UFC 283 emanating from the Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil will be the UFC’s first PPV event of 2023. The card features two huge title fights and features a great main card and some feature prelims with a lot of popular fighters being booked.
Paul Craig vs Johnny Walker: Opening Main Card
Image: From lowkickMMA
The first bout I want to talk about is the Light Heavyweight matchup between Johnny Walker and Paul Craig. This matchup seems to be as it is the #9 205’er in Craig taking on #12 Johnny Walker, as both men are looking for a fight that could continue to propel them up the rankings. Johnny Walker got off to an extremely hot start coming from the Dana White Contender Series, and then rattling off three straight victories. He finished all three of those opponents in the first round and seemed to be ready to take on huge names in the division, before being TKO’d by Corey Anderson. This seemed to be a momentum stopper for Walker as he has gone 2-3 since the Anderson fight. Although he is currently coming off the submission victory over Ion Cutelaba back in September. Walker is an exciting fighter and is quite large for the division coming in at 6’6 and landing an impressive 3.26 significant strikes per minute. His 82” reach will come in handy in this fight against #9 Paul Craig.
Paul Craig had been riding a 5 fight win streak in the division before his most recent fight before losing a decision to Volkan Oezdemir back in July of 2022. Craig winning streak contained victories over a legend in Mauricio Rua, and the man challenging for the Light Heavyweight title on this card in Jamahal Hill. Craig rebounding with an impressive victory against Walker espeically if he can finish the fight early might be able to guarantee him a fight with a top 5 fighter and possible title eliminator. The Scottsman has been hot at the right time at 205 as the division has become a bit thin in recent years and defeating Walker and then another top contender could propel him right into title contention. The key for Craig in this fight should be to get Walker off his feet, has the submission game certainly goes to Craig who has 13 submission victories across his career. This fight should promise so great back and forth striking and if it does go to the ground expect both fighters to try and throw up those submission attempts.
#5 Gilbert Burns vs #12 Neil Magny (170 lbs Welterweight)
Image: From MMANews
The Welterweight matchup between Burns and Magny promises to be a exciting matchup between a former title challenger and a contender on the rise. Gilbert Burns is looking to get back into title contention after dropping a fiercely competitive decision to Khamzat Chimaev back in April of 2022. “Dourinho” is an exciting star at 170 for the company and has said in the last few days he wants to finish his opponent in this fight. On Michael Bisping’s podcast he explained that he wants to finish not only to leave no doubts but in order to give something exciting to his home country of Brazil. The 36 year old will have to really on his well rounded stirking and submission game to defeat Magny. Burns can hold onto the fact that in his career he has produced 10 first round finishes, which include 6 by KO and 8 by submission. Comparing between the two men Burns lands at a more consistent rate, but Magny has a higher landing of significant strikes per minute. I think the goal he for Burns if he wants to win this fight is to get to the ground and then either ground and pound or look for a limb in order to secure the victory. Earning a victory over a well established veteran like Magny maybe be able to send him back up into the eyes of the champion.
On the other side Magny had a busy 2022 fighting three times and going 2-1 with the lone loss coming against the red hot prospect Shavkat Rakhmonov back in June. Magny has been a long established veteran in the promotion and has always hung around the rankings but never truly broken the glass ceiling into the elite of the division. Defeating Gilbert Burns, a former title challenger, especially if its an emphatic finish could definitely set him on the track for a late career title push. The key for Magny is keeping the fight on the feet as he has in his UFC career a 58% takedown defense. I think he is outmatched in the juijitsu realm by Burns so striking and looking either for a finish or just out landing him over 15 minutes will decide the fight for Magny. The ways Magny has found his more recent victories is when he is striking a lot, and that needs to be his focus during this camp. Burns does have some power but Magny might want to look to for a lack of better words “death by a million paper cuts”, if he contiually lands across the fight that damage will accrue and help the fight go his way. Either man winning this fight dramatically might allow them to get a look by any of the top 3 fighters or even possibly champion Leon “Rocky” Edwards although a rematch with Kamaru Usman is most likely. I look forward to watching two hungry veterans going at it in this fight.
