5 best UFC fights to look forward to in August 2024
With tomorrow night's event being the final one of the month, July is almost over for the UFC, which means it's time to look forward to August.
August 2024 is set to feature four UFC events, including a major pay-per-view and a visit to Abu Dhabi, meaning some big fights are on tap. Whether these fights live up to the hype - and in fact, whether they avoid the injury bug - remains to be seen. However, they're definitely worth getting excited for.
Here are the five best UFC fights to look forward to in August 2024.
#5. Neil Magny vs. Michael Morales - UFC Fight Night 242 (August 24)
The UFC's event at the Las Vegas APEX on August 24 doesn't officially have a headline bout confirmed yet.
However, one massively intriguing fight set to take place at the event - and one that could easily stand as the headliner - will see welterweights Neil Magny and Michael Morales face off.
There's always something cool about seeing a longtime gatekeeper looking to turn back the challenge of a hot prospect and whether the prospect can become a true contender.
That's definitely the case here. At the age of 36, Magny has firmly settled into a role as the welterweight who practically decides whether his opponents are the real deal or not.
Since the summer of 2021, 'The Haitian Sensation' has lost only to Shavkat Rakhmonov, Gilbert Burns and Ian Machado Garry. In turn, he's firmly closed the gate on prospects like Mike Malott and Geoff Neal.
Can he do the same to Ecuador's Morales? It's difficult to say. Thus far, the youngster has looked excellent in the octagon, picking up four impressive wins to take his overall record to 16-0.
With explosive striking and strong grappling, Morales has the raw tools to make it to the top. Whether he can get past the tricky game of Magny, who boasts a freakish reach, though, remains to be seen.
Either way, it will be fascinating to see him try, making this one of August's best bouts.
#4. Tai Tuivasa vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik - UFC 305 (August 17)
There are some UFC fights that simply encourage the viewer to forget about looking out for technique and focus primarily on some wild action that will likely end in a knockout.
That's definitely the case with the heavyweight bout between Tai Tuivasa and Jairzinho Rozenstruik, which is likely to go down on the main card of UFC 305.
Sure, Tuivasa is riding a four-fight losing streak and could see his octagon career end with a loss, but who really cares? 'Bam Bam' has also failed to see the final buzzer, win or lose, in his last 10 fights.
Rozenstruik has almost as impressive a finishing record, too. All eight of his octagon wins have come via KO or TKO, and he's been finished in three of his five losses.
The winner of this one should come down to whether 'Bigi Boy' can use his sharper technique to land the first big shot, or whether a buoyant Australian crowd can drive Tuivasa to success.
Either way, though, the chances of this one going the distance seem slim to none, making it one of August's must-see clashes.
#3. Cory Sandhagen vs. Umar Nurmagomedov - UFC on ABC 7 (August 3)
Remarkably, the headline bout for the UFC's visit to Abu Dhabi on August 3 is arguably not the most outstanding fight on the card.
However, that isn't a knock on the bantamweight clash between Cory Sandhagen and Umar Nurmagomedov. Instead, it shows just how loaded an event this one is.
Sandhagen vs. Nurmagomedov is, of course, a truly fantastic bout that could well decide the next challenger to the bantamweight throne, whether it belongs to Sean O'Malley or Merab Dvalishvili by that point.
Of the two, 'The Sandman' is the more known quantity. He's fought most of the top 135 pound fighters in the world and holds wins over Marlon Vera, Song Yadong and Frankie Edgar. However, he's also lost to the higher-end fighters like Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling, which makes this fight so fascinating.
Nurmagomedov, thus far at least, hasn't been fully tested. At 17-0, 'Young Eagle' has a fantastic record, but none of his wins truly stand out, regardless of how good he's looked. If he can beat Sandhagen, though, his record will look a lot different and will probably draw comparisons with his cousin Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Only time will tell whether 'Young Eagle' can live up to that kind of reputation, but a win over 'The Sandman' would, at this point, be priceless.
In terms of sheer intrigue, then, this is absolutely one of the best fights on tap for August, and we can only hope it holds together for next weekend.
#2. Marlon Vera vs. Deiveson Figueiredo - UFC on ABC 7 (August 3)
While the most important bantamweight fight on tap for the UFC's visit to Abu Dhabi next weekend is the headliner between Cory Sandhagen and Umar Nurmagomedov, it isn't likely to be the most exciting.
That title is likely to go to the clash between Marlon Vera and Deiveson Figueiredo, which is set for the event's main card.
Put simply, it's difficult to imagine this fight not being an absolute thriller. Despite failing to capture the bantamweight title from Sean O'Malley earlier this year, Vera is one of the most exciting fighters in the entire UFC.
'Chito' is never in a dull bout, and with deadly skills both on the feet and on the ground, he's one of the most lethal finishers in the game.
Figueiredo, meanwhile, has shown flashes of his best since moving to 135 pounds following his flyweight title loss in 2023. He's already dispatched Rob Font and Cody Garbrandt and could move in line for a potential title shot if he can take out Vera here.
Whether he can pull off something that even O'Malley failed to do is a major question mark, of course. Either way, though, fans can expect fireworks when these two men go to war, making this one easily one of the best fights on tap for next month.
#1. Dricus du Plessis vs. Israel Adesanya - UFC 305 (August 17)
The best fight officially booked for next month is the headliner of UFC 305, which will go down in Perth, Australia on August 17.
This fight will finally see bitter rivals Dricus du Plessis and Israel Adesanya do battle for the middleweight title, albeit not in the way that many fans expected them to.
The two men initially had a heated staredown in the summer of 2023, when du Plessis shocked fans by knocking out former titleholder Robert Whittaker.
In an ideal world, it would've set up a title bout between 'Stillknocks' and 'The Last Stylebender', but fate intervened. With Du Plessis not ready to fight in September, Sean Strickland instead stepped in and beat Adesanya in a huge upset.
Since then, of course, the New Zealand native has taken an extended period of leave to recharge his batteries, while du Plessis defeated Strickland to win the title earlier this year.
Next month, then, will see this bitter rivalry - which has been racially charged at times - come to a head.
Will Du Plessis' knockout power and incredible momentum take him to the biggest win of his career, or will the home field advantage and the sniper-like striking of Adesanya enable him to become the first three-time middleweight titleholder in UFC history?
We will find out next month in what could well turn out to be one of the most defining fights of 2024.