The 10: August Offers Plenty of Action

Andrade makes her fourth start of the year, stepping in for fellow Brazilian Virna Jandiroba, to take on Suarez in this weekend’s critical strawweight co-main event.

The former champion started her year with a dominant win over Lauren Murphy at UFC 283, but has since dropped consecutive outings by stoppage, getting submitted by Erin Blanchfield in February and knocked out by Yan Xiaonan at UFC 288 in May. Suarez ended a 40-month absence in February, returning up a division and registering a second-round submission win over Montana De La Rosa to move to 10-0 and quickly re-establish herself as a dangerous undefeated threat.

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It’s not difficult to understand the importance of this one: for Andrade, she’s looking to avoid the first three-fight losing streak of her career and show that she’s still capable of being a top-end contender in the division she once ruled, while for Suarez, it’s a step up in competition after shaking off the rust, and a chance to put herself in the thick of the title conversation with a victory.

The winner is very much in the mix, and with the title being defended later this month, August feels like it could be a very meaningful month in the strawweight ranks.

Cory Sandhagen vs. Rob Font

Just like the co-main event, Saturday’s headliner features a shift in plans, as Sandhagen now faces off with Font, who switched out of a fight in Boston to replace Umar Nurmagomedov in this weekend’s five-round main event in Nashville.

Sandhagen has reset nicely following back-to-back decision losses to TJ Dillashaw and Petr Yan, posting a fourth-round stoppage win over Song Yadong last fall and a split decision victory over Marlon Vera back in March to move to 16-4 for his career. Font is halfway to that same kind of reset, bouncing back from losses to Jose Aldo and Vera with a first-round technical knockout win over Adrian Yanez at UFC 287 in April.

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Bantamweight remains one of the most competitive and talent-rich divisions in the sport, and this pairing between the men stationed at Nos. 4 and 7 in the rankings should illustrate those facts beautifully. Both are skilled, polished strikers and a victory for either elevates them into the center of any title conversations.

There is a symmetry between this weekend’s card and the UFC 292 pay-per-view, as the co-main and main events of each show feature pairings in the same divisions, with the contenders battling here and the titles being up for grabs two weeks later in Boston. The winner of this one will be paying very close attention to how things shake out at TD Garden later in the month and could potentially find themselves fighting for the title next year.

UFC Fight Night: Luque vs. Dos Anjos — Saturday, August 12 (Las Vegas, NV)

Vicente Luque vs. Rafael Dos Anjos

It’s a clash of tenured Brazilian welterweights at the UFC APEX in the second main event of the month, as Luque returns after just over a year on the sidelines to face off with Dos Anjos.

“The Silent Assassin” makes his third straight appearance in Las Vegas, eager to end a two-fight skid. After carrying a four-fight winning streak into 2022 with designs on pushing towards the top of the rankings, Luque ran into Belal Muhammad and Geoff Neal, getting out-wrestled by the former and knocked out by the latter. Dos Anjos moved back up to the 170-pound ranks at the end of last year, registering a second-round submission win over Bryan Barberena to show he’s still got plenty left in the tank despite now being in his 15th year on the UFC roster.

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Luque sits at No. 10 in the divisional rankings, and while Dos Anjos doesn’t carry a number next to his name, his resume speaks for itself.

This is a fascinating matchup between two well-rounded fighters that prefer to work from opposite points, with Luque favoring a standup battle and Dos Anjos best suited to a grappling encounter. It’s going to be intriguing to see who can dictate the terms of engagement and whether either will be able to thrive in their opponent’s preferred realm.

UFC 292: Sterling vs. O’Malley — Saturday, August 19 (Boston, MA)

Andrea Lee vs. Natalia Silva

Given the big names on this card and the bevy of exciting pairings on tap this month, this one feels like it’s flying under the radar right now, but it’s certainly one that I am tracking closely.

Lee has been a fixture in the flyweight rankings since arriving in the UFC in the spring of 2018. She’s just 5-5 inside the Octagon, but with a trio of narrow, debated split decision losses in there and a strength of schedule unlike many other contenders, the 34-year-old has established herself as a divisional stalwart and excellent litmus test for the ascending set.

All Silva did in her first year as an active UFC competitor is post a trio of victories to push her record to 15-5-1 and her winning streak to nine. After out-hustling Jasmine Jasudavicius in her debut — which has continued to age nicely — the 26-year-old Brazilian posted a third-round stoppage win over Tereza Bleda before dismantling Victoria Leonardo in under three minutes last time out.

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Lee was in the corner of Leonardo for that fight, and while this fight stands as must-see TV on its own merits, that little nugget of information feels like a nice pop of spice to heat things up even more.

There is a pack of emerging talents under the age of 30 pushing forward in the flyweight division at the moment, and this is Silva’s chance to show she’s not only part of that group, but one of the best in the bunch.

Geoff Neal vs. Ian Machado Garry

Everything about this fight is awesome; it ticks all the boxes.

Neal’s win over Luque last summer showed he’s all the way back from his scary battle with sepsis a few years earlier, and the Fortis MMA man didn’t lose any ground after getting submitted by Shavkat Rakhmonov at the tail end of their back-and-forth, Fight of the Night-winning battle at UFC 285. Sporting a 7-3 mark inside the Octagon and positioned at No. 8 in the rankings, he’s the perfect veteran challenge for the ascending Irishman.

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Through his first two appearances of 2023, the 25-year-old Machado Garry has answered any questions people may have had about his place in the division and standing as one of the best welterweight prospects in the sport. After rallying from an early knockdown to stop Song Kenan in March, “The Future” ripped through Daniel Rodriguez in May, giving him a dozen straight wins and counting to begin his professional career.

