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The UFC is undoubtedly the biggest MMA promotion in the world right now, but it doesn’t necessarily house all of the world’s best fighters.
Plenty of the world’s best fighters compete in Bellator MMA or ONE Championship rather than the UFC, which means that in an ideal world, we’d see some cross-promotion bouts.
The UFC obviously won’t touch any cross-promotion bouts with a bargepole, but if they were willing to involve themselves in such things, there’d be plenty of interesting fights to make, even if they didn’t involve their champions.
So with this in mind, here are five cross-promotion fights involving UFC stars that could be slugfests.
#5. Brandon Moreno (UFC) vs. Adriano Moraes (ONE)
This time last year, the biggest possible inter-promotional fight to make in the flyweight division would’ve pitted the UFC’s Deiveson Figueiredo against former UFC flyweight champion and then-ONE champion Demetrious Johnson.
Since then, though, both Figueiredo and Johnson have fallen to new talents, and so a fight between UFC champion Brandon Moreno and ONE champion Adriano Moraes would now be the best cross-promotion fight to make in the division.
What’s more, it’d likely be a hugely exciting fight too, as both fighters bring a remarkably aggressive attitude into the cage every time they fight.
Moreno has always been one of the UFC’s most exciting flyweights, with his brand of fighting blending a hyperactive grappling game with an aggressive pressure striking game.
But the Mexican seems to have really reached his potential now, and is unbeaten in seven fights, with finishes of Figueiredo and Brandon Royval highlighting his dangerous skills.
Moraes, meanwhile, has 19 wins to his name with just three losses, two of which he’s avenged. He’s also deadly from all areas of a fight, as we saw when he became the first man to ever stop Johnson in their fight in April.
Who would win this fight? It’s hard to say, as in this case, Johnson was hardly washed out of the UFC and has reeled off three wins since leaving – meaning Moraes is as legitimate as it gets.
Either way though, it would likely be a fantastic fight to watch and would definitely be one of the best cross-promotion fights that could be made right now.
#4. Jan Blachowicz (UFC) vs. Vadim Nemkov (Bellator)
Despite defending his UFC light heavyweight title successfully against UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and carrying a five-fight winning streak, many MMA fans still underestimate Jan Blachowicz.
That probably explains why plenty of those fans decided to label Bellator light heavyweight champion Vadim Nemkov the best 205lber on the planet after he destroyed former champion Ryan Bader to claim the title in 2020.
So which promotion has the better light heavyweight kingpin? It’s honestly hard to say as there hasn’t been all that much crossover when it comes to Blachowicz and Nemkov, but it’s probably fair to suggest a fight between the two would be excellent.
Such a clash would pit the incredibly heavy hands and skilled boxing game of Poland’s Blachowicz against an arguably slightly better-rounded opponent in Nemkov. The Russian prefers to knock his opponents out, but he does have an excellent sambo base to fall back on.
Despite that though, it’s likely that these two fighters would simply look to trade off until one could take no more, meaning that the big winner if Blachowicz were to face off with Nemkov would be the fans.
#3. Aljamain Sterling (UFC) vs. Bibiano Fernandes (ONE)
Bibiano Fernandes has long been recognized as the best bantamweight fighter outside the UFC. He held the DREAM bantamweight title a decade ago and has now been at the top of ONE Championship since he arrived there in 2012.
It stands to reason, then, that a fight between ‘Bibi’ and any of the UFC’s top 135lbers would be fantastic, whether it were against Petr Yan, T.J. Dillashaw or Cory Sandhagen.
However, the fight that would make the most sense, and might well provide the best overall match-up, would be one pitting Fernandes against current UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling.
Sterling probably gets a bit of an unfair rep right now due to the fact that he won his title by disqualification, but he is in fact a brilliant fighter. ‘Funk Master’ has an unorthodox and ever-improving striking game, one of the best wrestling backgrounds in the division and on the mat, he’s genuinely venomous.
However, in Fernandes he’d not only be facing an opponent with knockout power, but also one with tremendous submission skills. ‘Bibi’ is a longtime Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, and he holds nine of his 24 career wins via submission.
Basically, this would be an amazing fight both on the feet and on the ground, and it’d also be hard to pick a winner.
#2. Max Holloway (UFC) vs. Patricio 'Pitbull' Freira (Bellator)
While he was recently defeated by A.J. McKee, losing his Bellator featherweight title in the process, there’s still a case to suggest that Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Freire might be the best striker outside the UFC right now.
The Brazilian has been destroying opponents with his brutal strikes for years now, and even holds a knockout win over former UFC lightweight title challenger Michael Chandler.
However, the UFC has a featherweight who would probably claim he’s the best striker in MMA, period – former UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway.
‘Blessed’ lost his title to Alexander Volkanovski after a semi-controversial decision in 2019, but since then he’s bounced back with a win over tough contender Calvin Kattar – a victory that saw him demonstrate some phenomenal boxing skills.
A fight between these two former champions, then, would probably be absolutely crazy to watch – particularly when you consider that both men also have excellent skills on the ground and are capable of submitting any opponent too.
This wouldn’t be a champion vs. champion clash at this stage, but that wouldn’t stop it from practically guaranteeing some fireworks.
#1. Alexander Volkanovski (UFC) vs. A.J. McKee (Bellator)
Right now, there’s a pretty fair argument to make that the best fighter outside the UFC is the new Bellator featherweight champion A.J. McKee. ‘Mercenary’, who destroyed Patricio Freire to claim his title last weekend, is now 18-0 in MMA.
More importantly, Bellator’s crown jewel is also a ruthless finisher inside the cage, with six wins by knockout and seven via submission on his ledger. McKee clearly believes he can defeat any 145lber on the planet, and he might be right.
But could he defeat current UFC featherweight titleholder Alexander Volkanovski? Right now it’s impossible to say, but one thing is for certain – it would make for a fantastic fight.
Volkanovski doesn’t bring the same wildness as Yair Rodriguez or Zabit Magomedsharipov, nor is he as accomplished a striker as Max Holloway. However, he’s still a tremendously exciting and aggressive fighter who throws heavy shots in combinations.
Add in the Australian’s tremendous takedown defense and underrated offensive wrestling, and this would be a fight that could see anything happen.
Essentially, it might be the best cross-promotion fight that could be made in the world of MMA right now.
