UFC in June: 10 Fights That Intrigue Me the Most
While the slate for the month ahead remains a work in progress, there are plenty of announced and expected contests that pique my interest as June gets underway
I love lists.
Movies, musical acts, television shows, cereals, whatever — you ask me for my top selections, and I’lll happily devote more time than is probably warranted to putting together a comprehensive collection that reflects my feelings for said thing at the time and how those feelings have shifted as I’ve gotten older.
One of the reasons I love lists is because, as long as you’re not being a total contrarian dickhead, you can’t really be wrong because they’re a personal, subjective venture.
If you dropped a collection of your favorite cereals and wanted to put something terrible like Sugar Smacks at the top of the list, so be it.
To be clear: you have terrible taste and were deprived of quality breakfast options as a child, but it’s your list and if Sugar Smacks are your No. 1, who am I to argue? Again, I think you’re a monster, but that’s just me.
I say all that because below is a list of the 10 fights that intrigue me the most from the UFC’s upcoming June slate, which consists of four fight cards, beginning this weekend and running one after the other for the next four Saturdays.
There are fights you like that aren’t going to make the list and there are fights you have no interest in that are going to be mentioned, both of which are fine because it’s my list. As with the Sugar Smacks example above, you can disagree and call me a monster, but it’s my list, and therefore it doesn’t have to look the same as your list or anyone else’s list.
One last thing: this is a list, in chronological order of events, not rankings; just so we’re clear.
So let’s get to it, shall we?
10 UFC Fights That Intrigue Me the Most in June
Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Miguel Baeza
This is a perfect bit of matchmaking in the welterweight division, creating an exciting fight where regardless of the outcome, no one really loses too much ground, if any.
Ponzinibbio missed 26 months of action following his November 2018 win over Neil Magny, which pushed his winning streak to seven and put him on the fringes of title contention. When he came back in January, those 26 months off showed, as he was a little tight, a little slow, and a little rusty, resulting in a first-round stoppage loss to Li Jingliang.
Baeza is a rising star in the division — 3-0 in the UFC with three finishes, and a perfect 10-0 overall. After beating Matt Brown in May, he returned in November and subbed out Takashi Sato, using last year to showcase the full complement of his tools and put himself on the radar as one to watch in the division.
Regardless of how this one shakes out, there is a positive result for the 170-pound weight class, as either Ponzinibbio gets back in the win column and returns to being a factor in the Top 15 or Baeza keeps rolling, knocking off his most high-profile opponent to date, and secures himself another step up in competition next time out.
The alternate side of those outcomes isn’t particularly bad either, as two-straight losses for “The Argentine Dagger” shows he’s not quite the contender he was prior to his two-year medical hiatus, but doesn’t preclude him from being an all-action, entertaining force in the middle of the division until he either (a) sorts things out and get rolling again or (b) takes another step back and another loss, at which point you start to wonder about his future. Should Baeza lose, it’s a setback to a long-time Top 15 staple; an “all little too much, too soon” type of moment, where a quick reset gets him back on track before the year is out.
And if you just want to look at it in terms of how it will most likely shake out on Saturday and leave the divisional and career ramifications out of it, this is a guaranteed action fight that will either produce a finish or a Fight of the Night caliber effort.
What’s not to love?
Movsar Evloev vs. Hakeem Dawodu
Featherweight has taken a little step back in the “best division in the UFC” discussion of late simply because things have been a little bogged down in the Top 15, but this is an absolute scorcher of a matchup that should catapult the winner into the conversation for a much bigger fight later this year.
Evloev is one of those “do it all” types that I have been riding hard for since he first arrived in the UFC — a young, talented Russian that can hang with anyone, anywhere, and still feels like he has another level or two to discover once he really starts to understand how gifted he is inside the Octagon.
As a Canadian, Dawodu is someone I was hearing about when he was smoking fools as a kickboxer and starting to make waves under the WSOF banner in Calgary, mostly from my guy Danny Austin. After getting embarrassed in his promotional debut, “Mean Hakeem” has responded with five straight victories against increasingly talented opposition, though he too feels like he hasn’t quite been at his very best yet.
While I’m not always a big fan of pairing off emerging talents like this, the timing of this one is precise, as they’ve each cracked the Top 15 and now it’s time to figure out which one takes another step forward and which one holds steady for the time being. None of the veterans and hopefuls ahead of them in the rankings was going to hustle to sign up for an assignment against either of them, so they fight each other and the winner comes out looking like the best up-and-coming talent in a division that is going to really get moving here in the next few months.
