Matches to make after Covington vs Buckley

Buckley vs Ian Garry - Impressive. Most improved fighter of the year. But I am not interested to see him fight senior citizens / fighters with one foot out. Let's rebook the Garry fight to see how Garry manages the explosiveness or how Buckley manages the kicking and distance control
Covington vs Carlos Prates - He left ATT to go to MMA Masters and now he is cornered by Sonnen and unknown people. If he's living in Miami, take over the gym Amanda Nunes was renting when she left ATT and her coaches. Let's use his name to build a rising contender like Prates

Cub Swanson - Enjoy life
Billy Q vs Bill Algeo - Keep him with a vet

Kape vs Kai Asakura 2 - Maybe in Japan. Beat the guy who just got a title shot and you might get one
Bruno Silva vs Joshua Van - He will have to fight a rising prospect but there are not a lot outside the rankings. Van is ranked 15 and could use an additional fight before fighting the top 10

Jacoby vs loser of Walker vs Guskov - Good walkout song, good fight. He was ranked not that long ago and lost only to ranked opponents. The loser of the fight between Guskov and Walker will be either in the lowest part of the top 15 or just outside. It could be a striking fest
Petrino vs Minyang - Petrino was a rising prospect and he has now to show that he's better than the latest rising prospects

Daniel Marcos vs Basharat - Great fight but I'm not impressed by his performance despite the winning streak. Split decision with a vicious eye poke, I don't like it. He still needs one win before fighting to get in the rankings. Basharat is in a similar position, undefeated in the UFC but nothing outstanding
Adrian Yanez vs the other Basharat - Both looked like good fighters but with a ceiling against top 15-20 fighters. Let's see which one could become a real prospect

Stirling vs loser of Marcin Prachnio vs Crute - There are a few good newcomers at 205 and we have to understand who is worth it. Stirling didn't perform well and beat a can in DWCS before that. The best way to know his worth is to test him with a vet that beats cans and loses to good fighters like Prachnio does. If he beats Crute, Crute will have to fight prospects
Tukkos - Cut - He looked out of shape and is already 0-2

Michael Johnson vs Bobby Green - 2 vets with high-level boxing and a punch
Azaitar - Cut

Alvarez vs Neil Magny
- I heard he wants to move up at WW. Let's test him with Magny (both are grapplers with long reaches) before getting a ranked opponent
Drakkar Klose vs Esteban Ribovics - It should be a banger

Woodson vs Giga Chikadze - Woodson is already 32 and 7-1-1 in the UFC, beating Caceres, Jourdain, and Zalal. He should fight someone ranked and Chikadze (who is quite inactive) could be a good match-up for both
Padilla vs Charriere - Both have a few fights in the UFC and are all action, mainly strikers. It should be a great fight

Felipe Lima vs Kyler Phillips - He took the 4 fight-win-streak of Johns after beating Naimov at 145 on short notice. he was already doing good things in Oktagon, a top 3 European promotion. He should skip the queue and fight a ranked opponent. Phillips lost his last fight to Font while Zahabi and McGhee are on 4 or 5 fight-win streaks. I think Phillips vs Lima could be a good fight
Miles Johns vs Cody Garbrandt - Rebook it. I am still interested

Maverick vs Tracy Cortez - Rebook it. I am interested in it. Two good grapplers
Horth vs Gabriella Fernandes - I liked Gabriella's fight and I want to see Horth vs this type of fighter

Davey Grant vs Taylor Lapilus - It could be a good technical fight in a European card. I would not like to see both guys fight too many young prospects because I think they're crafty enough to beat prospects who are better than them skills-wise
Taveras vs Alexandre Topuria - Taveras is now 1-1 but 0-2 in my book. Still a good fighter but right now he should be fighting a newcomer. Topuria is the only newcomer I know at 135

Piera Rodriguez vs Bruna Brasil - Good rebound after her loss to Carnelossi. I want to see her against another striker but a more talented one. Bruna Brasil needs to stack some wins before fighting a ranked opponent after her loss to Lookbonmee
Knutsson vs Carnelossi - Quite a similar position (coming from a loss) and both are strikers
 
Buckley vs Edwards or Usman
Colby vs Prates
Swanson - retire on top with a great KO win.
Kape vs KKF
Michael Johnson vs Bobby Green
 
Went with Edwards for Buckley because it’s rumored JDM is fighting Usman and then Shavkat is fighting Belal so no other options, also I’d rebook Ian Garry vs Sean Brady
Was Garry-Brady ever a thing? I don't remember that.

I thought it was fairly assumed Edwards would fight Brady in March, but I'm not sure that ever got passed rumors. If it is getting booked, I think Buck vs that winner and Garry vs that loser works really well.

Garry is ranked #7 and Buckley is ranked #9

I think he means now not as in at this moment, but as soon as the rankings are done with this event. If the ranks end up with Colby dropping out of 6th with Garry taking his place and Buckley slotting in behind Garry, that'd be a bit of a joke

*Edit
Lots of people calling for Buck-Garry and I just don't get that. Garry lost a close title eliminator, sure, but it's one he jumped in for, not something he was booked for, and now he'll be off a loss and behind a streaking Buckley, who should only need one more win before a shot of his own. Ya can't do Garry in that same position for a second time in a row when he was never slotted into that position the first time around.
 
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Colby vs Burns is a great call. Billy-Q vs Landwher needs to happen as well
 
Buckley should have called out Garry, both having just had fights would be ready around the same time frame. Plus a striker's delight, and a chance for Buckley to continue to show his progression in takedown defense and grappling.

Plus they were already originally booked to fight on last night's card. Makes the most sense.
 
Buckley should fight Usman or Leon in the spring, and title shot if he wins that, and Colby probably Gilbert Burns or Wonderboy whenever, since there aren't any title implications for it and all 3 of them only have a couple fights left.


Garry is ranked #7 and Buckley is ranked #9

The rankings update like Tuesday. Garry is coming off a loss and his best win was #11 at the time, and Buckley has now beaten #11, #10, and #5 and is on a 6 fight win streak. He should be pissed if he's not ahead of Garry on Tuesday.
 
The Winners
Joaquin Buckley vs. Kamaru Usman
Manel Kape vs. Charles Johnson
Dustin Jacoby vs. Rodolfo Bellato
Daniel Marcos vs. Charles Jourdain
Navajo Stirling vs. Brendson Ribeiro
Michael Johnson vs. Nasrat Haqparast
Joel Alvarez vs. Fares Ziam
Sean Woodson vs. Chepe Mariscal
Felipe Lima vs. Cody Gibson
Davey Grant vs. Serhey Sidey


The Losers
Colby Covington vs. Geoff Neal
Billy Quarantillo vs. Jonathan Pearce
Bruno Silva vs. Nyamjargal Tumendemberel
Vitor Petrino vs. Ozzy Diaz
Adrian Yanez vs. Aori Quileng
Ottman Azaitar vs. Jamie Mullarkey
Drakkar Klose vs. Rafa Garcia
Fernando Padilla vs. Yi Zha
Miles Johns vs. Cody Stamann
Ramon Taveras vs. Chad Anheliger


The Cull
Cub Swanson - go out on a high
Tuco Tokkos
 
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