The UFC will be coming to Salt Lake City this weekend for an exciting pay-per-view event featuring some of the best fighters in the world. The Vivint Arena will play host to not only a championship main event, but also some of the top contenders and most promising young stars.
The welterweight crown will be up for grabs as one of the most dominant champions of all time will face off with a dangerous challenger. Plus, a former champion will return to face one of the most explosive contenders in the middleweight division and a legend of the sport will meet a tough bantamweight contender.
Bantamweight bout: Jose Aldo vs. Merab Dvalishvili
Not much needs to be aid about Jose Aldo at this point. The 35-year-old is a former featherweight champion, a future UFC Hall of Famer and one of the greatest strikers of all time. After losing his championship to Conor McGregor in 2015, he hit a rough patch, losing six out of nine fights. Since then though, he has won three in a row against some of the top contenders in the division. Now sitting at number three in the class, Aldo has positioned himself for a potential title shot.
Standing in his way though, is a tough contender on quite the winning streak. After losing his first two UFC fights, all Dvalishvili has done is win. He’s won seven in a row, including a TKO over Marlon Moraes last year. And despite being the number six to Aldo’s three, Dvalishvili actually comes into this fight as the slight favorite. He’s an overpowering grappler who will drag his opponent to the ground and wear on them until they break. If Aldo can keep the fight standing, he’s got a good chance in this one, but that’s no easy challenge.
My pick: Dvalishvili via decision
Middleweight bout: Paulo Costa vs. Luke Rockhold
A co-main event of a pay-per-view rarely features two guys coming off of back-to-back losses, but that’s what we have here. For Costa, those losses came against dominant Middleweight champ Israel Adesanya and former title challenger Marvin Vettori. Costa is still a dangerous striker with some of the heaviest hands in the class. He does need a bounce back win here however because a three-fight losing streak could easily drop him to the bottom of the rankings in this division.
And speaking of guys who need a win, former Middleweight champ Luke Rockhold hasn’t won a fight since 2017. He has since been knocked out twice, by Yoel Romero and former Light Heavyweight champ Jan Blachowicz. Rockhold is a well-rounded fighter, who can really mix up his striking game. It will be interesting to see if he is willing to stand and bang with a knockout artist like Costa though, especially coming off of two knockout losses himself. The gameplans will be interesting to see in this one.
My pick: Costa via 3rd round knockout
Welterweight Championship bout: Kamaru Usman vs. Leon Edwards
Any time you get a champion as dominant as Kamaru Usman, it can certainly become difficult to sell his fights. Challengers simply can’t stack up and when the audience feels as though they know the outcome, what’s making them buy the fight? Leon Edwards though, poses an interesting threat to the champion and he may be the last real challenge for the champ. Even if he lost their first meeting.
Here’s a list of UFC fighters with longer win streaks in the octagon than Usman: Anderson Silva. End of list. Usman can tie Silva’s record of 16 consecutive wins by defending his Welterweight crown one more time. Usman has found most of his success as a grappler, overpowering his opponents on the ground. In recent bouts though, he has also shown his prowess as a striker, picking apart Colby Covington and dropping Jorge Masvidal with an absolute highlight reel knockout. There are no holes in the champ’s game. At least none that have been exposed yet.
If anyone can find a weakness for Usman though, it’s Edwards. The challenger has won nine in a row and has been nothing short of a nightmare on the feet. His technical striking has created a puzzle that no one has been able to solve and, quite honestly, he has proven to simply be too fast for his opponents. Add in the fact that he has already faced Usman in the octagon, and Edwards might just have the formula to figure out how to take the title. Of course, that’s easier said than done as 14 other guys haven’t been able to beat Usman yet.
My pick: Usman via decision
UFC 278 will be held Saturday night, August 20 at 10 PM ET. Fight fans can order the pay per view through ESPN+ and receive a special offer: $99.98 for UFC 278 and an ESPN+ annual plan. ESPN+ subscribers can order the pay per view for $74.99.