Booking Five Blockbuster UFC Bouts for 2023

Dana White should make the most anticipated fights from next year happen.

It's becoming more expensive to be a fight fan. The UFC needs to book some big fights to attract the masses. Here are five fights I would love to see in 2023. The Weekly Takedown is a column from Sports Illustrated.

Jon Jones vs. Francis Ngannou is a fight that everyone wants to see. It would be Jones' heavyweight debut in the UFC. Stipe Miocic is impatiently waiting for the fight. It's a high-stakes bout that could be a contender for fight of the year in 2023.

Colby Covington is one of the most disliked people in the sport. He is going to fight Khamzat Chimaev. Chimaev is a wrecking machine, but he isn't exactly the world's most endearing personality. The key questions would be whether Covvington could maintain control following his takedowns and if Chimpmev could finish Cvngton after he hurt him.

Aljamain Sterling is moving from bantamweight to featherweight. He will make his first title defense against Sean O’Malley. O'Malley is currently ranked No. 1. He defeated Petr Yan in October at UFC 280.

Islam Makhachev and Michael Chandler are going to meet in the UFC in 2023.

The odds of this fight happening have decreased since Chandler's loss to Dustin Poirier. However, the fight would be spectacular.

Volkanovski-McGregor is a fight that would be fascinating under any weight class. McGregor never had the same power as a lightweight that he did as featherweight. The more realistic choice for McGregor would probably be a 170-pound fight with Stephen Thompson.

Patricio "Pitbull" Freire is the reigning Bellator featherweight champion. Kleber Koike is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighter. They are going to meet in the co-main event of the Bellated vs. Rizin card taking place in Tokyo on New Year's Eve. Koke is riding a seven-fight win streak and has fought all over the world. Freir is aware of Koik's style and is confident he will win.

AJ McKee will fight Roberto de Souza in the Bellator vs. Rizin lightweight bout for 2023.

Patricio "Pitbull" Freire will fight Kleber Koike in the featherweight bout for Bellator vs. Rizin 2023.

Kyoji Horiguchi will fight Hiromasa Ougikubo in Bellator vs. Rizin flyweight bout for 2023.

Juan Archuleta vs. Soo Chul Kim is a blockbuster bout for 2023.

Gadzhi Rabadanov vs. Koji Takeda is a lightweight bout for Bellator vs Rizin.