THE 10 | A MASSIVE MONTH INSIDE THE OCTAGON

UFC Fight Night: Muhammad vs Bonfim — Saturday, June 6 (Las Vegas, NV)

Farès Ziam vs Tom Nolan

Eight days before the lightweight title goes on the line, Ziam and Nolan lock horns in Las Vegas in a matchup that may not feel like a high-stakes pairing but carries — in my opinion — more import and intrigue than the bout between Mauricio Ruffy and Michael Chandler at the White House.

Ziam, who sits at No. 14 in the rankings, is on a six-fight winning streak, but still hasn't secured an opportunity to fight forward in his crowded division, while Nolan carries a four-fight winning streak into the biggest fight of his career. They’re two of the top young talents in the division, though it’s yet to be seen if the Australian Nolan is on the same level as Ziam, but that’s where the intrigue lies.

If the streaking French “Smile Killer” can bounce the Dana White’s Contender Series grad with relative ease, it will not only show the clear delineation between the two but should finally mean he lands a bout with one of the tenured veterans clinging to a position in the Top 15. Should Nolan come through victorious, he joins Quillan Salkilld as another elite emerging Australian and DWCS grad in the 155-pound ranks, and he too could be looking at a matchup with a more seasoned foe.

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Belal Muhammad vs Gabriel Bonfim

Excluding the title fights at UFC Freedom 250, this might be the fight I'm most interested in this month because, depending on who wins, the divisional ramifications are dramatically different.

Even though he only lost the welterweight title 13 months ago, Muhammad is now two champions removed from sitting on the throne and in dire need of a win after suffering a unanimous decision loss to Ian Machado Garry last November. While he’s still stationed at No. 5 in the division, there are some real “tumble down the rankings” vibes surrounding him heading into this one as he turns 38 in July and is in tough here.

Bonfim has been outstanding since graduating in the DWCS Class of ’22, posting six wins in seven starts and earning consecutive wins over Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson and Randy Brown. This is a considerable step up in competition for the ascending Brazilian, but the right step given his recent run of success and the current landscape of the division.

What is so fascinating about this matchup is that while a Muhammad win would basically maintain the status quo, a victory for the 28-year-old rising star would create a massive ripple effect and send another under-30 standout into the title conversation. Welterweight has never been better, and this one is going to go a long way towards helping figure out how things will line up in the back half of the year.

UFC Freedom 250 — Sunday, June 14 (Washington, D.C.)

Diego Lopes vs Steve Garcia

I adore fights where everyone is pretty sure of how things are going to play out, but the less likely scenario feels really appealing to me, and this is one of those fights.

The consensus opinion is that the two-time title challenger Lopes will get himself moving in the right direction again by running through Garcia, who might be the most anonymous Top 10 fighter in the UFC right now. Folks will point to the quality of competition Lopes has beaten, contrast it with what Garcia has done, and conclude that the beloved Brazilian is going to roll.

But I think counting out Garcia is a mistake.

While he hasn't beaten the same level of competition as Lopes, he hasn't had a chance to face them either. What he has done, though, is earn seven straight wins, six by stoppage, four in the first round. The Albuquerque native is game, has good power, and has a two-and-a-half-inch reach advantage on Lopes, who has never been mistaken for someone who avoids getting hit.

 I know how this one is supposed to play out, but there is a reason they still make the walk and close the door behind them, right?

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Josh Hokit vs Derrick Lewis

The Josh Hokit Experience has been a trip so far, and I am fascinated by him as an actual prospect, and how he navigates this matchup with the UFC's all-time knockout leader will help clarify some things about him even further.

Before UFC 327, you could easily wave off Hokit as an overhyped newcomer benefiting from an outlandish persona (multiple personas?) because he hadn't faced anyone. But he beat Curtis Blaydes in Miami, and Blaydes is no slouch, so even if you too want no part of the trash talk and weird characters, it’s time to start trying to figure out if he really is a “Capital G Guy” in the heavyweight division.