Lauren Murphy vs. Joanne Calderwood
This might seem like an odd pick to some because it’s ostensibly a bout to determine who is going to get beat to hell by Valentina Shevchenko later this year, but I have a few questions that I want answered, and so I’m really curious to see how things play out. They are:
Is the Joanne Calderwood that doubled-up on Jessica Eye all night at UFC 257 the fighter we’re going to see every time out going forward?
Can Calderwood finally get a win when it counts the most?
Will Lauren Murphy, who often casts herself as this overlooked, hard-done-by figure in the flyweight division, get the kind of signature victory that has always escaped her inside the Octagon?
Can either of these women show anything new, exciting that gives them more of a chance against Shevchenko, should they end up opposite “Bullet” in a championship fight later this year?
The only way these questions get answered is by these two getting into the cage together and duking it out, and because I want to know the answers, I really want to see the fight.
Leon Edwards vs. Nathan Diaz
Look — I’m not a Diaz Brothers guy; I never have been, I don’t get the overwhelming appeal and adoration, and I certainly am not a fan of Nathan Diaz rolling into a fight of this magnitude coming off a lopsided loss 19 months ago in New York City.
You can tell me he’s a star and a big draw and all the usual arguments people make in his favor, but he’s got one win since the March 2016 and he’s 5-5 over his last 10 starts, which stretches all the way back to May 2012.
But I’m intrigued because I’ve long been a Leon Edwards guy, having begun advocating for him to get greater opportunities in 2017 when he went back-to-back against Vicente Luque and Bryan Barberena to push his winning streak to four. The Birmingham man showed no signs of rust in the early going of his fight with Belal Muhammad earlier this year, and could get a massive boost in recognition and respect if he goes out and busts up Diaz the way I think he will in a couple weeks at UFC 263.
The winner of this one is going to be on the short list of potential title challengers heading into the second half of the year, and with champion Kamaru Usman seemingly like he’s ready to take on all comers and log a whole gang of fights this year, matchups like this are must-see contests with serious divisional ramifications, and I’m always down to check those out… even if I’m not a Diaz guy.
Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno
I don't think this one needs much explanation, so I’ll keep it short and sweet: the first fight was terrific, both should be in even better form now that they’ve had time off and ample time to prepare, and there is even more animosity between the two now that they’ve gone toe-to-toe once already without a clear winner being determined.
Figueiredo had a breakout year in 2020 and Moreno has always been a dangerous threat that is stupid tough, which is why the initial pairing, even on fairly short notice, produced a Fight of the Year contender and why the sequel shouldn’t be much different.
It’ll be hard to live up to the original, but this feels like one of those rare cases where the follow-up could be even better.
Israel Adesanya vs. Marvin Vettori
This one didn’t seem so appealing at the start of the year, when Adesanya was readying to challenge for the light heavyweight title and Vettori was still barking about how he felt he should have gotten the nod in their first encounter three years ago.
But between now and then, Adesanya got out-hustled by Jan Blachowicz and Vettori posted another quality win, wrestling Kevin Holland into oblivion, to set up the rematch and make it a little more interesting.
Adesanya is must-see-TV, so his side of the equation is covered, but I have to be honest: Vettori is growing on me, and it’s not just because he keeps winning fights either.
The more I watch him, the more I get that “what if this guy just keep reaching additional levels?” vibe that some contenders and eventually champions carry. Kamaru Usman had it as he climbed the welterweight ranks. Adesanya had it on his rise to the top. Charles Oliveira was showing it, and I missed it or dismissed it; either way, I didn’t see it coming. Islam Makhachev has it now and I think everyone recognizes it.
I don’t think many people believe Vettori has it because there are so many other things to get lost in with him heading into this fight — his “Angry Marvin” demeanour, his steadfast belief he won their first encounter, the fact that Izzy is Izzy — but even if you want to downplay what he did to Holland, remember how fantastic he looked on short notice against Jack Hermansson last December.
And how ferocious he looked against Karl Roberson when they finally landed in the Octagon opposite one another.
And that whether you scored the fight for him or not, he did give Adesanya one of his toughest fights on the way up.
For a fight that didn’t interest me all that much six months ago, I’m really quite into this fight.
