UFC 279 | 3 Fighters Flying Under The Radar

UFC 279 is this Saturday, and amidst all of the press conference melees, weigh in drama, and fights being shuffled with perhaps Nate Diaz and Tony Ferguson squaring off on Saturday night (but at time of writing, who really knows), there are some fighters even more under the radar than usual that you should be paying attention to.

Melissa Martinez

Melissa Martinez makes her UFC debut this weekend hoping to retain her perfect record, which currently stands at 7-0. “Super Melly” comes from a combat sports family, beginning kickboxing training at just two-years old. Her brother, current Combate Global bantamweight champion David Martinez, was her introduction to MMA when she was 13. She debuted at 19 and quickly ran through the Combate Global strawweight division, becoming champion at just 22. This is however, her first time stepping into the cage since, having taken time off to focus on studies as well as her kickboxing career. Now 25, it may be the perfect time to make the step up many that followed her career have felt was inevitable. She takes on Elise Reed, who surprised people in her win over Cory McKenna earlier this year and will be looking to take out another highly thought of prospect in the form of Martinez.

Jailton Almeida

“Malhadinho” only made his UFC debut in February of this year and already has two first round finishes to his name, ending the night for Danilo Marques with ground and pound, and Parker Porter via a rear naked choke. At 31 years old, Almeida is relatively young for the heavyweight division and would have been in a position to reach the top 15 had original opponent, Shamil Abdurakhimov, not pulled out citing visa issues. Instead, he fights debuting Swede Anton Turkalj, who had a successful Contenders Series outing just two months ago. Interestingly, the fight will be contested at a 220lb catchweight as Turkalj is naturally a light heavyweight stepping up on short notice. Almeida formerly fought at 205lb and weighed in at 224lbs for his last fight, so this is unlikely to be an issue on his side either. A lot of people are excited about the Brazilian’s potential, as his position as a -700 favourite cements that.

Hakeem Dawodu

Coming into his ninth fight in the UFC, Canada’s “Mean” Hakeem Dawodu bounced back from just his second career loss with a unanimous decision victory over Mike Trizano. Now he is looking to continue this form and find the momentum he had when he won five on the bounce before running into Movsar Evloev last year. He has a tricky fight ahead though in the form of “Juicy J” Julian Erosa, who seemingly has put it all together, winning four of five since returning for his third spell in the organisation, including an impressive finish over Charles Jourdain. As a -225 favourite, the multiple time kickboxing champion will be looking to show those skills and push himself towards the rankings.