The year is nearly over – and it has been quite the 12 months in UFC. The final few big events of the year saw a number of champions lose their titles, meaning there will be some very interesting bouts in January and February.
As the UFC betting markets gear up for those top-ranking sports shows, here is a preview of what to expect from fight nights taking place in the new year.
Review of UFC 281
At the time of writing, UFC 282 was still to be held at the home of the organization in Paradise, Nevada. But it will go a long way to bring the excitement of the previous event that took place at the world-famous Madison Square Garden in New York City in November.
On a packed night of mixed martial arts action, fans saw two champions lose their belts in the headline bouts—Carla Esparza, who lost by way of submission to Zhang Weili, and Israel Adesanya, who lost to Alex Pereira in the men’s middleweight division.
It will be difficult to match the excitement of that night. But the two UFC events in the first two months of 2023 have a lot of potential.
UFC 283
UFC 283 is returning to Brazil, and it is the first time the organization has returned to the country since 2020 – and that was held behind closed doors because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
There have been many incredible Brazilian fighters and the fans are some of the most passionate in the world. On January 21, they will be able to cheer on one of their own, when Deiveson Figueiredo takes on Brandon Moreno for the fourth time, as he defends his men’s flyweight title.
The bouts between the two have been evenly split – with one win apiece and a draw – and now Figueiredo has the chance to prove he is the best fighter once and for all.
There are plenty of other Brazilian fighters on the rest of the scheduled card, so the local fans are sure to make this one of the most memorable UFC occasions of recent times.
UFC 284
This one is to be held in Perth, Australia, with UFC making a return to the country for the first time since 2019.
There is some local Australian and New Zealand talent scheduled to be a big part of the night. But the main event will undoubtedly be the men’s lightweight championship bout between the current champion, Islam Makhachev, and the number one, Pound-for-Pound fighter in the world, Alexander Volkanovski.
Australian fighter Volkanovski is the current men’s featherweight champion and this is only the eighth time in UFC history that champions in different weights have fought for the same title. Makhachev showed he has immense MMA skills in October, when he beat Charles Oliveira to claim the vacant lightweight championship.
The challenger has plenty of experience fighting in this weight division though – and an enviable career record of 25 wins and just one loss. But he is coming up against a very exciting opponent and may need the local fans on his side to be successful.
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