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Fighters On The Rise | UFC Fight Night: Sandhagen vs Font
Three Can't-Miss Combatants To Watch For On Saturday's Las Vegas Event
A couple times each year, the UFC puts together events that feel like a showcase for some of the unheralded and overlooked competitors on the roster — the men and women that have been having success, but been stuck in the shadows a little, stationed on cards where bigger fights and bigger names tend to command all the attention.
This weekend’s return to Nashville is one of those shows.
Selecting just three athletes to highlight in this week’s edition of Fighters on the Rise was challenging, as in addition to the competitors spotlighted below, there are three or four more ascending, promising fighters that will make the walk this weekend that deserve your attention, including ranked light heavyweight Kennedy Nzechukwu and emerging lightweight Ignacio Bahamondes.
But the three presented below stand out above the pack heading into this weekend and could all find themselves chasing down much bigger fights in the back half of the year if they depart “Music City” on a high note.
Tatiana Suarez
Suarez ended a more than three-year hiatus back in February, returning to action and registering a second-round submission win over Montana De La Rosa in a flyweight contest. The victory showed the former Ultimate Fighter winner was healthy and still a force in the Octagon, while moving her record to 6-0 in the UFC and 10-0 overall.
Originally scheduled to face Brazilian contender Virna Jandiroba this weekend, Suarez instead steps in opposite former strawweight champ Jessica Andrade, who replaces her compatriot and looks to halt a two-fight slide.
From the time she ran through the competition on Season 23 of The Ultimate Fighter, the 32-year-old Suarez has profiled as a potential champion. She was on an Olympic wrestling track before undergoing treatment for thyroid cancer, and has made a seamless transition to mixed martial arts, leaning on her outstanding grappling and physicality to thus far dominate the competition.
Because she was sidelined for so long — and didn’t look great in her final pre-absence outing against Nina Nunes (nee Ansaroff) at UFC 239 — it’s easy to forget that Suarez blew out two-time strawweight champ Carla Esparza at UFC 228 and made quick work of current flyweight queen Alexa Grasso before that in Chile.
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Andrade is a good test for the unbeaten emerging contender as she’s faced the absolute best competition across two divisions over the last several years and has the kind of short-range power that could shift the course of the fight in a flash if she lands.
Suarez currently sits at No. 10 in the strawweight rankings, but a victory her could catapult her back into the Top 5 and a marquee showdown where the victor potentially earns a championship opportunity in 2024. She’s that close to title contention, and this weekend’s co-main event pairing will provide a great deal of information about her championship potential going forward.
Diego Lopes
Lopes makes this list because I — and likely innumerable others — have been dying to see him back in action since his short-notice effort against Movsar Evloev at UFC 288.
The Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS) alum stepped in on incredibly short notice to face the unbeaten Russian in Newark, and then proceeded to give him everything he could handle, coming out on the wrong side of a unanimous decision verdict, but elevating his stock immeasurably in the process. Now with a full training camp behind him, the 28-year-old Brazilian returns to take on Gavin Tucker in an intriguing featherweight pairing that should give everyone a better understanding of where Lopes fits in the division at the moment and his prospects going forward.
What has always stood out about Lopes is his aggressive nature and attacking style, and we saw that against Evloev. In that fight and countless others, he came out pressing the action, and even when he ended up on his back, the Lobo Gym and Brazilian Warriors representative was getting off offense and looking for submission opportunities. He never gave Evloev a moment to rest, constantly forcing him to defend and be careful with his shot selection, succumbing to the torrid pace and non-stop grappling later in the fight.
UFC Month In Review: July 2023
The 37-year-old Tucker is returning for the first time in more than two years, having last competed in March 2021 when he was quickly knocked out by Dan Ige. Prior to that, the Newfoundland native had posted three straight wins to position himself on the doorstep of the Top 15 in the featherweight ranks, which makes him a good test for Lopes in his first full-camp UFC appearance.
While he came up short in his DWCS appearance, that loss — by technical decision after an accidental eye poke halted the action in the third — came against Joanderson Brito, who has gone on to have a great deal of success inside the Octagon. Lopes is surrounded by excellent training partners and coaches, and should be buoyed by the effort he turned in against Evloev earlier this year.
Should he come out and cruise against Tucker, a date with another Top 15 opponent towards the end of the year shouldn’t be out of the question.
Jake Hadley
Jake Hadley Locks In The Triangle Choke For His First UFC Win | UFC Fight Night: Rodriguez vs Lemos
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Jake Hadley Locks In The Triangle Choke For His First UFC Win | UFC Fight Night: Rodriguez vs Lemos
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The men’s flyweight division has steadily been increasing its depth and producing a number of young, intriguing talents over the last couple years, and Hadley is very much a part of the emerging set to keep tabs on.
Confident and talented, the 26-year-old stumbled out of the gate in his promotional debut against Allan Nascimento last May, but in his last two efforts, the former Cage Warriors champion has shown why many were high on him heading into and coming out of his appearance on Dana White’s Contender Series two summers back.
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Against Carlos Candelario, Hadley patiently worked his grappling, eventually securing a triangle choke to register his first UFC victory. In March at UFC 286, “White Kong” showed off his hands and in-fight IQ, recognizing that he stung Malcolm Gordon to the body and continuing to attack the area until he pounded out the first-round finish against the Canadian veteran.
Originally scheduled to face ranked Russian Tagir Ulanbekov, Hadley now steps in with American Cody Durden, who steps in looking to secure his fourth straight victory. A sturdy grappler that is always ready to scrap, the 32-year-old American Top Team product has won four of his last five, with his only setback coming against Muhammad Mokaev.
This is a solid step up in competition for the talented flyweight from the West Midlands, and while a victory won’t do as much for him as beating a ranked fighter like Ulanbekov would have, it’s a good opportunity to tackle another tough test and gain further experience inside the Octagon before potentially making a push towards the rankings later in the year or in the opening quarter of 2024.
UFC Fight Night: Sandhagen vs Font took place live from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee on August 5, 2023. See the Final Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
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