UFC 258 Fighter Previews

Kamaru Usman - UFC Welterweight Champion

(mmajunkie.com)

Kamaru Usman is on a run towards GOAT status in the Welterweight division. Usman will defend his belt for the third time on Saturday when he faces heavy handed jiujitsu specialist Gilbert Burns. Usman has been a force ever since winning The Ultimate Fighter in 2015. Since defeating Hayder Hassan at the live finale, he has gone 12-0 in the UFC. His wins before capturing the belt included Leon Edwards, Demian Maia, and Rafeal Dos Anjos. Kamaru got a dominant unanimous decision victory over long-time champion Tyron Woodley to get ahold of the strap. Usman was the underdog in that fight, but showed the division the force that he is. After Woodley, he defeated Colby Covington in a legendary fight I ranked as the 4th best welterweight title fight in history. After a back and forth 4 and a half rounds, Usman finished Covington to retain his title. His third title defense came against “Street Jesus” Jorge Masvidal in his most high profile fight yet. It was no problem for Usman as he handled Masvidal all the way to a 50-45 unanimous decision. Kamaru is quickly making a case to be the best welterweight of all time. Right now, he is in the mix with Matt Hughes and Georges St. Pierre. If Usman wins Saturday night, he will tie St. Pierre’s record for most consecutive welterweight wins. St. Pierre is considered by many to be the best mixed martial artist of all time. He held the belt for 7 years and defended it 12 times, so Usman may still have a ways to go. With that being said, Usman is by far the most dominant welterweight in the world right now. He has looked unstoppable in the organization and may be the next dominant champion of the division.

Gilbert Burns - #1 Ranked UFC Welterweight

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Gilbert Burns may be getting overlooked in this matchup, as most opponents of dominant champions do. It is a massive mistake to not take Burns and the challenge he presents to Usman very seriously. It has become cliche to say a champion’s next opponent is “his toughest matchup yet,” but Burns genuinely is. Gilbert presents a tough style for Usman to deal with. His base as a 3-time Brazilian Jiujitsu World Champion makes him one of the most dangerous men on the ground in the sport. He has submission victories in the UFC over Alex Oliveira, Christos Giagos, and Mike Davis. What makes Burns especially dangerous is his incredibly improved striking. Gilbert completely turned off Demian Maia’s lights in early 2020 to prove he is a real contender in the division. In his last outing, he completely dominated the former champion Tyron Woodley. Since he moved up to the welterweight division in late 2019, Burns is 4-0 and has never even been hurt in the weight class. He represents danger for Kamaru Usman everywhere the fight goes and fully expects to walk out of the octagon as the UFC champion Saturday night.

Maycee Barber - #10 Ranked UFC Flyweight

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Rewind a year from today. Maycee Barber is coming off the best win of her career against Gillian Robertson and looks like one of the hottest prospects in the UFC. She was certainly the hottest prospect in the Women’s divisions in some time. Barber was receiving a huge push from the UFC and rightfully so. She had shown an ability to overpower her opponents with power rarely seen in the lighter women’s division. Barber was matched up with veteran fighter Roxanne Modafferri on the main card of Conor McGregor vs Donald Cerrone. It was expected to be her big win and the start of a title run. Once the fight began, that plan was out the window. Maycee torn her ACL badly in the fight and was having trouble with the style of Modafferri anyways. She lost by unanimous decision and had to start a lengthy recovery process. But now she’s back! A year later with another big opportunity, possibly bigger than her last fight. This will be the first time Barber is the Co-Main Event of the card and she will look to get back to her winning ways. If she is able to move effectively and pressure Grasso early, we could see another good win for still one of the best prospects in the sport.

Alexa Grasso - #15 Ranked UFC Flyweight

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If Maycee Barber is the rising star of the division, Alexa Grasso is the dark horse. Grasso is a UFC veteran who has had her ups and downs throughout her run, but has looked spectacular as of late. After starting her career 2-2, Grasso has turned things around, going 2-1 in her last 3 fights. Her lone loss was to #4 ranked Carla Esparza at Strawweight in a fight where many people believed she won. Including me. Grasso is 1-0 since making the move up to Flyweight and looked great in a decision win over Ji Yeon Kim in August of last year. She was routinely floating around the top 5 of the Strawweight division for years and will look to climb the ladder again at Flyweight. Getting a win over Maycee Barber is the perfect way for her to punch her ticket into the upper echelon of the division.

Kelvin Gastelum - #9 Ranked UFC Middleweight

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Kelvin Gastelum is at a crossroads in his UFC career. He is currently on a 3 fight losing streak and has completely lost his contender status in the Middleweight division. This man was less than 24 hours away from a UFC Title shot against Robert Whittaker in February 2019. Whittaker, the champion at the time, pulled out of the fight on fight day because of emergency surgery on a hernia in his abdomen. This left Gastelum without a fight and without the shot he’s been waiting his whole life for. In Whittaker’s absence, the UFC booked Gastelum vs Isreal Adesanya for the Interim Middleweight Championship. Despite putting on one of the greatest fights in UFC history that night, Gastelum lost a unanimous decision. The former Ultimate Fighter winner was then given Darren Till in Till’s first fight at 185. Many believed Gastelum was the favorite in that fight and was destined for a rematch with now Undisputed Champion Isreal Adesanya. Instead, Gastelum lost by split, should’ve been unanimous, decision to Till. This set him back even further from the title picture. His bounce back fight was now against rising contender Jack Hermansson. Hermansson was ranked #6 at the time, ahead of the now #7 ranked Gastelum. Kelvin controlled the fight early and even got a nice takedown before Hermansson reversed him and grabbed the ankle. Gatelum was forced to tap by heel hook just 1:18 seconds into the first round. Kelvin is now #9 in the division and hasn’t won since May 2018. A man that was hours away from a title fight just 2 and a half years ago will now be fighting for his place amongst the top 15 in the division.

