Another fight weekend is here, baby, and we love to see it. Next month, it truly feels like the mixed martial arts season gets fully underway: Bellator returns for its first shows of the year, ONE starts running a series of big cards on TNT, and the UFC has some big, big plans. But in the last weekend of March, it’s the UFC dominating the spotlight yet again, with the heavyweight title on the line on pay-per-view.

The postponement of the scheduled Alexander Volkanovski–Brian Ortega featherweight championship fight has weakened UFC 260 significantly, but there’s still a world-class main event and some interesting tilts down the card. So, as usual, here’s a look at the three fights I’ll be watching closest on Saturday:

Stipe Miocic vs. Francis Ngannou II

Francis Ngannou has waited a long, long time for this.

It’s been almost three years since Ngannou challenged the great Stipe Miocic for the UFC heavyweight title, in a championship fight with uncommon hype. Ngannou had rolled through the competition since signing with the UFC in 2015, winning four straight inside of two minutes. Ngannou was to be Miocic’s greatest challenger. In fact, it seemed like most of the pre-fight promotion was built around Ngannou, the signature star-in-waiting, whom UFC president Dana White famously said “hit like a Ford Escort.”

Then the fight started. And Miocic did something no one to date had done: he took Ngannou’s bombs on the chin. He wobbled a little, to be sure, but he kept going. And suddenly the world learned that Francis Ngannou didn’t really have a Plan B. Miocic weathered the storm, took Ngannou down six times, and won a unanimous decision.

The fight that was supposed to be the crowning moment for the UFC’s next era-defining heavyweight star instead became another awe-inspiring performance for its last one: the fireman from Cleveland who worked himself into becoming the greatest heavyweight in UFC history.

Ngannou was broken. His hype had been dashed. He had been physically dominated in a way few could conceive of by a champion that many had already written off. Seven months later, he looked lost and tentative in a head-scratching decision loss to Derrick Lewis. In less than a year, Ngannou had seen his stock swing from an all-time high to an all-time low.

But wait, what was that Dana White line again? Francis Ngannou hits like a motherfucking Ford Escort. Ngannou could have gone down as another flash in the pan – instead, he bit down on his mouthpiece and went back to swinging. And over the last two and a half years, Ngannou put together one of the most awe-inspiring runs the heavyweight division has ever seen. Since the Lewis loss, Ngannou has spent less than three minutes inside the cage, scoring four straight first round knockouts, all against elite competition, and reminding everyone exactly why he was so hyped.

Even if it doesn’t result in UFC gold, it’s a run that’s going to be remembered for a very long time. Top contender Curtis Blaydes, 45 seconds, Nov. 2018. Legendary former world champion Cain Velasquez, 26 seconds, Feb. 2019. Former world champion Junior dos Santos, 1 minute and 11 seconds, June 2019. And most recently, rising star Jairzinho Rozenstruik, just 20 seconds, May 2020.

There was literally nothing poor Jairzinho could do. A 6-foot-4, 262-pound beast with cinderblocks for hands rushed directly at him, throwing wild overhands with intent to kill. Rozenstruik, a very high-caliber pro kickboxer in another life, dodged, moved and parried expertly. He did everything you should have done. But Ngannou touched him on the chin once – that’s all he needs.

Ngannou has resembled an unstoppable tidal wave over the last few years, but he’s had to wait as Miocic sorts out his trilogy with Daniel Cormier, which had the world title and a claim as the UFC’s greatest-ever heavyweight on the line. Miocic finally triumphed in August, ending a rivalry that has dominated the heavyweight division for over three years.

In fact, the first Ngannou fight was the last time Stipe Miocic has fought anyone not named Daniel Cormier. Miocic is now 38 years old, and has since been through three title matches that were as grueling as they were legacy-defining. In the first, Cormier knocked him flat out in the first round. Miocic withstood Ngannou’s nuclear bombs in the first fight – will he be able to do it again?

Ah, but I’ve learned never to count out Stipe Miocic. Aside from some of the most effective wrestling the heavyweight division has ever seen, aside from his amazing natural aptitude for boxing, Miocic has always seemed to have something inside him that sets him apart from the rest. Cormier was firmly ahead on the scorecards in his second fight, fearlessly walking through Miocic’s punches and cracking him on the feet. Then, in one of the most stirring comebacks in UFC history, Miocic discovered a left hook to the body in the fourth round, popping it again and again and eventually knocking Cormier out to regain his title.

And last August, in quite plainly the single most important fight of his career, Miocic overcame some early adversity to outbox Cormier over five rounds, masterfully mixing and picking his targets, and outmuscling the former Olympic wrestler in the clinch, in a tactical chess match of a championship fight.

The things that carried Miocic to victory over Ngannou the first time haven’t gone away: his incredible heart, amazing gas tank, and extremely effective wrestling game. The onus is on Ngannou to prove that he’s evolved in those areas. Can he keep Miocic from getting him down again? In the five fights since the loss to Miocic, Ngannou’s opponents have gone 0-5 on takedown attempts. Can he keep his energy up fighting the kind of grueling fight Miocic promises to make it? We haven’t really gotten a chance to see.

But, on the flipside: can Miocic’s chin hold up again if Ngannou catches him with one of his massive bear paws? So far, he’s just about the only fighter who’s been able to survive a full-force Francis Ngannou blast. Can he possibly pull the trick a second time?

It’s the greatest UFC heavyweight of all time against a truly frightening challenger, with a title and legacy on the line. It simply does not get any better than this.

Tyron Woodley vs. Vicente Luque

Francis Ngannou absorbed the biggest loss of his career, and looked broken. But instead of going away, he put the pieces back together and surged back to the top. The same thing happened to former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, only he stayed broken. Now, his career is hanging by one final thread.

