Three of the most entertaining fights to watch in UFC 272

Story posted March 5, 2022 in CommRadio, Sports by Zach Allen

The Ultimate Fighting Championship, known under its abbreviated name, the UFC, is the most popular mixed martial arts establishment by far.

Starting in 1993, the UFC has evolved into a full-blown event card with a plethora of fights between fighters with completely different backgrounds.

Edition No. 272 of the UFC will take place on Saturday and here are the most anticipated fights of the night.

Colby Covington vs. Jorge Masvidal

The scheduled main event has been brimming with drama since the first press conference and faceoff on Thursday as the two talked trash to one another with Masvidal even attempting a kick at Covington

The former friends and training partners had a falling out due to Covington’s trash talk during their training. Now, they’ll have a chance to settle it all.

Covington will enter the octagon as the No. 2 ranked welterweight in the UFC, while Masvidal is ranked No. 8 at the weight.

Both fighters come into the fight looking to get back on track as they’re both recovering from a loss to the welterweight’s champion, Kamaru Usman.

Covington holds the more impressive record — 16-3 through 19 fights — but Masvidal has the edge in experience with a whopping 50 professional bouts, winning 35 of those.

Masvidal has the clear edge in striking, winning 16 of his fights via knockout compared to Covington’s three.

However, because of Covington’s Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu background, he has the edge on the ground, winning five fights by submission compared to Masvidal’s two.

The two will cap off the fight card in a battle between the experienced striker Masvidal and the higher-ranked grappler Covington.

Rafael dos Anjos vs. Renato Moicano

The dos Anjos - Moicano fight is very peculiar for a couple of reasons.

The scrap is listed as a catchweight bout, which isn’t a set weight class but rather a class where both fighters agree on a weight.

The two Brazilian fighters both weighed in at 160 pounds ahead of the co-main fight on Saturday.

The other reason this fight is out of the box is that dos Anjos was scheduled to fight another opponent, Rafael Fiziev. Fiziev tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday, effectively canceling the fight.

Many thought Islam Makhachev would take the spot as the Russian called out dos Anjos on Twitter, only to find out from UFC President, Dana White, that Makhachev had backed out of the fight himself.

In the end, it was Moicano that agreed to fight dos Anjos on short notice following the announcement. The former lightweight champion dos Anjos is 30-13 in his career with 10 submission victories.

Moicano is a good grappler in his regard, recording nine submissions en route to a 16-4-1 record.

The unique, short-notice catchweight fight between two fighters of similar styles could be one of the most entertaining of the night.

Greg Hardy vs. Sergey Spivak

The Hardy - Spivak heavyweight fight is the first fight on the main card.

Spivak holds a 13-3 record in his career while the former NFL Pro Bowler is 7-4 in his fighting career.

The fight between the two was originally scheduled for UFC 270, but after Hardy revealed a finger injury, it was moved to UFC 272.

After about a month and a half, Hardy and Spivak will finally take the octagon.

Zach Allen is a second-year digital & print journalism major. To contact him, email zallen540@gmail.com