UFC 298 is set to go down Saturday at the Honda Center in Anaheim, featuring a banger of a main event: a featherweight title fight between longtime champion Alexander Volkanovski and undefeated challenger Ilia Topuria.
The card also features a middleweight bout between Robert Whittaker and Paulo Costa, a welterweight grudge match between Geoff Neal and Ian Machado Garry, what should be a bantamweight title eliminator between Merab Dvalishvili and Henry Cejudo, and Anthony Hernandez taking on Roman Kopylov at 185 pounds.
Watch UFC 298 with a VPN
- Mask your IP address using our international server network
- Forget about buffering with our lightning-fast servers
- Encrypt your traffic to defeat ISP throttling
Don’t get caught with insane buffering! Whether it’s network admins blocking your access, or slow connection speeds creating a buffering nightmare, use PIA VPN to minimize interruptions.
Use PIA VPN and get server access in ALL 50 US states, big cities from around Canada, and many throughout the UK, EU, and around the world!
The prelims should also offer action and complement a stacked main card. Here are five fights on the UFC 298 undercard you should watch:
Amanda Lemos vs. Mackenzie Dern
Top-10 strawweights will square off in the featured prelim of UFC 298. Lemos will look to protect her No. 3 ranking against the No. 7-ranked Dern.
Lemos is coming off a unanimous decision loss to strawweight champion Zhang Weili in her last fight. While she came up short in her title bout, the one-time challenger could be just two or three wins away from another chance. Lemos has wins over Marina Rodriguez, Michelle Waterson-Gomez and Angela Hill to name a few.
The two fighters have a mutual loss to Jessica Andrade, the former strawweight champion and flyweight title challenger. Dern’s most recent fight was against Andrade. Dern, a jiu-jitsu specialist, has power in her hands but is still honing her technique. Her best bet against Lemos is taking her to the ground and finding a submission. Dern has submitted Nina Nunes and Randa Markos while taking decisions over Hill, Tecia Torres, and Virna Jandiroba.
This fight is not just a match-up between two highly-skilled women in different facets of the game, it’s an important fight at 115. A win keeps Lemos in the title mix or puts Dern back in the top 5 (No. 5 is currently Jandiroba, who Dern beat).
Marcos Rogerio de Lima vs. Justin Tafa
Rogerio de Lima, a veteran of 17 UFC bouts, will throw down with Tafa at heavyweight. Rogerio de Lima has found new life since moving up from light heavyweight, going 6-4 at heavyweight. He has a lot of big names on his resume, including Nikita Krylov, Ovince St. Preux, Alexander Romanov, Ben Rothwell, Andrei Arlovski, and Derrick Lewis. He handed Waldo Cortes-Acosta his first professional loss.
Tafa is 3-0 with a no contest in his last four fights after a 1-3 start in the UFC. He has wins over Austen Lane and Parker Porter on his record. A win over Rogerio de Lima would easily be the best yet of his career, given Rogerio de Lima’s extensive experience advantage and strength of schedule.
Tafa likely holds the raw power edge while Rogerio de Lima has the veteran savvy between the two. Either man can finish each other, so don’t blink.
Rinya Nakamura vs. Carlos Vera
Nakamura is arguably the biggest prospect on the preliminary card. The 8-0 Japanese export is looking to make it three wins in a row in the UFC after finishing Toshiomi Kazama and Fernie Garcia with strikes.
Vera is making his UFC debut against the blue-chip prospect. He enters the promotion with an 11-3 record and four straight wins. The Ecuadorian will look to steal Nakamura’s hype for himself.
This fight is enticing as fans can see if they get a taste of how good Nakamura is or if Vera will be the prospect to keep an eye on at bantamweight. The bantamweight division is arguably the deepest in the UFC, and it will be interesting to watch this fight’s winner’s career progress.
Josh Quinlan vs. Danny Barlow
Barlow, an exciting welterweight prospect, is set to make his UFC debut after stopping Raheam Forest on the Contender Series. Barlow improved to 7-0 with the win. He draws a fellow prospect in Josh Quinlan, who is 6-1.
Quinlan KO’d Jason Witt in his own UFC debut but dropped a decision to Trey Waters in his sophomore effort. Quinlan will look to regain his luster while Barlow looks to earn his own right off the bat against the most accomplished foe of his young career to date.
It should be an action-packed fight, too, as the majority of each man’s wins have come via T/KO.
Mingyang Zhang vs. Brendson Ribeiro
Both light heavyweights are making their UFC debuts, and both men have never won by decision. In fact, they’ve each only gone to one decision in their careers. Odds are, someone is getting finished here.
Zhang is 16-6 with 10 T/KOs and six submissions. He finished George Tokkos in his Road to UFC match-up to earn a contract. All of his wins have come in the first round.
Ribeiro KO’d Bruno Lopes with a straight right and hammer fists on the Contender Series to earn his spot. He has nine T/KOs and six submissions. Both men are well-rounded finishers and could end the fight anywhere.
Featured Image credit:
Embed from Getty Images
