Sherdog’s Top 10: Can’t-Miss Fights of April

Khamzat Chimaev now gets the test for which fans have long called.

The undefeated prospect will begin his march toward title contention when he confronts Gilbert Burns in a UFC 273 welterweight showcase on April 9 at Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. Chimaev has finished all 10 of his opponents, seven of them inside one round, leading critics to call his strength of schedule into question. The 27-year-old Allstars Training Center product last appeared at UFC 267, where he rebounded from his protracted battle with COVID-19 and put Jingliang Li to sleep with a rear-naked choke in a little more than three minutes.

Burns carries the proven track record Chimaev’s prior opponents have lacked. The 35-year-old Sanford MMA export has won seven of his past eight bouts, a third-round technical knockout loss to current welterweight champion Kamaru Usman the only hiccup. Burns last competed on July 10, when he took a three-round unanimous decision from Stephen Thompson in their UFC 264 pairing.

The Chimaev-Burns confrontation is but one can’t-miss fight in April. Here are nine more:

Djati Melan vs. Christian Leroy Duncan
Cage Warriors 136
April 2 | Manchester, England
Melan will put his perfect professional record and Cage Warriors Fighting Championship middleweight title on the line when he faces the unbeaten Range Martial Arts Academy rep at the BEC Arena. Duncan, 26, has finished four of his first five opponents, three of them by knockout or technical knockout. He nailed down his position as the No. 1 contender in December, when he submitted Justin Moore with a rear-naked choke at Cage Warriors 131. A Cheick Kongo protégé, Melan has not fought since he took the CWFC title and improved to 8-0 with a five-round unanimous decision over Matthew Bonner on Dec. 10.

Aljamain Sterling vs. Petr Yan
UFC 273
April 9 | Jacksonville, Florida
The fate of the undisputed bantamweight championship will hang in the balance in this long-overdue rematch. Sterling walked away from their first encounter with his hand raised more than a year ago, albeit under less-than-ideal circumstances. Yan, who appeared to have turned the tide in his favor, was disqualified after landing an illegal knee strike in the fourth round of their UFC 259 co-feature on March 6, 2021. Sterling has not fought since and underwent neck surgery in the meantime. Yan, meanwhile, claimed the interim bantamweight crown at UFC 267, where he was awarded a unanimous decision over Cory Sandhagen on Oct. 30.

A.J. McKee vs. Patricio Freire
Bellator 277
April 15 | San Jose, California
One seeks validation, the other redemption. McKee will defend his Bellator MMA featherweight championship against the man he dethroned when the Scott Coker-fronted organization returns to Silicon Valley with an intriguing rematch in tow. The undefeated “Mercenary” moved to 18-0 with 13 finishes when he put away Freire with a guillotine choke in the first round of their Bellator 263 main event on July 31. The loss was the Brazilian’s first in nearly five years, snapped his seven-fight winning streak and shifted the balance of power at 145 pounds. Neither champion nor challenger has competed since.

Vicente Luque vs. Belal Muhammad
UFC on ESPN 34
April 16 | Las Vegas
The Ultimate Fighting Championship will put its promotional oomph behind two under-the-radar Top 5 welterweights in a rematch at the UFC Apex. Luque—who needed all of 79 seconds to knock out Muhammad in 2016—has won four fights in a row and eight of his past 11, as he begins to reap the rewards from a steady climb on the 170-pound ladder. The 30-year-old Cerrado MMA rep last appeared on Aug. 7, when he submitted Michael Chiesa with a brabo choke in the first round of their UFC 265 showcase. Muhammad, 33, has compiled a 6-0 record with one no contest across seven outings since his January 2019 decision defeat to Geoff Neal.



Jeremy Stephens vs. Clay Collard
PFL 1
April 20 | Arlington, Texas
Stephens will venture outside the Ultimate Fighting Championship for the first time in nearly 14 years when he makes his Professional Fighters League debut and begins his hunt for a $1 million prize. The Alliance MMA mainstay has not competed since he submitted to a first-round kimura from Mateusz Gamrot at UFC on ESPN 26 in July. Winless across his last six appearances, the 35-year-old Stephens has his work cut out for him. Collard has won four of his past five bouts, his run highlighted by a unanimous decision over former UFC and World Extreme Cagefighting champion Anthony Pettis a little more than a year ago. He was a PFL semifinalist in 2021.

Amanda Lemos vs. Jessica Andrade
UFC Fight Night 205
April 23 | Las Vegas
Lemos gets the long-awaited chance to prove herself as a top-flight strawweight when she confronts the former 115-pound champion at the UFC Apex. The onetime Jungle Fight titleholder has been something of a revelation since she linked arms with the UFC in 2017 and will enter the cage on the strength of a five-fight winning streak. Lemos, 34, last competed at UFC Fight Night 199, where she eked out a split decision over Angela Hill on Dec. 18. Andrade sports a 13-7 record inside the Octagon, her stellar resume anchored by victories over current strawweight champion Rose Namajunas, Cynthia Calvillo, Katlyn Chookagian, Tecia Torres and Claudia Gadelha. She held sway over the division from May 11, 2019 to Aug. 31, 2019.

Juan Archuleta vs. Raufeon Stots
Bellator 279
April 23 | Honolulu
Archuleta and Stots will duke it out over the interim Bellator MMA bantamweight championship at the Neil S. Blaisdell Center, with the winner expected to move on to a unification bout with injured incumbent titleholder Sergio Pettis later this year. The 34-year-old Archuleta has pieced together a mind-blowing 20-2 record across his past 22 assignments. He has not fought since he surrendered the undisputed bantamweight crown to Pettis in a unanimous decision loss at Bellator 258 on May 7. One of the organization’s best-kept secrets, Stots has rattled off nine consecutive victories. The Roufusport export’s near-spotless record currently sits at 17-1.

Lance Palmer vs. Chris Wade
PFL 2
April 28 | Arlington, Texas
Palmer has his sights set on a third Professional Fighters League featherweight title in four seasons. The four-time NCAA All-American wrestler made himself one of the fledgling company’s foundational pieces in 2018 and 2019. However, Palmer finds himself reeling after back-to-back losses to Bubba Jenkins and Movlid Khaybulaev. Can the former World Series of Fighting and Resurrection Fighting Alliance champion recapture some of his past glory? Wade stands in his way. The Long Island MMA rep reached the final of the 2021 PFL featherweight tournament before bowing out in a unanimous decision defeat to the unbeaten Khaybulaev. The setback halted Wade’s three-fight winning streak.

Rob Font vs. Marlon Vera
UFC on ESPN 35
April 30 | Las Vegas
The odds of educated violence seem high when these two bantamweight contenders square off at the UFC Apex. Font has compiled a 9-4 record since he joined the UFC roster in 2014, netting wins over Matt Schnell, Douglas Silva de Andrade, Thomas Almeida, Marlon Moraes and Cody Garbrandt along the way. The former CES MMA champion last appeared at UFC on ESPN 31, where he dropped a five-round unanimous decision to Jose Aldo in their Dec. 4 main event. Vera’s stock, meanwhile, has never been higher. The Team Oyama product lit up highlight reels across the sport in November, when he wiped out Frankie Edgar with a front kick to the face at UFC 268. Vera has delivered 15 of his 18 career victories by knockout, technical knockout or submission.