UFC 309 is set to go down from Madison Square Garden in New York City on Saturday. Heavyweight champion Jon Jones will fight former heavyweight king Stipe Miocic in the main event. Interim champion Tom Aspinall will have to wait longer for his unification shot, provided Jones accepts a fight with him if he beats Miocic.
Charles Oliveira and Michael Chandler are set to clash in a non-title rematch of their lightweight championship fight from a few years ago.
The rest of the UFC 309 main card is rounded out by wrestling prodigy Bo Nickal taking on established veteran Paul Craig at middleweight; Karine Silva and Viviane Araujo meeting at flyweight; and Mauricio Ruffy making his sophomore UFC appearance against James Llontop at lightweight.
The UFC 309 features established names, including a former champion and other longtime veterans, as well as up-and-coming prospects. Here are five UFC 309 preliminary fights to catch.
Jonathan Martinez vs. Marcus McGhee
Surging bantamweight prospect McGhee gets a chance to earn the biggest victory of his budding career when he fights Martinez in the UFC 309 preliminary headliner. Martinez will be McGhee’s fourth UFC fight – a testament to McGhee’s 3-0 start. McGhee has made quick work of Journey Newson, JP Buys and Gaston Bolanos, not yet seeing a third round in his UFC career. If he can not only beat Martinez, but finish him, McGhee could be a prospect worth getting very excited about. It would also likely earn him a ranking, as Martinez enters the fight ranked the No. 13 bantamweight.
Martinez is an exciting kickboxer with devastating leg kicks – he finished both Adrian Yanez and Cub Swanson with the weapon. He has a win over Said Nurmagomedov, to boot. His six-fight winning streak was snapped in a unanimous decision loss to former featherweight champion and MMA legend Jose Aldo. Martinez is still very much a talented fighter reaching his potential, too.
The fight is near-even in the betting odds, with McGhee being a favorite in current betting odds. That is high praise from the bookmakers considering Martinez’s strength of schedule and vast experience edge. But McGhee has impressed so far, and he could prove he is for real with a win over “Dragon.”
Chris Weidman vs. Eryk Anders
Weidman, a former middleweight champion, is set to fight Anders in the penultimate prelim. Weidman fought a who’s who of middleweights in his surge to the title, defeating Anderson Silva twice, as well as Lyoto Machida and Vitor Belfort. Despite success against the likes of Luke Rockhold, who he lost his strap to, as well as Yoel Romero and Ronaldo Souza, Weidman came up short. He has since managed wins over the likes of Kelvin Gastelum and Omari Akhmedov before snapping his leg against Uriah Hall. The resilient Weidman pushed through a rough recovery and is determined to make one final run.
He defeated Bruno Silva in a technical unanimous decision in his most previous bout. Now, he draws Anders, a powerful middleweight who was a former linebacker for Alabama.
A win over Weidman would undoubtedly be the biggest of Anders’s career. While Weidman is not currently ranked at 185 pounds, the winner of this fight could get an opportunity at a top-15 foe.
Jim Miller vs. Damon Jackson
Miller, a longtime veteran who has defeated many great fighters and fought even more of them, welcomes Jackson to the lightweight division. Jackson, a longtime featherweight, had a large frame for the division. But for what he gives up in size, he will likely gain in pace and cardio. Jackson served as a great litmus test for prospects at featherweight. Now he gets to battle a fellow veteran in Miller.
Miller has 55 professional fights to his ledger and is 26-17 with a no contest in the UFC. He holds victories over Charles Oliveira, Donald Cerrone, Clay Guida, Thiago Alves, Joe Lauzon and Takanori Gomi, to name a handful. He has also fought legends such as Dustin Poirier, Nate Diaz, Benson Henderson, Gray Maynard, and Anthony Pettis, to name a few, once again.
Miller is at the twilight of his career, but he’s still a tough, dangerous out for anyone. He is a great test to see where Jackson is in his new weight class. And the grappling exchanges would be a lot of fun in this bout.
Marcin Tybura vs. Jhonata Diniz
Diniz, just 2-0 in his budding UFC career so far, draws a tried and true veteran in Tybura in his third outing. Diniz KO’d Austen Lane and then took a unanimous decision over fellow heavyweight prospect Karl Williams. Diniz has built an 8-0 record so far with seven knockouts. He would establish himself as a blue-chip prospect at heavyweight if he can beat Tybura, the stiffest test of his career so far, on paper. He would also bust into the top 15.
Tybura, ranked No. 9 at heavyweight, has fought several big names, veterans and prospects. His biggest UFC wins have come over the likes of Tai Tuivasa, Serghei Spivac, Andrei Arlovski, Blagoy Ivanov, Alexandr Romanov, Greg Hardy, Ben Rothwell and Walt Harris. He has also fought champions and title challengers alike. Tybura has seen it all.
Diniz would impress many if he is able to beat the battle-tested Tybura in just his third UFC fight. Even if he doesn’t, it’s not the end of the world, but heavyweight would get shaken up in a big way if he does pull it off.
Oban Elliott vs. Bassil Hafez
Elliott is looking to improve to 3-0 in the UFC, while Hafez is looking to improve to 2-1 in the promotion.
Hafez turned a lot of heads when he lost a split decision to Jack Della Maddalena – ranked No. 4 at welterweight – in his UFC debut. A super impressive showing against a top contender, to be sure. Hafez followed that with a unanimous decision win over Mickey Gall. Instead of drawing a top-15 welterweight, which, given his success against Della Maddalena, could have been fair, he gets a fellow prospect in Elliott.
Elliott has claimed unanimous decision wins over Val Woodburn and Preston Parsons so far in the UFC. Hafez appears, on paper, to be his toughest test yet.
This fight is an intriguing gauge for both welterweights and could say a lot about the winner. Hafez could prove he deserves another crack at a ranked opponent, while Elliott could show that he’s the one to keep an eye on at welterweight going forward. This fight is more important than people think.
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