Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Lightweight brawlers Jalin Turner and Ignacio Bahamondes will go to war this weekend (Sat., March 8, 2025) inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada at UFC 313.

It’s always a little amusing when the promotion books two of the biggest men in the division opposite one another. Bahamondes has towered over all of his previous UFC opposition, but he’ll face a two inch height deficit here! These Lightweights have both likely seen 200 pounds at some point in the last six months, making a mockery of the entire theory behind weight classes.

Giant Lightweights aside, this is an intriguing striker’s delight match up. Turner has lost three of his last four despite hurting his opponent at some point in all of those bouts, whereas Bahamondes has won five of his last six in consistently highlight reel fashion. Turner has to halt the bleeding, whereas Bahamondes has a chance to jump up the ladder.

Let’s take a closer look at the betting odds and strategic keys for each athlete:

Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Turner vs. Bahamondes Betting Odds

• Jalin Turner victory: -108
• Jalin Turner via TKO/KO/DQ: TBD
• Jalin Turner via submission: TBD
• Jalin Turner via decision: TBD
• Ignacio Bahamondes victory: -112
• Ignacio Bahamondes via TKO/KO/DQ: TBD
• Ignacio Bahamondes via submission: TBD
• Ignacio Bahamondes via decision: TBD
• Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

How Turner Wins

“The Tarantula” is a serious problem on the feet. Not only is he rangy as hell, but Turner is seriously powerful with both his hands and feet. He fights well behind his straight punches, forcing opponents to try to walk him down (usually face-first into heavy connections).

Historically, Turner has struggled when forced to wrestle, an issue that’s unlikely to arise here, seeing as Bahamondes has yet to score a takedown in the Octagon. He’ll get the striking match he desires, and his advantage would appear to be boxing.

Twice now, Bahamondes has been touched up in the pocket by sharper boxers in Ludovit Klein and John Makdessi, both of whom managed to outland Bahamondes despite significant height and reach disadvantages. Seeing as Turner actually has the edge in those attributes, he should be working to establish the jab and build combinations from it. Longer exchanges will favor his tighter punching, and nobody just shrugs it off when Turner lands.

The other major focus should be countering kicks. Bahamondes is likely to try to overwhelm Turner with volume, but a few crisp counters down the middle can help calm all that down.

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

How Bahamondes Wins

Bahamondes is an athletic striker with a background in amateur kickboxing. The Chilean prospect throws punches-in-bunches often punctuated by lovely kicks, and he’s proven to have both power and durability in spades.

The primary avenue to success here — besides simply clipping Turner with a big shot and putting him down, which could happen suddenly for either man — is volume. Bahamondes throws a lot of strikes and maintains that pace well into the second half of the fight. Turner, conversely, has been known to slow down, notably in his last two losses to Renato Moicano and Dan Hooker.

Bahamondes doesn’t have that issue. If a fight goes three full rounds, he tends to land over 100 significant strikes. He doesn’t have to be quite as reckless, but taking a page from the “Hangman” playbook and pressuring Turner with combos and body work seems like a good idea likely to pay off in the long run.

Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images

Turner vs. Bahamondes Prediction

Despite the recent struggles, I’m still siding with Turner.

“The Tarantula” has only lost to elite, proven opposition throughout his recent struggles. He’s beaten a higher class of competition than Bahamondes has ever faced, regardless of outcome. In addition, I think Turner’s recent losses came down more to flaws in execution rather than skill set. With very minor adjustments, he could have scored the nod over Mateusz Gamrot or secured the knockout of Renato Moicano. At 29 years of age, Turner still has time to work out those kinks.

Bahamondes remains a good prospect, but Turner is simply better at this stage in their respective careers.

Prediction: Turner via decision

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Valentina Shevchenko is ready to give the people what they want.

In February, UFC strawweight champion Zhang Weili successfully defended her title for the third consecutive time, winning a unanimous decision over Tatiana Suarez at UFC 312. Following her win, Zhang revealed her interest in moving up to challenge Shevchenko for the flyweight title, with UFC CEO Dana White even suggesting that might be next.

However, earlier this month the UFC announced that Shevchenko will instead defend her title against Manon Fiorot at UFC 315 in May, and according to “Bullet,” that was always the plan.

“In my perspective, I knew that I’m going to face, I’m going to defend my belt against Manon,” Shevchenko told Ariel Helwani. “When Weili called me out, I thought it might be a slight change, but when UFC reached out with the final agreement for the fight, yeah, it was the same we had before all this happened.

“But yeah, I think Weili, she’s a great fighter and she showed that she can be successful for many years. She’s showed so many good fights, and I just want to congratulate her on her recent victory.”

Fiorot has been the top contender at flyweight for nearly a year, since winning a unanimous decision over Erin Blanchfield at UFC Atlantic City. But after she takes care of business against Fiorot, Shechenko says she’s more than happy to entertain a superfight with Zhang.

“I think it would be [an] amazing fight,” Shevchenko said. “I think it would be something that fans would love to see. Definitely, me being the person — I focus on the target. My next target is Manon. That’s why for me, it’s still a little bit further to think about. …

“I think making this fight, it’s going to be a huge fight for all the females [in the] sport, and all the right negotiations that have to be done leading to this fight,” Shevchenko added later. “I think this is all we have to be focusing on moving forward. But for now, let’s focus on the fight I’m going to have in two months in Montreal.”

