Roundtable: What is the best UFC fight still to come in 2024?

UFC 300 delivered in a big way, but with a haul of major fights stacked together for that historic card, what does that leave for the rest of the promotion’s 2024 slate?

Plenty, as it turns out.

Looking past UFC 301 this weekend — with respect to Alexandre Pantoja and Steve Erceg, their flyweight title fight wasn’t exactly on anyone’s 2024 wish list — there are already several marquee matchups loaded up. Conor McGregor returns to fight Michael Chandler at UFC 303, with Islam Makhachev defending the lightweight belt against Dustin Poirier that same month. Former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker faces Khamzat Chimaev in Saudi Arabia. And Sean Strickland is booked to fight Paulo Costa in what could be one of the wildest clashes of personalities ever.

That’s not even mentioning fights we expect to be made official soon, such as Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic, Dricus du Plessis vs. Israel Adesanya, Sean O’Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili, Leon Edwards vs. Belal Muhammad or Shavkat Rakhmonov, and Alexa Grasso vs. Valentina Shevchenko 3 whenever they’re done with The Ultimate Fighter.

Suffice to say, the UFC machine isn’t slowing down anytime soon. The only question is, what fight are you most excited for? MMA Fighting’s Alexander K. Lee, Shaheen Al-Shatti, and Jed Meshew got together to make their picks for the best of what’s still to come this year.

Officially Booked

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Lee: At last, for the boundless legions of The Ultimate Fighter 31 fans, there will be a reckoning.

It might not be the Conor McGregor comeback fight everyone was asking for, but he and rival Michael Chandler have put in the promotional work to make their UFC 303 clash as big a deal as possible. It honesty feels like they’ve been building this one for two years, so let’s give it the respect it deserves.

As long as it’s been since we’ve actually seen McGregor in the cage, there is still no one in the UFC that can touch “The Notorious” when it comes to hype and mainstream cachet. It helps that Chandler is no slouch when it comes to pro wrestling style antics either. In the three years since McGregor’s most recent fight, Chandler has emerged as one of the UFC’s true showmen, expanding on the sterling reputation he made for himself as a three-time Bellator champion.

It’s not just that this fight is a guaranteed banger that’s likely to end in a highlight-reel knockout one way or the other, it’s also a springboard for what’s likely the final stretch of both men’s careers. Is Conor McGregor about to waltz into another title shot? Does Michael Chandler become a made man with bragging rights over MMA’s most boisterous loudmouth?

Believe it or not, McGregor is back and soon all questions shall be answered.

Al-Shatti: From the moment Khamzat Chimaev exploded into our lives in July 2020, all anyone who devotes way too much time to this sport has wanted is the answer to one question: Is this dude really the indomitable final boss he appeared to be on Fight Island?

Somehow, four years later, we still don’t have the answer.

Whether through injuries, international politics, or sheer bizarro bad luck, fate has conspired to keep the Chimaev train stuck at the station since he carved up three scalps in a span of three months to kick off his UFC run. There’s been a few false starts here and there — most notably the Gilbert Burns win — but they’re inevitably followed by long stretches of inactivity and/or dumb shit like missing weight by 7.5 pounds. Even last time out, the weirdness couldn’t help itself. Oh, Chimaev is set to fight Paulo Costa and finally establish himself as a real middleweight contender? Nah. Can I interest you instead in Chimaev fighting a welterweight who’s moving up on short notice, but looking just mortal enough to inflame every possible question everyone has for him? Perfect.

But on June 22, our answers finally arrive.

History has shown that if you manage to beat Robert Whittaker at 185 pounds, you’re destined to hold UFC gold. One way or another, the headliner of UFC’s debut trip to Saudi Arabia is going to tell us a lot about the future of the middleweight division.

Meshew: Am I allowed to say none? The answer for “biggest” is pretty obviously McGregor vs. Chandler, as it will be the biggest event of the year, but I’m not all that excited for that one. It’ll be nice to have McGregor back and I’m sure it will be fun, but it’s not a fight I’m salivating over, and honestly, there aren’t any fights currently on the schedule that I am salivating for.

