The UFC 301 card is looking a bit underwhelming in terms of main event and co-main, here's what I think the UFC should do when it comes to making the card (being realistic).
Prelim Headliner: #14 Chris Curtis vs Gregory Rodriguez - This fight makes perfect sense for many reasons, Chris Curtis being someone who is barley inside the top 15, currently at #14 and just came off a split decision win at UFC 297 which he clearly won but a little to close for comfort. Gregory Rodríguez is currently 6-2 in the UFC and on a 2 fight winning streak, both by TKO, is it enough to get a rankings shot? Maybe, maybe not, but Matt Frevola got a rankings shot after a 2 fight winning streak, both by KO, so it seems a bit warranted for someone like Robo Cop to get his chance at the rankings against someone who will stand and bang with him and also has above average takedown defense.
Main Card
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Main Card Opener: #7 Johnny Walker vs #9 Volkan Oezdemir - It's a shock that these 2 haven't fought yet, both of these men will no doubt sit in the pocket and trade, Walker being the entertainer he is will no doubt feel the support from the Brazilian people as last time he was there at UFC 283 scored a first round TKO win over Paul Craig, and Volkan coming off a first round submission win over Bogdan Guskov which is seeming to age well for the future. There isn't much to say about this one other than it would be an amazing fight for the people of Brazil.
Second Fight on Main Card: #10 Dan Hooker vs #13 Renato Moicano - This fight needs to happen, Moicano is starting to take his trash talk to another level, a funny trash talk but one that is definitely getting him more attention than what he's used to. Both of these men are on a 2 fight win streak with 1 of those wins coming by finish, TKO for Dan and submission for Renato. Hooker was gonna fight Bobby Green who was ranked #14 before having to pull out because of coming back to soon from his arm injury from the Jalin Turner fight, this should surely give him enough time to recover, both men are getting up there in age with Hooker being 34 and Renato already being 35.... man where does the time go.. anyways, the winner of this fight could be looking at someone right outside the top 5 and the loser is gonna have to fight up and comers for the rest of their career.
Featured Fight on Main Card: #7 Josh Emmett vs #11 Edson Barboza - This fight makes all the sense, the only question is if Emmett is willing to fight down the rankings after such a brutal KO win over Bryce Mitchell that gained him a ton of new fans, even at the age of 38. Although like I said, the problem is if Josh would take this fight, before UFC 296 where he scored his KO win, he was doing talks about having his last fight at 155 and retiring but after that KO he seemed to have changed his mind although I'm sure that it's still somewhere in his mind. The good thing is that Edson isn't an up and comer, he's a legend of the game who will stand and fight Emmett, and knowing Edson's ageing chin, this could be an interesting fight for Emmett. Both men are very well known and this could be a fight of the night or a first round KO for Emmett.
Co-Main event on Main Card: (C) Alexa Grasso vs #1 Valentina Shevchenko III - Feel like this isn't talked about enough, Alexa Grasso is from Mexico but has a lot of support in Brazil, especially considering one of her coaches is gaining a ton of popularity in Diego Lopes. The first 2 fights have been actually very entertaining, lot's of people counted Grasso out of the first fight, lots of people. She obviously proved them wrong, not only by winning the first round impressively but going on to comeback and finish Valentina in the 4th round to win the belt. Their rematch ended in a draw although it shouldn't have, not including the result though, it was actually a pretty good fight. The contenders right now are Blanchfield, Fiorot, and Barber, all of which are booked right now for future fights, and Erin and Manon both set to headline a fight night in a few weeks time, right now the right fight to do is to settle the trilogy.
Main Event: (C) Alexandre Pantoja vs #3 Amir Albazi - The flyweight division is in a complete mess right now unfortunately, there isn't a clear winner for the next person in line for a title shot against Pantoja, I think the UFC needs to cut their loses and hope for a Pantoja win here for later in the future, the UFC isn't expecting a massive main event to do massive PPV buys for UFC 301, but they know they can cut their loses and move onto the next PPV without to much of a hassle. UFC 283's main event was made within a month so why can't Alex turn around and fight? Well the only way I can see him turning around is with a first round KO over Hill, which is possible, I just don't see it right now, Hill is someone who is durable, someone who has his armed snaped in an armbar by Paul Craig while getting hammered with elbows and still refused to tap. So I don't see Alex being able to finish Hill with 0 damage taken to him. Pantoja is already 33, about to be 34, and has 3 wins over Moreno, 2 over Royval, 1 over Kape. I don't think a split decision win over Moreno on short notice really does justice for a rematch in terms of Royval vs Pantoja 3, nor do I think anyone really cares to see it, all credit to Royval though, I think he should be put in a title eliminator fight against Mokaev to determine the next in line. Albazi is 5-0 in the UFC, with 3 of those by finishes and 2 decision wins, 1 over Zhaglas Zhumagulov and a split decision win over Kai Kara-France which a lot of people thought he lost, but..... it's enough to where he go into a presser and talk his talk on why he thinks he deserves the fight and how he can beat Pantoja, one thing we know is that the UFC loves controversy and right now Mokaev is to young and inexperienced to take the fight, I know... funny to say even though you can say the same thing for Albazi, only thing is Albazi is already 30 years of age, going to be 31 later this year, Mokaev is only 23, I feel like it's only right to let Albazi get his chance and see what he's made of, let's not forget, although Albazi may of won a fight with a lot of controversy behind against KKF, he did have his back and have a tight rear naked choke in.... not to many people would be able to survive that. Going to be interesting to see what the UFC can make in terms of Main Event but I think this is the most realistic option.
