With three short-notice UFC cards being booked in lightning-quick fashion, it’s been hard to keep up with all of the fight announcements.
Over the next eight days, the UFC will be holding three events: UFC 249 (Saturday), UFC on ESPN+ 29 (Wednesday) and UFC on ESPN 8 (May 16). All three events will be held at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla.
Sure, everyone knows Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje will fight, right after Henry Cejudo battles Dominick Cruz. Yes, Anthony Smith and Glover Teixeira will slug it out four days later, followed by a Saturday night heavyweight rumble between Walt Harris and Alistair Overeem.
But what about the rest of the fights? With close to 40 fights happening in eight days, chances are some are being overlooked.
Check out five UFC fights that are flying under-the-radar for the upcoming Jacksonville events.
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5. Anthony Hernandez vs. Kevin Holland
Two of the UFC middleweight division’s brightest up-and-comers, Anthony Hernandez and Kevin Holland will face off May 16 at UFC on ESPN 8.
When the May 16 event was slated to take place in San Diego, Hernandez (7-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) was expected to face Puna Soriano. However, Soriano was removed from the card and Holland (16-5 MMA, 3-2 UFC) stepped in.
Both fighters are extremely fun to watch. Hernandez is well-rounded, though submissions are his bread and butter. Nicknamed “Big Mouth,” by UFC president Dana White, Holland doesn’t shy away from yapping at his opponents from bell to bell. Luckily for him, his talents back up his chatter.
Hernandez, 26, is coming off his first UFC victory. After he lost his promotional debut against Markus Perez in February, Hernandez rebounded in August when he defeated Jun Yong Park by submission.
As for Holland, the 27-year-old Texas-based fighter lost his most recent fight to Brendan Allen in October. Prior to the second-round submission defeat, Holland had defeated John Phillips, Gerald Meerschaert, and Alessio Di Chirico back-to-back-to-back.
Hernandez vs. Holland is currently penciled in as the featured preliminary card fight.
4. Giga Chikadze vs. Mike Davis
Striker vs. striker? Uh, yes please.
The UFC on ESPN 8 matchup between featherweights Giga Chikadze and Mike Davis should be nothing short of fireworks. Both riding high after wins in their last outing, Chikadze (9-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) and Davis (8-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) enter the May 16 event with a lot of momentum.
A former GLORY kickboxer, Chikadze is slick technical striker who can light up his opponents in a death-by-a-thousand-cuts manner. After a failed Dana White’s Contender Series bid in June 2018, Chikadze signed with the UFC in 2019. He defeated Brandon Davis by decision in his promotional debut and followed it up with another split decision win at UFC 248. This time, Chikadze edged out UFC newcomer Jamall Emmers.
One of the most highly-touted prospects in the UFC, Davis also was unsuccessful on a 2018 DWCS opportunity. Though his fight against Sodiq Yusuff thrilled viewers, he walked away on the losing end. Signed to the UFC in early 2019, Davis lost his short-notice debut to Gilbert Burns. However, he stormed back against Thomas Gifford in October, providing fans with one of the worst MMA beatdowns of the year.
3. Drew Dober vs. Alexander Hernandez
Banger alert.
Drew Dober and Alexander Hernandez are set to scrap Wednesday at UFC on ESPN+ 29 – the second of three UFC events in eight days.
Dober and Hernandez have both garnered a lot of attention for their recent in-cage performances. Relatively quietly, Dober has changed a 1-3 UFC start into a reputable 8-5 promotional record. His skills have improved vastly. He’s sharpened his game noticeably in between seemingly every outing.
Embracing the roll of the bad guy, Hernandez has peeved many MMA fans for his cerebral nature and explicit interviews. While he’s likely most well-remembered for a failed outing against Donald Cerrone, Hernandez has been an impossible puzzle for opponents to configure.
A little lightweight violence on a Wednesday night? Don’t mind if I do.
2. Bryce Mitchell vs. Charles Rosa
You’ll be hard pressed to find a fight like Bryce Mitchell vs. Charles Rosa as low on a card as it will be Saturday night.
The second fight of the prelims, Mitchell (12-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) vs. Rosa (12-3 MMA, 3-3 UFC) has all the makings of a back-and-forth war. Both featherweights are highly-skilled ground practitioners. Just look at their most recent outings.
At UFC on ESPN 6 this past October, Rosa returned from a two-and-a-half-year layoff to submit BJJ wizard Manny Bermudez with an armbar in the first round.
As for Mitchell? At UFC on ESPN 7 in December, Arkansas’ own pulled off only the second twister submission in UFC history. No big deal.
The best thing about this fight is that it’s so close on paper – a relative toss-up in the eyes of the oddsmakers. What’s not a toss-up? It’s an odds-on favorite the fight is going to be all sorts of awesome.
1. Calvin Kattar vs. Jeremy Stephens
How can a fight between two top-10 featherweights be under the radar? Well, just look at the rest of the UFC 249 card.
Smack dab in the middle of the main card on an event oozing with talent, Calvin Kattar vs. Jeremy Stephens is getting nowhere near the level of attention it deserves. Both fighters are slick strikers, who love to stand in the pocket and exchange blows.
This fight was scheduled twice prior to May 9. Originally set to take place March 7 at UFC 248, Kattar (20-4 MMA, 4-2 UFC) vs. Stephens (28-17 MMA, 15-16 UFC) was later moved to UFC 249 on April 18. However, when the event was postponed, the fight was temporarily put on hold.
Both fighters will likely come out hungry, looking to rebound from a loss in their last outing. For Stephens, he’ll look for his first win since February 2018. Kattar is coming off a defeat to Zabit Magomedsharpiov in November, but had won back-to-back fights before that.
