UFC 228: 5 reasons why you need to watch the undercard

While the most anticipated fight on UFC 228 is clearly the main event between UFC Welterweight champion Tyron Woodley and challenger Darren Till, the show certainly isn’t what you’d call a one-fight card. Not only does it have a title fight as its co-main event, but it’s also one of the most intriguing cards of the year in terms of title implications.

Will it sell millions of pay-per-views? Perhaps not, but that shouldn’t sour you on the show – here are five reasons to watch UFC 228 outside of the main event.

#1 We could be about to witness a new era in the Women’s Flyweight division

It’s been almost a year now since the UFC introduced the Women’s Flyweight division with the 24th series of The Ultimate Fighter and if we’re frank, the jury is out on whether the addition of the division has been a success. On the plus side it’s provided some female fighters – Jessica Eye for instance – with a home closer to their more natural weight, but on the minus side, it still feels very much like a division in the early stages of its development.

Part of the reason for that is the fact that the UFC Women’s Flyweight title hasn’t been defended yet. Current champion Nicco Montano won the title by defeating Roxanne Modafferi in the TUF final back in December, but since then she’s been on the shelf with various injuries. UFC 228 will mark her first defense, and realistically, it could also be her last, too.

Challenger Valentina Shevchenko is an absolutely fantastic fighter; a year ago she came closer than anyone to dethroning UFC Women’s Bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes despite giving up a lot of size, and the likes of Holly Holm and Julianna Pena – top fighters – are amongst those she’s beaten. When she debuted at 125lbs in February she utterly destroyed Priscilla Cachoeira in one of the year’s most one-sided contests.

I’m not suggesting Montano isn’t a tough competitor, but despite winning the TUF tournament, her professional record is still modest – 5 wins and 2 losses – and she’s never fought anyone close to Shevchenko’s level. If ‘Bullet’ can dethrone the champion on Saturday in fact, it’s hard to see anyone in the division beating her for some time. This could be the beginning of a dominant title reign for the Kyrgyz fighter.

#2 Zabit Magomedsharipov is back in action

Zabit Magomedsharipov is a hugely exciting prospect

Okay, so UFC 228 lost a lot of its appeal when an amazing-sounding fight between Zabit Magomedsharipov and Yair Rodriguez was cancelled due to an injury to ‘Pantera’, but Zabit remains on the card and that in itself makes it worth watching. Last time out, the dangerous Dagestani talent went to war with Kyle Bochniak and put on one of the very best fights of 2018, eventually winning by unanimous decision.

Magomedsharipov – yet another hugely talented fighter from the Dagestan region of Russia – is already 3-0 in the UFC, but UFC 228 will mark the first time he’s really been pushed on a televised card, as although his fight with Bochniak was on the main card of UFC 223, it was only elevated at the last minute due to some changes to the initial bout order.

While his new opponent Brandon Davis isn’t as exciting as Rodriguez, there are two plus points about this fight. Firstly, the Magomedsharipov/Rodriguez fight would’ve killed off the title hopes of a top prospect regardless of the winner. Here though, the likelihood is that Zabit will run right through Davis – meaning the UFC gets some more action to add to Magomedsharipov’s increasing highlight reel. And secondly, despite being just 1-2 in the UFC, Davis has put on exciting fights before, most notably against Steven Peterson in February.

Realistically this should be a one-sided fight in favour of Zabit, but given the history of both fighters it’s almost bound to be exciting.

#3 We could see a title challenger named at Women’s Strawweight

Karolina Kowalkiewicz could earn a title shot at UFC 228

The second fight on the main card of UFC 228 will see a clash of two former title challengers at Women’s Strawweight, as Karolina Kowalkiewicz takes on Jessica Andrade. What makes this fight so interesting isn’t so much that both women are high-level competitors, but more that the winner is almost definitely next in line to fight champion Rose Namajunas for the title.

It could be argued that Andrade has already earned a title shot – after losing to Joanna Jedrzejczyk in her first title opportunity, she’s reeled off two straight wins over top ranked opponents in Claudia Gadelha and Tecia Torres.

Like Andrade, Kowalkiewicz has won two fights to bounce back from her own loss to Jedrzejczyk, but while her opponents (Felice Herrig and Jodie Esquibel) weren’t as highly ranked as Andrade’s, she does have an ace up her sleeve – a previous win over Namajunas.

On paper this looks like a tough fight for Kowalkiewicz, as she seems to be at a disadvantage in terms of strength and power, and Andrade’s cardio has also proven to be phenomenal at 115lbs. But the Polish fighter has always shown that she can adjust during a fight – witness her domination of Namajunas in the clinch after struggling with Rose’s rangy striking early on – and she also did something that Andrade was unable to do – knock Jedrzejczyk down during their fight.

The UFC will probably be hoping Kowalkiewicz wins this one as she’s a far more marketable talent, but regardless, the winner will probably be facing Namajunas next, which means it’s a high-stakes fight for sure.

#4 We could be seeing a future champion on the prelims

Tatiana Suarez has the potential to be a future UFC champion

While the next top contender at Women’s Strawweight could be decided in the Kowalkiewicz/Andrade fight, UFC 228 also features a fighter in the same division who could well be a future UFC champion. TUF 23 winner Tatiana Suarez faces off with former champion Carla Esparza in the final preliminary fight of the night, and if she can keep her perfect record intact, it’ll be hard to deny her as a genuine title threat.

Suarez – who overcame a bout of thyroid cancer that derailed her hopes as an Olympic wrestler – has simply dominated any opponent who’s stepped in front of her thus far in her MMA career. She won all three of her fights on TUF before submitting Amanda Cooper in the finale, and most recently, she choked out top prospect Alexa Grasso in under three minutes.

Her opponent at UFC 228 is certainly no pushover – Esparza has looked resurgent since a disappointing loss to Randa Markos in early 2017, as she beat Maryna Moroz and Cynthia Calvillo and probably should’ve been awarded a decision over fellow top contender Claudia Gadelha in June. But it’s hard to see where she has an advantage over Suarez, given her reliance on her wrestling and Suarez’s massive strength in that area.

If Suarez can pull this one out then not only will it send the message that she’s for real, but it should also put her probably one fight away from a title shot. If she beats Esparza impressively – particularly with a finish - then it points towards the likelihood of her following fighters like Rashad Evans and Michael Bisping as TUF champions who went on to win UFC titles.

#5 A battle of finishers will open the main card

Niko Price has 5 UFC finishes under his belt

Despite the higher ranking, fighters like Tatiana Suarez, Carla Esparza, John Dodson, Jimmie Rivera and Aljamain Sterling filling the preliminary card, the main card of the pay-per-view portion of UFC 228 will be opened by unranked Welterweights Niko Price and Abdul Razak Alhassan. But don’t go into the fight thinking that this is another example of poor card placement from the UFC.

The powers-that-be have clearly placed this one as the main card opener because neither man seems to know how to have a dull fight. They have 8 UFC wins and just 2 losses between them, but the big selling point is the fact that of their 10 combined UFC outings, just one has gone the distance.

Alhassan’s fight with Omari Akhmedov went to the judges’ scorecards back in May 2017, but his other three fights – against Charlie Ward and twice against Sabah Homasi – have both been finished by violent knockout, while Price has three knockouts and two submissions on his ledger – as well as a submission loss.

Basically, it’s hard to see a situation where this fight lasts the full fifteen minutes. Both men will probably come out hell for leather looking for the finish, and it’s highly likely that one of them will find it. They might not be the biggest names, but this will probably turn out to be a must-see fight.