The UFC’s traveling roadshow heads to Raleigh, N.C., on Saturday for UFC on ESPN+ 24. And while the card isn’t of the same significance as last week’s UFC 246, it still offers plenty of reasons for fans to tune in.
Like the main event, which is a classic clash of an up-and-comer trying to make his name at the expense of a former champion. Heavyweight standout Curtis Blaydes already has impressive names on his resume, but none would be bigger than former UFC titleholder Junior Dos Santos, who, for his part, is looking to prove he still belongs in the mix.
The co-headliner also has a former champion, but there’s a twist in this one. In this case, it’s former UFC lightweight titleholder Rafael dos Anjos, who likewise wants to prove he still belongs among the elite. He’ll be taking on a veteran who has been knocking on the door for a long time in Michael Chiesa. The twist is that the bout is at welterweight, where RDA is trying to get back into the title mix and where Chiesa is showing signs he might reach greater heights than he ever did at 155 pounds.
UFC on ESPN+ 24 takes at PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C. The card streams on ESPN+.
Without further ado, here are six burning questions leading into the evemt.
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Is Curtis Blaydes ready for another run at the elite?
Blaydes (12-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) went on an impressive run in 2017 and 2018, winning four fights that included names like Aleksei Olienik, Mark Hunt and Alistair Overeem.
Then he met up with Francis Ngannou and, like many before him, that’s where Blaydes’ fun ended, as Ngannou finished him in just 45 seconds.
So the UFC did a smart thing in allowing Blaydes to regroup against lesser-ranked competition, and Blaydes responded with a strong pair of performances in victories over Justin Willis and Shamil Adburakhimov.
Now he’s getting ready to fight the big dogs once again. This time, he meets Dos Santos (21-6 MMA, 15-5 UFC), who hasn’t been on the greatest run of late but also seems to perform well when counted out. Will this be the time Blaydes demonstrates once and for all that he belongs in the title mix? We’ll find out.
How much does Junior dos Santos have left?
Yes, we’ll grant you, this might seem like a perplexing question at first glance, given Dos Santos enters this matchup the winner of three out of his past four fights.
And, yes, the commentariat in this sport can veer a bit too far on the “what have you done for me lately” end of things from time to time.
Even with those caveats, it’s not hard to look back at JDS’ last fight and wonder if that might have been the beginning of the end of his long run at or near the top.
It’s not that he lost to Ngannou (there’s that guy, again). It’s the way it happened. Dos Santos is known for his legendary chin in victory or defeat. Like the brutal beatings he absorbed for nine-plus rounds in his second and third fights with Cain Velasquez, and the 25-minute war of attrition he won from Stipe Miocic in their first bout in 2014.
Ngannou simply steamrolled Dos Santos, though, and crumpled him in 71 seconds. That could just be about Ngannou. Or it could be that there’s finally too much wear and tear on JDS.
Can Rafael dos Anjos turn things around?
Rafael dos Anjos is one of the most enduring fighters in the UFC, with a run that dates all the way back to a loss to Jeremy Stephens in his debut at UFC 91 and a lightweight title along the way. He’s also one of the more durable competitors on the roster. Even when he’s having an off-night, — and he’s had his share — he tends to hang in there, constantly looking for ways to win.
The problem here for the 35-year-old RDA, who is about to head into his 42nd pro fight, is that there’s been a few too many of those in recent outings. Dos Anjos (29-12 MMA, 18-10 UFC) is just 1-3 in his past four fights. And while he went the distance in all of those losses to top names in Colby Covington, Kamaru Usman, and Leon Edwards, eventually those L’s become too much to ignore, even when he’s staying competitive in the process.
As such, a win over a fighter who is still relatively unproven against 170’s best in Chiesa (15-4 MMA, 9-4 UFC) is a must.
How high can Michael Chiesa fly at welterweight?
Michael Chiesa looked like a man reinvented when he fought Carlos Condit at UFC 232. In his welterweight debut, the “TUF 15” champion looked every bit the fighter who no longer had to drain himself with a big weight cut. This was most notable in the scrambles, as Chiesa outmaneuvered Condit, one of 170’s all-time best on the ground, before submitting him in the second round.
Unfortunately, Chiesa hasn’t been able to follow up as fast as he might like. He took a fight with aging Diego Sanchez as much out of necessity, without any other fighters available who made sense, and took an easy decision at UFC 239.
Now Chiesa gets the opponent of the name and ranking value he was looking for in dos Anjos, who comes in with a thing or two to improve on his own. Saturday should give us a real, and long-awaited, indication on just what Chiesa’s ceiling might be at 170 pounds.
Is Angela Hill about to break through?
You’ve long known Angela Hill as one of the most entertaining social media personas in MMA, but now she’s on the precipice of serious title contention at strawweight.
The former Invicta FC champion has won two out of her past three fights. The only one she lost in that span was a decision to Yan Xiaonang at UFC 238, but that one was taken on short notice and her second of three in a row, which has proven her eagerness to stay active and continue improving.
Would a win over Hannah Cifers (10-3 MMA, 2-1 UFC) announce Hill (10-7 MMA, 5-7 UFC) as being on the same level as Zhang Weili or Rose Namajunas? No, but for a fighter who has won her fair share and been competitive in nearly all her losses, back-to-back wins and three of four would announce she’s finally gotten over the hump.
Umm, should Arnold Allen really be on the undercard?
Sometimes, you just have to look at the way a fighter is slotted on a card and wonder what in the world they did to get stuck in that spot.
Arnold Allen is the latest such candidate. The 26-year-old TriStar Gym competitor by way of England has won all six of his UFC fights and earned a pair of post-fight bonuses along the way. His most recent was one of those bouts where you announce to the world who you are, as he dominated former Strikeforce lightweight champ Gilbert Melendez in front of a huge audience at UFC 239.
Should be onwards and upwards, no? Well, he’s now fighting Nik Lentz (30-10-2 MMA, 14-7-1 UFC) on the undercard. Granted, this is a shotgun wedding of a fight, made when both fighters previous opponents’ dropped out, but the fact a guy on a six-fight winning streak was given a low spot on a Fight Night card in the first place was a curious decision, indeed.
