Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns to the pay-per-view market later TONIGHT (Sat., Jun 10, 2023) live from inside Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Headlining the event will be a women’s Bantamweight title fight as division champion, Amanda Nunes, defends her belt against rising contender, Irene Aldana. Co-headlining the event will be a pivotal Lightweight bout between Charles Oliveira and Beneil Dariush.
What’s Hot:
It’s been nearly a year since Amanda Nunes won her title back by dominating Julianna Pena at UFC 277, so fighting often is rare these days for the UFC double-champion. There are some who say it’s best if she retires altogether seeing as how it seems the hunger and passion for all things MMA isn’t there. But “Lioness” has no plans to walk away anytime soon…and why should she? She is still at the top of her game and she can keep adding to her legacy and collecting checks for years to come. But, her next challenge will be a hungry contender ready to shock the world to earn her first taste of UFC gold.
Aldana is 4-1 in her last five fights with her lone loss coming at the hands of Holly Holm via unanimous decision, so she has shown that she can hang with the best of the best. She has a well-rounded game which is spearheaded by her striking attack which has helped her earn eight knockout wins on her resume. The problem with that is Nunes is one of the best strikers in all of women’s MMA, so going toe-to-toe with her may not be the best course to victory. Nunes has Aldana covered in the jiu-jitsu department, as well, so it pretty much means that the Mexican-born fighter is going to have to put on a perfect fight to get things done. The odds are indeed stacked against her at the moment, but that was the case prior to Aldana’s teammate, Alexa Grasso, stepping into the cage against Valentina Shevchenko, and we all know how that turned out.
The question we all want answered is just how motivated Nunes will be. Again, we all know she has the skills, but with a growing family and other interests in mind, as well as a track record of pretty much dominating everyone, it can be real easy to let the foot off the gas pedal.
What’s Not:
For a PPV event, the main card is severely lacking if the promotion wants fight fans to fork over $79.99. The main and co-main events are decent, but the other three bouts selected to round it out — which we will discuss in more detail below — are a bit of headscratchers. I understand injuries and other issues cancelled several fights, but with a deep roster such as UFC’s, PPV events shouldn’t look like this.
Original Card vs. Actual Card:
The event was originally to be headlined by a trilogy title fight between Amanda Nunes and Julianna Pena before “The Venezuelan Vixen” was forced out of the fight with an injury. Stephen Thompson and Michel Pereira were in talks to throw down at this event but the fight never materialized and they were eventually booked to fight at UFC 291.
Injuries:
Aside from Pena’s aforementioned injury, Matt Schnell suffered an undisclosed injury and was forced to pull out of his fight against David Dvorak. He was replaced by UFC newcomer, Steve Erceg.
New Blood:
Steve Erceg will bring his talents to the Octagon for the first time to face off against David Dvorak in a Flyweight bout. Erceg is currently on a hot streak having won eight straight fights, seven via stoppage. As for Dvorak, he has seen better days because he is currently on a two-fight losing streak after starting his UFC career with three straight wins. This is a must-win situation for “The Undertaker.”
How The ‘Prelims’ Look:
Diana Belbita hasn’t had the best run inside the Octagon, going a paltry 1-4 during her short stint. Another loss could spell the end of her time with the promotion, so she is in do-or-die situation when she battles Maria Oliveira, who hasn’t done that well, either. That’s because she is 1-2 in her first three fights with UFC. Loser leaves town?
In the Bantamweight division, two surging contenders in Aiemann Zahabi and Aori Qileng will collide to see who wins his third straight fight. Zahabi started his UFC career with a 1-2 record, but has seemingly found his groove after scoring back-to-back wins over Drako Rodriguez and Ricky Turcios. As for Qileng, he has won two straight by defeating Cameron Else and Jay Perrin.
Miranda Maverick won her first two fights inside the eight-sided cage, lost two in a row and now finds herself on another two-fight win streak. She will look to earn her first three-fight win streak inside he Octagon when she battles Jasmine Jasudavicius who is coming off a win over Gabriella Fernandes.
In one of the more intriguing fights on the card, Chris Curtis and Nassourdine Imavov will battle in a Middleweight affair between two contenders looking to get back on track. Imavov was last seen losing to Sean Strickland in Jan. 2023, while Curtis came up short against Kelvin Gastelum just two months ago. This fight probably belongs on the main card.
