Strength In Depth
The final UFC pay-per-view event of 2024 goes down this weekend in Las Vegas and although many fans’ eyes will be firmly fixed on the flyweight title headliner between Alexandre Pantoja and Kai Asakura, or the clash of unbeaten juggernauts in the co-main event between Shavkat Rakhmonov and Ian Machado Garry, there are plenty of consequential contests taking place on the undercard too.
Former world champions, former title challengers and future Hall-of-Famers are scattered throughout what is a stacked preliminary line-up, so let’s take a look at some of the intriguing match-ups that await us this saturday evening at the T-Mobile Arena.
Anthony Smith (37-20) vs Dominick Reyes (13-4) 205lbs
Two former challengers to Jon Jones’ light heavyweight crown collide in the featured bout on Saturday’s preliminary card. Anthony Smith will be looking to return to the win column following his defeat at the hands of Roman Dolidze at UFC 303 in June, and after losing four of his last six fights “Lionheart” needs a victory to halt his slide down the 205lb rankings. He faces a resurgent Dominick Reyes who will surely be brimming with confidence after arresting his own poor form when he knocked out Dustin Jacoby in Louisville, Kentucky back in June. Prior to that victory, “The Devastator” hadn’t had his hand raised in four-and-a-half years.
Vicente Luque (22-10-1) vs Themba Gorimbo (14-4) 170lbs
Vicente Luque had originally been scheduled to face MMA legend Nick Diaz on the main card of this event. Following the withdrawal of Diaz however, “The silent Assassin” will now be tasked with protecting his spot in the rankings against surging welterweight prospect Themba Gorimbo. Luque once had the look of a possible future title contender but following three defeats in his last four outings (and it must be stated, some poor fortune with a spate of cancelled high-profile match-ups against Diaz, Sean Brady and Ian Machado Garry), Luque finds himself struggling to keep his head above water in the shark-infested waters of the UFC’s 170lb division.
Gorimbo has rattled off four consecutive victories inside the Octagon since losing his UFC debut to AJ Fletcher in February 2023 and has been handed a golden opportunity to break down the doors of the welterweight top 15 this Saturday night.
Movsar Evloev (18-0) vs Aljamain Sterling (24-4) 145lbs
The positioning on the card of this featherweight clash between former 135lb champion Aljamain Sterling and #5-ranked contender Movsar Evloev has left some fans scratching their heads. Placing a fight that could have title implications at 145lbs in the middle of the prelims while the unranked Kron Gracie occupies a main card slot certainly seems to fly in the face in sporting meritocracy.
The unbeaten Evloev has won all eight of his UFC fights to date and an impressive run which includes victories over Dan Ige, Diego Lopes and Arnold Allen should theoretically have him in the discussion to face featherweight champion Ilia Topuria. However it seems his wrestling heavy-style and his apparent inability to finish fights (all eight of his UFC fans have come by decision) may be proving detrimental to his title aspirations.
“Funkmaster” made the move up to 145lbs after losing his bantamweight crown to Sean O’Malley in August 2023 and announced his arrival in his new division with an impressive unanimous decision victory over Calvin Kattar at UFC 300 earlier this year. Of all the challengers at 145lbs he may just be the one who possesses the skillset to stifle Evloev’s title charge, but it seems Dana White and co. aren’t too excited by the idea of the pair locking horns this weekend.
Randy Brown (19-5) vs Bryan Battle (11-2) 170lbs
A tantalising match-up between two exciting unranked fighters at 170lbs awaits as Randy Brown looks to continue his fine form having won seven of his eight fights inside the Octagon. “Rudeboy” has looked particularly impressive in his two appearances so far in 2024, taking out both Muslim Salikhov and Elizeu Zaleski. Bryan Battle has won six of his seven UFC fights since graduating from The Ultimate Fighter season 29 back in 2021. He upset French MMA fans when he finished Kevin Jousset in spectacular fashion in Paris in September.
Chris Weidman (16-7) vs Eryk Anders (16-8) 195lbs Catchweight
Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman missed out on the opportunity to compete in his hometown of New York when his scheduled fight against Eryk Anders fell through at the eleventh hour after “Ya Boi” succumbed to a bout of food poisoning. Following Weidman’s unsuccesful bid to receive his show money, the rescheduled contest will now take place three weeks later on Saturday’s preliminary card.
Both fighters snapped their respective losing streaks in March of this year, with 40-year-old Weidman picking up his first win in almost four years when he beat Bruno Silva in Atlantic City, whereas Anders picked up a unanimous decision victory over Jamie Pickett at the UFC Apex a few weeks earlier.
Cody Durden (17-6-1) vs Joshua Van (11-2) 125lbs
Cody Durden puts his #13 spot in the flyweight rankings on the line when he faces the impressive Joshua Van. Van has been victorious in four of his five UFC appearances to date and is coming hot off the heels of a win over Edgar Chairez at UFC 306 in September.
Michael Chiesa (17-7) vs Max Griffin (20-10) 170lbs
Michael Chiesa makes his 20th appearance inside the Octagon this weekend as he faces fellow veteran Max Griffin. Both fighters are coming off of impressive victories, Chiesa having submitted Tony ferguson in September and Griffin having eked out a split decision win over Jeremiah Wells last February.
Clay Guida (38-24) vs Chase Hooper (14-3-1) 155lbs
Speaking of veterans, Clay Guida makes the walk to the UFC Octagon for the 37th time when he squares off against Chase Hooper (17 years his junior). “The Carpenter” is currently tied with Andrei Arlovski and Jeremy Stephens for the most defeats in UFC history and will be eager to avoid adding that dubious record to his list of many achievements.
Kennedy Nzechukwu (13-5) vs Lukasz Brzeski (9-5-1) Heavyweight
Kennedy Nzechukwu makes a quick turnaround following his finish of Chris Barnett at UFC 308 in October as he takes Lukasz Brzeski who has gone 1-4 during his UFC tenure to date.
