UFC 274 could easily be one of the best cards we’ve seen in 2022 so far. Two huge title fights headlining, featuring a number of key fan favourites, what’s not to love?
Reigning lightweight champion Charles Oliveira and former interim champion Justin Gaethje, will meet in the main event, and current strawweight champion Rose Namajunas and former titleholder Carla Esparza, will meet for the second time for the belt.
Oliveira is after his second successful title defence, coming off the heels of a dominant submission victory against top contender, Dustin Poirier at UFC 269 in December. While Gaethje is coming off 2021’s fight of the year, against Michael Chandler at UFC 268 in November, while Gaetje won via unanimous decision, he clearly chipped away at Chandler to get his win.
Gaethje has a few people in his corner, backing him against the champ. With Tristar head coach Firas Zahabi, the mastermind behind welterweight GOAT, Georges St-Pierre, believes is has identified a chink in the armour of Oliveria that Gaethje could look to exploit in the battke.
“I love the heart of Justin Gaethje and I think that’s the only chink in Oliveira’s armor is that he’s been in hard fights in the past,” Zahabi said on his YouTube channel. “Not in the recent past [but] in the past where you kind of saw there was a kink in his armour [and] he kind of slowed down a little bit and let the fight get away from him. I think it’s going to be a good opportunity for Gaethje to win the last few rounds so that’s how I see it.”
Defeating Oliveria is much easier said than done, however, as the Brazilian is undefeated in his last ten fights and hasn’t been finished since 2017 when he suffered a TKO loss to UFC fighter turned commentator Paul Felder.
Zahabi understands just how dangerous Oliveria can be both on the feet and the ground, and, with 15 UFC submission victories to his name (the most in UFC history), ‘Do Bronx’ is more than capable of latching onto a submission and finishing the fight at any time.
“I would be surprised if he [Oliveira] flatlines him, like he knocks him out cold, not impossible but wouldn’t surprise me if he hurts him and jumps on his back and finishes him with a choke or finishes him with a triangle or a guillotine, you know. You knock a guy down and you wrap up his neck, it’s over,” Zahabi said.
Meanwhile, a story-rich rematch between Namajunas and Esparza occupies the co-main event spot. Esparza defeated Namajunas in the finals of The Ultimate Fighter 20 tournament in what was Namajunas' fourth professional fight. Esparza etched her name in history as the inaugural UFC women's strawweight champion with the win. Esparza was on the receiving end of a violent beatdown by Joanna Jedrzejczyk that removed her from the title picture for six years. While Namajunas (11-4) climbed the strawweight mountain twice -- becoming a fan-favourite in the process -- Esparza (18-6) laboriously laid each brick of her comeback story over 11 fights and enters the rematch with a strong foundation beneath her.