In 2022, the UFC championship gave fans of fighting sports 511 spectacular fights with knockouts and even broken bones. Most of them were to the fans’ taste, giving them a lot of adrenaline and unforgettable impressions.
Alex Pereira became the middleweight champion. Islam Makhachev will also continue his dominance as he destroyed Bobby Green. Aljamain Sterling had the best year in his professional career in 2022.
The start of the new 2023 season set a promising tone thanks to an exciting meeting in the ring between two champions at once – Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovskiy. Therefore, there is no doubt that the fans of fighting fights will expect no fewer adrenaline fights between the contenders for the title of the best in the new year than in the previous one.
Top 6 UFC Fighters to Watch in 2023
Due to many top fighters, there is even more intrigue in 2023 than in the past. However, several athletes’ performances should be watched closely. Excellent results in previous fights, high ratings, and perfect physical shape make their absolute favorites in this year’s competition.
Islam Makhachev
On February 12, an intriguing match occurred between Russian Islam Makhachev and Australian Alexander Volkanovskiy. Even though both fighters had championship belts, Islam was considered the favorite of this meeting. Bookmakers shared the same opinion. Unsurprisingly, UFC betting odds predict the outcome of fights quite accurately most of the times. And this time, the same thing happened.
The 31-year-old fighter confidently defeated his opponent in the most crucial match for the defense of the lightweight championship title. Islam’s next most likely opponent is the duel winner between Charles Oliveira and Beneil Dariush. It is scheduled for May 2023.
With 11 straight victories in the highly competitive weight class, Islam Makhachev has become a force to be reckoned with. Never been defeated since 2016, the fighter diligently follows the path of his teammate Khabib Nurmagomedov. So, he has every chance of becoming a UFC champion.
Alexander Volkanovski
The Australian started this year not in the most successful way, losing to Makhachev in a fundamentally important duel for himself. A victory in it would write his name in golden letters in the history of the UFC. Those who considered this match too big a risk, unfortunately for Alexander Volkanovski, turned out to be right.
Many have advised the UFC Featherweight Champion to be content with defending his current belt. However, the latter’s ambitions did not allow him to refuse the tempting opportunity to get himself a new one. But the fight for the championship for Volkanovski is far from over. It is safe to say that this is not the last attempt of an ambitious fighter to become a lightweight champion.
Kamaru Usman
The legendary Kamaru Usman takes an excellent fourth place among all the best UFC fighters and is on the first line of the official welterweight ranking. Despite the not-very-successful end of the last season, there is no doubt that Usman will have a lot of intriguing matches and spectacular victories in the new year.
Recall that the end of 2022 gave the American athlete of Nigerian origin a great chance to secure the status of an invincible fighter. And he almost did. But a well-placed shot by Edwards stole the victory from under his nose. However, this story will also have a continuation scheduled for March 2023.
Many are sure that the result of the rematch with Edwards, which will take place in London, will largely determine his future career in the UFC.
Paddy Pimblett
Paddy Pimblet has every chance of becoming the next MMA star. After becoming the 145-pound Cage Warriors champion and defending his title twice, Pimblet made his UFC debut in 2021. And very successfully defeated his opponent Luigi Vendramini in the first round.
After victories over Deki Dalton and David Martinez last year, Pimblett has firmly established himself among the UFC championship contenders. The fights of such a multi-talented fighter, no doubt, will be exciting to watch. As expected, his return to the octagon will occur in December 2023 as part of the fight with Jared Gordon.
Mackenzie Dern
Many MMA fans love to watch female fights. Mackenzie Dern is one of the best representatives of the fighting sport. Her path to outstanding achievements on the battlefield began at 14.
She has more than a hundred grappling fights to her credit. Their results allow McKenzie to be considered one of the best female grapplers in modern MMA. Now she is on the 6th line in ranking the best female fighters.
In addition to mixed martial arts, Mackenzie Dern also competes successfully in jiu-jitsu. She has many awards and even was for some time the first in the ranking among the fighters of this famous Brazilian martial art.
Valentina Shevchenko
Another woman worth mentioning on this list is Valentina Shevchenko, the reigning UFC flyweight champion. She ended last year positively with a win against Tayla Santos. Thanks to this, she submitted a career-high result of 23-3. Now she is in the MMA rankings on the second line.
She could have at least two exciting matches this year against strawweight champion Weili Zhang and Santos, who is pushing for a rematch.
Summary
MMA is a sport and a demonstration by fighters of their invincible stamina and moral strength. Each fight can be the last for them because they risk not only their health but even their lives for new belts and gold medals. Therefore, each such match becomes a truly spectacular performance, causing great interest among the audience.
Since the athletes mentioned above have spent 2022 actively fighting for championship titles, future matches in the new UFC season with their participation will give you a lot of adrenaline and impressions. So try not to miss them.
