Omsk "G-Drive Arena" on January 8 will be the venue for a key fight in terms of the fight for the first place in the Eastern Conference. The local Avangard, which has gained momentum, will receive the Yekaterinburg Avtomobilist in distress on home ice.

Avangard vs Avtomobilist
Basket Hall Arena in Krasnodar will host on January 5 the match of the 19th round of the VTB United League between Lokomotiv Kuban and Nizhny Novgorod. At the moment, the teams are going with the same difference in wins and losses in the competition.

Lokomotiv-Kuban vs Nizhny Novgorod
There are a number of fighters in the UFC that are interesting to watch, regardless of whether their performances end with victories or defeats. Paul Craig is one of them, because out of two dozen professional fights, he heard the referee's decision only once, finishing the rest of the fights ahead of schedule.

Paul Craig vs Johnny Walker
At UFC 283 in Rio de Janeiro, another challenge awaits him, and it would be strange to see a European on this continent if his counterpart was not a native of Brazil. Johnny Walker, the once budding light heavyweight, will be looking to pick up his winning streak on January 22nd, and a duo like this all but guarantees us a head-on head-to-head showdown. Who will emerge victorious from the cage?

Just a week before UFC 282, unexpected things began to happen in the light heavyweight division. First, the reigning champion, Jiri Prochazka, dropped out of the fight against Teixeira, giving up the title, then Ankalaev and Blachowicz fought for him, but could not find the best. And now, number 7, Jamal Hill got the opportunity to fight for the still vacant belt against the same Glover.

Glover Teixeira vs Jamal Hill
Their showdown will headline UFC 283 in Brazil on January 22, and for the MMA public, this choice of matchmakers was rather strange. Hill, of course, deserves to be in such a position, but to see him in a title fight so soon, certainly no one expected. Whatever it was, these guys are ready to throw a bright show, where the best light heavyweight of the planet at the moment will be determined.
How often do we talk about tetralogy in MMA? It is unlikely that someone will offhand name at least 2-3 cases when two fighters brought out the best so many times, however, history is happening right before our eyes. At the first numbered event of 2023 - UFC 283, reigning flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo will enter the cage to put a long-awaited end to interim champ Brandon Moreno.

Brandon Moreno vs Deiveson Figueiredo
A draw in their first meeting, and one victory on each side forced the promotion management to organize this confrontation for the fourth time, and on January 22 one of them will still take the title and be able to call himself the undisputed, dominant king in the category up to 56.7 kg . This is one of the most difficult fights for any predictions, but this is what attracts the attention of the public, who miss the unique duels in the UFC octagon.
The kickoff event of 2023 - UFC Fight Night 217, which is scheduled for January 15, includes a fight between top welterweights: Shavkat Rakhmonov and Jeff Neal. The Kazakh fighter has long been considered by the promotion management as a potential contender for the title, and now he is as close as possible to this status.

Shavkat Rakhmonov vs Jeff Neal
To achieve final success, Rakhmonov needs to overcome the Nile, which occupies the 7th line of the rating, after which he can count on opposition from among the division's elite. By the way, "Nomad" will not only have to overcome a difficult opponent, but also maintain an impeccable record before entering the top positions.
The Nurmagomedov clan is confidently conquering various UFC divisions, and Umar Nurmagomedov has the best chances to take the lead in this relay race. Right now, standing in his way is Raoni Barcelos, a titled wrestler and jitsurer outside the top 15 of the bantamweight division.

Umar Nurmagomedov vs Raoni Barcelos
At UFC Fight Night 217, they will meet in a cage to determine the further course of events in the top ten in this weight category. Many consider Umar the unconditional favorite, but on January 15 it will become clear how good he is in the stalls with a world-class wrestler.
On Friday, December 23, the central match of the day will take place on the ice of the Yaroslavl Arena 2000 Lokomotiv. Local Lokomotiv Moscow and CSKA Moscow in a head-to-head dispute will play an intermediate second position in the standings of the Western Conference.

