Three pay-per-views. Six titles fights. It all kicks off Saturday night.
Undisputed champions Alexander Volkanovski and Aljamain Sterling are up first, with Volkanovski going for his third straight successful featherweight title defense when he fights “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung in the UFC 273 main event, and Sterling battling to become the one true king at 135 pounds as he attempts to unify his title with Petr Yan’s interim strap in the co-main event.
Volkanovski’s title tilt against Jung doesn’t have the history of Sterling and Yan, but if you can’t get excited at the prospect of the best 145er in the world facing one of the most exciting fighters in MMA history, you may want to reassess your fandom. Jung takes over Max Holloway’s place as the title challenger. He has more chances than just a chance to win. The possibility that the Zombie could be the champion in this next series of title fights would make it wild.
Yan could still beat him for the title, as some expect him to be a two-time champion undisputed when he gets back in the cage. Their initial meeting at UFC 259 saw Sterling earn the dubious distinction of becoming the first fighter to win a UFC title via disqualification and while he’s done an admirable job of rolling with the punches, only a legitimate win over Yan will truly vindicate him. Sterling is a champion and must prove that he can beat Yan. 1 bantamweight in MMA Fighting’s Global Rankings.
Also, did you hear Khamzat Chimaev has a big fight? This seems like a topic that is not being discussed.
Chimaev will be meeting Gilbert Burns on his date. Burns is a new challenger to the welterweight title and Chimaev’s toughest opponent in his short career. He’s fought four men in the Octagon with Chimaev, and they all performed admirably. Are “Durinho” and Chimaev the right men to take the Chimaev hype train off the tracks?
In other main card action, Mackenzie Dern looks to rebound from her first loss in five fights when she takes on perennial strawweight contender Tecia Torres, and veteran lightweight. Vinc Pichel will face Mark O. Madsen.
What: UFC 273
Where : VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, Jacksonville, Fla .
When: Saturday, April 9. The three-fight early prelims begin on ESPN+ at 6:30 p.m. ET, followed by the four-fight prelims on ESPN and ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET. The five-fight main card begins at 10 p.m. ET and is available exclusively on ESPN+ pay-per-view.
(Numbers in parentheses indicate standing in MMA Fighting Global Rankings)
Alexander Volkanovski will be sharper Saturday after a couple of close calls during his title defenses.
Volkanovski had to be on his best behavior to beat Max Holloway not just once, but twice, and even then the second fight saw Holloway score a pair of knockdowns. He had to be at his most gritty and most composed when Brian Ortega threatened to choke him unconscious. It’s these moments of vulnerability that make Volkanovski’s matchup with Chan Sung Jung so compelling as “The Korean Zombie” has as much finishing power as anyone that Volkanovski has fought. You shouldn’t be surprised that he has the ability to put up bombs so expect some awkward moments from the champ.
In the end Volkanovski beat Jung in all categories. His speed will be a big advantage. He is also a much better striker and has the wrestling skills to alter the outcome of the fight. Even the size advantage that Jung enjoys won’t mean much after Volkanovski is done chewing up his legs with low kicks.
The Zombie will be in the scorecards but Volkanovski makes a persuasive decision to continue his growing list of achievements.
Pick: Volkanovski
Aljamain Sterling has problems.
“Funkmaster” gave a solid effort during the Petr Yan first fight. He threw with enough volume that he had the lead on the scorecards of one judge after three rounds. But Yan was turning it up in Round 4 and was landing the more damaging strikes throughout the fight. He’ll pick up right where he left off this time.
Yan downloads his opponents like few others and he already has almost 20 minutes of hands-on data to work with. Sterling may give Yan a few different looks during the initial rounds but Yan will eventually have to accept his terms.
*Unless Sterling improves his grappling, it’s unlikely that he will be able to win the fight. Even if he implements a wrestling-heavy gameplan, the wrestling actually favored Yan in the first fight as he was successful on all seven of his takedown attempts while Sterling scored on just one out of 17 tries (per UFC Stats).
Sterling has been in the sights of The Terminator for more than a year and he will soon resume his dominance over the most important division in MMA.
Yan by fourth-round knockout.
Pick: Yan
Khamzat Chimaev is the real deal.
Chimaev is a man who has seized every UFC opportunity that has been presented to him. Whether it’s finishing two opponents in two different weight classes in 10 days or making hardy veterans look like rookies, his performances have amplified his one-of-a-kind mystique.
Cue Gilbert burns, an UFC champion who is ready to knock Chimaev out of his feet. “Durinho” has been big game hunting ever since he moved up to 170 pounds and that’s resulted in wins over Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, Tyron Woodley, and Demian Maia. He’s a cut well above what Chimaev has faced so far.
Chimaev, who is a huge welterweight, will be able to defeat Burns. Even though they are closer in stature, Chimaev is a relentless champion of chain wrestling and that’s exactly what Burns needs to defeat his dazzling jiu jitsu skills. Burns might be tempted with subs, and they will eventually compete for the mat against Chimaev.
Chimaev gets it done with ground-and-pound in the third round on a tiring Burns.
Pick: Chimaev
Picking this fight all depends on how much faith you have in Mackenzie Dern’s ability to get this fight to the ground. She is not able to do it consistently in the three-round bout.
Although Dern might be hot to take Tecia Torres’ first place, “The Tiny Tornado”, who has been through many difficulties before, could still win. That experience will help her win against Dern. Torres has a big edge in striking outside of Dern having a bit more power, so we’ll see how much Dern has improved in that area because they’ll be spending more and more time on the feet as the bout goes on.
There’s a strong chance that Dern can catch Torres with a submission in Round 1, a possibility that’s always open to Dern given her prodigious grappling skills. But Torres has great defense and she’s so physically strong that she can weather the storm. If Dern can put together a dominant 15-minute performance against Torres, I’ll be impressed. As it stands, I’m thinking Torres by decision.
Pick: Torres
Vinc Pichel is able to rise from a takedown. The question is how many times is he going to have to demonstrate that skill in his fight with Mark O. Madsen, an elite wrestler brought Olympic silver home to Denmark in 2016?
The answer? Too many times for him to be able to win this fight.
Madsen is going to great lengths to round out his game, relocating to Fight Ready in Phoenix to work with Henry Cejudo’s team and maximize what’s left of his athletic prime. We’re going to see a more well-rounded Madsen, but wrestling is still his bread-and-butter and his best path to victory here.
“From Hell” loves to play the spoiler, whether its defusing prospects like Roosevelt Roberts, Joaquim Silva, and Anthony Njokuani, or knocking off fellow vets like Jim Miller. He has a deep gas tank and thrives in the standup, two factors that play heavily in his favor against Madsen.
I’m buying into the potential benefits of Madsen’s camp change and predict that working with a fellow Olympian in Cejudo is going to take his MMA wrestling to another level, which is an intimidating proposition given how effective he already is in that department. Maybe in his next fight Madsen will get to better show off his mixing of the martial arts; for now, he’ll stick with the wrestling to grind out a decision over Pichel.
Pick: Madsen
Preliminaries
Ian Garry def. Darian Weeks
Anthony Hernandez def. Josh Fremd
Aspen Ladd def. Raquel Pennington (6)
Mike Malott def. Mickey Gall
Aleksei Oleinik def. Jared Vanderaa
Piera Rodriguez def. Kay Hansen
Daniel Santos def. Julio Arce
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