Can Neal become the first fighter to hand Machado Garry a loss or will the skilled and confident youngster continue blazing a trail towards the top of the 170-pound weight class?

Marlon Vera vs. Pedro Munhoz

There is a bigger bantamweight fight on this card and another main event in the 135-pound ranks that has already been discussed, but this one has to be mentioned here because there is no way that it doesn’t turn into a wildly entertaining scrap midway through the UFC 292 main card.

Vera dropped a split decision to Sandhagen earlier this year, and “Chito” couldn’t seem to pull the trigger that evening in San Antonio. And after getting so close to a championship opportunity, something tells me he comes out more aggressively this time around against Munhoz.

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The 36-year-old “Young Punisher” reminded everyone why he has tenure in the bantamweight ranks with a unanimous decision win over Chris Gutierrez in Kansas City in April. Munhoz has been in there with both halves of the championship main event, four former champions, and a plethora of veteran competitors over the course of his career, serving as a stern test for all of them and racking up some impressive wins along the way.

While Vera can be overly selective with his shots at times, Munhoz’ pressure style, coupled with his loss to Sandhagen in March, should turn this into a competitive, engaging clash before the championship action gets underway in Boston.

Zhang Weili vs. Amanda Lemos

Things get moving at the top of the strawweight division once more as Zhang defends her title for the first time since reclaiming it last November at Madison Square Garden when she takes on the Brazilian powerhouse Lemos in the UFC 292 co-main event.

After knocking out Joanna Jedrzejczyk in their rematch at UFC 275, Zhang ventured to New York and ran through Carla Esparza, claiming the strawweight title for the second time. She faltered in her first title defense during her initial title reign, so it’ll be interesting to see if there is any lingering hesitation as she steps forward to try and retain her title in Boston.

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Lemos rebounded from a submission loss to Andrade last April with a pair of impressive finishes over Michelle Waterson-Gomez and Marina Rodriguez, establishing herself as the top contender in the process. Sporting a 13-2-1 record overall and 7-1 mark over her last eight fights, the 36-year-old has a 71-percent finishing rate at 115 pounds and is a formidable threat to the Chinese champion.

These are the two most physical, powerful fighters in the division, colliding with the strawweight title hanging in the balance. While it hasn’t generated the same kind of buzz as the headlining act, make no mistake about it: this is an outstanding fight that will have people on the edge of their seats on August 19.

Aljamain Sterling vs. Sean O’Malley

Fifteen weeks after standing face-to-face in the center of the Octagon, Sterling and O’Malley will share the cage with the bantamweight strap on the line in the UFC 292 main event.

Sterling extended his winning streak to nine with a split decision win over Henry Cejudo at UFC 288 in Newark, setting a record for the most consecutive successful title defenses in the UFC bantamweight division (with three) in the process. While his fights are often close and competitive, “The Funkmaster” always seems to find a way to get the job done, and if he does so again in “Beantown,” there won’t be much his critics will be able to say going forward.

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O’Malley arrives at his first championship opportunity in the UFC off a split decision win over Petr Yan last October in Abu Dhabi and riding a five-fight unbeaten streak. He showed a previously unseen level of resolve, tenacity, and grit in that bout with Yan, silencing those that questioned his ability to hang with the division’s elite.

This one feels personal, and whether that is real or just two guys that know how to drum up interest in their upcoming fight, it’s certainly worked to get people invested and eagerly anticipating the moment they collide. August is a huge month in the bantamweight division, and how things play out here will obviously set the course for the weight class heading into the 2023 home stretch.

UFC Fight Night: Holloway vs. The Korean Zombie — Saturday, August 26 (Kallang, Singapore)

Taila Santos vs. Erin Blanchfield

Originally scheduled to face one another in February, Santos and Blanchfield will now share the Octagon in Singapore with even greater stakes, as the winner will likely stand as the No. 1 contender in the flyweight division.

Santos makes her second straight appearance at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, having battled tooth-and-nail against Valentina Shevchenko last summer at UFC 275. While she landed on the wrong side of the split decision verdict that evening, her stock went through the roof and there are many people, myself very much included, that have been waiting to see her back in action ever since.

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After quickly and efficiently dispatching Molly McCann at UFC 281 last November, Blanchfield said she wanted a step up in competition, and then went out and dominated Andrade to register her fifth straight UFC win and eighth consecutive victory overall. Now 11-1, the 24-year-old is at the vanguard of a wave of talent climbing the flyweight ranks, and a win over Santos would further cement her standing as one of the best young talents in the sport.

Will the older, more experienced Brazilian prove to be too stern a test for the ascending American or can Blanchfield keep rolling by turning back Santos and establishing herself as the No. 1 contender in the 125-pound weight class?

Max Holloway vs. “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung

Featherweight mainstays that somehow have never crossed paths finally do so here, as Holloway looks for his second win of 2023 in a clash with the returning Jung in the final UFC fight of the month.

“Blessed” got himself back into the win column with a unanimous decision win over Arnold Allen in April, giving him a dozen consecutive non-title victories. The performance showed that the Hawaiian former champion is still one of the absolute best at 145 pounds, as he outworked the streaking British fighter with his signature blend of pressure, pace, and precision.

Jung fights for the first time since his championship loss to Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 273. Throughout his career, the 36-year-old has been one of the most consistently entertaining fighters on the roster, and it will be interesting to see what he can bring to the table to disrupt Holloway’s flow in Singapore.

With Volkanovski having just successfully unified the featherweight titles at UFC 290, the back half of the year is a chance for competitors to jockey for and solidify their position in the pecking order as the Australian champion plots his next move, and the winner of this one will very much be front and center in future marquee matchups within the division.