During UFC: Moreno vs. Erceg, news broke that Geoff Neal was injured and could not compete against Carlos Prates at UFC 314, the card losing an exciting matchup.
We already saw Joe Pyfer’s bout with Kelvin Gastelum scrapped from the card due to illness.
Fans were treated to more bad news last week.
Jamahal Hill was injured and out of his main event against Khalil Rountree Jr. on April 26 — the second time the fight has fallen through.
The news comes after two fighters fell sick on the day of UFC 313, after losing a fight-of-the-year contender between Dan Hooker and Justin Gaethje when a hand injury forced Hooker out. UFC 311 saw an injured Arman Tsarukyan withdraw one day prior to the event.
UFC fans have been up in arms about the number of fight cancellations this year, especially the ones giving little to no time to find a replacement.
The impact, beyond fan displeasure, is fewer fights and longer layoffs for some of the sport’s best athletes.
Islam Makhachev only defended his belt once in 2024 due to injury. Jon Jones was out of competition for a year with a torn pectoral tendon. Belal Muhammad was scheduled for his first title defense in December, but injured his foot.
Injuries are impossible to eliminate entirely, and they are often used as a justification for inactivity — in some cases, rightfully so.
But, they don’t tell the whole story. More often than not, it’s how time is spent while healthy that draws the ire of fans.
Alex Pereira was lauded for setting a UFC record for the shortest time to defend a title three times in 2024, but getting three defenses within a calendar year is more feasible than many realize.
The average UFC fight camp is six to eight weeks. With three to four months between fights, half that time can comfortably be spent recovering and the other half training, barring any severe injuries.
Prates won each of his first four UFC fights in 2024. Jean Silva won two fights 14 days apart last summer. A handful of fighters have reached five fights in a calendar year. Fans don’t expect this many in every division, but two fights is inexcusable.
Makhachev was never going to defend his belt more than twice in 2024, even if perfectly healthy.
He’s injury-free in 2025 and is coming off a four-minute submission of Renato Moicano where he absorbed just two head strikes, but there has been much speculation with little news about his next fight. His next title defense won’t be until June at the earliest.
Champions aren’t granted long periods of inactivity simply for holding the belt.
In 2020, flyweight champ Deiveson Figueiredo fought on two consecutive pay-per-views. He won by first-round submission at UFC 255 and then fought to a draw with Brandon Moreno at UFC 256.
Kamaru Usman achieved his third, fourth and fifth welterweight title defenses in 2021.
In a 14-month span between February 2022 and April 2023, Israel Adesanya fought four times, in each bout either defending or fighting for the middleweight title.
Unfortunately, Usman, Adesanya and Figueiredo have nearly fallen out of the title picture entirely.
Current featherweight champion Ilia Topuria knocked out Alexander Volkanovski in the second round at UFC 298, but waited until UFC 308 for his first defense.
Leon Edwards, who won the welterweight belt August 2022, only defended the title twice before losing it to Muhammad last July.
Thankfully, some champions still attempt to replicate the activity of the former titleholders.
Merab Dvalishvili, the bantamweight champ, won the belt September 2024 and, before the year’s end, was booked for a defense at UFC 311 against Umar Nurmagomedov.
Five months later, he’ll defend against Sean O’Malley at UFC 316.
With champions fighting less frequently, the UFC faces increasing uncertainty about who will be able to headline its major events.
As each pay-per-view looms, the question isn’t just who deserves the title shot, but which champion will actually be willing and able.
Volkanovski makes his return to the octagon this weekend at UFC 314, so let’s look ahead to the talent-laden card he’s headlining.
Volkanovski’s redemption
The former featherweight champ returns for the first time since his knockout loss to Topuria. He looks to regain the vacant title against the surging Diego Lopes after Topuria’s decision to move to 155 lbs.
Volkanovski is one of the most technical fighters in the sport, but Lopes brings chaos that few can prepare for. I’m cautiously going with Volkanovski to pull it off, but the odds aren’t in his favor. Fighters over the age of 35 have never won a title fight in weight classes below 155 lbs, and the former champ is 36.
New life at lightweight
Michael Chandler, off his second UFC decision, faces the up-and-coming Paddy Pimblett in the card’s co-main event, and Jim Miller, the winningest fighter in UFC history, takes on 25-year-old Chase Hooper on the prelims. Veterans still dominate the top of the division — we’ll see if this still holds true.
Fighting words
Bryce Mitchell takes on Jean Silva this weekend. Silva brought a globe to the press conference to mock Mitchell’s belief in the flat Earth theory. In response, Mitchell claimed that Silva was possessed by demons. We haven’t seen such a buildup for a non-title fight in a while.
Mitchell has elite grappling ability, and Silva has emerged as one of the most exciting strikers in the sport. I think Silva will pull it off, and though the oddsmakers are giving Mitchell very little chance to win, it will be close. An all-time on-the-mic moment is guaranteed at this fight’s conclusion.
