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Next weekend sees the UFC’s latest trilogy come to a conclusion as Brandon Moreno and Deiveson Figueiredo face off for the flyweight crown. Meanwhile, Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway are likely to complete their trilogy in the near future, too.
It’s a well-known fact that the UFC loves to book trilogies in order to maximize the big rivalries between their fighters. With that said, could there be more trilogies set to come in the near future?
The answer is almost certainly yes, should the promotion look to go down that route, of course. In fact, some of the potential trilogies we may see in the octagon in the near future may even end up being for a title, too.
With that considered, here are 5 UFC rivalries that could turn into trilogies in the near future.
#5. Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington – UFC welterweight title
Kamaru Usman has already defeated Colby Covington twice. He knocked him out and seemingly broke his jaw in late 2019 in their first meeting, before beating him on the scorecards last November. On the surface at least, a trilogy between these two bitter rivals seems unlikely.
However, given the nature of their rivalry and the current state of the welterweight division, there’s definitely a chance that the two stars could face off again in the future.
Usman has essentially been knocking off contenders at a ludicrous rate ever since becoming UFC welterweight champion in 2019. In less than three years he’s already defended his title on five occasions.
Sure, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ still has a number of potential opponents in the division, proven names like Leon Edwards and up-and-comers like Khamzat Chimaev. However, there’s no guarantee that any of them will actually make it to a fight with Usman.
Covington, on the other hand, has already shown that he’s perhaps the second-best fighter in the division. He pushed Usman to the limit in their second meeting, with some fans believing he deserved the nod from the judges.
Therefore, there’s every chance that ‘Chaos’ could knock off one or two contenders and find himself back at the front of the queue for another shot at the champion.
If that were the case, then, given that the hatchet has not yet been buried between Usman and Covington, even if there’s clearly mutual respect there, a third fight between them might be too tricky for the UFC to resist booking.
#4. Israel Adesanya vs. Marvin Vettori – UFC middleweight title
Aside from an ill-advised move up to 205 pounds in an attempt to become a two-division champion, Israel Adesanya has thus far been perfect in his UFC career. He's won a total of 10 bouts and claimed the promotion’s middleweight title in the process.
However, while ‘The Last Stylebender’ was able to destroy dangerous opponents such as Paulo Costa and Robert Whittaker with ease, he was unable to do the same to Marvin Vettori, despite fighting him on two occasions.
Their first meeting took place in 2018 and was Adesanya’s second appearance in the octagon. It saw ‘The Italian Dream’ push him to a split decision. While Adesanya won their second bout last June more clearly, Vettori was still able to last the distance.
So even though he holds two losses to Adesanya, could the Italian find himself in a third fight with the Nigerian-New Zealander at some point in the future? It’s definitely possible.
Since his loss to Adesanya, Vettori has defeated Costa in a thrilling performance, essentially elevating himself to a spot as the world’s third best 185lber, at worst.
Given that Adesanya will be fighting Whittaker again in the early part of this year, if he can get past ‘The Reaper’ then he’ll probably be short on viable opponents.
That means that should he win maybe one more fight in impressive fashion, Vettori may well find himself at the front of the queue again. Sure, his first two fights with Adesanya weren’t barnburners, but if he keeps winning, it may become untenable to avoid giving the Italian a third shot.
#3. Rose Namajunas vs. Jessica Andrade – UFC strawweight title
After regaining the UFC strawweight title by beating Weili Zhang and then defending it against ‘Magnum’ in a rematch, Rose Namajunas is clearly the top 115-pound fighter in the world right now.
However, could a trilogy bout with the last woman to defeat her in the octagon, Jessica Andrade, be in the future for her? It’s definitely possible.
‘Bate Estaca’ famously captured the gold by knocking Namajunas unconscious with a slam in mid-2019. The two women rematched in a non-title fight in 2020 after Andrade lost her title to Zhang, with ‘Thug Rose’ winning via split decision. Since then, the Brazilian has been fighting at 125 pounds.
However, her one-sided loss to flyweight champ Valentina Shevchenko may have made her reconsider her future. So, despite knocking out Cynthia Calvillo in her last bout, Andrade’s future may well lie at strawweight.
If she does make the move back down to 115 pounds, then it’s arguable that she’d still be the biggest threat to Namajunas’ title right now.
Given that she remains the last fighter to beat ‘Thug Rose’, one big win for her could be enough to make the promotion set up a trilogy bout between the two, with the title on the line once again.
#2. Francis Ngannou vs. Curtis Blaydes – UFC heavyweight title
It’s probably safe to say that 2021 wasn’t the best year for UFC heavyweight Curtis Blaydes. After getting into somewhat of a spat with Dana White, ‘Razor’ was knocked out by Derrick Lewis, essentially ruining his hopes of gaining a shot at the UFC heavyweight title.
Since then, however, Blaydes has beaten highly-ranked contender Jairzinho Rozenstruik in impressive fashion. With wins over the likes of Alexander Volkov and Alistair Overeem already under his belt, it’s possible that he could move back to the front of the queue in the near future.
If he can manage that, then there’s every chance he’ll have the opportunity to settle the score with current heavyweight kingpin Francis Ngannou.
‘The Predator’ stopped Blaydes on two occasions prior to winning his title in 2021. He beat him via doctor's stoppage in 2016 and then knocked him out in 2018.
However, given Blaydes’ wrestling power and improved stand-up, there’s no guarantee that Ngannou would take him out so easily in a third bout between the two. In fact, at the age of 30, Blaydes may not yet have reached his physical prime.
If Ngannou can get past interim champ Ciryl Gane this month and ends up staying with the UFC for the foreseeable future, Blaydes may well end up being his next challenger. That would given the relatively-young heavyweight a shot at avenging two of the biggest losses of his career thus far.
#1. Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz
Naturally, the biggest possible trilogy bout that the UFC might end up turning to in the near future would be the long-awaited third clash between Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor.
In a lot of respects, it’s baffling that the promotion hasn’t at least attempted to book this fight already. Their first two meetings, which took place in 2016, drew two of the biggest buyrates in UFC history. It’s clear from their social media exchanges since that nothing has truly been settled.
That’s probably because unlike some of the potential trilogies on this list, McGregor and Diaz split their two fights. Diaz submitted ‘The Notorious’ in their first clash and the Irishman avenged the loss, albeit by a tight decision, in their rematch.
Were McGregor still in the thick of the lightweight title picture, then perhaps holding off on the bout would make sense. However, in reality, neither man is at their peak right now, so cashing in on the fight would probably be a good idea for the UFC.
Diaz is on the final bout of his current contract, meaning the promotion would be risking him walking away with a win over McGregor if the fight were to go that way. However, it’s already been proven that the drawing power of ‘The Notorious’ isn’t affected by losing.
Essentially, this rivalry needs to come to an end at some point and so hopefully we’ll be treated to a resolution in the near future.
