- Michael Bisping and Anthony Smith shared the dream fights they love to see in the UFC this year
- The pair’s lists both involved big-name fighters such as Conor McGregor, Jon Jones, and Jorge Masvidal
Michael Bisping and Anthony Smith reckoned that there’s not a lot going on in the sport lately so they decided to share the UFC fights they want to see sooner rather than later. The pair’s wish lists were stacked with blockbuster fights such as Conor McGregor vs. Jorge Masvidal, Alexander Volkanovski vs. Henry Cejudo, and Alex Pereira vs. Robert Whittaker, among others.
Smith’s picks
Speaking on “Believe You Me” podcast, Smith went at it first and outright declared the heavyweight title fight between Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones needs to happen at all costs. However, “Lionheart” also fancies seeing Pereira do a rematch with Israel Adesanya or even better, defend his middleweight strap against Whittaker.
“You gotta do Adensanya-Pereira… but honestly, what I’d love to see more than that is Whittaker-Pereira,” Smith said.
The No. 6 light heavyweight contender continued and ranked the top 3 fights he’d like to see this year which include, a showdown between UFC rising star Khamzat Chimaev and Shavkat Rakhmonov, and a champion vs. former champion bout between Volk and “Triple C.”
“Do you think we could get a, this maybe is more of like a dream fight… a Rakhmonov-Chimaev fight?… Give me three fights I have to make: Jon Jones and Ngannou, Chimaev versus Rakhmonov and third would be, it’s kind of a coin toss but I would probably go… I would love to see a Volkanovski-Henry Cejudo fight,” he concluded.
Bisping’s picks
On the other hand, Bisping agreed that Ngannou vs. Jones makes a lot of sense, but if he is to call it, the former middleweight champion would go with Colby Covington vs. Chimaev in a title eliminator fight.
Bisping also pointed out that there’s no way Conor McGregor will be out of his list as he yearns to see “The Notorious” take on Jorge Masvidal in a welterweight clash.
“[Khamzat] vs. Colby [Covington], co-main event of Leon vs. Kamaru 3,” Bisping said. “That needs to happen for a number of reasons because Colby wants to fight for the belt again, he’s got to go to a top contender. Khamzat wants to fight for the belt, he’s got to go for a wrestler, someone like Colby, who could go five rounds at a hard pace.”
He continued, “Conor McGregor. Because whether you like it or hate it, the sport is way better, more exciting place with him involved. Because he does attract eyeballs, excitement, passion, energy. He polarizes people… versus, this is the big one: Masvidal.”
The first two highly-touted blockbuster UFC fights on the slate are the light heavyweight title fight between Glover Teixeira and Jamahal Hill at UFC 283 in Brazil. UFC 284, meanwhile, will be headlined by pound-for-pound king Volkanovski as he aims to become a two-division champ when he faces lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.
