5 great UFC fights to look forward to in March

#2: Thiago Santos vs. Magomed Ankalaev – UFC Fight Night 203

Magomed Ankalaev could secure a title shot with an impressive win over Thiago Santos

The first UFC Fight Night event of March sees a major light-heavyweight fight in the headline spot, as prospect Magomed Ankalaev faces his toughest test to date in the form of former title challenger Thiago Santos.

With current champion Glover Teixeira set to battle top contender Jiri Prochazka at some point in 2022, it’s debatable as to who should claim the next title shot following that bout. While Santos is unlikely to reach that point with a win here, the same cannot be said for Ankalaev.

The native of Dagestan has been on a truly dominant run since arriving in the octagon in 2018. Right now, he’s riding a winning streak of seven bouts, including finishes of Dalcha Lungiambula and Ion Cutelaba.

His most recent wins over Nikita Krylov and Volkan Oezdemir weren’t quite so explosive, but were still mightily impressive. It’s arguable that with Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier now gone, his wrestling is the best that the UFC's light heavyweight division currently has to offer.

Santos, meanwhile, is coming off a win over Johnny Walker, and while that fight wasn’t overly fun to watch, ‘Marreta’ usually delivers the goods inside the octagon. A brutal striker, the Brazilian is more than willing to fight fire with fire – and could well be seen as a glass cannon of sorts.

He’ll definitely be the most dangerous foe that Ankalaev has faced thus far into his career. But if the Dagestani can overcome the former title challenger, then it’d be hard to deny him his own shot at the gold – making this a must-see fight for all fans.

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#1: Colby Covington vs. Jorge Masvidal – UFC 272

If Colby Covington looks to strike with Jorge Masvidal, the fans might be treated to a UFC classic

While it isn’t a big-time title bout, there can be no doubt that the most intriguing fight that the UFC has to offer in March is the welterweight clash between Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal.

The two bitter rivals are set to headline the first event of the month in the form of UFC 272, and given their star power, they could well turn the pay-per-view into one of the biggest hits of 2022.

As most people are now well aware, ‘Chaos’ and ‘Gamebred’ were once close friends and training partners as part of American Top Team, but a nasty split that saw Covington depart the team a couple of years ago turned them into hated enemies.

However, while we’re sure to hear much more about their rivalry in the coming weeks, will the fight deliver the goods inside the octagon?

The likely answer is yes. While ‘Chaos’ would seem to have a clear path to victory by looking to emulate Kamaru Usman’s wrestling-based victory over Masvidala at UFC 251, he may prefer to use a different gameplan.

In his 2019 win over Robbie Lawler, Covington instead unleashed a volume-based pressure striking attack – and if he tries the same thing against Masvidal, who is widely considered one of the best boxers in the UFC, then we could be in for a genuine classic.

Either way, whenever the bad blood flows like it will here, an unmissable fight ensues – making this clash the most intriguing one booked for March.