This year’s UFC PPV events got the fans to the edge of their seats. But even the UFC Fight Night events of 2024 have proven to be absolute barnburners. The first UFC Fight Night event of this year (January 14, 2024) featured a superb main event which ended with the noted light heavyweight, Magomed Ankalaev, finishing off his rival, Johnny Walker. However, a look at the UFC schedule will reveal that the next UFC Fight Night event is just a couple of days away. So here’s a bit more about which fighters will take to the octagon for the showdown on March 2.
UFC Fight Night 238 main event: Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Shamil Gaziev
Most fans would agree that heavyweight encounters in the UFC come with their own kind of thrill. The heavy strikes and brutal ground and pound of UFC heavyweights often get the fans to their feet. Well, one of the UFC Fight Night 238 (UFC Vegas 87) main eventers certainly packs the ability to deliver such a show.
The noted UFC heavyweight and UFC Vegas 87 main eventer, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, has earned most of his pro-MMA career victories by KOs and TKOs. Hence, it’s quite apparent that the fans would love to witness another display of ‘Bigi Boy’s’ dynamite hands speaking for him this Sunday.
But he will be facing the known UFC heavyweight, Shamil Gaziev, who is nowhere a weak rival. Instead, the Bahrain native holds a much superior record to ‘Bigi Boy’ currently. Gaziev stands undefeated in the twelve fights of his pro-MMA career to date. The methods of his victories imply that he also boasts a superb ground game, apart from some vicious striking capabilities. Hence, the fans may find it pretty hard to stick to their seats once these two start throwing their hands.
UFC Fight Night 238 co-main event: Vitor Petrino vs. Tyson Pedro
The UFC light heavyweights Vitor Petrino and Tyson Pedro may be comparatively lesser known than the other ones in their division, but that doesn’t mean that they lack the skills. Petrino, the Brazilian, made his UFC entry only a couple of years back in 2022. But his outstanding undefeated record says a lot about his in-cage prowess.
‘Merciless’ boasts a perfect 10-0 record as of now. The results of his fights also indicate that he is a pretty well-rounded fighter. The 26-year-old has earned both KO/TKO and submission victories in his career. It’s quite apparent that he will put in all he has to advance his record to 11-0.
But his rival, Tyson Pedro, won’t be an easy one to defeat. Alexander Volkanovski’s country mate may have picked up four losses in his pro-MMA career. But he has been in the UFC since 2016 and knows the level of competition in the UFC better than Petrino. A look at his record will reveal that he too has earned victories both via KO/TKO and submissions, which indicates that he is a pretty well-rounded fighter himself. Hence, it won’t be wrong to predict that the UFC Fight Night 238 co-main event will also be an exhilarating one.
However, there are several other exciting matchups in the UFC Vegas 87 card. Here’s a summary of the other fights on the card:
Main Card
- Muhammad Mokaev vs. Alex Perez
- Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Bekzat Almakhan
- Matt Schnell vs. Steve Erceg
Prelims
- Eryk Anders vs. Jamie Pickett
- Vinicius Oliveira vs. Bernando Sopai
- Aiemann Zahabi vs. Javid Basharat
- Christian Leroy Duncan vs. Claudio Ribeiro
- Ludovit Klein vs. Ạ.J. Cunningham
- Loik Radzhabov vs. Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady
Several fans have also been awaiting the noted Khabib Nurmagomedov’s cousin, Umar Nurmagomedov’s fight against Bekzat Almakhan. Umar had been accusing the other fighters of his division of ducking a fight with him. Well, now that he has got a fight, it will be interesting to watch how he does. Fans can catch all the live action of UFC Fight Night 238 on ESPN and ESPN+ from 1 pm ET on March 2.
