Bantamweights take the stage this weekend at UFC Fight Night 221 as “March Madness” continues with a high-level – high stakes fight between Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili. Yan is looking to turn things around as the Russian is currently on a 2-fight skid for the first time in his career. Meanwhile, Dvalishvili is unbeaten in eight and coming off his biggest career win against former featherweight champion Jose Also. Ahead of fight night we take a look at UFC Fight Night: Yan vs Dvalishvili: Ones to Watch
In the co-main event of the evening, heavyweights collide as Alexander Volkov squares off against Alexander Romanov. In a recent addition to the card, Nikita Krylov takes on Ryan Spann after being cancelled just two hours before it was supposed to take place a couple of weeks ago.
Let’s turn our attention away from the big names on the card and spotlight some fighters on the rise in the MMA world.
Mario Bautista
Nevada native Mario Bautista had the best year of his career last year. In 2022 he managed to fit three fights in, emphatically winning them all and even picking up a performance of the night award in his last one (two submissions and one decision). In his recent wins, it appears his grappling is the most dangerous aspect of his game, but Bautista’s stand-up is just as sharp. The way he swiftly jumps in range and lands a flurry of shots on his opponent while not losing any of the power behind what he throws is impressive. The bantamweight showed his explosiveness in his fight against Miles Johns. A well-timed flying knee into some ground and pound saw him pick up the second win in his UFC career (see below).
The 29-year-old is currently on the hunt to become ranked, and if he keeps his form up, by the end of the year, he likely will be. Bautista trains in Arizona at The MMA Lab with fellow competitors Jared Cannonier and Sean O’Malley. His opponent this Saturday is the Argentinian Guido Cannetti, who, despite being 13 years older than Bautista, has only had two more UFC fights than him. While it’s clear the American is still learning with every bout, he looks to be coming into his prime and should be on every MMA fan’s radar this weekend.
Sedriques Dumas
After nearly taking the head off of Matej Penaz with an impressive 47-second guillotine submission on Dana White’s Contender Series in August (see below), we finally get the UFC debut of Sedriques Dumas. It’s been a fast rise for “The Reaper” since his professional debut in 2020. Currently, he sits on a record of 7-0, finishing all but one of his wins. The middleweight is extremely well-rounded, but his high-level striking differentiates him from many other prospects.
As impressive as Dumas has been in his career so far, one of the holes in his game comes from the competition he faced pre-UFC. Going into DWCS, he was a +130 underdog, likely due to his previous opponents often carrying negative records or being MMA newcomers. However, the 27-year-old will look to establish his skillset in the promotion of which there are no easy fights. On Saturday, he takes on the LFA 2020 fighter of the year, Josh Fremd, as he attempts to break his two-fight skid by being the first to beat “The Reaper”. This may be the breakout fight of either competitor, so you do not want to miss it.
Find out where and when you can watch the action this weekend by clicking here.
Who are your UFC Fight Night: Yan vs Dvalishvili: Ones to Watch?
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
