Fight Coverage
The 10 | What A Wicked October It Will Be
Examining The Loaded October Schedule Inside The Octagon
Five event months are the best, and October is one of those months.
Title fights? Check, three times. Battles between contenders? Gotcha covered. Veteran versus prospect matchups? You know it. Some surefire brawls? Oh yeah — we’ve got those too.
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Now here’s a closer look at the contests that pique my interest the most this month in the latest instalment of The 10.
UFC 332: Silva vs Wang — Saturday, October 3 (Salt Lake City, UT)
Deiveson Figueiredo vs Payton Talbott
Here’s the first classic pairing between an established name and an emerging talent that makes the list this month as Figueiredo faces Talbott in Saturday’s co-main event in Salt Lake City.
The former two-time flyweight champion Figueiredo is in one of those weird spots where it’s difficult to know whether he’s begun a sharp decline or just fallen prey to elite competition. While he’s 1-4 over his last five fights, those losses have come against Petr Yan, Cory Sandhagen, Umar Nurmagomedov, and Song Yadong.
WATCH: Payton Talbott: “I Kind Of Reinvented Myself”
Talbott returns for the first time since besting Henry Cejudo last December and is now almost two full years removed from his loss to Raoni Barcelos, which has continued to age well. The Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS) grad posted back-to-back wins, remained one of the more intriguing younger talents on the roster, and has a chance to show he’s ready to hang with the elite this weekend.
Natalia Silva vs Wang Cong
Natalia Silva and Wang Cong close out Saturday’s return to SLC in a clash for the vacant women’s flyweight title.
The Brazilian enters with a perfect 8-0 mark in the Octagon and 14 consecutive wins overall with each of her last three victories coming against former champions. She has outstanding movement, a varied offensive bag and has merited a championship opportunity since out-working Alexa Grasso at UFC 315 the same night Valentina Shevchenko successfully defended the belt against Manon Fiorot.
READ: A Viewer's Guide To UFC 332
Wang hits the main event on a four-fight winning streak and having won five of six in the UFC, most recently registering a unanimous decision win over Tracy Cortez. Her boxing is technical and sharp, with enough power to keep you honest, and her size is always going to be a factor, especially if she can hem opponents in along the fence and operate from the clinch. While some lament Shevchenko’s absence due to injury and question if Wang should have this chance over other contenders, her presence in the matchup is well-earned.
UFC Fight Night: Allen vs Duncan — Saturday, October 10 (Las Vegas, NV)
Brendan Allen vs Christian Leroy Duncan
This one feels like the elevated version of Figueiredo versus Talbott as both men are further up the rankings, and therefore, the immediate impact is a little greater.
Allen deserves a ton of respect for frequently fighting backwards in the division. The fourth-ranked middleweight battled Edmen Shahbazyan earlier this year and now faces off with the streaking Duncan. He has won three straight and is 15-4 in the UFC with nine finishes, and it is honestly nice to see him getting the main event opportunities and overall recognition that escaped him a little earlier in this career.
READ: Sean Sharaf And The 'Overwhelming' Aftermath Of His Historic Win
There was a moment where questions about whether Duncan was going to develop into a top-10 middleweight as expected, but after a 3-2 start to his UFC run, the Gloucester man has racked up five straight wins to establish himself as one of the top ascending contenders in the division. His spinning attack finishes of Eryk Anders and Marco Tulio last year highlight his explosive offense, and decision wins over Roman Dolidze and Jared Cannonier this year have made it clear that “CLD” knows how to navigate competitive fights.
Middleweight is in a real interesting spot at the moment and how this one plays out could add to that as well since Allen has some history with current champ Sean Strickland and toppling “All-In” would elevate Duncan into the title conversation as well. We’re going to get answers to some remaining style questions in this one, and that should help determine how much further each man may climb.
UFC Fight Night: Buckley vs Malott — Saturday, October 17 (Edmonton, AB)
Erin Blanchfield vs Jasmine Jasudavicius
Elite flyweight contenders Erin Blanchfield and Jasmine Jasudavicius lock up in the co-main event in Edmonton two weeks after the new champion ascends to the throne.
