5 great UFC fights to look forward to in October
With this weekend’s Fight Night event now in the books, the UFC will not return until October, with next weekend being a rare one-off for the world’s biggest MMA promotion.
Thankfully, fans have plenty to look forward to in October, with a total of four UFC events set to go down and a number of excellent fights on tap.
With one major pay-per-view, as well as three Fight Night cards, there are plenty of great fights to look forward to next month, but naturally, some stand out more than others.
Here are five great UFC fights to look forward to in October.
#5. UFC flyweight division: Askar Askarov vs. Brandon Royval
The UFC’s Fight Night event on October 15th is set to be headlined by a flyweight bout between Alexa Grasso and Viviane Araujo, but while that fight looks strong enough, the bout with the most intrigue on the card is a male flyweight clash between Askar Askarov and Brandon Royval.
With current champ Deiveson Figueiredo and interim champion Brandon Moreno looking set to finally end their rivalry in the near future, there’s definitely a possibility that the winner of this one, if they can impress, could leapfrog Alexandre Pantoja to steal the next title shot.
Both men have been highly impressive in the octagon, with Askarov holding wins over Pantoja, Joseph Benavidez, and Royval defeating the likes of Kai Kara-France, Matt Schnell and Tim Elliott.
Brandon Royval put the squeeze on him and forced the tap! 👋
#UFC274 https://t.co/Asa0E5OR8F
More importantly, they’re both highly aggressive fighters, and this should provide an interesting stylistic match, with the hyperactive wrestling style of Askarov going up against the more submission-oriented attacks of ‘Raw Dawg’.
Regardless of the winner, this one should be great to watch and could be a frontrunner for the event’s Fight of the Night bonus. And given its title implications, it’s definitely a bout to look forward to next month.
#4. UFC featherweight division: Arnold Allen vs. Calvin Kattar
The final UFC event of October features a major fight in the featherweight division in the headline spot, as the highly touted Brit Arnold Allen, who is ranked at #6, takes on Calvin Kattar, the fighter who sits directly above him on the ladder.
Interestingly, this fight pits a fighter coming off the biggest win of his career in Allen against an opponent coming off a pretty devastating loss, but it’s a piece of matchmaking that still makes sense.
#UFCLondonAllen stunned Hooker then went OFF 😤 #UFCLondon https://t.co/d3W64rNx30
Kattar is not an outright threat to the featherweight title, but he’s about as high-level a gatekeeper as it gets these days, holding wins over Giga Chikadze, Dan Ige and Shane Burgos. His recent losses, though, came against Max Holloway and Josh Emmett – two fighters who are in the title picture.
Can ‘Almighty’ defeat him, then, and climb into contention in his own right? It’s a tricky fight to pick. Allen has thus far shown fantastic technique in all areas and appears to have no weaknesses, but he’s also never faced an opponent quite so gritty as ‘The Boston Finisher’.
Overall, while Allen has at times received criticism for an apparent safety-first approach, it’s likely that Kattar will force him to get more aggressive in this clash, meaning we could be in for an excellent fight, as well as one that could be pivotal for the featherweight division going forward.
#3. UFC bantamweight division: Petr Yan vs. Sean O’Malley
UFC 280 is undoubtedly one of the strongest-looking cards of 2022, and so plenty of the undercard bouts on that event could’ve made it onto this list. However, the most intriguing fight outside of the two title clashes is definitely Petr Yan vs. Sean O’Malley.
This bantamweight showdown pits the former champion Yan against arguably the division’s most highly-rated prospect in O’Malley, and we should learn a lot about where both men stand regardless of the result.
There’s no doubt that this is an absolutely huge fight for ‘Sugar’. Sure, he talks a good game and he looked great against the likes of Thomas Almeida and Kris Moutinho, but the fact is that outside of a quick No Contest against Pedro Munhoz, he’s never fought an elite-level opponent.
LESS THAN 30 SECONDS TO GO! ⏱️
Nothing but heart from Moutinho but O'Malley GETS the finish he called for! #UFC264 https://t.co/vt7rOEPlfo
Not only is Yan elite-level, but ‘No Mercy’ is arguably the most dangerous striker in the entire division, as the only man to beat him – Aljamain Sterling – relied almost purely on his ground game to get the job done.
O’Malley has huge power and phenomenal timing in his strikes, but can he really manage to land on a buzzsaw like Yan, who throws wild combinations with vicious precision and power?
It’s a massive question mark, but if he can get past ‘No Mercy’, then it’ll be a true pointer to a remarkably high ceiling. Put simply, it’s hard not to be excited by this one.
#2. UFC bantamweight title: Aljamain Sterling vs. TJ Dillashaw
It seems hard to believe, but there are still some UFC fans out there who don’t buy Aljamain Sterling as the best 135lber on the planet, despite his successful bantamweight title defense against former titleholder Petr Yan earlier this year.
WE DID IT!
DOUBT ME NOW
🤡 🤡🤡🤡 https://t.co/0PIYwPIvTd
This bout is a chance for ‘The Funk Master’ to quieten those doubters for good. TJ Dillashaw is another former champion, but he never actually lost his title inside the octagon, having been stripped of it following a positive test for EPO in 2019.
More importantly, he’s only lost one fight at 135lbs since 2014, a razor-close decision in his clash with Dominick Cruz. Since then, he’s dealt with the likes of John Lineker and Cody Garbrandt, and most recently outpointed Cory Sandhagen in his return bout.
The big question in this clash will be whether Dillashaw can deal with Sterling's wrestling, because on the feet, it’s likely that the former champ might hold an advantage.
On paper, in fact, the challenger might have an advantage – but Sterling has been written off before and has always found a way to pull through.
Essentially, this looks like an absolutely brilliant title bout, and on any other card, it’d be a worthy headliner. As it is, it’s simply one of the best fights to look forward to this October.
#1. UFC lightweight title: Charles Oliveira vs. Islam Makhachev
There’s no doubt that the biggest fight to look forward to this October is the headline bout of UFC 280, which will feature the clash between Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev for the vacant lightweight title.
While he’s no longer the official champion, Oliveira is undoubtedly the best 155lber on the planet right now, with wins over Michael Chandler, Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje under his belt. If he’d made weight against Gaethje earlier this year – and with some more organization around the scales used, he may have done – he’d still be the titleholder.
Charles Oliveira taps out Justin Gaethje in the first round and takes his win streak to 11 in a row! 🙌
#UFC274 https://t.co/8lKjzylY8p
However, this might be the toughest test for him in the division right now. While he doesn’t fight with exactly the same style as his mentor Khabib Nurmagomedov, Makhachev is still a massively dangerous fighter with arguably the best wrestling game in the entire division.
Whether the native of Dagestan can use that wrestling to stifle Oliveira, who has deadly finishing skills in all areas and a killer instinct second-to-none, though, remains to be seen.
Either way, regardless of the presence of some killer contenders at 155lbs – including the spectre of Conor McGregor hanging over the division – this is a fight that pits the best two lightweights in the world against each other, meaning it’s the best fight to look forward to next month.