UFC Columbus: One Question for Every Fight

The UFC returns to the Ohio capital on Saturday, and we're setting the table for the 13-fight card

The final event in a eight-week stretch of events takes place on Saturday in Columbus, Ohio as the Octagon returns to the home of the NHL’s Blue Jackets for the first time since UFC 96, which was headlined by Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Keith Jardine.

One fighter from that card — Columbus’ own Matt Brown — competes this weekend, while only one other (Jim Fucking Miller) remains on the active roster, which tells you just how long it’s been since the UFC touched down in the capital of “The Buckeye State.”

It’s also a reminder that Matt Brown and Jim Miller are certified bad asses and two members of a very small group of fighters that have been able to successfully navigate remaining active, competitive, and entertaining for the last 13 years.

This weekend’s card is packed with interesting, important fights, and there should be plenty to talk about in the build to Saturday and its aftermath.

Allow me to give you something to ponder for each pairing.

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Curtis Blaydes vs. Chris Daukaus
Q: How does Daukaus respond after getting knocked out?

Last time out, Daukaus was positioned opposite Derrick Lewis in his first UFC main event.

It was one of those matchups where everyone knew the question being asked by the pairing and what a win for Daukaus would mean, plus he was undefeated in the UFC, had won five straight fights overall, and Lewis was coming off a one-sided loss, at home, to Ciryl Gane in the summer. It felt like a real good opportunity for the former Philadelphia cop to collect the biggest win of his career.

Instead, Daukaus got pressured and put away by Lewis; knocked out three-and-a-half minutes into the first round. Saturday night, he makes his return, and it’s always interesting to see how a fighter bounces back after such a disappointing and decisive victory.

My pal Scott Fontana of the NY Post spoke to Daukaus about the loss for his Post Fight Q&A (great name!) and the 32-year-old was candid about the struggles of dealing with the setback. He said he’s put it behind him, and I don’t question whether that is the case right now — but I’m interested to see if it impacts him inside the Octagon on Saturday.

Blaydes can be a menace, especially in top position, and it’ll be interesting to see how he responds if put in that position and forced to deal with punishing blows raining down on him. I’m not saying he’s definitely going to react adversely if that happens, but I’m not saying he won’t either… and I want to see which of those two things happen, if either.

Joanne Wood vs. Alexa Grasso
Q: Who gets the win they desperately need?

Each of these women need a victory on Saturday for very different reasons.

Wood enters ranked No. 7 in the division, riding a two-fight skid, and having lost three of her last four. Grasso is stationed two spots behind her and has won each of her first two appearances in the 125-pound weight class, showing a return to the form that made her an intriguing prospect at the outset of her career.

Wood needs a victory to show she’s still got plenty left to offer and her days as a Top 10 talent are not behind her, while Grasso has yet to secure that marquee victory that elevates her to the next level in the divisional hierarchy, and it’s going to be compelling theatre on Saturday as we wait to see who gets the victory they desperately need.

Stylistically, both are strikers — Wood from a Muay Thai background, Grasso from more of a boxing base — so we could get a back-and-forth on the feet, but there is also the potential for one of them (my guess would be Wood) to throw a curve and look to grapple, believing it might be clearly path to victory.

It’s a quality matchup with clear career and divisional ramifications, and I’m very curious to see how it all plays out this weekend.

Askar Askarov vs. Kai Kara-France
Q: What’s at stake here?

With reports surfacing that the UFC is leaning towards a fourth consecutive fight between Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno — which makes perfect sense — where does that leave Askarov and Kara-France heading into and coming out of their fight on Saturday?

Most presumed this would be a title eliminator, but I was never that sure since Alexandre Pantoja is still a person who exists in this division and was pencilled in to fight Moreno for the belt last year before suffering a knee injury.

He’s lost to Askarov, which perhaps clears the runway for the unbeaten Russian to claim No. 1 contender status with a victory, but he’s also beaten Moreno twice — once on TUF, once in the Octagon — and remains a top threat at ‘25. But if Pantoja has to be considered in the mix (and he does), then Kara-France would have to be as well should he become the first to defeat Askarov, which is where the whole “What’s at stake here?” question comes from.

