I'll give you my rating of each fight with a quick fight synopsis (1-5) plus the card as whole:
298
Volk/Topuria (5/5) - doesn't really get better than this, aging champ against young lion, great style match-up, don't really need to say much more
Whittaker/Costa (3/5) - the last time Paolo looked good was against Yoel Romero 5 years ago; since then he's gone 1-2 with the only win looking bad against a washed Rockhold. Whittaker has gotten hurt every single fight since the Izzy KO, still a lot of skills and technique but far less durability. I don't see either guy getting a title shot off this, both looked their best in 2019...
Neal/Garry (3/5) - good fight, doesn't have the same hype as the first time, Garry has lost some momentum; still could be a cool fight, but seems like they are setting Garry up with progressively tougher guys they still now he should beat (better fight IQ, more diverse game, faster/longer).
Merab/Cejudo (3/5) - another good fight; arguably this is better in terms of "name-value" + "divisional impact" than Neal/Garry, but will likely be a far less cool fight (I force lots of clinching and pushing each other into the cage).
Hernandez/Kopylov (3/5) - this could be a 4, but I don't think it's warranted yet; Kopylov has a cool style but hasn't beaten anyone legit and Hernandez has the style to stifle/out-grapple him. Neither one has a lot of name value, this will pretty much be a "fringe-ranking" fight.
MAIN CARD = 3.5/5 - I weight the main event more heavily so it deserves a bump up, but outside of hte main event it's just a "solid night of fights" type of card. Besides the main event is there a single "must see" fight on this card unless you are a big fan of a particular fighter?
PRELIMS + EARLY PRELIMS = 2/5 - It opens with women's flyweight and closes with women's straw weight, and I know those female fighters better than any of the dudes they put in between those fights. Complete wasteland of name value or divisionally impactful match-ups outside of Dern/Lemos (which is short-notice).
OVERALL = 3/5 - It's a card that has terrible prelims/early prelims and a solid main card capped by an amazing Main Event.
UFC 299
O'Malley/Vera (4/5) = Lots of hype, lots of back-story, should be a cool fight stylistically, but has the sour tinge that Vera doesn't deserve this and isn't the toughest contender at the moment. Nowhere near as good a main event as Volk/Topuria, but still very good (pretty rare to get that type of generational elite fight of the best of his time versus the best of the new generation).
Poirer/BDS (4/5) = Poirer taking on a young lion, another changing of the guard potential fight; this has guaranteed fireworks, see both guys pressuring forward and looking to land combinations and power shots. Poirer is probably on the decline but still plenty of relevance and name-value, BDS has the chance to make himself a real contender if can get a dominant win.
Holland/MvP (4/5) = Another fight that is just cool as shit; we won't see any grappling, we'll just see Holland pressuring into range and seeing if MvP can land with enough power and consistency to back him off or shut off his lights. Should be a very cool technical striking battle with some fun in-cage antics from both. Holland's ceiling is limited and MvP is on the decline so this isn't an "elite fight" but they are both very good and the style match-up is fire.
Burns/JDM (4/5) = Great match-up to see if Burns can play gatekeeper to the elite; we need to see if JDM has shored up his TDD since his last fight jumping the guilly so many times. While both throw with power, it could turn into a clinch/grapple-fest if Burns gets a reactive/pressuring takedown game going, but hopefully we'll see some pocket brawling from both.
Yan/Yadong (5/5) = To me this is as good a fight as you can make at BW; two absolute power hitters that have insane durability and love to throw in the pocket with combination, it has CERITIFED BANGER written all over it. Since it's 3 rounds it'll force Yan to be more aggressive and Yarding is nothing if not aggressive; this is the type of fight we could watch every week and never get tired of.
MAIN CARD = 4/5 - Starts off with a bang and keeps the quality/consistently at a very high-level throughout.
PRELIMS + EARLY PRELIMS = 3/5 - Early prelims are kind of a wasteland (Joanne Wood to open the card) but at least they cap it off with Pereira/Oleksiejczuk, which should be a great freak-show MW fight. Prelims are really solid though, 7/8 fighters ranked, Gamrot/RDA and Blaydes/Almeida should be very cool style match-ups where we learn a lot about if Gamrot can bounce back/if Alemida can be a real contender.
OVERALL = 4/5 - Starts slow but builds nicely and keeps that quality & consistency throughout the main card all the way up to the main event.
UFC 300
TBD vs.TBD (0/5) - It's 2 months away and there is no main event....which means it's either Conor vs. Chandler or they bump Max/Gaethje up to the main event (another BMF Main Event???)
Zhang/Xan (3/5) - There is almost no hype for this fight whatsoever. Both are very good fighters (especially Zhang, far more proven), could have some cool exchanges and is a compelling match-up, but there is just not a lot of juice in this fight.
Max/Gaethje (4/5) - I hate the BMF thing, but it is a very cool fight; but we've seen Max go up to LW before and get his whole shit pushed in and Gaethje is treading water waiting for Islam, so they figured out a fun and violent match-up. Could be next-level or could be depressing AF....
Oliveira/Arman (5/5) - Best fight on the card for me; a match-up as compelling as Volk/Topuria, with an aging and starting to decline elite fighter facing one of the best of the new generation. The style match-up, the importance of this fight (should make one of them a contender for Islam soon), everything just screams must-watch violence!
Jiri/Rakic (3/5) - Jiri did not look good against AP and Rakic is coming off a long injury layoff; stylistically it could be a cool brawl or it could be Rakic throwing low kicks from range then looking to clinch and hold top position if can get takedowns. Don't think either guy is getting a title shot off this fight, but at least makes one a relevant contender again.
Kattar/Sterling (3/5) - Not really looking forward to this style match-up; Sterling will be looking to out-fight/clinch+grapple, Kattar will be looking to box. Probably a lot of feints from both, resetting range, nip-tuck type of fight without any prolonged violence (Sterling can't brawl or stay in the pocket so will avoid at all costs). Definitely interesting since Sterling is moving up in weight off the title fight loss, but I don't think his style will do well at the elite at FW.
MAIN CARD = 3/5 - it should arguably be a 4 (or even a 5) if they had a real UFC 300 main event, but since they don't and are scrambling we get either McGregor/Chandler (joke of a fight) or Max/Gaethje, which is cool but depressing as a BMF main event fight again.
EARLY PRELIMS + PRELIMS = 4/5 - They haven't put the order of the fights up yet, but these prelims/early prelims are substantially better than 298 and slightly better than 299; you will know all of the fighters, the match-ups are cool even if the fighters are washed/semi-washed (Figgy/Necktats), get to see some old vets like Green/Miller and some young fringe contenders likes Sadiq/Lopes...should possibly be docked a point for putting Harrison/Holm on here though lol....
OVERALL = 4/5 - It's in the similar range of UFC 299, but I prefer the Main Card + fight pacing of 299 over the "Throw the kitchen sink at the wall" approach to 300.
*********
The biggest/most important fight out of the 3 cards is UFC 298 Volk/Topuria though, so even though I ranked it as the least impressive of the 3 cards I think it has the best fight out of them all.
Just my 2 cents tho.
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