We're a bit removed from the card now and I think it is setting in just how forgettable the event actually was. I'm not someone who complains about the quality of events too often as I value the UFC being on basically every weekend of the year, but that one just really fell flat. Most of the time, Fight Night's really aren't built up to be much more than just some action with one or two important fights at the end. When the card is supposed to be something more than that and is one of the most uninteresting events of the year, it's tough to take. Anyways, I'm not going to harp on it too much, but it was just a realization that set in when I started preparing to write this as I honestly didn't remember the first couple of fights of the afternoon. Let's start talking about some of these fights and what we should see next for these winners.
Nicholas Dalby started off the card with a nice win. He had a tough first round, but then his cardio advantage really showed itself and he was able to win the final two rounds. The third ended up getting competitive, but Dalby had controlled so much of the round that a takedown with a few strikes and a little bit of control wasn't enough to overtake what he did for the early portion. Dalby kind of feels like one of those fighters who is in no man's land in the division. He will dominate any non-UFC level competition, but he hasn't had much success when fighting opponents who are a tier above him. That sort of leaves him in this weird middle ground where he isn't really close to the rankings, but he's also not really close to the bottom of the roster either. I think someone like Jeremiah Wells would make sense for him next to gauge where they're both at. Honestly, I don't hate the idea of him being the next fight for Ian Garry either.
Victoria Leonardo registered her first UFC win against Mandy Bohm on Saturday. She used her superior physicality to be on the outside of the clinch and get a lot of control time there. Her aggression gave her an advantage when they were striking and she ended up with a solid 30-27 victory. Leonardo has had a tough go of it so far in the UFC, so I don't expect her to really get anything interesting in her next fight. I think Hannah Goldy would make some sense as would Shanna Young and Cortney Casey.
Jai Herbert is back in the win column after a scary knockout in his previous fight. He is the one fighter on this card that I don't blame for having a boring fight. He was finished badly by Ilia Topuria, so I completely understand him being a little anxious and trying to avoid trading with his opponent of it all possible. He got the win and that is ultimately all that matters. I think for his next fight someone like Benoit St. Denis, Uros Medic, or maybe even Michael Johnson would make some degrees of sense.
Muhammad Mokaev turned in a rather impressive performance when he smothered newcomer Charles Johnson. That was as one sided a victory as exists, even though there wasn't a ton of damage done. Mokaev is in an odd spot as it seems as though he's going to need a ranked opponent before he really gets any type of push back from his opponents. The flyweight division isn't particularly deep, so I wouldn't think that is even that far of a stretch. I think Tagir Ulanbekov would make sense for him next. I also would kind of want to see what a fight with Tim Elliot would look like. Normally these types of prospects are brought along much more slowly, but that is much more difficult to do in a division that is only 35 or so fighters deep.
Jonathan Pearce picked up a really nice win over Makwan Amirkhani and was one of the better wins of the entire event. After a competitive first round, he took over in the second and was able to finish a tired Makwan late in the round. I think I would like to see him against someone like Julian Erosa next or maybe Nate Landwehr. I think they would present challenges that Pearce needs to answer before he can really get to the next tier of opponent. I think Pearce has the base to maybe be something in this division, but he has to continue to refine his game and clean some things up.
I think Nathaniel Wood probably had the most impressive individual performance of the night in his win over Charles Rosa. He was so much faster and more dynamic than Rosa and I expect him to be getting a fairly nice looking opportunity in his next fight. Booking him against someone like Bill Algeo or Billy Quarantillo is a dream matchup from an entertainment standpoint, but given they gave him Rosa for this fight, I don't think he'll be jumping up that high just yet. I think someone like Darrick Minner or Steven Peterson is more of the type of fight that he'll get next time out.
Marc Diakiese picked up a nice win and got himself on a 2 fight winning streak. The question I have is how much this streak is actually doing for him. It goes without saying that you would much rather win fights than lose them, but his last 2 wins have come in matchups that he had clear advantages in. He was able to wrestle opponents who just have very little grappling ability and he could hold them down with virtually no resistance at all. In his next fight, I would like to see him get someone who is more of his equal in terms of well roundedness. I think Benoit St. Denis fits that description or maybe someone like Chris Gruetzmacher or Jamie Mullarkey.