Ian Heinisch - #15 Ranked UFC Middleweight

(theathletic.com)

The story of Ian Heinisch is awesome. Before his MMA career began, Heinisch was a drug trafficker selling mostly ecstasy pills and cocaine. He was arrested for selling 2,000 ecstasy pills, but flew to Amsterdam immediately after posting bail to avoid a jail sentence. After doing his thing for a while, he was caught with a kilo of coke by a Spanish immigration officer and was jailed in Spain. Following his jail sentence in Spain, he attempted to return to America. As soon as he landed in New York, he was apprehended and had to continue his jail sentence on Rikers Island. If you haven’t heard of Rikers look it up. Let’s just say you might want to keep a night light sleeping in there. While incarcerated, he began to reevaluated his life. After serving his time, he has turned his life around. He is now married and fully committed to the MMA game. And he has looked damn impressive in the UFC. Heinisch came into the promotion as the LFA Middleweight Champion and earned his contract of Dana White’s Contender Series. He started his UFC run 2-0 before running into top 10 mainstay Derek Brunson. He then lost to another top 15 fighter in Omari Akhmedov in late 2019. Since dropping 2 in a row, he has rebounded with a win against Gerald Meerschaert by one minute KO. He is now in the biggest fight of his life against Gastelum. This fight in incredibly important for each man’s career. If Heinisch can win, he can finally vault himself into the top 10 of the middleweight division.

Bobby Green - UFC Lightweight and Certified Good Dude

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Bobby Green fights perk me up. They always have. Want to talk about a veteran of the sport? This fight Saturday night will be Green’s 15th UFC fight and 39th fight overall. He has been around forever and has shared the octagon with some of the best ever. Bobby has wins over James Krause, Josh Thomson, and Clay Guida. In his prime, he was always floating around the top 5 of the division. His losses to Dustin Poirier and Edson Barboza prevented him for ever realizing the a title shot, but he is now catching a second wind in his career and has looked great recently. Green would be on his first 4 fight winning streak since 2014 if the judges scored his fight against Thiago Moises correctly. Now it wasn’t an absolute robbery, but the majority of the world thought Green won. Now we are getting a fight I am shocked we’ve never seen before. Jim Miller is also a UFC veteran with over 35 appearances in the UFC. Admittedly, this fight doesn’t mean much for the standing of the division. It is a die hard fans favorite matchup on the card and hopefully we can see another great performance from Green.

Jim Miller - UFC Lightweight and Ageless Robot

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Jim Miller is the ultimate UFC veteran. He is tied with Donald Cerrone for the most fights in the UFC ever with 36. He has been fighting under the banner since 2008 and has become a fan favorite. Miller has always put on tough, exciting scraps and has always held his own. The New Jersey native is 21-14-1 in the UFC and has impressive wins over Charles Oliveira, Thiago Alves, and Joe Lauzon twice. He has always been around the title picture but never secured a shot. The closest he got was a number one contender fight with Benson Henderson in 2011 after winning 7 fights in a row. Henderson would go on to become champion. Miller is now putting on fan friendly fights with other veterans, something many older fighters do after their chase for gold. This matchup with Green is one of the most fun you could make of the kind. Jim has shown he can still scrap at a later age and may be able to pull off a fight of the night contender against Green.

Julian Marquez - UFC Middleweight Who Has a Podcast with a Porn Star

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Yes, you read that right. But lets not focus on it too much. Julian Marquez can actually scrap. Marquez made a splash onto the scene when he defeated Phil Hawes by nasty head kick KO on Dana White’s Contender Series. He was the underdog in that fight and Hawes was one of the most hyped prospects on the card. Julian was immediately given a tough fight in his UFC debut against Darren Stewart. Stewart has been hovering around the top 15 of the division for a while and some may call him a gatekeeper to the rankings. Marquez defeated him impressively by front choke in the 2nd round. He was starting to build a name for himself and almost broke into the top 15 extremely early in his career. Julian then lost a very controversial split decision to Alessio Di Chirico that 14 of the 17 media members scored in his favor. But two of the judges didn’t. Marquez is attempting to get back on the horse and pick up a big win in the biggest spot of his career to date. Opening up a UFC PPV means a lot of eyes are on you. Julian Marquez has the opportunity to make another big statement Saturday night.

Maki Pitolo - UFC Middleweight with Big Power and Bigger Gauges

(mmamania.com)

Maki “Coconut Bombz” Pitolo is in a huge spot Saturday night. The Hawaiian prospect could be fighting for his future in the UFC. Since impressing big time on Dana White’s Contender Series, Pitolo has been inconsistent in his UFC run. He is 1-3 in the organization with losses to Callan Potter, Darren Stewart, and Impa “I Turned Into a Kanye Music Video” Kasanganay. His lone win came against Charles Byrd. This fight for Pitolo is huge against someone he probably hasn’t earned a shot to face. If Maki can swing the upset, he can really start to pick up some momentum in his UFC career. If he takes another L, he might be back in the Bellator cage before we know it.