Muniz, Du Plessis, Nickal, Curtis, Dolidze, Pereira, Chimaev, Eblen and Costa really got this division interesting again after things seemed to quiet down for a bit compared to the peak of the Anderson/Weidman/Yoel/Jacare/Machida/Vitor era.
Hopefully Chimaev, Whittaker and Costa get booked soon.
upcoming fights:
Muniz vs Allen
Brunson vs Du Plessis
Nickal vs Pickett
Curtis vs Gastelum
Vettori vs Dolidze
(C) Pereira vs Adesanya
Mousasi vs Edwards
Lima vs Van Steenis
So what is possible for Whittaker next? 12-2 at MW and has only ever lost to Adesanya.
He has already beat #3, 4, 5, 13 and 15 in the division.
I would book Whittaker vs Khamzat in the meantime while Izzy and Alex fight again next if it was up to me but Ramadan might fuck that up
Sounds like that is what has happened. I know Whittaker wanted the Costa fight but Costa has not been happy with UFC over money.
Honestly I doubt Costa or Chimaev want to fight Whittaker right now.
Chimaev was still talking about fighting at WW before MW last I heard.
Last I heard from Khamzat’s team I thought was that they were going with MW but I could be wrong and missed something after.
But Whittaker is in a tough spot where it doesn’t make too much sense to wait and be inactive but he has fought all the Top 5 guys already so if he wants to stay active he has take a fight outside of it that makes sense like Khamzat.
Oh ok, didn’t know Chimaev was now looking at MW right now and have not tried to follow it really.
This was 2 months ago already but he hasn’t fought since and this might have been the latest
Definitely shouldn’t be for the belt though lol. Him missing by almost 10 lbs at WW and ruining the UFC fight with Diaz should discourage them from that division I am thinking.
Muniz needs a big fight if he gets by Allen. It was almost two years ago that he submitted Jacare via armbar. Gotta move that guy up to a big fight.
Won three fights in a row there by armbar in the UFC there before his last fight.
Have not seen that happen since Ronda had her eight armbar streak going.
Big upset there for Allen.
Will be interesting to see what is next for Whittaker, Cannonier, Costa and Chimaev.
Seems like its gonna be summer before any of them get a fight this year.
Now this is what a stacked and exciting division should look like in 2023, upcoming UFC MW fights…
On top of those 14 fights booked, Whittaker, Cannonier, Costa, Chimaev, Strickland, Allen, 15-0 Khizriev, Petroski, Kopylov and Park are all coming off wins and need to get booked.
This division is gonna be great this year.
Big debut tonight for Nickal of course and big fight here for Du Plessis. Brunson is a tough out for anyone and this is the man Du Plessis has to get through here to get a crack at the top 3 now that he is already 4-0 in the UFC.
Barriault won a war tonight. Du Plessis just punched his ticket to the top 5/top 6 in the division with the win over Brunson and Nickal arrived in a big way.
Great night for a division that is gonna really shine this year and might outperform LW to become the division of the year for 2023.
