UFC 287 is bringing a stacked PPV main card to Miami, Florida, on Saturday. The fourth combat sports installment – and second MMA bout – between UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereira and former champ Israel Adesanya is set to highlight the action, as “Poatan” looks to go 4-0 against “The Last Stylebender.”
Miami’s own Jorge Masvidal will look to get back in the win column against Gilbert Burns in the co-main event, while the rest of the card is rounded out by Rob Font vs. Adrian Yanez, Kevin Holland vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio, and Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Christian Rodriguez.
The UFC 287 prelims are sure to bring lots of action as well to the Miami-Dade Arena. While fans should aim to watch every bout on the card, here are five fights fans shouldn’t miss:
Kelvin Gastelum vs. Chris Curtis
A pair of top-15 middleweights with heavy hands are set to headline the UFC 287 preliminary card. Gastelum lost a decision to Adesanya for the interim 185 championship back in April 2019. He is 1-4 since and is looking to reverse his momentum with a big win over Curtis, who has put together a 4-1 UFC record since joining the promotion in late 2021.
Curtis has finished Joaquin Buckley, Phil Hawes and Brendan Allen, only losing to Jack Hermansson via decision. A win over Gastelum would be the biggest of “The Action Man’s” career.
Gastelum has fought a who’s who of UFC competition. He has notable wins over former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, former welterweight champ Johny Hendricks, and Tim Kennedy, to name a few. His notable losses include former UFC middleweight champions Chris Weidman and Robert Whittaker, former 170-pound champion Tyron Woodley, welterweight title challenger Darren Till, middleweight title challenger Jared Cannonier, and Neil Magny.
Michelle Waterson-Gomez vs. Luana Pinheiro
Another fighter who has gone toe-to-toe with the who’s who of her weight class is Michelle Waterson-Gomez. “The Karate Hottie” has banked wins over Angela Hill, Karolina Kowalkiewicz, Paige VanZant, and Felice Herrig, while falling short against former UFC strawweight queens Rose Namajunas, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, and Carla Esparza, as well as Marina Rodriguez, Tecia Torres and Amanda Lemos. In other words, she’s only lost to the strawweight elite.
Luana Pinheiro will look to see if she can become the latest case of new guard beating old guard. Her wins include a decision over Sam Hughes and a DQ over Randa Markos. Waterson-Gomez would be the biggest name on her mantle if she could pull it off.
Gerald Meerschaert vs. Joe Pyfer
Here’s another example of new guard vs. old guard, this time at middleweight. Joe Pyfer made quick work of Alen Amedovski and Ozzy Diaz in his first two UFC fights. He gets a significant step up in “GM3.”
Gerald Meerschaert has served as a great litmus test to see where top prospects are at in the middleweight division. Meerschaert successfully halted the likes of Makhmud Muradov, Bruno Silva, and Deron Winn, being bested by Khamzat Chimaev, Kevin Holland, Thiago Santos, and Jack Hermansson, among others.
A win over Meerschaert would prove Pryfer, who only has 12 professional MMA bouts, is nearly ready to test the waters of the top-15.
Trey Ogden vs. Ignacio Bahamondes
Trey Ogden was set to fight Manuel Torres on March 25 before Torres withdrew because of medical issues. “The Samurai Ghost” draws Ignacio Bahamondes a couple of weeks later instead. Bahamondes is a finishing machine, having ended 10 of his 13 wins inside the distance (9 via T/KO). Bahamondes’s most notable win came over Roosevelt Roberts, who he finished via wheel kick with five seconds left.
Bahamondes draws a stiff test in the cerebral Ogden, who considers himself a “martial arts scientist” rather than an athlete. Ogden will likely look to put his grappling chops to use against the striker in Bahamondes. It will be interesting to see if Ogden is a test he can pass, or if Ogden’s fight IQ will stop Bahamondes in his tracks.
Karl Williams vs. Chase Sherman
The UFC heavyweight division is always looking for new blood. Karl Williams, 33, is young in fight years, having gone 8-1 to start his professional career. He defeated Lukasz Brzeski in his UFC debut and now draws the biggest-name opponent of his career yet in Chase Sherman.
“The Vanilla Gorilla” holds wins over Jared Vanderaa, Ike Villaneuva and Damian Grabowski. Other past foes include Alexander Romanov, Andrei Arlovski, Augusto Sakai, Jake Collier and Shamil Abdurakhimov.
It should be an exciting fight for as long as it stays standing.
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