So in the absence of a “Justin Gaethje vs. Max Holloway” kind of fight, I’m left to go with the next best option: Watching the best fighter in the world ply his trade against an all-time great.

Islam Makhachev is the best fighter in the world, and at UFC 302, he’ll defend his lightweight title against Dustin Poirier. Yes, Poirier was brutally knocked out by Gaethje a year ago, but that doesn’t really matter. He’s a legitimate challenger and it’s a big moment. Will Poirier pull out an all-time upset to finally claim an undisputed UFC title? Likely not, but imagine if he does! And what if he does it by jumping a guillotine?! The heart skips a beat.

But even if Poirier doesn’t “finish the story” then we still get to watch Makhachev continue to climb the ranks of all-time greatness. That’s a win-win in my book, and considering that this could be one of the last times we see Makhachev at lightweight (he’s already talking about a welterweight title shot and I’m certain he will retire sooner than we all think), I’m always going to be excited to watch the man work.

Expected To Be Booked

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Meshew: The first question was difficult. This one is easy.

While there are a number of fantasy matchups I’ve been enamored with for a while, I was driving the train on one of them earlier than anyone else on this website: Dricus du Plessis vs. Israel Adesanya.

After DDP beat Derek Brunson, I began conducting the “DDP for a title shot” train. Other people, morons, wanted him to “do more” and “beat a top 5 opponent.” Not me. I was already sold by DDP’s style, the lack of other contenders at the time, and of course, the vitriol between the two based on the loaded concept of being African. That ultimately didn’t happen, but then du Plessis demolished Robert Whittaker and suddenly everyone was fully on board.

Of course, we all know what happened: Sean Strickland upset the apple cart and the best laid plans of Sean Shelby, and so the Battle for Africa was delayed. But with DDP now holding the belt, it seems like we’re finally getting the fight I’ve wanted for a long time. It’s going to rule. Adesanya is a brilliant technical striker but past his prime; du Plessis is a HOSS who throws punches like he’s angry at the wind, and has a brutal ground game. It’s a perfect matchup, and I can’t wait.

Lee: Let’s put a pause on all the Sean O’Malley-Ryan Garcia boxing talk and remember who should actually be next for the UFC bantamweight champion: Merab Dvalishvili.

O’Malley critics are probably still fearful that the deserving Dvalishvili will somehow be passed over despite his unreal 10-fight win streak, but at this point it has to just be a matter of crossing some “Ts” and dotting some “is” as far as making this one official. For all the talk of O’Malley’s success being all smoke and mirrors, let’s not forget that he was counted out in matchups against Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling, too. If he’s supposedly trying to dodge tough fights, he’s done a terrible job of it.

The path is clear for Dvalishvili now, with his best bud Sterling no longer in the division. Dvalishvili has been the rightful No. 1 contender for some time and there would be no more compelling ascension to the top of the division than the Georgian star avenging Sterling’s loss and humbling the polarizing champion.

Bantamweight is arguably the best weight class in all of MMA and fans deserve to see the two best—apologies to Patchy Mix—in the division go at it.

Al-Shatti: The two most iconic moments of 2024 thus far have been Ilia Topuria ending Alexander Volkanovski’s four-year legend with a left hook from hell and Max Holloway pointing to the mat moments before sending Justin Gaethje to the land of wind and ghosts with one of the most violent knockouts humanity has ever seen. Now you’re telling me these two dudes are going to chuck mitts at one another next — and they clearly don’t like each other?! Sweet merciful crap! How is this not the unanimous answer? I couldn’t be more all-in.

Either Topuria adds a second all-time name to his hit list and vaults into true superstardom, or Holloway reclaims the throne that once looked gone forever and locks up the feel-good moment of 2024. Either scenario would be huge for the sport, and there’s zero doubt that both the fight and the lead-up are going to be spectacular. When’s the last time we’ve seen someone so blatantly disrespect Holloway in the way Topuria is almost assuredly going to do? Hell, I’m not even sure what a pissed-off Max Holloway looks like! Neither are you, but don’t act like you’re not breaking out in cold sweats with me at the thought of finding out.

Nah, Topuria vs. Holloway is the only correct answer here, and frankly it can’t come soon enough.