Blanchfield has posted consecutive wins since dropping a main event assignment to Fiorot in Atlantic City in March 2024, besting Namajunas in Edmonton two years ago before avenging her first career loss to Cortez last November in NYC. Sporting an 8-1 record inside the Octagon and 14-2 mark overall, Blanchfield is, without question, one of the top contenders in the division and could put herself in the thick of the title conversation with a dominant effort later this month.
Jasudavicius had her five-fight run of success snapped last October in Vancouver by Fiorot but rebounded straight away with a win over Karine Silva in Winnipeg earlier this year. She’s 9-3 overall in the UFC and owns a win over Blanchfield’s main training partner Fatima Kline, which is sure to add a little heat to this matchup.
Whoever wins this one will be on the very short list of options to face the Silva-Wang winner, with only Grasso capable of making a strong opposing case, so this is a high-stakes contest to set the stage for the main event in “The City of Champions” later this month.
Joaquin Buckley vs Mike Malott
Mike Malott Gets Main Event Finish Against Gilbert Burns | UFC Winnipeg
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Mike Malott Gets Main Event Finish Against Gilbert Burns | UFC Winnipeg
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The finale in Edmonton features a matchup between top-16 welterweights as Joaquin Buckley looks to halt the rise of Canadian hopeful Mike Malott.
After ripping off six straight wins to begin his welterweight tenure, including consecutive stoppage victories over Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson and Colby Covington, Buckley has dropped his last two contests as Kamaru Usman and Sean Brady put him on the canvas and kept him there for exceptionally long stretches.
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Malott has become the leader of the “Maple Leaf Militia” over the last couple years, with this being his seventh consecutive appearance on Canadian soil and second straight main event. He has posted four straight wins since faltering in Toronto at UFC 297, most recently dispatching Gilbert Burns in April, and has the well-rounded skill set that makes him a genuine threat against a guy like Buckley.
As a Canadian and having been at most of the events up here over the course of Malott’s run, I can tell you it’s a big deal to have someone making a push the way he is and it’s going to be deafening in Rogers Place later this month. If he can get the better of Buckley in Edmonton, he’ll be facing someone on the single digits with a spot in the title conversation on the line next.
UFC 333: Volkanovski vs Evloev — Saturday, October 24 (Abu Dhabi, UAE)
Nikita Krylov vs Abdul Rakhman Yakhyaev
Every edition of this series features a “one for me” fight that may not have been a matchup anyone else is excited about, and this is the one for this month.
Krylov is a classic journeyman— a 34-year-old veteran who has made 43 appearances, 22 of them inside the Octagon, winning more than 70 percent of those matchups, and has the skills and savvy to stop a prospect dead in their tracks. That being said, he also lives in the 12-15 range in the rankings and isn’t the kind of unstoppable marauder that is automatically going to mollywhop a quality up-and-comer, even if they’re stepping in with him a touch too early.
READ: Monthly Report | September 2026
But this fight and its inclusion here is all about Yakhyaev, the undefeated Contender Series grad who has already posted three straight first-round stoppage wins to advance to 10-0 overall and was in dire need of this kind of step up in competition. Last time out, he iced Julius Walker in eight seconds, and getting him in there with a veteran like Krylov serves as a perfect measuring stick moment.
Either the veteran shows the up-and-comer still needs a little more seasoning or we’ve got a rising star that can start facing the more established set in the light heavyweight rankings.
Alexander Volkov vs Rizvan Kuniev
A month before the heavyweight title goes on the line, Alexander Volkov and Rizvan Kuniev clash in what may very well be a No. 1 contender bout.
Volkov, like Allen, deserves applause for wanting to stay active and facing whomever the UFC throws his way. After besting Jailton Almeida last year, he outworked Waldo Cortes Acosta in May, and if he adds another win to his tally here, a date with whoever leaves Madison Square Garden with the belt could be in the future.