Lokomotiv vs CSKA
Former 84kg interim title challenger Kelvin Gastelum has been out of the cage for almost a year and a half. Fights with representatives of the top lines of the rating led his career to a deplorable state, however, the battles that he arranged in the octagon allow him to still lead the events, and this time to open the new UFC fighting year.

Nassurdin Imavov vs Kelvin Gastelum
At UFC Fight Night 217, Kelvin will be tied for the main event of the evening with Nassurdin Imavov, an up-and-coming prospect on a solid winning streak. Once again, the American will face a larger opponent, and how he performs on January 15 will determine his fate in the best MMA promotion in the world.
The current Lightweight Grand Prix, held by the ACA league, has become extremely problematic for a number of reasons, and one of the favorites of the competition, Artem Reznikov, who was already in tense relations with the promotion management, was picking up a new opponent for a long time.

Artem Reznikov vs Andrey Koshkin
Despite all the obstacles, on December 23 he will share the cage with the top league, Andrey Koshkin, in the semi-finals. At the final event of the year, ACA 150, the fate of the finalist will be decided, and each fighter has a chance to go to the next stage to compete for the main prize.
CSKA and Samara will sort out basketball relations in the 16th round of the regular championship of the VTB United League 2022/23. The meeting will take place on December 13 at the site of the Krylatskoye sports complex in the capital of Russia.

CSKA vs Samara
In February 2020, the ACA league held one of the most anticipated heavyweight matches, where a new champion was determined: Muhumat Vakhaev opposed Evgeny Goncharov that evening. The conflict between the fighters, which flared up on the eve of the fight, continued in the cage, but Vakhaev's triumph did not put an end to their history.

Evgeny Goncharov vs Muhumat Vakhaev
At the ACA 150 anniversary tournament, two ex-champions will once again meet in battle and, despite the fact that the title will not be at stake, both of them have something to prove. Already on December 23, in the third most important duel of the card, Goncharov and Vakhaev will reveal the strongest in their pair and, quite possibly, we will have a reserve for a bright trilogy.
The Russian fighter of the bantamweight division, Magomed Magomedov, continues to conquer the second MMA league of the world - Bellator, and as part of the Grand Prix, where he reached the semi-finals, he will have to fight with Patrick Meeks, who is practically unknown to the domestic audience cluster.

Magomed Magomedov vs Patrick Mix
In a contest on December 10th at Bellator 289, they will determine who will compete for the top cash prize as well as the Grand Prix title. Athletes deserve each other, and in terms of matchmaking, this is a really interesting event that has a chance to become an ornament of the event.
Former UFC 84kg title contender Jared Cannonier is looking forward to the taste of victory again after a bad run, and Fight Night 216 will give him the opportunity. Already on December 18, in Las Vegas, he will share the cage of the organization in the main fight of the evening with Sean Strickland, and at stake will be the third position in the middleweight ranking, so to speak - a place among the division's elite.

Jared Cannonier vs Sean Strickland
The odds for the fighters are extremely close, because the guys managed to prove their worth in confrontations with a number of tough opponents. Both prefer to duel in the standing position, which makes it doubly interesting, whose style will be more effective in practice. Will any of them be able to reassert their title claims?
There was a lot of hype around the signing of Rinat Fakhretdinov in the UFC, as he became the first Tatar in the history of sports to be awarded a contract with the best MMA organization on the planet. However, the protracted selection of the opponent postponed the debut of Gladiator for almost a year, so at the UFC Fight Night 216 tournament he will hold only the second fight under the auspices of the absolute championship.

Rinat Fakhretdinov vs Brian Battle
Initially, Rinat was supposed to fight with Michael Morales, but just a couple of weeks before the fight, he withdrew, and now our athlete is waiting for a duel with the winner of the penultimate season of the TUF show, Brian Battle, who has already managed to get a couple of finishes in the octagon. Their meeting will take place on the undercard of the tournament on December 18, and we will figure out which of the guys has more chances to emerge victorious from this fight.

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