Everything you need to know about UFC 262 Oliveira vs Chandler

ACC UFC resident expert Felix Heath-Collins with everything you need to know ahead of UFC 262 Oliveira vs Chandler.

The largest MMA promotion returns to 'PPV' ('Pay-Per-View') this Sunday with UFC 262, headlined by the vacant lightweight title bout between veteran gatekeeper Charles "Do Bronx" Oliveira and new contender "Iron" Michael Chandler.

After a couple of fight cancellations (one of those cancelled being the co-main event) this card lacks the star power and fan anticipation it once had. As it stands, and assuming no further problems arise, this card should still have the inevitable and massively entertaining fireworks that high-level MMA so often is. Among those fight cancellations was the major loss of the original co-main event for this card, which was a welterweight scrap between longtime fan favourite fighter Nate Diaz and top welterweight contender Leon "Rocky" Edwards. This was my personal main event for UFC 262. It's an amazing stylistic showdown between the clean boxing combos and dangerous submission skills of aging legend Nate Diaz against the long-range, sniper-like technical kickboxing of the young welterweight prospect Leon Edwards. Since this fight has been rescheduled to next month's 'PPV' UFC 263, I'll now have plenty of time to break that fight down later on. Also rescheduled is the fight between Jack "The Joker" Hermansson and Edmen "The Golden Boy" Shahbazyan, reportedly due to "COVID-19 protocols".

And this PPV is another all-you-can-eat coronavirus buffet in one of the worst-handled states in the US during the pandemic, in Texas at the Toyota Center at full capacity. As the UFC incessantly chases the label of being the "first" sport back, it blatantly exposes its' profits > people company philosophy.

Now, on to the fights!

The main card kicks off with a tantalising bout at featherweight between the always-exciting contender Shane "Hurricane" Burgos (13-2) (Wins-Losses) and the lightweight legend Edson "Junior" Barboza (21-9). Burgos is a fresh-faced featherweight contender just entering his physical prime at 30 years of age. In his short pro MMA career so far Burgos has notable victories against Makwan "Mr. Finland" Amirkhani by KO/TKO, and a win over featherweight veteran "Killer" Cub Swanson by split-decision. Barboza meanwhile has a storied pro MMA career that includes notable wins over Bobby "King" Green, Paul "The Irish Dragon" Felder, Anthony "Showtime" Pettis, Beneil "Benny" Dariush, and Dan "The Hangman" Hooker. Burgos lost his last outing in the octagon against veteran featherweight journeyman Josh Emmett, while Barboza snapped a three fight losing streak in his last fight with the win against Makwan "Mr. Finland" Amirkhanki.

Shane Burgos is a fight finisher. Sometimes he is the one finished, and sometimes he doesn't actually end the contest, but he always enters the cage to finish the fight. That determination may not lead to a title or superstardom, but it sure as hell leads to crazy fights. In his short pro MMA career so far Burgos has almost triple his fights ending by stoppage (11) than by decision (4) - win or lose. So it's safe to say that Burgos brings the brutality whenever he steps into the cage. Barboza on the other hand is a devastatingly powerful Muay Thai kickboxer with body kicks from hell, and an arsenal of flashy so-called "spinny-sh*t" (wheel kicks, spinning back kicks, spinning back fists, spinning elbows, etc.) A complicating factor in this fight is that Shane Burgos is perfectly fit for the featherweight division at an élite level, while Edson Barboza seems more naturally suited to lightweight, and a large lightweight at that. Sometimes cutting down weight classes in such a significant way can affect the 'chin' (the ability to take a head strike) of the weight-cutting fighter. I'm hoping these guys steal the show (and the fight of the night bonus) with an exceptionally violent kickboxing war.

In the co-main event we have the legendary lightweight contender Tony "El Cucuy" Ferguson rebounding from a two fight skid against surging contender Beneil "Benny" Dariush. During his astonishing lightweight 12-fight win streak "El Cucuy" beat some of the best lightweights in UFC history including: Gleison Tibau, Josh "The Punk" Thomson, Edson "Junior" Barboza, Lando Vannata, "RDA" Rafael Dos Anjos, Kevin "Motown Phenom" Lee, Anthony "Showtime" Pettis, and Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone. Over his two fight skid Ferguson has had losses against top lightweight contender Justin "The Highlight" Gaethje by TKO at UFC 249 (thus snapping Ferguson's era defining lightweight win streak) and most recently against current lightweight title contender Charles "Do Bronx" Oliveira by unanimous decision at UFC 256. "Benny" Dariush meanwhile has been quietly amassing high level lightweight wins against a slew of legends, without really getting the attention or fanfare that his performances have greatly deserved. "Benny" Dariush has wins over: Carlos Diego Ferreira twice, legend Jim "A-10" Miller, Michael "The Menace" Johnson, James Vick, and Drew Dober. Tony Ferguson clearly has the more impressive collection of 'scalps' (victories) when compared to his upcoming opponent Beneil Dariush, but Ferguson is inarguably approaching the end of his prime, while Dariush seems to only be entering his now. In many ways this fight feels like a stylistic set-up for Dariush to steal the hype that once surrounded Ferguson. But Ferguson finds a way to win, whereas Dariush has occasionally struggled against higher level competition (such as his fights with Michael Chiesa and Edson "Junior" Barboza, and the less élite Alexander "The Great" Hernandez).