(C) Deiveson Figueiredo vs Interim Champ Brandon Moreno (125 lbs Flyweight)
Image: From MMAFighting
The everlasting battle of Flyweights is happening once again. The fourth fight between Figgy and Moreno is going down to hopefully solidify once and fore all who is the king of 125 lbs. The first matchup between these two men occurred all the way back in December of 2020 where it was a draw. Moreno picked up the victory and the title in the second bout via 3 round submission and the third fight which happened on January 22nd of 2022 Figgy won by decision and reclaimed the undisputed title. Due to contract issues or injuries the 4th fight did not happen and so in the mean time Moreno fought perennial contender Kai Kara France back in July and finished him with a third round TKO in order to secure the interim title. This will hopefully be the final matchup between these two men and we can get some new competition at 125. Although this has been traditionally the thinnest division in the company, there are some younger contenders looking to get that belt wrapped around their waist. Moreno needs to look for the finish in this fight and solidify that he is the better of the two men. I think as many have seen leaving it up to the judges is not the best decision and if he truly wants that belt a finish would be the best way to become undisputed. Between the two champions Moreno has a slightly higher significant strikes per minute with 3.58 compared to Figgy’s 3.27. Although not a huge difference additional strikes landed could cause the damage needed to finish. Moreno has to huge this edge in striking as in submission attempts per 15 minutes he is vastly outmatched. I think in this case although both men have strong grappling abilities Moreno should rely on his striking.
Now to the current undisputed champion Deiveson Figueiredo who has not fought someone not named Moreno since 2019. Figgy is a fierce competitor and beat a lot of top contenders in the division and he certainly always puts on an exciting fight. Any high level flyweight fight has an insane pace and the way these guys can take shots is just incredible. Figgy knows this opponent inside and out and so camp must be focused on any minute edge he can look for over Moreno. I feel this big key to victory here is getting the fight to the ground and going for submission attempts, both men are great grapplers and can throw up submissions like crazy but I feel just getting into a stand and bang matchup won’t bode well form him. Moreno has both a height and reach advantage so I think if Figgy can get him down and control the pace of the fight he’ll leave Brazil with the belt. These two competitors have an enormous amount of respect for each other and I can’t wait to watch the final conclusion of this rivalry.
Main Event: #2 Glover Texeira vs #7 Jamahal Hill (205 lbs Light Heavyweight Title)
Image: From Sportskeeda
The main event of UFC 283 is a fight for the currently vacant 205 pound belt. Earlier in 2022 champion Jiri Prochazka vacated after suffering an injury and requiring an extended period of time off. This forced the promotion to create a title fight between Magomed Ankalaev and former champion Jan Blachowicz, which went the full 25 minutes and was declared a draw and so no new champion was crowned. Although there was some complaining from the MMA community a second title fight was then made between former champion Glover Texeira and red hot contender Jamahal Hill. Glover is currently the older veteran who is 43 years old and was able to capture the belt from Blachowicz before dropping it to Prochazka back in June of 2022. Glover has been a mainstay of this division for a decade and provides such a well rounded approach both on the feet and on the canvas. Before the loss to Jiri he was on a 6 fight winning streak and will look to get that back on track as well as the belt rewrapped around his waist. Although 205 has currently become quite a competitive division after some years of being thin having the veteran be the champion once again would be incredible. 18 victories in his career have come by way of knockout with an additional 10 coming by submissions, so Jamahal Hill will certainly have his hands full. Even in the loss to Prochazka, Glover was probably on his way towards a defense but a 5th round submission stopped that. I think in this fight there will be a more determined Glover and one who is looking for a finish. I feel Glover might stand early with Hill and land some shots but I feel he is going to take Hill to the ground and just land brutal shots from top position. Hill lands much more strikes per minute than Glover and so there is no need to get caught by a barrage if he can secure a takedown and just control the fight at the pace he wants. He is currently a +105 underdog, and so there are certainly some doubters but even at 43 Texeira is one of the deadliest fighters in the division and should not be counted out.
11-1 Prospect and now title challenger Jamahal Hill rose like a rocket ship to this position. A fighter who picked up his UFC contract from the contender series, he quickly made a name for himself with 2 KO/TKO in his first 3 fights in the promotion. His only loss inside of the octagon was first round stoppage to 205’er Paul Craig. However, Hill was able to bounce back from that with three straight stoppages over names such as Johnny Walker and former title challenger Thiago Santos. The victory over Walker was replayed all over social media as it was such a violent knockout and truly incredible. The victory of Santos was substantial as he defeated a former title challenger and someone in which the MMA community felt may have deserved a victory in his decision loss to the GOAT Jon Jones. Although young into his career compared to the man standing across the octagon from him, Hill should not be taken lightly as he has some cinderblock hands and this fight could be over in an instant. 6.46 significant strikes lander per minute is not something to brush off and if he hands just one clean shot on Glover’s chin this fight will be over. The game plan for Hill should be not so much to just power shot but cause Glover to stand and bang, in order to increase the opportunity for that final KO shot. I have no idea how this fight will play out, but whoever wins has to understand that when he is healthy Jiri Prochazka is going to be looking for his belt back and that is a whole different animal. The first card in Brazil since 2020 promises to be very exciting and is filled with a bunch of great names and promises to be a great PPV for the UFC to start the year with.