The UFC’s annual Worldwide Struggle Week celebration is right here! This yr’s card is headlined by two title fights, as Alexander Volkanovski and Yair Rodriguez collide to unify the featherweight title and UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno seeks revenge in his third crack at Alexandre Pantoja. UFC 290 has loads of different threads to tug on as effectively, that includes a deep card stacked with ex-champs and contenders, plus up-and-coming abilities as effectively.
Be a part of MMA Combating’s Shaun Al-Shatti, Steven Marrocco, and Alexander Okay. Lee as they sidle again as much as the roundtable to debate the largest storylines heading into UFC 290.
Picture by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC through Getty Photographs
1. The place does Alexander Volkanovski vs. Yair Rodriguez rank among the many finest UFC title unification bouts?
Lee: The previous decade has seen extra unification bouts because of the proliferation of interim titles, and whereas a number of have turned out spectacularly (suppose Israel Adesanya vs. Kelvin Gastelum, which ended up being an all-timer after producing solely reasonable pre-fight buzz), I’m dipping deep into the effectively and bending the foundations only a tad to reply this query.
As older heads fondly recall, there was as soon as a time when the UFC hosted not one, however two real unification bouts that includes their very own champion and a title from one other promotion. That promotion was the hallowed PRIDE, and the two-division titleholder was Dan Henderson. “Hendo” had fought for the UFC earlier in his profession, however when he returned to the promotion in 2007 he was one of many hottest names within the enterprise coming off of an unreal knockout of Wanderlei Silva to seize PRIDE’s 205-pound belt.
The longer term UFC Corridor of Famer additionally introduced middleweight gold with him, permitting the promotion to instantly arrange must-see title fights with Quinton Jackson after which Anderson Silva. Henderson misplaced each encounters, and as time goes on — we’re over 15 years eliminated now from these bouts — the outcomes are remembered extra as profitable UFC title defenses for Jackson and Silva versus the champion vs. champion fights that they have been.
As a lot as the sport has developed since then, let’s not let the magnitude of those encounters fade.
Marrocco: For legitimacy, a time period that’s very versatile in sports activities leisure, it’s exhausting to argue with Henderson vs. Jackson. Then once more, after this previous head checked the web, there was however one reference of title unification after Jackson’s win, and Henderson’s PRIDE belt definitely wasn’t handed over within the octagon (I’m not even positive Rampage received it within the mail afterward). Alas, one other reminder that a lot of the that means given to those issues is extra about getting us to succeed in for our debit playing cards.
For field workplace enchantment and significance, I don’t suppose you are able to do any higher within the UFC than Jose Aldo vs. Conor McGregor. That is the place I ask you, the reader, to come back again with me a complete eight years in the past and bear in mind the drive that was a younger, featherweight McGregor. Everybody knew he was the brightest star within the sport, however till he signed to struggle Aldo, he lacked the last word validation of a title — or no less than the undisputed one, not claimed in a struggle in opposition to an off-the-couch Chad Mendes.
The UFC, to its credit score, gave the bout the importance and promotion it deserved by taking it on a world tour, capitalizing on McGregor’s prodigious skills on the mic and his nature foil within the staid, martial-arts-first Aldo. Certain, they have been most likely making an attempt to juice the numbers for a sale in 2016, however the nice work that got here out of that promotional cycle, together with a dynamite teaser promo, was prime notch.
Save for The Cash Struggle, when has the UFC gone out of its method since then? We’re in turn-and-burn land now, and thus, the stakes of the fights have been muted. So it goes for Volk vs. Yair, a extremely, actually good struggle that looks like simply one other occasion on the schedule. It’s a really important struggle competitively, and the UFC no less than gave it prime placement on Worldwide Struggle Week. However apart from that, it doesn’t really feel as particular, as a lot of a second in fight sports activities historical past, because the showdown between McGregor and Aldo.
Al-Shatti: My buddies above me hit the nail on the pinnacle.
Within the pantheon of title unification bouts, Volkanovski vs. Rodriguez sits someplace firmly close to the center, and that’s not meant as a slight. Quite the opposite, Saturday’s predominant occasion has been considered one of my most anticipated fights of 2023 since we witnessed the long-awaited Nice Leveling Up of Yair Rodriguez this previous February in opposition to Josh Emmett. Contemplating his weird five-year run from 2017-22, I wasn’t positive if that second would ever come — the kind of culminating aha second we noticed at UFC 284 the place the whole lot comes collectively and Rodriguez lastly emerges because the ultra-dynamic hellion of a title contender who he confirmed flashes of changing into in his earliest days as the primary TUF: Latin America winner.
