Fights to Watch: UFC Fight Night – Makhachev vs Green

23/02/2022

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UFC Fight Night: Makhachev vs Green is right around the corner, and with it comes a roster of exciting fights. On face value alone, the card doesn’t have a lot of name value, but trust me there are some bangers which should be on everyone’s watch list this weekend.

Here are the fights to watch on UFC Fight Night: Makhachev vs Green

Terrance McKinney vs Fares Ziam

Tarrance McKinney made a name for himself in the UFC by knocking Matt Frevola out in 7 seconds in his UFC debut. McKinney carries great momentum into this fight, having possibly the best debut a new fighter could have, and a staggering 100% finishing rate in his 11 victories. What’s also insane is that all but one of those victories came in the first round, and he’s roughly half and half in terms of knockouts and submissions.

McKinney faces Fares Ziam. Ziam trains out of Sandford MMA, the same gym as greats like Kamaru Usman, Luke Rockhold, Michael Chandler and many, many more. Ziam has fought some tough opposition in the UFC in the form of Jamie Mullarkey and Luigi Vendramini, so it should be interesting to see if he can stop the McKinney hype train.

Josiane Nunes vs Ramona Pascual

Both Josiane Nunes and Ramona Pascual have won a majority of their fights by knockout. It’s rare to see a WMMA matchup where both fighters are esteemed finishers. I’m excited to see what Nunes brings into the fight, she’s currently 7-1-0 (with that one loss to Talia Santos in her 2nd fight), and all but one of her victories have been by way of knockout. She’s super stocky standing at 5’3 but I think that’s mostly do to with the fact she practically has no neck, could she even be knocked out?

Either way, these are two women with spectacular finishing ability, so It’s looking to be a good fight.

Ignacio Bahamondes vs Zhu Rong

There’s not enough that can be said about Ignacio Bahamondes, he performed one of the best knockouts of 2021, and goes to war in every fight he’s in. His latest opponent Zhu Rong is a knockout machine, incredibly mobile, and brutally calculated. Rong has 16 finishes in 18 victories coming into this fight, and neither men have been finished with strikes. Expect fireworks.

Gregory Rodrigues vs Armen Petrosyan

Both Gregory Rodrigues and Armen Petrosyan are absolute tanks. Both of these men carry dynamite in their fists, and this fight seeing the final bell is very unlikely. The last time we saw Rodrigues he dispatched “The Iron Turtle” Jun Yong Park, who, at the time, I was hyping to be a dark horse of the division, until Rodrigues flatlined him.

Armen Petrosyan has a 100% finishing rate, they’re all knockouts too, so you can expect this fight to be absolutely ballistic.

Arman Tsarukyan vs Joel Alvarez

Joel Alvarez is probably the most exciting prospect on the card apart from Makhachev himself. Alvarez has a stunning 100% finishing rate in 19 victories, and he demolished the highly touted Thiago Moises last November. Alvarez is taking the same route as Islam Makhachev, dismantling the same names: Thiago Moises, Arman Tsarukyan, and probably Drew Dober next. He’s incredibly aggressive, unforgiving, and most of all, exciting. What does this spell out for his opponent, Arman Tsarukyan?

Tsarukyan is exceptionally well rounded, not excelling in any one area, instead opting to be a great all-rounder. He gave Makhachev a good run for his money in their outing, and now he should seek to derail the Alvarez hype train, or be run over.