At the beginning of the year, I went through 10 fights that I wanted to see happen this year. We are just shy of the midpoint of the year and like I've explained in my other posts this week, I have a lot going on this week and don't have the time to really put research hours into posts like I normally would. Instead of not putting anything up, I decided to do a mid year revisit to some of the lists that I posted coming into 2022. The last two days we've revisited the men's and women's pound for pound rankings and today, we'll go back to the top 10 fights that I wanted to see. I'll just go through and say a bit about each one and if my opinion is the same or if it has changed.
1. Valentina Shevchenko pursuit of double champ status
We haven't seen this fight yet, but given what we've heard over the last couple of weeks, it sounds like it may be on the horizon. I think my opinion on this largely holds steady. I want to see this because I think Valentina has earned the opportunity. She's been absolutely dominating flyweight and there really isn't any clear option for the next one unless Manon Fiorot is ready for that kind of fight. I think both her and Alexa Grasso could use more seasoning before they challenge Valentina and having Valentina move up would provide that extra time. Multiple fighters have gotten the chance to become double champ who were less qualified than Valentina is now, so I think she has more than earned this fight.
2. Sean O'Malley vs Cory Sandhagen
I knew this was a longshot when I originally said it, but I think my explanation is still something I agree with. If O'Malley can move up the rankings high enough, this fight would more than make itself. This would be such a fun fight to watch, even if you're not an O'Malley fan. His style lends itself to fights that are really entertaining and Sandhagen is much the same. These are two of the most dynamic strikers across the entire promotion. If the opportunity arises to pit them against each other, I don't know what the hold up would be. Given that O'Malley has been on the sidelines in 2022, it doesn't seem likely that we're getting this fight this year, but maybe we'll get it in 2023 if Sean can move up the rankings.
3. Alexander Volkanovski vs Max Holloway Part 3 and Beyond
We were supposed to get this fight earlier in 2022, but Holloway had to pull out with an injury, so we're hopefully getting this fight in July. This fight should be absolutely fantastic and I would be shocked if it wasn't. I don't want to see this rivalry limited to the trilogy format either. If we look up in late 2023 or early 2024 and these two are again sitting as the top two contenders with no other clear challenger, I would want to see them fight again. Volk and Max should fight as many times as the rest of the division deems necessary. If no one can overtake them as the two top guys, there's no need to force other fights in my opinion.
4. Henry Cejudo Returns
I think this is one of my opinions that I've cooled on a bit. The time to bring Henry back was when Max fell out of the fight with Volk, but the UFC opted to go with the Korean Zombie instead. There really isn't a fight that jumps out to me as being a great matchup for Henry. He could come back and fight Aljo, but I don't think I'm any more excited to see Aljo fight Henry than I would be to see him defend his belt against Dillashaw, Aldo, or any of the other top contenders, so I'm not really sure where Henry's lane is if and when he returns. He's a great fighter, so I would still love to see him come back, but I'm not as excited for a potential comeback as I was when these rumors were hot earlier this year. I do ultimately think we see Henry fight again though.
5. The Conor McGregor vs Nate Diaz Trilogy
Had Conor not gotten hurt in the final fight of his trilogy with Dustin Poirier, I think we may have already seen this fight happen. Unfortunately, Conor's leg is still recovering and he may not even return this year. The situation with Nate Diaz and the UFC is a strange one and I honestly don't know how it plays out at this point. I think the UFC was going to play hard ball with Nate and either hold him out for his last fight to be Conor or get him to resign with them. However, with Conor not really being on the horizon and Nate demanding a fight, this will be interesting to watch play out. I still maintain it would be a crime to not finish this trilogy one day, but it is also just as bad if the UFC holds Nate out for that long.
6. Khamzat Chimaev vs Gilbert Burns
I don't know how I predicted this fight correctly, but I'm sure glad I did because it may be the fight of the year to this point. This fight promised so much and we knew it was going to test Khamzat for real this time and it delivered everything we wanted and more. This was a back and forth battle that saw the general opinion of both fighters rise. Khamzat proved that he was for real and Gilbert Burns proved everything that we already knew about him. This fight was tremendous and I'm just glad we got to see it.
7. Jorge Masvidal vs Colby Covington
This is one of the fights on this list that we have gotten so far and it really wasn't anything special. I thought this fight would feel big and it did at times, but it also felt a little weird at times. Some of the fight week stuff made it feel big and fun, while other parts made it feel meaningless and too cringeworthy. The fight itself was a little underwhelming as well because Colby controlled long stretches from the top, especially as the fight got later and later. Within 10 minutes of the fight ending, the event honestly felt pretty empty and I was one of the people who defended it. It really didn't turn out the way I thought, but it wasn't completely awful either. I guess I'm glad it happened just so we got to see it, but I don't think I'll think about that fight very often for the rest of my life.
8. Israel Adesanya vs Darren Till
This fight isn't particularly on the horizon, mostly because Till hasn't fought yet this year. I had hoped this fight would be close or at least being talked about because that would mean Till is back on track, but he just hasn't seemed like himself in awhile now. He is going to be on the upcoming UFC London card, so I do hope that he can start to turn things around and push towards another title shot. This fight would be pretty fun, but I'm starting to lose some hope.
9. Glover Teixeira vs Jiri Prochazka
This fight is only a little more than a week away now, so we'll see this playout. Jiri Prochazka is one fighter that I get really excited to watch every time he is on the schedule just because he has this sense of unknown about him. I still feel like I'm not fully aware of what he is capable of. He seems to have so much potential and his unique approach to fighting makes him an interesting character to follow. I really want to see how his grappling looks. He fights so infrequently that I can't really even be sure how much he is improving between fights. Glover on the other hand is so easy to root for. I really don't want to see him lose the belt and was so happy for him when he won. This fight is going to be a fun one and I don't think it has a high chance of going the distance.
10. Jon Jones at Heavyweight
This is another fight where my interest is starting to fade. I still want to see Jon at heavyweight just to see what he looks like and how it all translates to heavyweight, but with each passing day, my interest is less and less. We haven't seen Jon in so long that I think a lot of the cache that he's built up is starting to fade as well. In a young sport like MMA, new fans are latching on a lot more frequently than in the much older sports and those new fans make up a greater percentage of the overall fanbase. Given that the UFC was one of the very first things to return following the COVID lockdown, I imagine that they gained a ton of new fans in that time. All of the fans that those early cards brought in as well as all of the events since like the two Conor vs Poirier fights have never seen Jon at all. I just wonder how much interest there really is in him right now. He's had another run in with the law as well, which only continues to alienate the few supporters he still has. If Jon does eventually fight, that event will sell, don't get it twisted, but I think the more time that passes, the less and less people really will care. I think I am sort of indifferent towards a Jones return at this point. I'll be excited if it actually formulates, but I won't be disappointed if it never happens. So much of this for Jon is based around money and I think the longer he waits, the less demand there is to see him. Despite still being a bit shallow, I think this is as good as the heavyweight division has looked in awhile. With Ngannou, Gane, Stipe, and Curtis Blaydes still hanging out at the top and the rise of both Tai Tuivasa and Tom Aspinall, the division has enough fighters that they can make multiple really fun fights. I don't really even know what to think about Jon anymore. It just sort of is what it is in my mind.
What do you guys think? Of the fights we've seen, which was your favorite? Of the remaining, which do you want to see the most? Leave any and all thoughts and comments below. Thanks for reading and have a good one.
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