November 16, 2023 9:20 pm ET
The UFC has already introduced three title fights to kick off the primary quarter of 2024.
Beginning issues off in January, UFC 297 in Toronto, Canada will probably be headlined by a middleweight championship battle between champ Sean Strickland and challenger Dricus Du Plessis. The battle will probably be Strickland’s first title protection after taking it from Israel Adesanya in a dominant show at UFC 293. Du Plessis is coming off a stoppage of former champ Robert Whittaker at UFC 290 and has gained his final eight fights.
The next month, at a location and venue but to be introduced, Alexander Volkanovski returns to featherweight to defend his title in opposition to an undefeated challenger in Ilia Topuria. Volkanovski is again to his division after a short-notice rematch in opposition to Islam Makhachev for the light-weight title. Topuria topped Josh Emmett of their principal occasion tilt in June.
In March, Sean O’Malley’s first bantamweight title protection will probably be a rematch in opposition to Marlon Vera. O’Malley defeated Aljamain Sterling to change into champion at UFC 292. Vera is coming off a unanimous choice win over Pedro Munhoz in August. “Sugar” and “Chito” first met at UFC 252 in 2020, the place Vera gained by TKO within the first spherical.
Did the promotion get these matchups proper, or ought to these champions be dealing with different contenders? Our “Spinning Again Clique” panel of Mike Bohn, Nolan King and Brian “Goze” Garcia answered that query with host “Attractive” George Garcia. You possibly can watch their dialogue within the video above and take a look at this week’s full episode on YouTube under.
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