Ludovit Klein picked up a really nice upset win over Mason Jones. He was able to drop him with a really nice hook as Jones entered and that sort of flipped the fight in his favor and he never gave up the momentum from there. Honestly, I don't hate the idea of him being the next opponent for Marc Diakiese. Besides him, I think maybe Matt Frevola or Rafa Garcia would make sense as well. Diakiese and Garcia have timelines that matchup too, which makes putting those fights together a bit easier.
Volkan Oezdemir is back in the win column in what felt like a pretty important fight for him. He had some tough matchups and didn't come out on top, but he has put that behind him. Paul Craig is one of the weirdest style matchups in any division in the sport, so I'm not going to worry about how hesitant Volkan looked. He's in kind of in a weird place in the division now though, so it isn't 100% clear who his next fight may be. Jamahal Hill is fighting Thiago Santos in the near future and I think regardless of the result, either of those guys would make sense. If Hill wins, they probably look to push him further towards the title, but I think Volkan vs Santos works either way. He could also be the opponent for when Dominick Reyes makes his return to the octagon. I actually like the Reyes fight if those timelines work out.
Molly McCann continued her hot streak with another knockout win. Her volume and pressure was just too much and once she had Goldy hurt, she piled on and eventually got her to fall. McCann has fought well in some favorable matchups recently, but I still worry that a different style of opponent would see her fall right back to where she was before this recent win streak. She called out Antonina Shevchenko, which I think was a pretty reasonable call out. Shevchenko is more of a striker and it would be her technical skill against Molly's aggression and volume. Miranda Maverick called her out, but that is a much worse matchup for Molly. I kind of think the UFC goes in the direction of Antonina Shevchenko for her next opponent.
Nikita Krylov quickly finished Alexander Gustafsson to get himself back in the win column. His hands looked fast and powerful as he was landing hard shots frequently for as long as the fight lasted. I kind of see him in a similar spot as Oezdemir and I think a fight between those two would make some degree of sense. I would like to see him fight Dustin Jacoby personally, but I'm not sure how likely that is either. Ryan Spann would be another option if they were looking to get him a fight a little more quickly.
Paddy Pimblett did it again and found another submission after landing an impressive knee in the clinch. From the top position, he is still very dangerous, despite my questions about him elsewhere. I'm really interested to see how the UFC approaches scheduling his next fight. They're walking a very fine line with him. They want to get as much out of him as they can, but if he ends up losing to another middle of the roster fighter, then they may lose out entirely. The problem is that Paddy fights at 155 lbs, which may be the deepest division in the entire sport. I don't think there are many, if any fights left for Paddy that are guaranteed wins. This sort of leaves the UFC in a spot where they can continue the slow build and risk him losing to another fighter who is just sort of lost in the shuffle or they can give him a significant push and if he loses, they can just say it was too much too fast. I don't think they can give him another low end fight and get the same amount of interest though. Could they have him fight Natan Levy or Christos Giagos? Sure, I just think we may start to see decreased interest in that case. They could have him make another step up and have him fight Jamie Mullarkey or Michael Johnson, but I kind of think he loses those fights. They could push him closer to the rankings and have him fight someone like Brad Riddell, but I think that would be ugly. Maybe they give him someone like Clay Guida or Jim Miller? I honestly have no idea where this goes, but I'm happy I'm not the one that has to make this decision.
The final win to talk about here is from Jack Hermansson and he bounced back nicely after a disappointing performance against Sean Strickland in his previous fight. Hermansson was able to control the range and land a lot of kicks both on the legs and to the body of Chris Curtis. He was able to skirt along the outside of the cage and avoid a majority of the boxing combinations coming back his way. Now that he has stopped the losing streak, he can get back to moving towards a potential title shot. I think looking to rebook the fight with Darren Till would be the direction I would look in. If not there, Andre Muniz, Kelvin Gastelum, or Derek Brunson I think would all be solid options.
That's all I have for this card. What did you guys think? Who was your biggest winner of the night? What surprised you the most? Leave any thoughts you have in the comments. Thanks for reading and have a good one.
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