UFC 315 which takes place on May 10 at Bell Centre in Montreal. In the main event, Belal Muhammad defends his welterweight title against Jack Della Maddalena, while Shevchenko puts her flyweight belt on the line against Fiorot in the co-main event.

TOP STORIES

Breakfast. Watch KSI smack Dillon Danis in the face with a pancake at Misfits Boxing 21 press conference.

Who? Curtis Blaydes admits he had no idea who Rizvan Kuniev was when UFC offered fight: ‘I had to Google him.’

Concern. Matt Brown reveals concerns for Alex Pereira ahead of UFC 313 amid distractions and several ‘favorable matchups.’

Day 1. Dustin Poirier explains how his wife helped mold him from ‘juvenile detention’ to UFC stardom.

Rematch. Leon Edwards wanted Belal Muhammad rematch at UFC 315, Muhammad responds.

Boxing. Ryan Garcia out to change his image ahead of Rolly Romero fight: ‘This is my first fight to get respect back.’

VIDEO STEW

Every Alex Pereira knockout.

UFC 313 Embedded, episode 2.

Alex Pereira training.

Just Gaethje fight week.

Rafael Fiziev interview.

Jack Slack breaking down Alex Pereira.

SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

The most important Tweet of the week.

This is upsetting information. I am old.

UFC 313 artists series.

Chase Hooper learning the harsh realities of capitalism.

Trying to confirm that this is true, but it appears a fighter and his twin may have both competed as the same person in a tournament on the regional scene, which is incredibly MMA.

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Raul Rosas Jr. (10-1) vs. Vince Morales (16-9); UFC Mexico City, March 29.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Man, really hope Shevchenko beats Fiorot because Shevy Truck vs. Zhang is a deserving superfight and it would be pretty epic. But Fiorot ain’t no joke.

EXIT POLL

If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @AlexanderKlee or @JedKMeshew on Twitter and let us know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and like us on Facebook.

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UFC heavyweight contender Curtis Blaydes was left having to do some additional research when the latest assignment was slid across his desk.

Blaydes is set to return to action at this weekend’s UFC 313 pay-per-view, almost eight months on from his failed first title bid on mixed martial arts’ biggest stage last July in England.

Off the back of a crushing first-round knockout loss to Tom Aspinall, “Razor” will look to bounce back in his first appearance of 2025. And to do so, he’s tasked with defending his #5 spot on the heavyweight ladder against a newcomer to the Octagon.

Blaydes will top Saturday’s preliminary card opposite Rizvan Kuniev, a Dagestani heavyweight who followed a brief stint in the PFL with victory on Dana White’s Contender Series last August.

The booking came as a surprise to many. And it wasn’t just some in the fanbase who had to look up the man placed opposite Blaydes…

“I did (a double take), but like I always say, the money’s the same regardless if it’s Jon Jones or if it’s a debut guy,” Blaydes said during an interview with MMA Fighting. “The money’s the same so I’ll always be down.

“I had to Google him. I watched his fight on The (Dana White’s) Contender (Series), that’s really the only fight of his I watched. He looks like your traditional heavyweight — swings heavy and hopes to knock you out early.”

While his opponent may not be an established name in the UFC heavyweight division, Blaydes will no doubt still be motivated to ensure he doesn’t fall to the first losing skid of his career inside T-Mobile Arena on March 8.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

It’s very difficult to find the one, especially when you’re a mixed martial artist striving to make it to the top. For former UFC interim lightweight champion Dustin Poirier, he luckily found it at the right time.

“When I was in juvenile detention — and me and her might not have been dating at the time — she was writing me letters every week,” Poirier said of his wife Jolie on Outta Pocket with RGIII. “Besides my mother, the only letters I was getting was [from] her, and when I got out of juvenile detention, she was there. She drove all the way out to watch me leave and stuff like that, and I was like, ‘I’m going to marry this girl.’”

“The Diamond” plans to have one last fight in the UFC, and hopes to end his career with a bout in New Orleans this summer. In his most recent bout, Poirier lost a Fight of the Year contender to lightweight champion Islam Makhachev in the main event of UFC 302 this past June.

Poirier has seen the ups and downs of the sport, and in life itself. When it comes to self-belief, Poirier, like all of us, has it at times, and other times he doesn’t. But even when he was locked up in juvenile detention, Jolie believed in him even when Poirier couldn’t.

“For sure, the letters were always there,” Poirier explained. “She would always reply. I don’t even know how she got the address, or all this stuff like that, but she did, and she was always there. Honestly, not to sound corny, cheesy, bro, I wouldn’t have made it as far — because I was living with her since I was 18, since I was an amateur fighter… I wouldn’t have had an anchor to come back home to every night to cook a meal with, to watch a movie, to go to Blockbuster back in the day, to get takeout Chinese food, that was every weekend.

“I had a girl I loved, and she loved me, and I had somewhere to be. If I was that age and fighting, and known like I was at that young age, I wouldn’t have been on schedule at the gym every day, I wouldn’t have had to lay my head on a pillow at a certain time, I would’ve been cutting up with the rest of my buddies who were doing, you know, what they were doing. So I feel like having that to come home to, and a reason to be home every night, but also her belief, because a lot of times I didn’t believe in myself. She believed in me so much that it was hard to quit on myself whenever she thinks I can do whatever I want.”

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

The Misfits Boxing 21 press conference will feature KSI, Dillon Danis, and a host of other boxers to promote the upcoming event on March 29.

The Misfits Boxing 21 press conference is expected to begin at 12 p.m. ET.

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