The UFC is never going to show all their cards early or give definitive answers to questions like this because there are always a number of moving parts to consider and keeping things amorphous makes it easier to move in different directions if needed. But that understandable approach from the business side also makes it difficult to really get invested from a spectator side because while the winner here should probably be next in line, they might not be, and that uncertainty reduces the gravitas of the fight in my opinion.

It’s still a terrific fight and one that will have an obvious impact on the title picture in the flyweight division. It would just be nice to know exactly how much impact it’s going to have and whether these two were fighting for the chance to challenge for championship gold or not.

Matt Brown vs. Bryan Barberena
Q: Will “The Immortal” call it quits on his home turf?

Let me be clear: I’m not now, nor will I ever, advocate for a fighter to retire; it’s a personal decision and they don’t need to know my opinions on things in order to make that call.

Having said that, Brown has briefly walked away before and spoken openly about not having too many more fights left in him, so I do wonder if the Columbus native will use Saturday’s bout with Barberena as a chance to ride off into the sunset?

Personally, I can’t think of anything that would be more enjoyable, really: competing at home, in front of legions of family and friends, and getting a wild ovation for all that you’ve done sound so much better than calling it quits after some road game or while you’re hanging out at the gym one day.

I’ve talked to Jim Miller about retirement a lot and we’ve always joked that whenever the time comes where he’s making that final walk, everyone is going to know in advance that it’s his final walk because he wants his flowers. And it’s not because Miller is some guy that craves attention and wants his moment in the spotlight, but rather that after nearly 20 years in the game and a career spent fighting everyone, a proper sendoff would be nice.

Brown and Miller are similar in many ways, but I haven’t heard anything about this being the last one from “The Immortal” as of yet, so maybe he plans on fighting on. Or maybe no one has asked him about it. Or maybe he’s just not ready to say it and wants to just leave his gloves in the center of the Octagon on Saturday, win or lose, and fade into the background without any fanfare.

Time will tell.

Ilir Latifi vs. Aleksei Oleinik
Q: This one is just kind of for funzies, right?

I like both these guys, and enjoyed a really nice conversation with Oleinik this morning for a story that is up now on the UFC website, but no one is looking at this fight and believing it has any real significance or impact on the heavyweight division, right?

Latifi is 38 and tends to fight once a year, while Oleinik is 44, 76 fights into his career, and riding a three-fight skid. This could be an interesting clash of styles between two European veterans and either one of them could secure a really gnarly finish on Saturday, but let’s be clear: neither of them is ranked, nor should they be, and nothing that happens this weekend in Columbus should change that.

It’s weird because I think there are times when we want to make more of some fights than we really need to, as if it’s not okay to say, “This is just a fun little scrap between a couple burly veterans, and carries zero divisional significance,” when that should be perfectly acceptable, and that’s coming from the guy that thinks about divisional significance all the time!

Occasionally, we just get fights that are fights for the sake of getting the combatants a fight, and this is one of those times. No need to dress it up and make it more than it is because what it is remains interesting, remains compelling (at least to me) and should be a nice little clash towards the end of this card.

Marc Diakiese vs. Viacheslav Borshchev
Q: What will Borshchev do for an encore?

Borshchev earned one of the best wins on Season 5 of Dana White’s Contender Series last fall, stopping unbeaten Scotsman Chris Duncan in the second round, and then impressed in his promotional debut on the first card of the year. After surviving some early adversity, Borshchev melted a game and aggressive Dakota Bush with a hellacious left hand to the body.

It landed with a thud and Bush hit the deck immediately, with the follow-ups being purely academic.

Now “Slava Klaus” is getting a sharp step up in competition in the form of a fight with Diakiese in Saturday’s main card opener, and I’m curious to see if he can keep things rolling.

Diakiese has struggled since beginning his career with 12 straight victories, including wins in each of his first three UFC appearances. He’s 2-5 over his last seven and enters on a two-fight skid, having most recently been hurt and choked out in less than two minutes by Rafael Alves. That said, he’s a more experience fighter than Borshchev — at least in terms of MMA in particular — and a superior athlete, so this should be a good test for the Team Alpha Male representative.

His toughness and technical striking has been impressive thus far and he’s clearly game, even when things aren’t going his way, but I’m interested to see if he can maintain that going forward, especially as he starts to contend with more seasoned foes that aren’t going to provide him with clear opportunities and openings to shift things in his favour.

