Previewing UFC 283

Previewing+UFC+283

By Cooper Woodward, Chief Managerial Editor
January 19, 2023

The 2023 PPV schedule opens in Brazil in January, with 2 championship fights and the first ever tetralogy in the history of the UFC. Glover Teixeira and Jamal Hill will fight for the vacant Light Heavyweight title, and the Co-Main event sees Deiveson Figuerdo, and Brandon Moreno meeting for a record 4th time. Given that the event is only a few weeks away, lets preview the main card.

Mauricio Rua (27-3-1) Vs Ihor Potieria (19-3) Light Heavyweight bout

Brazil’s Mauricio Rua is a bona fide MMA legend, and at UFC 283, he will make the final walk to the Octagon. The 41-year-old former UFC light heavyweight champ, who also won the 2005 Pride Middleweight Grand Prix, will take on Ukraine’s Ihor Potieria.

Potieria, who is 15 years Rua’s Junior at age 26, seems like a brutal send off for the former LHW Champ. He has finished 9 fights by knockout, and 6 by submission. He seems to have all the tools to ruin his retiring foe’s fairytale ending. But then again, he was stopped by Nicolae Negumereanu in his last fight, so he is beatable. You never know.

#4 Lauren Murphy (16-5) vs #6 Jessica Andrade (23-9) Women’s Flyweight bout

Jessica Andrade has proved she is one of the best fighters alive at both strawweight and flyweight. While she has suffered lopsided stoppage losses to both divisions’ champions Zhang Weili and Valentina Shevchenko, she has the chops to beat just about everyone else and seems to be content to stay busy fighting whomever until circumstances allow her to challenge for a belt again. Her next fight will pit her against a fellow Shevchenko victim in Lauren Murphy. She should win it, but Murphy is a clever veteran who could have some tricks up her sleeve.

#5 Gilbert Burns (20-5) Vs #12 Neil Magny (27-10) Welterweight Bout 

Outside of the title fights atop of the card, the biggest fights on the UFC 283 Card will be a clash of top ranked welterweight contenders Neil Magny, and Gilbert Burns. Despite being in the top 15 of the division for what feels like forever, the 2 finally meet in the Octagon.

The fight finally came together after Magny set the record for most victories in UFC welterweight history with a submission defeat of Daniel Rodriguez in November. That feat put him in a position to pretty much call his shot for his next fight, and he was quick to set his sights on Burns.

Burns is a former welterweight title challenger, having come up short in a fight with Kamaru Usman in February 2021. He has shown some amazing knockout power in the cage, but his best weapon is his Brazilian jiu-jitsu. His submissions are going to make him a very tough test for Magny, who has struggled against similar fighters like Rafael dos Anjos in the past. But if Magny can use his reach and cardio to pull off a win, it will send him crashing into the welterweight Top Five, where a the title shot that has so far eluded him will be within his grasp.

C Deiveson Figueirdo (21-2-1) vs IC Brandon Moreno (20-6-2) Flyweight Title Bout 

It’s pretty unusual for a pair of fighters to meet in the cage 4 times, only happening a handful of times in the history of the promotion. It’ll happen again in the UFC 283 co-main event, when undisputed flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo and interim champion Brandon Moreno look for a decisive end to one of the most exciting and competitive rivalries in the promotion’s history.

Their first meeting occurred December 2020 where the fight ended in a draw. At the time, Figueirdo was looking close to unbeatable at flyweight and that many thought Moreno was in over his head. Yet the pair’s fight ended up in a draw, and the UFC had no choice but to do an Immediate re-match. The rematch went down in June 2021. And while the first fight was competitive, the second was anything but, as Moreno battered the champion to a third-round submission to take the belt for himself.

In hindsight, that might have been a good place to hit pause on their rivalry, but the UFC opted to book a third fight between them. That third fight, which went down in January 2022, was once again incredibly competitive, with Figueiredo ultimately reclaiming the belt with a unanimous-decision win. From their, there rivalry got put on pause due to a contract dispute between Figueirdo and The UFC. In place of the sidelined Figueirdo, Moreno and Kai-Kara France fought for the Interim Flyweight title. A bout in which Moreno won. That left the promotion with no choice but to book a fourth fight between him and Figueiredo to unify the titles. It will happen at UFC 283, and if the first three fights are any indication, we’re in for a treat. At worst, this fight should put the rivalry to bed for good and open the door to a long list of fresh matchups in the weight class.

#2 Glover Teixeria (33-8) Vs #7 Jamal Hill (11-1) Light Heavweight Title bout. 
When it comes to the main event of UFC 283, It’s safe to say that it is a weird one. Brazil’s Glover Teixeira will be taking on Michigan’s Jamahal Hill for the vacant light heavyweight title. Both are among the division’s best fighters, but it’s unlikely either of them would be fighting for the belt were it not for a ridiculous series of unlucky breaks and unexpected twists.
It all started when Jiri Prochazka Beat Glover Teixeria at UFC 275 in Singapore. Since the fight was an all-time classic, the promotion immediately moved to a rematch between the 2 stars. Unfortunately, Prochazka suffered a shoulder injury so severe, that he vacated the title entirely. With the light heavyweight throne empty, the UFC then pitted top contenders Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev against each other to crown a new champion. Unfortunately the 2 ended up drawing as the main event of UFC 282.
The promotion then opted to go with Teixeria and Hill following the events of UFC 282 on a few weeks notice but both of whom were in training camps for Jiri Prochaska and Anthony Smith respectively. It’s not a perfect solution but it’s still a very solid fight.
The former champ, Teixeira, despite being 43 years old, remains one of the division’s most dangerous grapplers and boasts deceptive power, even if he’s a bit on the slower side. Hill, meanwhile, is a member of the new guard, with seven knockouts among his victories. He’s already beaten Thiago Santos, Johnny Walker, Jimmy Crute and Ovin Saint Preux, and his only loss came when he suffered an arm injury in a fight with Paul Craig. It’s going to be hard to consider anybody the true champion until they defeat Prochazka and he’s still out for a while but this is a good matchup with a high likelihood of a finish. At the very least, it will be a good distraction while Prochazka heals up.