Every fight carries its weight, but some engage the audience just a smidge more. For varying reasons, some wins feel larger than life while others don’t quite hit the mark. Perhaps more obvious reasons could be a fighter on a losing streak who’s desperately battling to keep their job. Or it could be a title fight where the contestants know they’re under the watchful eye of major leagues.
Yet sometimes, a fight’s significance is harder to pin down but still incredibly real. It may be the pressure of paving the way for MMA in one’s own country, or the heightened tension between two fighters who can’t stand each other’s guts. In these cases, the fight tends to matter just a tad more.
This week, Texas will be buzzing as the Ultimate Fighting Championship sets up camp in Austin for the UFC on ESPN 52. The event boasts a 13-fight bill that comes mighty close to perfection. It ranges from a potential lightweight title decider between Beneil Dariush and Arman Tsarukyan to matches featuring big names and upcoming contenders. Even budding fighters such as Zach Reese and Jamey-Lyn Horth, though their potential is largely untried, fill out the prelims.
The stakes run high as 26 fighters prepare to step into the Moody Center on Saturday night. Certain individuals have their careers on the line, more so than just the usual win or loss tally. Three fighters, in particular, face even higher pressure to give it all they’ve got at “UFC Austin.”
The first is Deiveson Figueiredo, shifting to bantamweight. Figueiredo seemed fitted for the higher weight class given his size and power at flyweight, and his well-known struggle with reaching the 125-pound limit. This addition was anticipated, yet due to his notable rivalry with Brandon Moreno, it took a while longer. It only materialized after their fourth conclusive bout in January. Eleven months later, we’ll see Figueiredo wading through the waters of the 135-pound division.
Figueiredo isn’t having second thoughts about his newfound weight, despite Moreno losing the title in the meantime. The title’s loss ironically undermines one of Figueiredo’s main reasons for leaving his former division. His bantamweight debut looks challenging as he faces off with Top 10 regular Rob Font. This match could position him right after Marlon Vera and the seemingly unstoppable Merab Dvalishvili within the bantamweight hierarchy. Although it might not be distinctly “now or never” for Figueiredo, a setback at this point could slow down his bantamweight momentum massively.
Finally, there’s Miesha Tate’s comeback to the UFC in 2021. It stirred some questions, considering it came almost five years later and she was already 35 at the time. Her return was marked by a crushing defeat of Marion Reneau, which made skeptics raise eyebrows. But after subsequent losses to Ketlen Viera and Lauren Murphy, any expectation of a second title run has evaporated. That brings us to this Saturday, where she’s set to face Julia Avila. Should Tate lose, she can wave goodbye to being a factor in this division, and only a decisive, entertaining win will keep her in the running for UFC.