Could Sean O’Malley or Marlon Vera land a title shot this year?
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Just days away from UFC’s opening fight card of the new year, ESPN is back with the second installment of its annual MMA Rank.
Using a two-step voting process, ESPN’s MMA contributors set out to project which 30 fighters will perform the best in 2023. The final list features fighters from multiple promotions — veterans and rising stars, champions and contenders — ranked by their potential for success over the next 12 months.
A pair of interesting fighters landed in the first 10 names revealed — former UFC champions Charles Oliveira and Glover Teixeira. From 20 to 11, you’ll find four more champions mixed in with a handful of former titleholders and rising contenders. Megan Anderson, Brett Okamoto, Jeff Wagenheim and Phil Murphy break down how 2023 could play out for each of them.
Follow the link to each UFC result to watch a replay of that fight on ESPN+. 10-1 will be released on Friday. | 30-21
2022 record: 1-1 (lost by UD vs. Israel Adesanya; UD over Marvin Vettori)
2022 ESPN MMA Rank: No. 15
Next fight: TBD
2023 outlook: Other than two championship losses to Israel Adesanya and a second win over Yoel Romero, Whittaker has picked apart every opponent since moving up to middleweight in 2014. In a vacuum, Adesanya dropping the belt complicated Whittaker’s path to a title shot. At the moment, we can safely assume an immediate rematch between Izzy and Alex Pereira is the next step. In truth, 2023 was likely another year of “The Reaper” buzzing around the top five to cement himself as the second-best middleweight on the planet, building an airtight case to demand a third crack at Adesanya. Paulo Costa at UFC 284 in Perth was up first until a contract dispute from Costa caused that booking to fizzle out. But there remains a real possibility that if Pereira can contain lightning in a bottle and beat Adesanya yet again, or if Adesanya needs to withdraw, Whittaker could challenge Pereira for the belt this year — and maybe even be a betting favorite. — Murphy
2022 record:…
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