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The same opportunity could exist for Kuniev if he topples the tenured Russian, as he too enters having earned consecutive wins after landing on the wrong side of a debated decision. Last time out, the Contender Series grad stopped Tyrell Fortune with a series of knees, and his all-around offensive arsenal makes him a very real threat to both Volkov and anyone else in the division.
The winner of this one will most likely head into 2027 as the clubhouse leader for the next title shot. We don’t know if or when Tom Aspinall will be back, Alex Pereira hasn’t made it clear where his future lies, and Sergei Pavlovich is definitely in the mix as well, so this is without question an important contest in the suddenly wide-open heavyweight ranks.
Petr Yan vs Merab Dvalishvili
Ten months after entering in opposite positions, Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili face off for a third time, with the bantamweight title hanging in the balance for the second consecutive bout.
Yan authored a masterclass last December to wrest the title away from Dvalishvili when it felt like “The Machine” may have a stranglehold on the division for a long time. He did an outstanding job dictating space, down-blocking against the takedown attempts, and making Dvalishvili pay on the feet, earning the win with scores of 49-46 twice and 48-47 to become a two-time champion.
Prior to the loss, Dvalishvili was rolling, having earned 14 straight wins, including a dominant victory over Yan in their first encounter, a title win over “Suga” Sean O’Malley at UFC 306, and successful title defenses against Umar Nurmagomedov, O’Malley, and Cory Sandhagen. Questions remain as to whether his torrid schedule was too much, but the good thing is that he’ll get the chance to answer those questions here, as Dvalishvili has been patiently waiting for his opportunity to run it back with the Russian champion.
This is one of those matchups where it could go any number of ways and none of them would surprise me, which is why I truly cannot wait to see them step in with one another again. Yan’s win at UFC 323 was one of the most impressive performances I’ve witnessed live, and like everyone else, I’ve been waiting for this trilogy bout since that crisp December night in Las Vegas last year.
Alexander Volkanovski vs Movsar Evloev
Speaking of fights I’ve been dying to see…
After reclaiming the vacant featherweight title last year with a game effort opposite Diego Lopes, Volkanovski successfully defended the title for the first time in February by beating Lopes for a second time in more convincing fashion. Volk is one of the all-time greats, but he just turned 38, there have been retirement whispers, and he’s facing an undefeated challenger with a game built — in theory — to test him.
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I understand that winning 10 consecutive decisions in the UFC doesn’t produce a great sizzle reel, but Evloev has won 10 straight fights in one of the most competitive divisions in the sport and beat a series of ranked opponents to advance to 20-0 overall. He has earned this shot, and it will be interesting to see how he adapts his game to deal with Volkanovski, who is an ace in every phase.
Will the champion retain and add another quality win to his outstanding resume, or will it be “And New” in Abu Dhabi?
UFC Fight Night: Moicano vs Nolan — Saturday, October 31 (Las Vegas, NV)
Renato Moicano vs Tom Nolan
The month wraps with another “veteran versus prospect” clash as Renato Moicano makes a second straight main event appearance opposite emerging Australian Tom Nolan.
Moicano is the perfect veteran presence in the lower third of the lightweight rankings — a game veteran who is strong in every area, doesn’t mind a good scrap, and will happily accept these types of matchups. He got back in the win column in April with a second-round finish of Chris Duncan and hasn’t lost to an emerging name since December 2020 when the fell to Rafael Fiziev.
TICKETS: Watch Moicano vs Nolan Inside Meta APEX
“Big Train” takes another step up in competition after out-hustling Fares Ziam in Las Vegas earlier this year to extend his winning streak to five and creep into the rankings. Now training at City Kockboxing in Auckland, the 26-year-old Contender Series grad can claim the biggest win of his career and take a reasonable step forward in the rankings by toppling the Brazilian veteran here.
This one came together in the wake of Moicano’s bout with Brian Ortega at UFC 321 being scuttled a couple days before the event, and honestly, this feels like a more interesting fight to me. Moicano is the type of game, dangerous veteran challenge every young hopeful needs to clear, and now Nolan gets his chance.