Prelim Headliner: #14 Chris Curtis vs Gregory Rodriguez - This fight makes perfect sense for many reasons, Chris Curtis being someone who is barley inside the top 15, currently at #14 and just came off a split decision win at UFC 297 which he clearly won but a little to close for comfort. Gregory Rodríguez is currently 6-2 in the UFC and on a 2 fight winning streak, both by TKO, is it enough to get a rankings shot? Maybe, maybe not, but Matt Frevola got a rankings shot after a 2 fight winning streak, both by KO, so it seems a bit warranted for someone like Robo Cop to get his chance at the rankings against someone who will stand and bang with him and also has above average takedown defense.
Main Card
----------------------------
Main Card Opener: #7 Johnny Walker vs #9 Volkan Oezdemir - It's a shock that these 2 haven't fought yet, both of these men will no doubt sit in the pocket and trade, Walker being the entertainer he is will no doubt feel the support from the Brazilian people as last time he was there at UFC 283 scored a first round TKO win over Paul Craig, and Volkan coming off a first round submission win over Bogdan Guskov which is seeming to age well for the future. There isn't much to say about this one other than it would be an amazing fight for the people of Brazil.
Second Fight on Main Card: #10 Dan Hooker vs #13 Renato Moicano - This fight needs to happen, Moicano is starting to take his trash talk to another level, a funny trash talk but one that is definitely getting him more attention than what he's used to. Both of these men are on a 2 fight win streak with 1 of those wins coming by finish, TKO for Dan and submission for Renato. Hooker was gonna fight Bobby Green who was ranked #14 before having to pull out because of coming back to soon from his arm injury from the Jalin Turner fight, this should surely give him enough time to recover, both men are getting up there in age with Hooker being 34 and Renato already being 35.... man where does the time go.. anyways, the winner of this fight could be looking at someone right outside the top 5 and the loser is gonna have to fight up and comers for the rest of their career.
Featured Fight on Main Card: #7 Josh Emmett vs #11 Edson Barboza - This fight makes all the sense, the only question is if Emmett is willing to fight down the rankings after such a brutal KO win over Bryce Mitchell that gained him a ton of new fans, even at the age of 38. Although like I said, the problem is if Josh would take this fight, before UFC 296 where he scored his KO win, he was doing talks about having his last fight at 155 and retiring but after that KO he seemed to have changed his mind although I'm sure that it's still somewhere in his mind. The good thing is that Edson isn't an up and comer, he's a legend of the game who will stand and fight Emmett, and knowing Edson's ageing chin, this could be an interesting fight for Emmett. Both men are very well known and this could be a fight of the night or a first round KO for Emmett.
Co-Main event on Main Card: (C) Alexa Grasso vs #1 Valentina Shevchenko III - Feel like this isn't talked about enough, Alexa Grasso is from Mexico but has a lot of support in Brazil, especially considering one of her coaches is gaining a ton of popularity in Diego Lopes. The first 2 fights have been actually very entertaining, lot's of people counted Grasso out of the first fight, lots of people. She obviously proved them wrong, not only by winning the first round impressively but going on to comeback and finish Valentina in the 4th round to win the belt. Their rematch ended in a draw although it shouldn't have, not including the result though, it was actually a pretty good fight. The contenders right now are Blanchfield, Fiorot, and Barber, all of which are booked right now for future fights, and Erin and Manon both set to headline a fight night in a few weeks time, right now the right fight to do is to settle the trilogy.
Main Event: (C) Alexandre Pantoja vs #3 Amir Albazi - The flyweight division is in a complete mess right now unfortunately, there isn't a clear winner for the next person in line for a title shot against Pantoja, I think the UFC needs to cut their loses and hope for a Pantoja win here for later in the future, the UFC isn't expecting a massive main event to do massive PPV buys for UFC 301, but they know they can cut their loses and move onto the next PPV without to much of a hassle. UFC 283's main event was made within a month so why can't Alex turn around and fight? Well the only way I can see him turning around is with a first round KO over Hill, which is possible, I just don't see it right now, Hill is someone who is durable, someone who has his armed snaped in an armbar by Paul Craig while getting hammered with elbows and still refused to tap. So I don't see Alex being able to finish Hill with 0 damage taken to him. Pantoja is already 33, about to be 34, and has 3 wins over Moreno, 2 over Royval, 1 over Kape. I don't think a split decision win over Moreno on short notice really does justice for a rematch in terms of Royval vs Pantoja 3, nor do I think anyone really cares to see it, all credit to Royval though, I think he should be put in a title eliminator fight against Mokaev to determine the next in line. Albazi is 5-0 in the UFC, with 3 of those by finishes and 2 decision wins, 1 over Zhaglas Zhumagulov and a split decision win over Kai Kara-France which a lot of people thought he lost, but..... it's enough to where he go into a presser and talk his talk on why he thinks he deserves the fight and how he can beat Pantoja, one thing we know is that the UFC loves controversy and right now Mokaev is to young and inexperienced to take the fight, I know... funny to say even though you can say the same thing for Albazi, only thing is Albazi is already 30 years of age, going to be 31 later this year, Mokaev is only 23, I feel like it's only right to let Albazi get his chance and see what he's made of, let's not forget, although Albazi may of won a fight with a lot of controversy behind against KKF, he did have his back and have a tight rear naked choke in.... not to many people would be able to survive that. Going to be interesting to see what the UFC can make in terms of Main Event but I think this is the most realistic option.
