The next few months will be a fun stretch for fight fans. The UFC has a pay-per-view in Anaheim (UFC 298 on ESPN+) this month and Fight Night cards in Las Vegas and Mexico City.
Plus, the clash of PFL and Bellator champions is set to go down in Saudi Arabia on Feb. 24. Bellator, One Championship and UFC all have pay-per-view cards with titles up for grabs in March, and the UFC’s milestone 300th pay-per-view — with a loaded card — will take center stage in April.
But questions abound with such a stacked schedule. Which champions are most at risk of dropping their belt? What fights in the next few months offer the most intrigue? What does Kayla Harrison’s transition from PFL to UFC mean going forward.
We tapped Jeff Wagenheim, Marc Raimondi and Brett Okamoto to provide insight and analysis on these questions and more, along with a bold prediction on what’s to come in the world of MMA.
Jeff Wagenheim: Sean O’Malley. I’m not expecting him to lose to Marlon Vera, honestly, because “Suga Sean” will be dialed in when he faces the only man who owns a victory over him.
But I will point toward O’Malley here because, looking at the three title fights on the UFC books, I would be shocked to see either Alexander Volkanovski or Zhang Weili dethroned.
Alexander the Great” is 35 years old and coming off a knockout loss, and his challenger, Ilia Topuria, is undefeated. But Volkanovski is just too damn good, with more than twice as many title defenses as any other UFC champ. As for Zhang, she’s No. 1 pound-for-pound, and it’s not even close.
And let me add that while I’m all for the BMF belt as a sideshow trinket, I’m not taking it seriously as a championship, so I’m setting that fight aside for this discussion.So that leaves O’Malley as the leas invulnerable champion.
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