Who Needs A Win Badly:
Kyle Nelson has had one of the worst starts to a UFC career in recent memory. He kicked things off with two straight losses, picked up a win over Marco Polo Reyes, before losing two more. In his last fight, he fought to a draw against Doo Ho Choi. He will face Blake Bilder, who is undefeated at 8-0-1. Another loss for Nelson could spell the end of his UFC career because as we have seen of late, the promotion is purging at a record rate.
Interest Level: 6.5/10
Co-headlining the event is a pivotal showdown at 155 pounds between former division champion, Charles Oliveira, and top contender, Beneil Dariush. Oliveira coughed up his title to current champion, Islam Makhachev, at UFC 280 in Oct. 2022, which was “Do Bronx’s” first loss in five years, snapping his 11-fight win streak. Dariush, meanwhile, will finally get his chance to earn a title fight if he can win his ninth straight bout…maybe. Tired of being the dark horse of the division, Dariush can finally break through with a win over the Brazilian bomber. It’s a toss-up for me because Dariush is on a roll while Oliveira will have to put his loss to Makhachev behind him to focus on the tall task at hand.
Mike Malott will look to make the most of his big opportunity to fight on the main card of a PPV event in front of his hometown crowd just three fights into his UFC career. Currently on a five-fight win streak which includes earning a first-round stoppage win on the Contender Series, Malott is 2-0 inside the Octagon, winning both in the very first round. Malott is all foot to the gas pedal, but so is his foe, Adam Fugitt, whose last two wins have also come via first-round stoppage (full preview here).
Dan Ige picked up a much-needed win and snapped his three-fight losing streak after knocking out Damon Jackson earlier this year. Now that he is back on track, “50K” isn’t in a hurry to take a trip back down to the losers circle. He has a tough challenge ahead of him in Nate Landwehr who has won three straight, two via submission. The former M-1 Featherweight champion of the world is eying a spot in the Top 15, and a win over Ige could do the trick.
Kicking off the main card will be a hard-hitting Middleweight affair between two fighters who can’t seem to catch much rhythm in Eryk Anders and Marc-Andre Barriault. Anders is always must-see T.V., but he is just 1-2 in his last three fights, so a spot in the Top 15 has always evaded him. The chances of him getting there before he walks away from the fight game, which could be sooner rather than later, are slim. Still, that doesn’t mean that a win is that much less important because he still needs to get that win bonus.
As for Barriault, he is just 4-5-1 during his time with the promotion, and has never won more than three straight inside the Octagon. He has alternated wins and losses over his last five fights, so he is looking for more consistency if he wants to make a surge up the crowded Middleweight ladder.
Enjoy the fights!
Full UFC Vegas 289 Fight Card:
UFC 289 Main Event On ESPN+ PPV:
135 lbs.: UFC Women’s Bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes vs. Irene Aldana
UFC 289 Main Card on ESPN+ PPV (10 p.m. ET):
155 lbs.: Charles Oliveira vs. Beneil Dariush
170 lbs.: Adam Fugitt vs. Mike Malott
145 lbs.: Dan Ige vs. Nate Landwehr
185 lbs.: Eryk Anders vs. Marc-Andre Barriault
UFC 289 ‘Prelims’ Card On ESPN/ESPN+ (8 p.m. ET):
185 lbs.: Chris Curtis vs. Nassourdine Imavov
125 lbs.: Jasmine Jasudavicius vs. Miranda Maverick
135 lbs.: Aori Qileng vs. Aiemann Zahabi
145 lbs.: Blake Bilder vs. Kyle Nelson
UFC 289 Early ‘Prelims’ Card On ESPN/ESPN+ (7 p.m. ET):
125 lbs.: David Dvorak vs. Stephen Erceg
115 lbs.: Diana Belbita vs. Maria Oliveira
*Fight card, bout order and number of fights remain subject to change.*
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 289 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the early “Prelims” matches at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+, followed by the remaining “Prelims” undercard balance at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+, before the final PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 289: “Nunes vs. Aldana” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For the updated and finalized UFC 289 fight card and PPV lineup click here.
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
