UFC heads north of the border on Saturday as Rogers Arena in Vancouver will host UFC 289: Nunes vs Aldana. This is the 32nd edition of UFC in Canada and the sixth in Vancouver, but the first since September 2019. The headliner is a UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship tilt between Amanda Nunes, currently a two-belt champion (she also holds the UFC Women’s Featherweight title) and Irene Aldana, who is stepping in for Julianna Pena, the one-time champion who had to withdraw due to broken ribs. The co-main event features Charles Oliveira, the former UFC Lightweight champ, and Beneil Dariush in a lightweight tilt. This was rescheduled from UFC 288 when Oliveira had to withdraw with an injury. Read on for the full fight card and our UFC betting predictions.
UFC 289: Preview for Main Cards, Nunes vs Aldana and Oliveira vs Dariush Preview
Main Card
- Pay Per View
- Amanda Nunes vs Irene Aldana (UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship)
- Charles Oliveira vs Beneil Dariush (Lightweight)
- Mike Malott vs Adam Fugitt (Welterweight)
- Dan Ige vs Nate Landwehr (Featherweight)
- Marc-Andre Barriault vs Eryk Anders (Middleweight)
Preliminary Card
- ESPN / ESPN+
- Nassourdine Imavov vs Chris Curtis (Middleweight)
- Miranda Maverick vs Jasmine Jasudavicius (Women’s Flyweight)
- Aiemann Zahabi vs Aori Qileng (Bantamweight)
- Kyle Nelson vs Blake Bilder (Featherweight)
Early Preliminary Card
- ESPN+ / UFC Fight Pass
- David Dvorak vs Stephen Erceg (Flyweight)
- Diana Belbita vs Maria Oliveira (Women’s Strawweight)
Amanda Nunes (22-5, 15-2 UFC, -320) vs Irene Aldana (14-6, 7-4 UFC, +265)
This is the latest installment of an MMA run that has seen Nunes emerge as the best female fighter in the history of the sport. Her first title defense was an obliteration of Ronda Rousey, a beating that sent Rousey out of the sport. She followed that up by taking down Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino to take the featherweight belt and embarrassing Holly Holm and then wearing out Germaine de Ranadmie. So when Julianna Pena delivered a second-round submission and beat Nunes, the MMA world was shocked. Nunes cruised through the rematch, so what would have been a trilogy fight with Pena might not have been as interesting as this matchup with Aldana.
When Aldana came from the Mexican fight circuit to UFC about a decade ago, observers were worried that her finishing ability had vanished. Losses to Leslie Smith and Katlyn Chookagian exposed her lack of quickness and mental fragility. She started to win against some of the tomato cans in the division, but it wasn’t until a 2019 knockout win over Ketlen Vieira that people started to believe in her finishing ability again. She lost to Holm in a fight that ended up on the mat, but since then she lit up Yana Santos with her striking and finished Macy Chiasson in September with an upkick on the liver. Nunes is not good at evading contact, so Aldana could bring a bomb that turns things in her direction. Aldana can survive on the mat, even if she can’t finish down there, so this could drain Nunes’ cardio and leave the champ open for a knockout blow.
Final Prediction: Nunes wins via decision
Bet on Nunes!
Charles Oliveira (33-9, 21-9 UFC, +120) vs Beneil Dariush (22-4-1, 16-4-1 UFC, -140)
Marks the next progression for the one-time lightweight champ. Oliveira started out in UFC with some big wins, submitting Darren Elkins and tapping out Efrain Escudero. The promotion that he was ready for some big fighters, though, which led to Jim Miller, Cub Swanson and Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone exposing Oliveira’s weaknesses. As a result, Oliveira got a rep for a high ceiling in terms of submission talent but a lack of mental strength. In 2017, Paul Felder delivered an embarrassing defeat, and it wasn’t until he beat David Teymur in February 2019 that it seemed like he had turned a corner. That win gave him a four-fight winning streak that he would run all the way to 11, taking the vacant lightweight belt in a win over Michael Chandler that only lasted five minutes. Islam Makhachev beat Oliveira by taking the fight to the ground, and now Oliveira is working his way back to contender status.
Dariush has a background in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and he rode that expertise when he started in UFC. Sometimes it didn’t work so well when his focus lapsed, as when Ramsey Nijem knocked him out, or when Michael Chiesa was able to submit him. A surprising loss to Edson Barboza in which a solid performance was ended with a flying knee, followed by a flat fight against Evan Dunham that turned into a draw and by an annihilation at the hands of Alexander Hernandez brought his career into peril. He sank back down into the lower tier of the division until 2020, when he fought Drakkar Klose. He came back from being on the ropes to delivering a brutal knockout, showing a new aggression that has been part of his fighting since. Both fighters bring a lot of aggression, and Dariush could get to the ground and win like Makhachev did, but he lacks the defense that Makhachev uses to avoid danger.
Final Prediction: Oliveira wins via submission
Bet on Oliveira!
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