Both Volkanovski and Usman are taking their fights on like 10 days out from their fights. I hope they are in shape so we see them at their best. I'll be honest, I think Charles Oliveira is scared to fight Makhachev. I think Islam is in his head. Charles was talking about how much he wanted a rematch, then when he got it, he was bitching about the fight, then at like 2 weeks out, he called out of the fight due to a cut. Paulo Costa is so undependable, i'd almost have somebody on the side anytime he agrees to fight. He pulls out of so many fights. He supposedly had arm or shoulder surgery this past week.
I can't wait to see the Volk/Islam fight. I can't call it either way. Volk had surgery 2 months ago, then had a child, but took this fight with only 10 days of prep for it. He stated he has been training, so props for him. Hopefully he avoids Islams body triangle. Hopefully he fights like he did in the 5th round of their last fight. Islam is a killer though man....soooo pumped for this fight!
Same with Usman, major respect for him taking this fight. I hope he is in good cardio shape. One thing to note is that it is only a 3 round fight! Usman had fought and prepped for like 10 plus 10-round fights up until now. He is coming in heavier I believe, so this is the question mark for me. Maybe he'll come in stronger though. So many unknowns. I love this fight though. This is the first major opponent, on paper, a real champion, that Khamzat will have fought in the UFC...outside of Gilbert Burns, who lost to Usman. Absolutely super pumped about this fight!!! I'm more pumped for this mathup than the Costa fight. The other factor is that Khamzat is a huge guy, so size and strength will be interesting to see. Usman is super strong, but we'll see.
Johnny Walker has looked really good in his last couple of fights. I don't think Ankalaev is a shoo-in for the win. I think this will be a good fight, unless one of the two gets clipped, which could happen. I may even go with Walker for the upset. I didn't think Ankalaev looked very impressive when he fought Blachowicz in his last fight.
Aliskerov should run right through Alves. It was a late opponent since Nassourdine dropped out, which would have been a good fight. Aliskerov is a beast, he is 14-1, with his only loss was to Khamzat back in 2019 when they were fighting in BRAVE. He got clipped right away in the 1st round, so not much to go on from that fight.
Said is a crafty fighter on the feet and good on the ground. He is coming off a loss to Jonathan Martinez, who is on a major streak and just won again this last weekend. I don't know anything about Gafurov...dunno. lol.
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Undercard.
Elliott vs Mokaev will probably be a good fight. Elliott is good, but Mokaev is a killer and undefeated and blazing up the ranks.
I don't know many other fighters. Both Basharat and Jubli are undefeated. Nathaniel Wood and Bruno Silva are both solid fighters, but I don't know anything about their competitors. All the other fighters have no wiki bios