A great wrestler with big power when he let his hands go, Woodley knocked out Robbie Lawler for the 170-pound title in July 2016, and his subsequent reign of nearly three years and four successful defenses ranks as one of the longest in the championship’s history. But something changed inside Woodley on March 2, 2019 in the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas – the night Woodley lost the title to Kamaru Usman.

Usman bullied Woodley for five rounds, putting him in his dirty wrestling torture chamber and physically overwhelming him. Of course, we now know that Usman is a generational talent, one who’s well on his way to an incredibly dominant title reign of his own. But with his back (literally, a lot of the time) up against the wall, Woodley seemed to accept his fate midway through the fight with his upstart challenger. That fire hasn’t come back since, not in his blowout loss to rising star Gilbert Burns, and certainly not in a dismal performance against Colby Covington in September.

One figured that if Woodley was going to find some inner motivation, it would be against Covington – Woodley, a Ferguson, Missouri native, is a vocal supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement, and Covington an avowed supporter of Donald Trump. As such, the build for the fight was racially tinged and very personal. But at no point during the fight itself did Woodley appear to actually want to be there: Covington backed him down all night with his endless pitter-patter of powerless punches, controlled him extensively on the ground, and won by TKO on the fifth when Woodley appeared to injure his rib during a Covington takedown.

It was an almost shockingly uninspired performance, one that engendered extensive discussion about Woodley’s mental state and desire to fight. Some, like yours truly, called for Woodley to hang it up. Yet, for now, he’s still continuing on, insisting that he’s still motivated to return to his peak form. He’ll need that motivation against Vicente Luque, one of the most exciting young action fighters the welterweight division has to offer.

Luque has been a finishing machine since making his way into the UFC in 2015: only one of his 12 UFC wins required him to go the full distance, a split decision win over Mike Perry in August 2019. Woodley will be his third chance at putting a big name win on his resume. After a debut loss to Michael Graves at the Ultimate Fighter 21 finale – one of his teammates on the show was none other than Kamaru Usman – Luque’s only two UFC defeats are to Leon Edwards, which snapped a four-fight win streak, and Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, which snapped a six-fight win streak.

As always, Luque has bounced back. Luque is a strong, technical striker who thrives while throwing and countering in the pocket – his development into one of the most diverse, sound and dangerous stand-up fighters in the division is a testament to the tutelage of heralded kickboxing coach Henri Hooft. Luque has shown a flair for the explosive finish: after finishing Niko Price in one of 2020’s most entertaining wars, Luque finished his undefeated year by knocking Randy Brown the fuck out with a vicious knee in August.

Luque is so much fun to watch. He does everything well technically on the feet, mixing his targets and pounding his opponent’s legs, but in his heart he’s a scrapper who likes to throw down. He’s going to let his strikes go against Woodley – I don’t think he knows any other way. Will Woodley have the will to throw back?

Even when he was at his best, Woodley had a tendency to be a little too selective with his hands. As time has gone on, he’s retreated even further into his worst instincts. Either Luque’s striking style will draw the aggression back out of Woodley, or it’ll be another depressing defeat.

Thomas Almeida vs. Sean O’Malley

Speaking of momentum going off the rails, the driver of 2020’s biggest crashed hype train is back in action on Saturday night. You can always tell when Dana White has himself a favorite, and it was clear very quickly that Sean O’Malley was a new favorite.

You could see why: O’Malley is colorful – just look at his hair – powerful, young and entertaining. He’s a fighter made for the TikTok age. And in June, O’Malley seemingly validated all his hype when he met one of the bantamweight division’s most respected and experienced veterans, Eddie Wineland, and knocked him stiff with a laser beam of a right hand.

The Sean O’Malley hype machine was in maximum overdrive after that KO. But just two months later, O’Malley was in the ring with another tough veteran, Marlon “Chito” Vera. O’Malley came in as a massive favorite in a bout that was considered to be another stepping stone on the way to the top. It all went awry almost instantly: one of O’Malley’s legs went dead after a Vera calf kick, his mobility was gone, and Vera pounced to score a first-round TKO. Distressingly, it wasn’t the first time O’Malley’s chicken legs have caused a serious issue: fans might remember that he seriously hurt his leg in his UFC debut against Andre Soukhamthath, but his opponent failed to capitalize.

Not a lot of people have been talking about O’Malley since that knockout loss to Vera, the first defeat of his career. But O’Malley is just 26 years old and is still one of the most powerful and promising strikers in a loaded bantamweight division. He has his whole career in front of him, and the UFC will be eager to promote him if he can regain momentum. That has to start on Saturday against Thomas Almeida, a once-heralded Brazilian who has lost four of five.

Almeida was a perfect 17-0 when he signed with the UFC in 2014 and proceeded to win his first four UFC bouts. He was on a string of three straight highlight-reel KOs when he received his first UFC main event in May 2016 – Cody Garbrandt knocked him out with a right hook, and sent Almeida’s career into a tailspin. Injuries and health problems kept Almeida on the shelf for over two and a half years following a Jan. 2018 loss to Rob Font, and he was outstruck in his return fight against Jonathan Martinez in October.

Almeida is an entertaining striker who can wreak absolute havoc when he can get inside, but higher-level strikers have found ways of keeping him at range, where he’s less comfortable. As MMA breakdown extraordinaire Jack Slack expertly detailed this week, he’s also had trouble approaching southpaws, which could be to his major detriment against O’Malley.

The stylistic matchup could line up to be one that favors a bounceback win for O’Malley. But with the book seemingly out on O’Malley’s balky legs, one has to be curious how a veteran like Almeida will approach that weakness in O’Malley’s first fight after the loss to Vera. Either way, it promises to be a very interesting stand-up battle, and one I’m looking forward to watching.