC roster this side of Amanda Nunes. In her most recent bout in February, Valentina laid to rest concerns that her style was overly conservative or one-dimensional, mixing head kicks and heavy ground-and-pound in bloodying and dispatching Katlyn Chookagian.
That ground game better be on point if she's going to handle Maia, a BJJ black belt with five submission wins to her name.
Shevchenko is an overwhelming favorite and should make short work of her opponent. But with her razor-sharp muay thai, sky-high fight IQ and overflowing in-ring charisma, Shevchenko is always must-see TV. Why this fight got billing below Figueiredo and Perez is beyond anyone but the UFC.
Petr Yan vs. Aljamain Sterling
6 of 6
Event: UFC 256
Date: December 12
Weight class: Bantamweight (for Yan's UFC men's bantamweight championship)
Find your hatches and batten them. The brash Yan sling-shotted his way to the bantamweight championship with a string of wins, including over John Dodson, Jimmie Rivera, Urijah Faber and then Jose Aldo. That's pretty good. Even better is his unparalleled standup game, which is always a joy to watch—unless you are fighting him, and then it's terrifying.
Sterling's hands have come a long way in his career, but his stock in trade is wrestling and that rugged submission game that always seems to have his opponents in some kind of painful contortion.
This is a consummate and compelling striker-grappler matchup. If you can only pick one fight between now and New Year's Eve, this is the one to watch.
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