March of 2023 might be the most action-packed month in the history of the UFC. There are two Fight Nights and two pay-per-views. You read that right. Two pay-per-view events. March 4th begins the month of madness when UFC heads to Vegas for UFC 285. The following week (3/11) is a Fight Night main-evented by the second and third-ranked Bantamweight Fighters. Then, on March 18th the UFC invades London for UFC 286. To close out March, on the 25th is another Fight headlined by the fourth and fifth-ranked Bantamweights. You are going to want to mark your calendars, you're not going to wanna miss these fights and I'm gonna tell you why.
Let's start with UFC 285. The return of the GOAT, Jon "Bones" Jones. March fourth is already highly anticipated due to Bones vs Ciryl Gane for the vacant Heavyweight Championship. As we know, Jon has never been defeated in his professional career. Gane, on the other hand, has only suffered one defeat. It was to the man who vacated the title and left the UFC for many admirable reasons, Francis Ngannou. Gane fights extremely technically, as does Bones. This fight isn't the only must-see fight on the card. Valentina Shevchenko faces Alexa Grasso in the co-main event for the Women's Flyweight Championship. Valentina has been an unstoppable force in the Flyweight division as she is currently on a nine-fight win streak. Alexa Grasso is no slouch though. She's currently on a four-fight win streak and has been clawing her way to the belt. Shevchenko struggled in her last bout against Talia Santos. Talia may be a worse matchup, but it's also possible "The Bullet's" historic reign is at its final chapter. The main card also has two other super intriguing fights. Shavkat Rakhmonov vs Geoff Neal could steal the show. They don't call Geoff Neal "Hands of Steel" for no reason. You don't believe me? Go watch Geoff's knockout against Vicente Luque. Geoff was relentlessly pounding Luque. Yet, so far no one has been able to climb the mountain that is Shavkat Rakhmonov. Shavkat is cut from the same cloth as Khabib and Khamzat. He does not care about the flashiness when he's in the octagon, he just wants to finish whoever is in the opposing corner. Shavkat is unbeaten so far and has proven to be a problem for the Welterweight division. It should be interesting to see if Neal's hands can be an equalizer. Jalin turner was originally supposed to fight Dan Hooker on this card, but due to a broken hand, Mateusz Gamrot will step in on short notice. This is going to be a fun Lightweight bout between the tenth and seventh-ranked Lightweight Fighters. Finally, UFC 285 is the debut of Bo Nickal. Bo is fighting Jamie Pickett. Bo's debut has been highly anticipated since his Dana White Contender Series fights. Those fights barely lasted a total of three minutes. Bo is only a blue belt in jiu-jitsu, but in the octagon, he is submitting guys faster than you can say, Bo. If you don't know this already, Bo was a national champion collegiate wrestler at Penn State and then went on to become an Olympian for the United States. Many have high hopes for Bo. March fourth will be his first test.
As for the first UFC Fight Night of the month, Petr Yan vs Merab Dvalishvili should be an amazing main event. We already know Merab is going to be very prepared to face Yan as his sparring partner is the man who dethroned Petr Yan to become Bantamweight Champion, Aljamain Sterling. Many believe Yan has been mistreated by the UFC judges as of late losing two really close decisions to Aljo and "Suga" Sean O'Malley. If Merab wins, we know he won't challenge Aljo. Yet it is possible if Cejudo beats Aljo and Merab beats Yan that Merab will ascend to the number-one contender's spot. Yan could also get a title opportunity if he wins regardless of the outcome between Aljo and Cejudo at UFC 288. Don't blink during the co-main event or you might miss it. Alexandr Romanov fights Alexander Volkov in a Heavyweight bout. Romanov is the thirteenth-ranked Heavyweight while Volkov is the eighth. Romanov is coming off his first loss, against Marcin Tybura. Volkov has been on a very up-and-down path of late, but he is coming off of a win against Jairzinho Rozenstruik. Another fight you won't wanna miss on this card is Said Nurmagomedov vs Jonathan Martinez. Said is one of Khabib's cousins in the UFC and he's the fourteenth-ranked Bantamweight. His hopes after a victory might be to call out the winner of the main event as a win over Yan or Merab would put him right in the title picture as Said is currently on the outside looking in.
March 18th in London is going to be one of the biggest events of the year as Leon "Rocky" Edwards gets to defend his belt in his home nation of England. He is set to face Kamaru Usman. Leon is the only man to defeat Kamaru in the UFC. This is scheduled to be their third bout and second for the Welterweight Title. Their last fight brought us the moment of the year when Leon head-kicked Usman and ended his Welterweight and pound-for-pound reign after being dominated for the majority of the fight. However, they fought in Utah where altitude plays a factor in cardio. Usman trains in Colorado, one of the highest altitudes in the US. Now they get to fight in London where altitude will play zero factor. In that first round of their last fight, Leon won on every scorecard. Leon looked gassed in round two. If that's due to an altitude only, Usman is going to be in a world of hurt. Supposedly Usman is already in a world of hurt according to multiple reports. Usman underwent hand surgery a few months ago, while Joe Rogan has said that his knees are lacking an excessive amount of cartilage. If so I believe Belal Muhammad will take Kamaru's place in Leon's first title defense. Belal and Leon also have a history. In their first fight, they barely got going when half of Leon's finger plunged into Belal's eye and ended the fight due to doctor stoppage. I know Belal wants revenge and taking Leon's belt would do just that. The co-main event is going to be action-packed as well. Rafael Fizeiv vs Justin Gaethje is going to be a hell of a Lightweight Bout. Fiziev is known for his flashy Muay Thai knockouts and Justin Gaethje is known for being able to go toe-to-toe with the best of them. Gaethje's last four fights have shined as some of the best over the last few years. As for Fiziev, he's ready for the next level of competition as he defeated RDA in his last bout. If he beats Justin Gaethje, a title shot could be right around the corner. Fourth-ranked Middleweight Marvin Vettori will face eighth-ranked Middleweight Roman Dolidze to open up the card. There are even fireworks on the prelims as Mohammad Mokev is set to face Jafel Filho. Mokev is one of the biggest up-and-comers in the UFC let alone the Flyweight Division. His fighting background is sambo. Mokaev usually ends fights quickly. He'll probably do the same to Fihlo next month.
To close out the month of March for the UFC is the last Fight Night of the month. The main event is Chito Vera vs Cory Sandhagen. This Bantamweight bout might have a lot of implications for a Bantamweight Title opportunity. If Chito wins he should be next with how fun his run has been so far. If Aljo defeats Cejudo and goes up to challenge Volkanovski and Chito defeats Cory, I see O'Malley vs Vera 2 for either the title or interim title happening shortly. However, you can't look past Cory Sandhagen. Cory has had his ups and downs, but currently, he is up big coming off a scorching victory over Yadong Song via TKO doctor stoppage. Outside of the main event, this card is a little lackluster compared to the rest of the month, but third-ranked Holly Holm will take on sixth-ranked Yana Santos in the co-main event in a Women's Bantamweight bout. That should be a fun one.
We are two weeks away from the beginning of this epic month. What fight/card are you most excited about?
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