Predicting the outcome of this fight is incredibly hard. There are so many variables to consider. Will the 'bat-sh*t' striking of "El Cucuy'' confuse and overwhelm "Benny", or will Dariush's unorthodox precision and fight-finishing power be the difference on the feet? Will Tony "scramble him like eggs" as "El Cucuy" famously stated he would do to former lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov (a fight which was booked five times and still never ended up happening), or will Dariush's straight forward technical submission skills shine through? Will "El Cucuy" unleash devastating 'hell-bows' (hellish elbows) on the ground like he used to, or will "Benny" resist the takedowns, or even manage to submit the 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu black belt in Tony Ferguson with his own élite 'BJJ' (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu)? I don't know the answers to any of these questions now, but I sure would like to find them out (and more) this weekend.

And finally in the main event we have élite submission specialist Charles "Do Bronx" Oliveira facing off against new lightweight contender "Iron" Michael Chandler. The 'BJJ' (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu) assassin Charles Oliveira has submitted many legends during his relatively long UFC tenure thus far. His most notable submission 'scalps' include: Darren "The Damage" Elkins, Myles Jury, Will Brooks, Clay "The Carpenter" Guida, Jim "A-10" Miller, Kevin "The Motown Phenom" Lee, and, most recently, Tony "El Cucuy" Ferguson. His opponent Michael Chandler has notable wins in Bellator over Patricky "Pitbull" twice, Eddie Alvarez, Akihiro Gono, Benson Henderson twice, Brent Primus, and - in his last fight and UFC début - against Dan "The Hangman" Hooker. Notably Patricky "Pitbull"'s younger brother Patricio "Pitbull" got revenge for his brother via a devastating first round KO of "Iron" Michael Chandler. That loss is especially notable for Chandler because Patricio "Pitbull" currently holds both the Bellator featherweight and lightweight belts, divisions that the UFC has historically had more élite fighters than in any other, but could soon be surpassed by the relatively tiny promotion in Bellator MMA.

So, how will this competitive contest play out? Well the first consideration to make is the often-seen "grappler's paradox", wherein an élite submission specialist or wrestler will ignore their grappling prowess if coming up against another, similarly skilled submission specialist or wrestler. Since both competitors fear wasting energy grappling (if they can just be countered on the ground by their adversary), these matchups often result in a somewhat-scrappy kickboxing/stand-up fight. But fear not! Even if these guys refuse to use their full arsenal of skills to win, the lack of defensive awareness while striking for primarily ground-based fighters usually makes up for the lack of offensive skill while striking, inevitably becoming a high-output, low defence fight. A similar analogy can be made when two kickboxers could bore an audience to booing through defensiveness, while a backyard brawl at a family barbeque will probably end in a knockout, if only because neither uncle knows how to block effectively. For this fight the questions become: can Chandler wrestle Oliveira to the ground and keep him there to deliver damage? If they do get to the ground, can Oliveira submit Chandler off of his back? If the fight remains standing, will Oliveira's technical precision in his striking pick "Iron" Michael Chandler apart, or will Chandler's powerful skill set overwhelm "Do Bronx" Oliveira and allow the American to implement his all-too-familiar wrestler/brawler style that has proven so effective throughout MMA history?

To be brutally honest neither man headlining this card for the vacant lightweight title truly deserves the belt, even with this win. You could make an argument that the 3rd-ranked lightweight contender Charles "Do Bronx" Oliveira does, but it's hard to argue that the new blood to the UFC in Michael Chandler deserves the title shot after only a single top five fight in the UFC. Especially tragic is the fact that other more highly ranked (and more deserving) lightweights have been looked past or brushed aside only for these two élite journeymen to duke it out for Nurmagomedov's belt. And let's be honest, it is Khabib Nurmagomedov's belt. He is 29-0, undefeated. He beat all there was to beat and retired at the top of the game, with victories over "The Notorious" Conor McGregor, Dustin "The Diamond" Poirier, and Justin "The Highlight" Gaethje. The matchmaking problems started however when "Mr. Tomatohead" Dana White (the president of the UFC), refused to accept Nurmagomedov's retirement despite it being explicit, and repeated often. So here we now stand as MMA fans without a defending lightweight champion for almost half a year at this point, while the best contenders in the division (Dustin "The Diamond" Poirier and - through popularity alone - "The Notorious" Conor McGregor) are already booked to fight each other for without the title on the line, while even the second most deserving contender Justin Gaethje was ignored too. It's sad to say but the winner of the UFC lightweight title bout this Sunday will honestly only be able to claim they are perhaps the fourth or fifth best lightweight in the world today, behind (at the very least) Dustin Poirier, Justin Gaethje, and Bellator's double champion (featherweight and lightweight) Patricio "Pitbull" Freire. For the first time in MMA history, Bellator will have a definitively superior champion in the most elite men's weight class of lightweight. Plus Bellator pays it's fighters over double of their gross revenue to fighters than the UFC does, at almost 50% for Bellator compared to a humiliating 19-20% for the UFC, which considers itself the "premier" MMA promotion.

So overall this card should deliver some enticing, entertaining fights between some élite fighters. It's a shame the UFC has lost another exciting headlining fight, but that's just MMA. Endangering fighters and fans at these full attendance shows is peak stupidity by the UFC, and transparently shows their intentions to profit from the pandemic by boosting prices and eliminating safety protocols anywhere they can. The UFC keeps making money, and yet the fighters get none of it. At this point many fighters are choosing other promotions because the UFC is seen as largely a promotional machine that pays less than significantly smaller promotions that somehow pay more.

The main card starts for us here in New Zealand at 2.00 PM on Sunday. Prepare yourself for Texas's famously terrible judges, and the wooing and booing of the probably pre-COVID-patient crowd. Enjoy!