In these eyes, the Rodriguez of right now is essentially the most intriguing non-Holloway challenger to emerge of Volkanovski’s four-year reign.
However nearly as good as this matchup is, it feels extra in keeping with the Ngannou-Gane or Aldo-Holloway tier of title unification bouts relatively than the Aldo-McGregors or Lesnar-Mirs of the world — a rattling advantageous struggle, however not one which’s going to blow up off the marquee.
Picture by Buda Mendes/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC through Getty Photographs
2. Is Alexandre Pantoja the hardest check of Brandon Moreno’s profession?
Al-Shatti: Contemplating that Brandon Moreno primarily simply needed to struggle Deiveson Figueiredo 4 instances (4!!!) to be able to lastly transfer on along with his life as UFC flyweight champion, I’m going to exit on a limb and say no, Pantoja doesn’t characterize the hardest check of Moreno’s profession. However — and it is a massive “however” — that doesn’t imply Pantoja can’t win in Saturday’s co-main occasion. Hell, I’m most likely choosing him to do precisely that. Ali Pants has lengthy been the unsung terror of 125 kilos. Not solely is he already up 2-0 over Moreno, he was — by far — the largest loser of the three-year detour the division ambled down when Moreno and Figueiredo couldn’t determine who deserved to carry the belt.
To place it bluntly, Pantoja has been the deserving Subsequent Man Up since 2021. That’s a wild reality to reconcile for the Brazilian contemplating we’re already hitting the second half of 2023.
But therein lies the rub: Pantoja is abruptly 33 years previous in a division that discards anybody previous the veerrrrry earliest of their 30s like 3-day-old sushi. So positive, I could also be leaning towards Pantoja persisting to be the boogeyman of Moreno’s story and ending this fairy-tale run with a 3-0 sequence sweep, however wouldn’t it shock me if a Instantly Previous His Prime Ali Pants reveals up on Saturday wanting only a smidge slower than we remembered and will get one-sidedly rinsed by a Very A lot In His Prime Murderer Child? Not within the slightest.
Marrocco: I’m with Shaheen right here. Timing is completely the whole lot within the struggle sport, and the distinction between an in-their-prime contender and a prelim headliner is measured in fights, not years. Pantoja has needed to look forward to his golden alternative for fairly a while, and maybe unfairly so. He additionally collected losses on the gate of competition, so it’s exhausting to not put the onus on him.
Late or not, he’s getting his likelihood, and if he reveals up like he’s confirmed up in his three earlier fights, I like him to tug off the upset in opposition to Moreno. The “Murderer Child” definitely gained’t make it straightforward; 5 years is a whole lot of time to enhance, and he’s been combating the easiest 125-pounder not named Demetrious Johnson for 3 years in Figueiredo. For that purpose alone, I’d say Pantoja just isn’t the hardest check of his profession. However questions like these put a whole lot of emphasis on what’s occurred up to now, and we gained’t know who’s realized extra — or just simply had a greater night time — till they get within the cage and settle issues.
On the prime of the flyweight division, the distinction between a champ and a No. 1 contender is so small. It might be that Moreno’s finest days have been within the cage in opposition to Figueiredo, or his wins gave him the momentum and confidence he’ll have to avenge his earlier loss to Pantoja. Given the slim betting odds, it doesn’t seem to be many are assured in that.
Lee: Moreno has quietly put collectively top-of-the-line résumés of any lively MMA champion, with the epic Figueiredo rivalry capping off a seven-year run that additionally contains wins over Brandon Royval, Jussier Formiga, and Kai Kara-France (twice). He’s been combating top-shelf competitors since he signed up for The Final Fighter 24 as a bright-eyed 22-year-old and one might argue that he confronted his hardest check again in 2017 when he misplaced a choice to future Bellator bantamweight king Sergio Pettis.
However I’ll make the case for Pantoja as a result of, merely put, he’s received the champ’s quantity.
Pantoja is Moreno’s boogeyman, very similar to Alex Pereira was for Israel Adesanya up till a number of months in the past. He submitted Moreno on TUF, beat him by choice once they ran it again in a extra official capability, and has saved Moreno in his sights regardless of the occasional loss that saved him from shifting to the entrance of the road. There’s nobody standing between Pantoja and Moreno now although.
We are able to downplay the earlier outcomes all we would like, however this boogeyman stuff is not any joke as Pereira proved in his first struggle with Adesanya. Nobody can say for positive that the most effective model of Moreno beats the most effective model of Pantoja, all we all know for positive is that they’ve crossed paths twice and Pantoja convincingly had his hand raised each instances. He’s the hardest check as a result of you need to imagine that Moreno is at all times going have a cloud hanging over his profession if he goes 0-3 in opposition to his nemesis.
