The UFC Bantamweight division is in a wierd place proper now.
On paper, it shouldn’t be sophisticated. Merab Dvalishvili ragdolled Sean O’Malley en path to a dominant title win, extending his present win streak to 11. Thankfully, there’s a high contender able to problem his wrestling in undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov, who defeated Cory Sandhagen in a five-round unanimous determination win to solidify his argument for a title shot.
Dvalishvili vs. Nurmagomedov is the plain subsequent struggle to make, an intriguing stylistic conflict that might go both means. Alas, “The Machine” doesn’t seem and is certainly not selecting to make a fast return. The struggle might nonetheless occur in March, if Nurmagomedov doesn’t decide to struggle once more within the interim, probably delaying his shot additional by ending up minimize open, injured, or shedding outright.
Enter Petr Yan vs. Deiveson Figueiredo, the unlikely again up plan.
Each Yan and Figueiredo are former champions, in addition to electrical skills. For the reason that announcement of their UFC Macau major occasion, scheduled for early Saturday morning (Nov. 23, 2024) from the “Las Vegas of the East,” followers have been excited concerning the reserving. Each of those athletes are skilled in 5 spherical wars, extremely expert, and identified for violent get up battles.
The struggle can also be being marketed instead title eliminator. It’s clearly the second alternative for Dana White and UFC, however the victor might find yourself within the cage versus Dvalishvili early subsequent 12 months. If that does occur, it’s a big step in both unlikely journey again to gold.
For all their skills and former accomplishments, I don’t assume many are betting Yan or Figueiredo to finish 2025 with a golden belt. Yan’s misfortunes are well-covered at this level. “No Mercy” is genuinely one of many nastiest fighters on the planet, however dangerous decision-making and dangerous luck have trashed what might have been a prolonged title reign.
It’s value repeating: throwing the criminally silly grounded knee at Aljamain Sterling in a struggle he was clearly successful ruined all the pieces. As an alternative of tacking on a title protection, he opened the door for the “Funkmaster” title reign. Shedding a extremely debatable cut up to Sean O’Malley can’t be helped, however that loss brings us to the most important present challenge: Yan obtained trounced by the present champion, 50-45.
It was an odd and unsightly struggle. Yan defended the overwhelming majority of his opponent’s takedowns solely to get completely out-struck by the wrestler. He couldn’t regulate to the relentlessness of Dvalishvili, and there’s no indication {that a} rematch would go any in another way. Even when Yan wins this weekend in probably the most thrilling trend potential, it might be fairly a tough promote.
Figueiredo is dealing with lengthy odds for a unique motive. Just a few weeks away from his thirty seventh birthday, the previous two-time Flyweight king is already defying expectations by persevering with to compete properly. There have been some mandatory changes to his sport up a weight class, notably extra of a reliance on wrestling to snag rounds and extra measured output. As well as, “Daico” remains to be a decent hitter, however he’s not simply murdering his opposition with juggernaut punches anymore. Consequently, he’s gained three straight fights through determination.
Does that sound like a recipe to defeat Dvalishvili? Dvalishvili pushes probably the most ridiculous tempo in UFC historical past, walks by way of punishment with out challenge, and would like to throw round a fighter who obtained outwrestled on a number of events down a weight class.
It’s a little bit of a paradox. Umar Nurmagomedov is a extra winnable struggle for both just because his wrestling isn’t fairly so nonstop. There would not less than be exchanges that Figueiredo might theoretically capitalize upon, and Yan is expert sufficient as a wrestler and striker to maintain up along with his fellow Russian anyplace.
Ready for Nurmagomedov to struggle and probably defeat Dvalishvili is the extra potential path, however there are too many unknowns about timing and having to struggle once more. As an alternative, Yan and Figgy will each purpose to impress at UFC Macau, even when the reward is a most-likely-unpleasant date with “The Machine.”
