Yesterday we explored the main event of UFC Vegas 58 between Rafael Dos Anjos and Rafael Fiziev. Like I said yesterday, I've gotten some new twitter followers since I've started live tweeting, so if you're new around here, the round up format is essentially a condensed version of what you saw yesterday, but for the rest of the entire card. I don't always include every fight and sometimes I'll include some of the losers, depending on their status and if I have anything to say about what happened. Most will have a sentence or two about their performance and a sentence or two about what I think makes sense for their next fight. Let's not waste anymore time.
First up Saidyukob Kakhramonov. I don't think it is ridiculous to say that he should have been considered for performance of the night. Ronnie Lawrence had a lot of backing from the promotion and the betting community this week and he came out and dominated. His physicality and strength in the clinch and grappling transitions was just too much for Lawrence and his cardio help up against a high pace. Men's bantamweight is a shark tank right now, so unfortunately I don't think Kakhramonov is going to get anything too high profile, but it should be a really nice opportunity for him. I think someone like Tony Gravely, John Castaneda, or Julio Arce would be a reasonable next opponent.
Kennedy Nzechukwu followed that up with another eye opening performance. Nzechukwu is known for his size and power and he can throw with pretty good volume for his size. He got thrown into a matchup with a more technical kickboxer in Karl Roberson and decided that he was going to go to his grappling and he made it look effortless. He landed takedowns in all three rounds and was able to control the fight from the top and land some pretty nice ground and pound. With that added element to his game, I think he certainly has some more upside now. I think a fight with Marcin Prachnio, Philipe Lins, or Khalil Rountree all are sort of in the range that he could be looking at next time out.
The next fighter was David Onama and while it was a good performance, it probably won't do much to improve his stock. Armfield took the fight on only a few days notice, so I don't think this will result in Onama getting a serious step up. The fight was originally booked against Austin Lingo, so I would imagine that is the range of opponent the UFC wants him to fight. Regardless, I thought Onama looked good and it was good to see him use his grappling skills instead of just standing this time out. If they don't look to just remake the Lingo fight, I think Chase Hooper, Steven Peterson, Kamuela Kirk, or Tucker Lutz would all be fights that I think suit Onama right now.
Antonina Shevchenko edged out a close split decision to stop her losing streak. She largely fought the fight that most expected from her on one sense. Kickboxing is her primary discipline, so it didn't really come as a surprise that she wanted to keep the fight standing. She probably had a wrestling advantage as well, but she opted not to use it and instead she ended up in a very close fight. The problem for Antonina is that she has been around for awhile in a division that isn't very deep. I think fights with Luana Carolina, Jasmine Jasudavicius, or maybe Molly McCann (after he fight in a couple of weeks) would make some sense for her.
Cody Brundage picked up his second win in a row and decided to show off his counter striking in this win. The whole fight was kind of weird with Brundage going for the takedown as expected and after controlling Tresean Gore for about a minute, he looked extremely tired. Gore started moving forward, without throwing a ton of strikes, which was also not too surprising. He backed Brundage all the way up against the fence and threw a low kick, which Brundage countered with a straight right. I don't doubt that he has power in his hands, but it didn't look like a punch that had all that much steam on. It was clearly enough to hurt and drop Gore and then Brundage would put him out with the ground and pound. I think matchups with Marc-Andre Barriault, Wellington Turman, or Nick Maximov all make sense for Brundage.
Jamie Mullarkey picked up a controversial, but close split decision win over Michael Johnson. Mullarkey did what he typically does for the most part. He takes a lot of damage, but he also gives a lot back and isn't afraid to trade in the pocket. The only thing that did surprise me a little bit was that Mullarkey really didn't even try to mix in the wrestling. I thought that would have really helped him as he was assumed to have a cardio advantage, but he chose to stand and slug it out. Mullarkey has carved out a really nice role for himself in the UFC and I kind of compare him to Brian Kelleher in that way. Not stylistically, but more of the purpose he serves in the division. If you give Mullarkey someone else who is willing to stand and bang, it is basically a guaranteed fight of the night, so I wouldn't be surprised to see him on the prelims of some PPV cards just to get the crowd going.
Aiemann Zahabi picked up his second win in a row and is starting to look more comfortable in the UFC octagon. He kept his cool against Ricky Turcios who was doing a lot of strange stuff in there. He stayed sound defensively and used his superior technical kickboxing to beat Turcios on the scorecards. His made Turcios miss with a vast majority of his strikes and it looked like he had Turcios a bit gun shy with his power. He was able to land enough jabs and low kicks to score points and picked up a win as an underdog. I think a Kyung Ho Kang, Saidyokub Kakhramonov, or Javid Basharat would make sense as a next opponent.
Chase Sherman picked up a knockout win in the third round against Jared Vanderaa and he badly needed it. He was the faster fighter and he was able to use it to his advantage. He was landing hard on Vanderaa's chin and was able to mostly deal with the volume coming back his way. He was landing really well in the third and eventually hurt Vanderaa in the clinch. A flurry of punches ended up finally getting Vanderaa to go down and the fight was finally stopped. I think recent winner Josh Parisian would make some sense as would Rodrigo Nascimento. It won't be anything too crazy for Sherman next, but hopefully he can use this to start building some momentum.
Said Nurmagomedov was probably the biggest winner as I think he is the closest to the rankings outside of RDA and Fiziev obviously. He picked up another win and I think it is at least possible that he gets a ranked opponent next. Umar Nurmagomedov is an option if he does get someone ranked. Otherwise, I think Kyler Phillips or Rani Yahya would also make some degree of sense.
Finally, we finish up with Caio Borralho and he picked up another win. He's been pretty impressive in his short time in the UFC as he seems to have all of the tools. He has to refine them and continue to improve his MMA skills, but the natural ability is there. He's a big, strong, and fast guy for the division and has a good based in both the striking and grappling. How far he goes will be a matter of getting into a good gym with a coach who can sculpt his tools into a complete fighter, but the talent is in there. I think he is ready for someone like Roman Dolidze, Joaquin Buckley, or Phil Hawes next.
That covers everyone. What did you guys think? Who was your biggest winner of the night? Who do you want to see some of these fighters compete against next? Leave your thoughts and predictions in the comments. Thanks for reading and have a good one.
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