Neil Magny vs. Max Griffin
Q: Can Neil Magny keep being Neil Magny?

Neil Magny might be the most self-aware fighter in the UFC and here’s what I mean:

The Colorado native both knows who he is as a fighter, where he stands in the welterweight division, and what it’s going to take for him to get to where he wants to go in the 170-pound weight class. He doesn’t deviate from his style — pace, volume, range, quality grappling when it’s called upon — and he faces whomever the UFC puts in front of him because he knows that even though he’s been a Top 15 fixture for the last bunch of years, it’s going to take a lengthy winning streak for him to make up ground on the bigger names ahead of him in the hierarchy.

It’s genuinely quite impressive and the kind of thing I wish more fighters did, but that’s what makes Magny special.

We see that acceptance and understanding again this weekend as he steps in with Griffin, an unranked, but ascending veteran on a three-fight winning streak and looking to crack the rankings for the first time. Historically, it’s the kind of fight where Magny shows the full compliment of his skill set and reminds you that he’s a very talented fighter, but the reason I ask if he can keep doing it is because it’s really hard to do, especially over this long a period of time.

The 34-year-old has only lost five fights since the start of 2014, posting 17 victories during that span, including a unanimous decision win over Geoff Neal last time out. He’s essentially who Michael Bisping was at middleweight before he surprised everyone and won the title, and has probably had a little more meaningful success than “The Count” did if I’m being honest.

That’s difficult to maintain, and Griffin is a hard-charging, sharp talent with good hands and nothing to lose here. It should be a terrific fight and one that tells us a lot about where each man fits in the division at the moment, as well as if Magny has any plans on abdicating his spot in the Top 10 any time soon.

Sara McMann vs. Karol Rosa
Q: Can Rosa continue stacking victories?

Rosa has worked her way into the Top 15 with four wins in as many UFC starts, taking a small step up in competition each time out, culminating with a clash against Bethe Correia last time out. Now she’s set to face McMann, a former title challenger who has been inconsistent throughout her UFC career, but presents more challenges and threats than anyone she’s faced to date, and it’s going to be interesting to see if the 27-year-old can keep marching forward undeterred.

Her standing as the top emerging talent in the division and one of only two fighters under age 30 in the Top 15 (Aspen Ladd is the other) speaks to the lack of talent currently working its way up the ranks in the 135-pound weight class, but also the potential opportunity in front of Rosa this weekend, and this year.

Beating McMann isn’t going to earn her a title shot or anything like that, but it would vault her into the Top 10 and with Miesha Tate headed to flyweight and Yana Kunitskaya set to have a child, there is a little more room to roam near the top of the division right now. Getting a win on Saturday could set up a future date with someone in that same vicinity — the returning Lina Lansberg? Ladd if she’s truly bent on staying at ‘35? — and a win there puts her in the thick of things.

In shallow and stale divisions, it only takes a couple key victories in order to emerge as a contender, and Rosa has the chance to potentially do that in 2022… if she can keep her winning streak alive through this weekend.

Chris Gutierrez vs. Danaa Batgerel
Q: Do you still not believe me that bantamweight is the best?

I know I say it all the time, but it’s because I feel like people still aren’t fully on board with it, so here we go again: bantamweight is the best division in the UFC at the moment, and it’s not particularly close, with this fight standing as a perfect example.

Gutierrez has won back-to-back contests and is undefeated in his last six. Batgerel has earned three straight first-round stoppage wins. Neither is anywhere near the Top 15 and they won’t get demonstratively closer with a victory this weekend. What other division boasts such depth that a guy that is unbeaten in seven or on a four-fight winning streak would still be at least one more win away from inching into the Top 15?

None. The answer is none.

Bantamweight is the best, this fight should be electric, and if you think otherwise, you’re crazy.

Jennifer Maia vs. Manon Fiorot
Q: Is Manon Fiorot a contender at flyweight?

Fiorot is one of the fighters I’m looking forward to seeing compete the most this weekend, because I genuinely don’t have a good read on where she fits in the division, and yet she’s facing a former title challenger and perennial Top 5 talent in Maia.

