The Hit List: Can’t-Miss Fights of February

Everything points to this moment for Tatiana Suarez.

“The Ultimate Fighter” Season 23 winner will put her perfect professional record on the line when she challenges Weili Zhang for the undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s strawweight crown in the UFC 312 co-headliner on Feb. 8 at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. Long viewed as a champion in waiting at 115 pounds, Suarez’s career has been repeatedly interrupted by a series of frustrating injuries. In fact, she has been limited to just seven appearances in nearly nine years on the UFC roster. Suarez, now 34, has not suited up since UFC on ESPN 50, where she dispatched Jessica Andrade with a guillotine choke in the second round of their Aug. 5, 2023 encounter. Zhang, meanwhile, has been a model of consistency and dependability. The 35-year-old Chinese superstar holds a 9-2 mark across her 11 outings inside the Octagon, having lost only to Rose Namajunas in back-to-back assignments in 2021. Zhang last competed on April 13, when she retained her strawweight title with a five-round unanimous decision over countrywoman Xiaonan Yan at UFC 300. She has won four fights in a row.

The Zhang-Suarez showdown is but one must-see fight in February. Here are four more:

Dricus Du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland
UFC 312
Feb. 8 | Sydney
Rematches are sometimes a necessary evil in the mixed martial arts industry, and it finds Du Plessis pitted against the man from whom he took the undisputed UFC middleweight championship. Their second confrontation headlines the promotion’s return to Australia and Qudos Bank Arena. Du Plessis assumed the 185-pound throne a little more than a year ago when he eked out a contentious split decision over the Xtreme Couture export at UFC 297, then retained the title with a face crank submission of Israel Adesanya some seven months later. The South African brute has now recorded 10 consecutive victories, eight of them. For his part, Strickland went on to secure his rematch at UFC 302, where he was awarded split scorecards against Paulo Costa on June 1.

Calvin Kattar vs. Youssef Zalal
UFC Fight Night 251
Feb. 15 | Las Vegas
Expect plenty of technical chaos when Kattar toes the line against “The Moroccan Devil” in a well-matched co-main event at the UFC Apex. The 36-year-old Methuen, Massachusetts, native has run aground after a brief flirtation with contention in the featherweight division. Kattar enters the Octagon on the first multi-fight losing streak of his 17-year career. The New England Cartel cornerstone last strapped on the gloves on April 13, when he Aljamain Sterling outpointed him to a unanimous decision at UFC 300. On the other side of the docket, the resurgent Zalal seems to have hit his stride. The 28-year-old Marc Montoya protégé has rattled off six straight wins, all by knockout, technical knockout or submission. Zalal made Jack Shore his most recent victim at UFC Fight Night 246, where he dismissed the Welshman with a second-round arm-triangle choke on Nov. 2.

Dominick Cruz vs. Rob Font
UFC Fight Night 252
Feb. 22 | Seattle
Cruz has reached the stage of his career where any appearance inside the Octagon could be his last. The 39-year-old former bantamweight champion returns to the cage for the first time in well over two years when he squares off with Font in a compelling co-feature at Climate Pledge Arena. Cruz last answered the call to arms at UFC on ESPN 41, where he bowed to a head kick from Marlon Vera in the fourth round of their Aug. 13, 2022 battle. Wins over Urijah Faber (twice), Joseph Benavidez (twice), T.J. Dillashaw and the incomparable Demetrious Johnson anchor the Alliance MMA mainstay’s hall-of-fame resume and mark him as one of the greatest bantamweights of all-time. Font, meanwhile, sports an 11-7 record across his 18 assignments in the UFC. The ex-CES MMA champion rebounded from back-to-back losses to Cory Sandhagen and Deiveson Figueiredo with a unanimous verdict against Kyler Phillips at UFC Fight Night 245 in October.

Amru Magomedov vs. Alex da Silva Coelho
UAE Warriors 58
Feb. 22 | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Magomedov has begun his rise through the regional ranks. Yet another promising Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov disciple, he risks his lightweight title and undefeated record against Coelho in the latest UAE Warriors main event. Magomedov, 25, has won all seven of his pro bouts, six of them via stoppage. He last fought at UAE Warriors 51, where he put away Ali Kabdulla with a rear-naked choke in the second round of their July 27 affair. Coelho figures to provide the Russian champion with a stern test. The 28-year-old Astra Fight Team representative had a four-fight stint in the UFC between April 20, 2019 and June 4, 2022. Coelho boasts 22 finishes among his 24 career victories.