I'm going to keep saying this every time until others start to recognize it and understand it: on paper, Hokit is the kind of athlete we've always wanted to see transition to the sport — a dynamic two-sport athlete who boxed up his NFL ambitions after a couple of seasons as a practice squad player in favor of some MMA gloves. Unbeaten through nine pro fights, he’s earned a place in the Top 5 in just three UFC appearances and can cement his standing as a genuine contender with a win over Derrick Lewis.

If you had told me last fall, when he was on the Contender Series, that Hokit would be a legit contender in four fights, I'd have said you were crazy, but here we are, standing on the precipice of that very thing happening, and I am transfixed.

Sean O’Malley vs Aiemann Zahabi

While we wait to find out what is happening at the top of the bantamweight division, top contenders O’Malley and Zahabi meet at the White House in a bout that should clarify some things about each man.

“Suga” got back in the win column in January with a unanimous decision victory over Song Yadong and is working to keep himself in the championship queue, should Petr Yan remain on top, given that he holds a narrow win over the two-time titleholder. Zahabi is riding a seven-fight winning streak that includes consecutive close decision wins over José Aldo and Marlon “Chito” Vera and has been cast here — fair or not — as the safer, easier opponent for O'Malley, whom Cory Sandhagen was desperately trying to chase down.

Here's what piques my interest about this fight: O'Malley hasn't felt like the "Suga" we saw climb the ranks since he won the title, and that was three years ago now. He's still super-technical and an undeniable talent, but is he considerably better than Zahabi? We're going to find out.

I also like that the French-Canadian is just an all-out gamer who finds a way to win close rounds and closer fights. Argue all you want about the scoring in his last two wins, but give the 38-year-old the credit he deserves — he survived nearly being finished to rally and beat Aldo, and most agreed with his getting the nod against Vera.

He has the kind of well-rounded, technical game and sound defensive mechanics that make him a tough matchup for anyone, and no one should be surprised if this turns out to be an ultra-competitive fight.

The Rising Stars Of UFC Freedom 250

Alex Pereira vs Ciryl Gane

Even if we set aside the fact that Pereira is trying to become the first three-division champion in UFC history, this is still a captivating battle and one that is either going to shake up the heavyweight division a little more or show there are limits to what even “Poatan” can do in the Octagon.

This is one of those fights where I know the measurables are close, but until we see Pereira in there and get a sense of how the transition to heavyweight has actually gone, it’s going to feel like when Max Holloway challenged Dustin Poirier for the interim lightweight title: they were in the same division, the tale of the tape was pretty similar, but Poirier was a lifer and Holloway was just vacationing.

While I will not be surprised if Pereira makes a seamless transition to heavyweight and makes history, this is one of those “I’ve gotta see it” moments because I’ve seen Gane batter talented heavyweights and move like few people his size can move inside the Octagon. If he were to go out and pick apart the Brazilian with his jab and just never allow Pereira to really get close, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least.

Obviously, a Pereira win is more historic and creates greater intrigue in the division, but there will still be plenty to digest and discuss should Gane get the job done as well.

Ilia Topuria vs Justin Gaethje

Yes, the UFC lightweight title is on the line, and this is a chance for the American Gaethje to close out this historic event by finally claiming the title and producing a massive moment to end the night, but more than anything, this feels like a legacy-bolstering fight to me on both sides.

The legacy of each man is already established, but what transpires here will shift things for each of them.

Topuria's three-fight run of finishes over Alexander Volkanovski, Holloway, and Charles Oliveira might be the best three-fight finishing streak in UFC history, and if he completes the four-pack by starching Gaethje, we’re going to have to have some serious discussions about where “El Matador” fits in the pantheon of all-time greats. I’m also more than a little curious to see how the champion does if he can’t get Gaethje out of there quickly and has to navigate a knock-down, drag-out affair as well.

Gaethje is a two-time interim champ, a bonus machine, and the most consistently entertaining fighter to ever grace the Octagon; he's going into the Hall of Fame the second he hangs up his gloves. But the UFC lightweight title is the one thing that is missing from his resume, and if he finally earns the gold at the White House… man.

I have goosebumps just thinking about this one.