“The Beast” blasted Victoria Leonardo in her promotional debut last January and then did the same to the overmatched Tabatha Ricci, who is now rightfully competing at strawweight. She beat Mayra Bueno Silva by unanimous decision in her third appearance of 2021, but it wasn’t the lopsided, decisive effort I think many anticipated, and it left me wondering where the talented fighter from France stands in the division.

We’re going to find out Saturday.

Maia is the kind of fighter you only beat if you’re a contender. She’s physical, experienced, hard to put away, and happy to bang it out if that’s what you’re into, and so how Fiorot looks in this one will go a long way to establishing whether she’s a genuine factor in the 125-pound ranks or simply better than the competition she’s faced thus far.

Matheus Nicolau vs. David Dvorak
Q: Can Nicolau get a decisive victory?

Since returning to the UFC last year after a one-fight sabbatical, Nicolau has earned a split decision win over Manel Kape and a unanimous decision victory over Tim Elliott, both of which were close, debatable affairs.

Looking at the online scores at MMADecisions.com, everyone that registered a score for the fight with Elliott saw the fight in favour of the Brazilian, while everyone that scored the Kape fight scored it for the former RIZIN champion and rising star, which kind of highlights why I’ve asked the question I’ve asked here.

Nicolau is a capable fighter and genuine Top 15 talent, but there is something about his approach that results in him constantly being in close fights, and it’s hard to always come out ahead in those situations. Plus — and I hate that this is something we have to think about now — when the online populous is constantly siding against you and thinks you’ve gotten some wins that maybe you didn’t really deserve, that’s another hurdle you have to clear as you look to work your way up the divisional ladder.

This weekend, Nicolau has a dangerous assignment against Dvorak, my Fighter to Watch this week, in a bout that should elevate the victor into a pairing with someone further up the rankings later this year. It’s not the kind of fight I necessarily envision him winning or winning handily, but I tell you what — doing so would be a great way to get some of the lingering stink of that Kape fight and his general “just eke one out” vibe off of him heading into the second quarter of 2022.

Aliaskhab Khizriev vs. Denis Tiuliulin
Q: Will the debut of “The Black Wolf” be worth the wait?

Khizriev turned in a dominant performance on Season 4 of Dana White’s Contender Series, mauling Henrique Shiguemoto in 50 seconds to run his record to 13-0 and establish himself as someone to keep tabs on in the relatively barren middleweight division.

He was booked to debut against Wellington Turman last February… and then Kyle Daukaus in April… Alessio Di Chirico in August… and then Abusupiyan Magomedov this weekend before finally landing opposite Tiuliulin, who feels like a warm body called up to the big leagues in order to ensure Khizriev doesn’t face another cancelled fight.

At this point, it’s been 18 months since his last appearance and it feels like his effort on Saturday can’t possibly live up to the anticipation I feel for this fight because I’ve been waiting to see him get in there and prove himself at this level since that victory in September 2020. Each of those bookings last year felt like they would instantly tell me something about Khizriev, who wasn’t exactly beating marquee competition earlier in his career, but has still looked like a beast at times, and this feels like a bit of a layup.

And as I said last week about Paddy Pimblett’s win over Kazula Vargas, layups don’t tell me much about a fighter, unless the layup turns into a breakaway windmill dunk.

Luis Saldana vs. Bruno Souza
Q: Which of these two will bounce back?

I love an opener where both guys are up against it a little.

Saldana and Souza each lost last time out — Saldana in a grimy fight with Austin Lingo; Souza in his short-notice debut against Melsik Baghdasaryan — and while a two-fight skid isn’t the end of the world (or the end of the line) it ratchets up the pressure a little more, and despite what everyone says, no one really wants to be forced to deal with that kind of pressure.

A DWCS grad, Saldana strikes me as one of those guys that doesn’t always fight with the confidence and commitment to his weapons that he should, and where he’s at mentally dictates how he performs. Against Vince Murdock in his contract-winning turn, he was confident and aggressive, putting the Team Alpha Male representative down with a front kick to the face, but in each of his first two UFC appearances, he’s been tentative and almost overwhelmed.

As for Souza, he’s a karate stylist and protege of Lyoto Machida who had won 10 straight prior to his debut loss, posting a couple good wins along the way. He should have a better showing here after getting a full camp to prepare, but he too needs to fight with more urgency and greater pressure than we saw last time out, or else he’ll be the one leaving Columbus on a two-fight slide.