Mixed martial arts fans are in for an all-action August, writes Quintin van Jaarsveld as he highlights the five most-anticipated UFC fights of the month, including two title tilts.
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Mateusz Gamrot vs Quillan Salkilld
Saturday, August 8 SA time
Strap in for an exciting showdown between top-15 lightweights. Headlining UFC Vegas 120 at the Meta APEX, the bout pits a staple of the 155-pound division against its hottest prospect.
Gamrot got back to winning ways in style in April, submitting Esteban Ribovics with an arm-triangle, and is an experienced and busy fighter who’s faced some of the best lightweights in the world.
Salkilld is on a series hot streak, having gone 5-0 since joining the UFC last February. What’s more, the ascending Australian finished four of his five UFC opponents and has an opportunity to break into the top 10 in his first main event.
Islam Makhachev vs Ian Machado Garry
Sunday, August 16 SA time
The best pound-for-pound fighter on the planet returns to the Octagon to put his welterweight title on the line in the main event of UFC 330 at the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia.
Makhachev became a two-division champion when he dethroned Jack Della Maddalena by decision last November to add the 170-pound title to the lightweight championship he previously held.
The dominant victory also saw the Dagestani ace draw level with the legendary Anderson Silva for the longest win streak in UFC history (16).
His upcoming first defence of the welterweight belt has been compared to the game-changing clash between Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor matchup given the narrative of a rising Irish striker challenging a dominant, pound-for-pound king.
McGregor famously knocked out Aldo in just 13 seconds to be crowned featherweight champion back in 2015, and Machado Garry – who has only one defeat in his 18-fight career – vows to follow in his countryman’s footsteps and take UFC gold back to Ireland.
Mackenzie Dern vs Gillian Robertson
Sunday, August 16 SA time
Gold is also on the line in UFC 330’s co-main event.
Dern achieved her destiny when she captured the strawweight title with an emotional win over Virna Jandiroba in October and makes the maiden defence of her crown against a veteran threat.
Perseverance personified, it’s taken Robertson over eight years and 20 fights in the UFC to finally earn a championship opportunity, and the surging Canadian – who’s on a five-fight win streak – plans to seize the moment.
A clash between the most prolific submission artists in strawweight history, the scramble for the 115-pound gold is must-watch.
Anthony Hernandez vs Gregory Rodrigues
Sunday, August 23 SA time
It’s “Fluffy” versus “Robocop” in the marquee matchup of UFC Sacramento at the Golden 1 Center.
After being stopped by the now middleweight champion Sean Strickland in February, a devastating defeat that halted his eight-fight win streak, Hernandez is hell-bent on starting another run up the ladder.
Rodrigues returns to the headline spot in hopes of a better outcome than his previous outing at the top of a card. The knockout artist came up short against Jared Cannonier in the main event of UFC Vegas 102 last February but has since rattled off three straight and has his sights set on Hernandez’s No. 6 ranking.
Umar Nurmagomedov vs Song Yadong
Saturday, August 29 SA time
The UFC returns to Shanghai with a pivotal bantamweight headliner.
The Oriental Sports Center will stage the showdown between third-ranked Nurmagomedov and fifth-ranked Song, with the winner moving one step closer to the title.
Nurmagomedov had a first bite at the cherry last January but suffered his first and only loss to then-champion Merab Dvalishvili. He’s won back-to-back bouts against Mario Bautista and former flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo since.
China’s own Song Yadong makes his sixth main event appearance following a submission victory over Figueiredo in May, which washed away the disappointment of a close decision loss to ex-bantamweight kingpin Sean O’Malley.
Quintin van Jaarsveld is a former MDDA-Sanlam SA Local Sports Journalist of the Year and a former three-time Vodacom KwaZulu-Natal Sports Journalist of the Year. Formerly the sports editor and Outstanding Journalist of the Year award winner at The Fever Media Group, deputy editor at eHowzit, editor at SARugby.com and senior staff writer at Rugby365.com, he boasts over 20 years of experience.
