6 highly anticipated UFC fights that will happen soon

In a lot of respects, 2018 has been a disappointing year for the UFC. We haven’t had any truly major fights – ones that pique the interest of the absolute casual fan as well as the hardcore fan – and the promotion’s efforts to put together a ‘superfight’ simply didn’t take off – Stipe Miocic vs. Daniel Cormier ended up drawing a lower-than-expected pay-per-view buyrate.

With all that said though, it looks like the UFC has somehow loaded the back end of 2018 – and likely the early part of 2019 – with some truly amazing fights.

Here – in likely chronological order - are 6 highly anticipated upcoming UFC fights that the fans can’t wait to see.

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#1: Tyron Woodley vs. Darren Till – UFC 228 – 09/08/18

UFC 228 seems to be flying under the radar somewhat as a truly loaded show, top-to-bottom, but clearly the fight that’s the most highly anticipated is the main event, a Welterweight title clash between champion Tyron Woodley and undefeated challenger Darren Till.

Strangely enough, the fight wasn’t supposed to be happening, at least not just yet. Colby Covington was expected to take the next shot at Woodley’s title after winning a contentious Interim title in June, but couldn’t make the date for UFC 228 and so the promotion has handed UK favourite Till the golden ticket instead.

Detractors would probably point to Woodley’s last two title defences – dull wins over Stephen Thompson and Demian Maia – and ask why this is such a highly anticipated fight, but really the selling point is the challenge that Till could provide for the champion.

Unbelievably self-confident, the Scouse striker is coming off a tight decision win over Thompson, but before that fight he’d destroyed respected veteran Donald Cerrone in under a round, and somehow he gives off the impression that he hasn’t quite shown the entirety of his MMA game just yet. At just 25, with 17 wins under his belt, he’s probably just about entering the prime of his career.

Woodley has turned back specialists before – a world-class striker in Thompson and a world-class grappler in Maia – but he’s never been faced with someone as large as Till is for 170lbs, and unlike the counter-striking ‘Wonderboy’, Till is likely to pressure the champion – a tactic used to much success by Rory MacDonald back in 2014.

Add in the fact that the challenger is a master of confident trash talk – not completely braggadocios like Conor McGregor, but simply oozing with an air of invincibility – and this is by far Woodley’s most compelling defense yet. If Till can win, he could well become the next big superstar for the UFC, particularly in the UK market.

#2: Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor – UFC 229 – 10/06/18

The UFC are currently pushing this as the biggest fight in UFC history, and it’s hard to argue with that assessment. McGregor is clearly established now as the biggest drawing fighter in MMA history, as he’s drawn over a million pay-per-view buys on four separate occasions now, and Nurmagomedov – at 26-0 – should represent his toughest fight to date.

Add in the backstory and rivalry between the two, including April’s unsavoury incident that saw McGregor attack a bus full of UFC fighters to attempt to get to Nurmagomedov, who’d had an altercation with McGregor teammate Artem Lobov – an incident that the UFC now seem happy to capitalise on for the build to the fight – and it doesn’t get any bigger than this.

As far as who will win, it’s a fight chock-full of question marks. Many analysts felt from the moment he emerged as a UFC superstar that McGregor’s Achilles heel could be his wrestling and grappling game, but thus far the only man to have true success in that area against him was Nate Diaz – a totally different grappler than Nurmagomedov. But then McGregor has never faced a takedown artist like Khabib, and he’s also not fought in the UFC for almost two years.

As for Nurmagomedov, his perfect record is impressive but he has shown holes in his game; most notably he looked rather hittable against both Michael Johnson and Al Iaquinta despite comfortably beating both.

And McGregor has shown a penchant in the past for snacking on shorter wrestle-boxers – see Chad Mendes and Eddie Alvarez – for breakfast. So essentially, picking a winner isn’t easy at all.

Sure, it’s a cliche term, but this is a must-see fight for any true MMA fan. The UFC are probably expecting it to set a new pay-per-view buyrate record and I can’t really disagree with that idea. Miss this one at your peril.

#3: Dustin Poirier vs. Nate Diaz – UFC 230 – 11/03/18

Nate Diaz makes his long-awaited UFC return in November

The UFC has yet to confirm a headliner for their third show at the famous Madison Square Garden – a Jon Jones return has been rumoured but nothing has been set in stone – and so without a main event, by far the most fascinating fight currently set for UFC 230 is the battle between Lightweight contenders Dustin Poirier and Nate Diaz.

Diaz of course shot to fame with his two fights against Conor McGregor in 2016 – both of which set a new pay-per-view buyrate record for the UFC as Diaz turned out to be the perfect foil for the Irishman. But despite winning the first fight between the two, the Stockton native was beaten in the rematch and hasn’t fought since. And without McGregor to oppose him, whether his star remains as bright is an unknown.

Poirier is a fascinating opponent for him, because while he doesn’t pique the interest of the casual fan like McGregor, he’s begun to garner a reputation as one of the most aggressive and exciting fighters to watch on the UFC’s roster. His past three wins in particular – over Anthony Pettis, Justin Gaethje and Eddie Alvarez – were fantastic to watch.

Whether Poirier’s all-out aggression meshes well with Diaz’s style should be interesting to see – historically, Diaz has always dealt well with brawlers, but Poirier is more than just that, as his calculated win over Gaethje showed – as will the question of whether Diaz will even make it to the fight in the first place given his personal issues.

