The second half of 2022 will be a really hot one in the UFC. There will be quite a few interesting fights during that time. One article was not enough to list all the interesting fights.
Table of Contents
Gan – Tuivasa
On September 3, 2022, for the first time in the history of France, this country will host the UFC tournament. The fact is that mixed martial arts in this country had a semi-legal status. About a year ago MMA became an official sport. Naturally, to host such a tournament we have to find a star Frenchman, and that is Cyril Gan. This heavyweight is very different from the others, especially Tuivasa. Cyril Gan has great moves and can outbox every fighter in the heavyweight division. Our website, mega-news.in, has a lot of news that talks about the leaders of the sport.
Cyril began his journey in the UFC with 7 straight wins. In his last four fights, he has outpointed such fighters as Dos Santos, Rosenstrike, Wolves, and Lewis. All of them were considered top fighters and Cyril Gun was in no danger in his fights against them. After 7 wins the Frenchman became the top contender for the title and faced the formidable knockout fighter Francis Nganu. Gan took the first two rounds without any questions, routinely outboxing his opponent. The next rounds, however, were left to his opponent at the expense of the fight. It was a surprising result, that nobody could have predicted. In the fight between the two punchers, the fight was all decided. According to Cyril’s trainer, they did a very good job in the fight. Gan is currently ranked number one in the heavyweight division. Only the champion is higher.
Tuivasa is a very colorful fighter. After each win, he takes a sneaker from a fan, pours a beer in it, and drinks it while sitting in the cage. This behavior has brought Ty to the attention of the fans. In his first three fights, the Aussie had 3 wins to his credit. After that, he lost 3 fights and then had another winning streak of 5 fights in a row. In his last fight, he defeated Derek Lewis by TKO, making him #3 in the division. In terms of fighting style, Ty comes out knocking out his opponents. Cyril Gun is very good at fighting against such non-technical fighters. It won’t be easy to make a reliable prediction.
Naturally, Gan appeared on the line as a huge favorite. You can bet on him at odds of 1.20. Bets on Tuivasa are accepted for 4.90. All parlay fans should add a Ghana win to their list. Tuivasa has disastrously little. In general, many experts and analysts believe that Tuivasa should not be in the top 3 divisions. He is only there because of one win.
Robert Whitaker – Marvin Vittori
On the same night that Cyril Gan and Ty Tuivasa’s fight will take place, former middleweight champion Robert Whitaker and Marvin Vittori will fight. Robert became the UFC champion in 2018, defeating Yoel Romero in the fight. After that, he repeated his success in a rematch. Romero at the time was considered the most intimidating fighter in the division with real dynamite in his hands. Whitaker was then defeated by Israel Adesanya, who, looking ahead, would be the dominant middleweight champion. Robert then went back on a streak of three straight wins, but it was interrupted by the same Adesanya. The Nigerian is real kryptonite for Robert. All the tops except Adesanya, Whitaker has beaten.
Vittori also has good stats, but he also lost to the reigning champion twice. After his last loss to the defending champion, Vittori defeated Paulo Costa by decision.
How unique Israel Adesanya is if the fighters have to fight for the second place because they can’t count on the first one. But that’s a whole other topic. Bookmakers see Whitaker as the favorite. Bets on his win are settled at 1.50. They’ll take Vittori’s win for 2.30. Vittori could theoretically win by wrestling, but she is unlikely to work with Robert. Whitaker is good at defending against wrestling, and he’s much stronger in standup. Most likely the winner will be the favorite.
Beneil Dariusz – Mateusz Gamroth
On October 22 this year, perhaps the most high-profile tournament of the year will take place. Charles Oliveira will defend his title against Islam Makhachev. Somebody after the fight will be the champion. In addition to the light heavyweight champion, the top contender will also be determined. Beneil Dariusz and Mateusz Gamroth will reveal this status.
Beneil Dariusz is a real top, but he is woefully lacking in media exposure. He is ranked sixth in the division, but not many people know about him. These days, it’s not enough to win. You have to attract attention with loud statements, which Dariusz doesn’t want to do. In 2017, Beneil lost two fights by knockout and many wrote him off. However, the fighter found the strength to come back. He’s had an amazing streak of nine straight wins. In his last fight, Dariusz smashed once top Tony Ferguson. In fairness, Tony is a long way from being a top contender.
Dariusz’s strong point is the wrestling, but he’s also improved in the standup lately. Gamroth, on the other hand, is a more versatile fighter. The Pole had 22 wins and only one defeat under his belt. The only loss was in his debut against Guram Kutateladze. After that, Mateusz had four wins in a row and moved up to ninth place in the light-heavyweight ranking.
The bookmakers couldn’t determine the main favorite. The odds on Dariusz’s victory are 2. We can take Gamroth’s victory for 1.75. It’s a very hard fight to analyze. If Dariusz’s fight will work, he will most likely win. But will it work? In his last fight, Gamroth beat a good wrestler Arman Tsarukyan and the wrestling of the latter did not help him at all. If Beneil Dariusz wins this fight, he will most likely be the one to fight next for the title.
Jose Aldo – Merab Dvalishvili
On August 21, the UFC 278 tournament will feature a fight between Jose Aldo and Merab Dvalishvili. Jose Aldo is a true mixed martial arts legend. Aldo hasn’t been defeated since 2006, and since 2011 he has been the USMF champion. During this time he defeated all the major contenders in the featherweight division until Conor McGregor came along. To him, he lost his belt. After that, Aldo got his belt back, lost it again to Max Holoway, then suffered a few more defeats and decided to change the weight class. And Aldo decided not to go up, but instead to go down in weight, which at his age seemed like a questionable decision.
Now Jose is 35 years old. After the weight change, Aldo lost in a very close fight to Marlon Moraes by judicial decision. Most of the independent judges, experts, and journalists had different opinions. After Moraes, Aldo was given a chance to fight for the title against Peter Jan. The Russian turned out to be stronger. Many people gave up Aldo’s career, but once again he surprised everyone. The Brazilian was able to go on a three-fight winning streak, defeating very tough tops Fonta, Munoz, and Vera.
Merab Dvalishvili is ranked #6 in the lightest division. He’s not a popular fighter, but a win over Aldo could add to his fame. The Georgian fighter got off to a poor start in the UFC. He lost his first two fights. After that, Merab went on a seven-fight winning streak. The fighter’s strongest side is wrestling.
Aldo is considered a slight favorite in the upcoming fight. The odds of his victory are 1.70. Bets on Dvalishvili are taken for 2. Aldo has always been good against fighters. Perhaps that’s why he’s the favorite. But if Merab’s wrestling works, Aldo will have a very hard time in his upcoming fight.
Johnny Walker – Ion Kucelaba
The fight will take place at the UFC 279 tournament between Johnny Walker and Ion Kucelaba. These are not such stellar fighters. Jonny Walker was once considered a promising fighter who could provide decent resistance to the legendary Jon Jones. However, the fighter was first injured and then began to suffer many defeats.
Ion Kutselaba has never been close to the top level but promotes an aggressive fighting style. Joni used to be a spectacular fighter as well. He has a wide arsenal in striking technique, and something tells me that Kutselaba will make him show it. You have to watch this fight because it promises to be very entertaining. Huge guys (up to 93kg) will try to knock each other out, and it promises to be interesting.