Picture by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
3. Exterior of the 2 title bouts, what’s essentially the most intriguing storyline?
Marrocco: Is there any struggle on UFC 290’s card with extra imminent penalties than Robert Whittaker than Dricus Du Plessis?
I’m in settlement with my colleague Jed Meshew that this struggle undoubtedly didn’t must get made. The UFC had Du Plessis because the apple of Israel Adesanya’s eye with out having to do any heavy lifting, and as a substitute, it wrote an open invitation to the MMA gods to scuttle the struggle for what? A very pointless trilogy? No one was asking for Adesanya vs. Whittaker 3, and Du Plessis seems fully able to dropping to the ex-champion, who however for “The Final Stylebender” has proven himself to be one of many higher middleweights to ever compete within the octagon.
Whittaker vs. Du Plessis is a reasonably meritocratic play, I’ve to confess. If Du Plessis is really prepared for a problem of Adesanya’s stature, he ought to must clear the largest hurdle of the division. On the identical time, I’ve been so conditioned to throwing meritocracy out the window, I need the promotion to placed on fights that provide intrigue past mere competitors. Leisure and intrigue isn’t solely good for me — it’s good for Adesanya, who like many tends to struggle higher when he’s emotionally invested within the end result.
UFC 290’s swing struggle is essentially the most intriguing storyline purely for what’s going to occur if an end result doesn’t occur and Du Plessis proves to be the beatable middleweight he’s gave the impression to be in his transient octagon tenture.
Lee: Is it too quickly to pump Bo Nickal’s contender tires? Undoubtedly. Is it fully attainable that we see him difficult for the UFC middleweight title inside the subsequent 12 months? Undoubtedly!
Get all aboard the Nickal hype prepare, individuals, as a result of the UFC sees stars and greenback indicators within the adorned NCAA wrestling champion, and 4 fights into his professional profession, he’s lived as much as the hype after which some (with apologies to Jamie Pickett’s nether areas), completely crushing the competitors. He’s but to face a high-level opponent and Tresean Gore definitely doesn’t match that invoice, however the projections for Nickal proceed to be off the charts.
Merely put, he’s the most effective prospect we’ve seen in ages — seasoned from a lifetime within the crucible of wrestling, coaching with an elite squad at American High Crew, and, at 27, younger sufficient to develop significantly. And sure, the talent which he’s finest identified for simply occurs to be one space through which the present champion isn’t thought-about to be elite.
So don’t be shocked if Nickal runs via Gore and finds himself one win away from a title shot. Heck, Adesanya nonetheless wants a challenger for UFC 293 in Sydney, and the matchmakers may simply be loopy sufficient to throw Nickal into the combination.
Al-Shatti: Name me old school, however as delectable as this yr’s IFW lineup could also be, my eyes can’t assist however drift downward to fixate with loving pangs of nostalgia on the prelim headliner, as a result of there’s a rattling good likelihood Saturday is the ultimate time we see Robbie Lawler grace the cage. It’s a bittersweet second. In a sport suffering from uniformity, Ruthless Robert is a real one-of-one — maybe essentially the most violent competitor to ever lace up a pair of four-ounce gloves and a shoo-in for any Mount Rushmore of essentially the most entertaining fighters of all-time, with out query.
Lawler’s reign as UFC welterweight champion from 2014-16 lifted the division out of its post-GSP malaise and nonetheless stands right now as an all-time run of fistic fireworks. No different fighter has ever snatched up three consecutive Fights of the 12 months awards from this web site like Lawler did for his title bouts in opposition to Johny Hendricks (2014), Rory MacDonald (2015), and Carlos Condit (2016) — the latter of that are extensively hailed as two of the best fights of all-time.
The truth that Lawler turned who he did in his second act stays as outstanding right now because it was again then — none who watched Lawler plod across the Strikeforce middleweight division dropping 5 of eight from 2009-12 might’ve foreseen the first-ballot Corridor of Famer he’d finally turn out to be. Nonetheless, there was at all times a sure magic round Bob Violence, even relationship again to the Bettendorf days, when Lawler and his Miletich Combating Methods comrades gallivanted across the American Midwest razing and pillaging wherever they went. These boys have been the primary true U.S.-born scourge of MMA’s trendy period, and Lawler’s continued defiance of Father Time greater than 23 years after his highway started is a becoming tribute to the “F*** You” ethos that typified the game for that early era.
It’s not hyperbole to say just a little piece of MMA historical past dies on Saturday when Lawler decides to hold up his gloves after his farewell in opposition to Niko Value. In order intrigued as I could also be by the remainder of this weekend’s lineup, no storyline has me extra rapt than the ex-champ’s goodbye.