A Diaz win could well land him a lucrative fight with the winner of McGregor vs. Nurmagomedov – literally an excuse to print money if it turns out to be McGregor – and while the stakes aren’t quite as high for Poirier, this would be his biggest career win to date.

#4: Max Holloway vs. Brian Ortega – UFC 231 – 12/08/18

UFC Featherweight champ Max Holloway is set to defend against Brian Ortega in December

While this fight hasn’t been officially announced by the UFC yet, it appears to be just a matter of time before it’s signed and sealed. Hopefully it can go ahead this time and not fall through like it did in its initial booking at UFC 226, when Featherweight champion Holloway was forced out due to ‘concussion-like symptoms’.

At that time it was said that Holloway might never be fit to return to the UFC, as doctors seemingly failed to get to the bottom of his issues, but the Hawaiian is now claiming he’s healthy again and Ortega himself has confirmed that the fight has been offered for UFC 231 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

If it does indeed go ahead, then it’s easily one of the most intriguing UFC title fights in years. Holloway hasn’t lost a fight since being beaten by Conor McGregor in 2013, and since then he’s reeled off an incredible 12 victories in a row – including two over the legendary Jose Aldo – and has firmly established himself as the best 145lbs fighter on the planet.

But challengers don’t come much tougher than Ortega. ‘T-City’ is unbeaten at 14-0 and has won seven straight in the Octagon – all by some kind of finish, too. Wins over Renato Moicano and Cub Swanson were impressive, but March saw him become the first fighter to finish former Lightweight champ Frankie Edgar – the kind of win that forces everyone to sit up and take notice.

At 26 and 27 years old respectively, and with both men on top of their games, this could well represent just the first fight in a potentially long rivalry between the two, as right now no other 145lber comes close to them. Assuming Holloway truly is healthy, we could be in for a fight for the ages, too – neither man seems capable of a dull fight based on their previous.

#5: Cris Cyborg vs. Amanda Nunes – UFC 232 – 12/29/18

Cris Cyborg is signed to fight Amanda Nunes in a superfight at UFC 232

The long-rumoured ‘superfight’ between Women’s Featherweight champ Cris Cyborg and Women’s Bantamweight champ Amanda Nunes is apparently signed and sealed for UFC 232 right before New Year – traditionally one of the biggest UFC shows of the year – and it will probably main event due to Cyborg’s status as one of the few semi-big draws that the UFC has right now.

Despite that, the likelihood is that the UFC brass probably wants Nunes to win this fight. Cyborg has proven a difficult customer to deal with since arriving in the UFC in 2016 – although she did bail the promotion out with a late-notice title fight against Yana Kunitskaya, it seems that her relations with the UFC remain strained, as she’s said she’s likely to leave the promotion following this fight.

Whether Nunes is capable of the feat is another question entirely. She destroyed practically everyone she faced in the lead-up to her 2016 title win over Miesha Tate, and then ended Ronda Rousey’s MMA career by knocking her out in under a minute, but since then she hasn’t looked quite as devastating – defending her title in a dull fight with Valentina Shevchenko before taking her time in putting away an overmatched Raquel Pennington in May.

Still, Nunes is the most accomplished fighter Cyborg will have fought since Holly Holm last December, and she’s a naturally bigger fighter than ‘The Preacher’s Daughter’ too, and arguably hits much harder. More to the point, she might be the first fighter to face Cyborg who’s capable of taking the champion to the ground and keeping her there.

Despite all the controversy surrounding her career in general, any Cyborg fight feels like a big event and this one is no exception. Expect some fireworks.

#6: Daniel Cormier vs. Brock Lesnar – date and event TBA

Can Brock Lesnar do the impossible by beating Daniel Cormier in his UFC return?

While this fight isn’t expected until some point in 2019 – hopefully the earlier the better – it’s still got casual and hardcore fans alike talking and it’s still likely to be one of the biggest-drawing fights in UFC history.

From a sporting perspective it makes absolutely no sense, but it’s hard to deny that Daniel Cormier vs. Brock Lesnar is a must-see fight from a spectacle point of view.

By dethroning Stipe Miocic in July to become the first UFC fighter to hold the Heavyweight and Light-Heavyweight titles at the same time, Cormier entered his name into the hat of all-time greats, and while a win over Lesnar won’t really further his legacy in that sense, it’ll almost certainly propel him into a realm of stardom he’s not experienced yet.

Lesnar for his part hasn’t fought in the Octagon since his July 2016 win over Mark Hunt – a win which has since been overturned due to Lesnar failing both a pre-fight and post-fight test for PEDs. Given he’s been back in WWE ever since – and looked as huge as ever while there – it’s anyone’s guess quite what kind of condition he’ll come into the fight with Cormier in.

Once one of the most physically imposing fighters in the history of the UFC, by the time this fight comes around Lesnar will be pushing 42 years old and eight years will have passed since he was a fully active member of the UFC roster.

In reality, this fight is probably closer to Tito Ortiz’s 2002 clash with Ken Shamrock, or Matt Hughes’s 2006 fight with Royce Gracie than any other UFC fight, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t interesting.

A Lesnar win would cause perhaps the most chaos inside the UFC since, well, ever. Cormier isn’t likely to allow that to happen – he’s too much like Cain Velasquez in fight style, and Velasquez destroyed Lesnar when he was in his prime – but even the slightest possibility makes this a can’t miss fight.