Chan Sung Jung vs. Dan Ige
A potential changing of the guard kind of fight in the featherweight division?
Of course I’m all over it.
Jung fights for the first time since getting housed by Brian Ortega last October, which, in the moment, felt like the kind of performance that showed “The Korean Zombie” wasn’t quite at the level of the top contenders in the division and destined to be more of a top-end gatekeeper/litmus test for title hopefuls at this point in his career. In retrospect, it could just be that Ortega is that goddamn good and beating him is really, really difficult, which is why only one person has done it thus far.
Ige bounced back from a unanimous decision loss to Calvin Kattar last summer with a 22-second knockout win over Gavin Tucker in March that produced the clubhouse leader for Best Post-Fight IG Post of the Year:
This is another one of those fights where I have questions about each guy that I want to get answered and the only way that happens is for them to step into the Octagon and mix it up.
Both men are guaranteed excitement, so this one should be special.
Timur Valiev vs. Raoni Barcelos
This is probably the one fight on this list that might catch people off guard, but I’m genuinely curious about both men.
Valiev is one of those guys that we’ve all heard about from his coaches for years, and two fights into his UFC tenure, I still don’t have a real good read on him or any sense of where he fits in the division. He started hot, faded, and got slept in his debut against Trevin Jones, but rebounded with a quality effort against Martin Day, which tells me he’s better than the lower third in the division, but little else.
If he’s a standout like his team has suggested for years, I need to see it, and I need to see it against a quality opponent like Barcelos.
The Brazilian turned 34 at the start of last month and gives me some Leon Edwards vibes in that he’s steadily stacking up victories and very few people are talking about him as a threat in the bantamweight division.
Barcelos is 5-0 in the UFC, 16-1 overall, and riding a nine-fight winning streak. It’s like everyone forgot he was dope in his days on the regional circuit and even though he’s turned in strong outings against fighters people have subsequently gotten geeked about, Barcelos remains a bit of an afterthought in the 135-pound weight class.
Beating Valiev probably won’t be enough to elevate him into the Top 15, but it should remind people of his all-around skills and unblemished record in the Octagon, which would then, theoretically, result in a step up in competition next time out.
When I jumped on the Severe MMA Podcast last week for a State of the UFC discussion with Sean Sheehan, I said off the top that I often tend to pay closer attention to fights that could have a divisional impact two, three, four fights down the line than most people; this is one of those fights.
Ciryl Gane vs. Alexander Volkov
Heavyweights on the fringes of title contention, each needing that one additional marquee win that puts them in line for a championship opportunity, squaring off in the small cage at the UFC APEX?
Sign. Me. Up.
I’ve had the pleasure of getting to speak with Gane ahead of his last several fights, and every time we finish speaking, I’m more certain that he is the real deal and a legitimate championship threat in the heavyweight division. He reminds me of Georges St-Pierre in the way that he wants to be humble, but can be coaxed into acknowledging how supremely talented he is and that he believes he’s capable of doing great things.
While his fight with Jairzinho Rozenstruik was far from a barn-burner, it was another good win on the road towards contention for the gifted Frenchman who is 8-0 as a professional and 5-0 in the UFC, even though he still hasn’t been fighting professionally for three full years.
Prior to his last couple appearances, I would have told you that Volkov topped out at No. 5 in the heavyweight rankings — too good to fall too far below that position, but not quite good enough to beat the very best the division had to offer. After the way he dispatched Walt Harris and Alistair Overeem in his last two outings, I’m no longer sure that’s true, and this fight with Gane feels like the test of that.
The towering Russian has shown up in tremendous shape each of his last two outings, using his range more, working the body with kicks, and showing a greater sense of urgency and aggression than he’s displayed in the past. I like it, a lot, and it makes him an intriguing figure in the division heading into this one.
Things are messy at the top of the division right now, and it probably won’t clear up any time soon, which takes a little of the shine off this fight because there isn’t much for the winner to do other than fight for the title, but that seems unlikely at this point. Nonetheless, it’s a tremendous matchup between Top 5 heavyweights that should tell us a little more about each man, which is never a bad thing.
Honourable Mentions: Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Augusto Sakai, Pannie Kianzad vs. Alexis Davis, Virna Jandiroba vs. Kanako Murata, Marlon Vera vs. Davey Grant, Tim Elliott vs. Sumudaerji