PHOTO GALLERY: UFC Freedom 250 Fighters Visit White House

UFC Fight Night: Kape vs Horiguchi — Saturday, June 20 (Las Vegas, NV)

Manel Kape vs Kyoji Horiguchi

Six days after UFC Freedom 250, the action shifts back to the Meta APEX for a card headlined by a pivotal flyweight matchup between Kape and Horiguchi that could determine who is second in line to challenge for the title; former champ Alexandre Pantoja is first, in case that wasn’t already understood.

Kape has been rolling since his weird, inactive loss to Muhammad Mokaev a couple years back in Manchester, earning three straight stoppage wins to rise to No. 2 in the divisional hierarchy, while Horiguchi has gone 2-0 since returning to the UFC and quickly climbed to No. 5. While nothing is ever guaranteed, it’s reasonable to believe that the winner of this one slots in to face the winner of the presumed rematch between Joshua Van and Pantoja, with the end of the year or early 2027 feeling like the correct timeline.

What I like most about this one — you know, besides the fact that it's two of the top five contenders getting after it — is that both guys have been incredibly active and opted to stay that way, rather than trying to sit on their resumes and pedigrees and see if a title shot maybe falls in their lap. This is when the sport is at its best — when everyone is fighting for their spots and defending their rankings — and add in that this is a rematch, so there is a little lingering history to consider as well, and you have the makings of a terrific little post-White House refresher less than a week later.

UFC Fight Night: Fiziev vs Torres — Saturday, June 26 (Baku, Azerbaijan)

Abdul Rakhman Yakhyaev vs Julius Walker

No, this fight doesn't fit alongside the rest of the bouts listed in this collection, but I don't care. Every time I write this series, I include "one for me," and this is it, and it's exclusively because of Yakhyaev.

The recent DWCS graduate has already posted a pair of first-round stoppage wins to start his UFC career and advance to 9-0 overall, and all but one of those wins came inside the distance. He’s a non-partisan finisher, equally happy to win by TKO (3) or submission (5), and he can further cement his standing as one of the top prospects on the roster with a third consecutive victory over Walker in Azerbaijan.

All of that is amazing and definitely part of the draw to include this contest, but the biggest thing is that Yakhyaev is 25 years old and in a division where the youngest fighters in the rankings are 33-year-olds Jiri Prochazka and Bogdan Guskov, and the average age of the 16 athlete included in those calculations is 35.69, give me all the Yahkyaev stock imaginable and let’s get him moving towards the rankings posthaste if he wins here.

MORE: Hokit Wants To Become A Household Name | Alex Pereira’s Path to the History Books | Ilia Topuria's Unbeaten Road To UFC Freedom 250

Rafael Fiziev vs Manuel Torres

A month after May wrapped with a fighter from the host nation earning an impressive win in front of a partisan crowd, Fiziev has the chance to do the same as he welcomes Torres to Baku for what should be a captivating battle for as long as it lasts.

Fiziev, who represents Azerbaijan, enters off a rough loss to Mauricio Ruffy earlier this year with designs on not only bouncing back and earning a second win in as many years in Baku, but holding onto his place in the Top 15 as well. On paper, this is a reasonable step up in competition for Torres, who stopped Grant Dawson last time out, but that feels a little precarious if I’m being honest.

Not to get all “who did he really beat?” about it, but Fiziev’s reputation feels burnished by the fact that he battled hard against Justin Gaethje twice after stringing together a series of wins over quality veterans while logging just a single victory (over Ignacio Bahamondes) since the summer of 2022. Who you fight certainly has to be considered alongside wins and losses, and Fiziev has fought a tough slate over the last four years, but he's 1-4 during that stretch, so maybe he's not as clearly a notch above Torres as some people think?

The weird part — because of MMA math — is that Torres' lone UFC loss came against Bahamondes, who took advantage of his aggressiveness and knocked him out at Noche UFC at Sphere back in 2024. Since then, he’s mollywhopped Drew Dober and the aforementioned Dawson, and he’ll be looking to do the same to Fiziev to close out the month.

Like most of the fights on this list — and most fights in general — how things play out will provide valuable insights about each of these men and where they fit in the loaded lightweight ranks.