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Matches to make after Du Plessis vs Strickland 2

Anshul Jubli vs. Mohammad Yahya - Loser leaves UFC
Quillan Salkilld vs. Marquel Mederos - Both men won their UFC debuts. Let's see who makes it two straight.
Kevin Jousset vs. Francisco Prado - loser leaves UFC.
Jonathan Micallef vs. Jacobe Smith - Both men won their UFC debuts. Let's see who can make it two straight.
Kody Steele vs. Bolaji Oki - Rebound fight for both men.
Rong Zhu vs. Terrance McKinney - Both men coming off UFC wins. Good next step for both.
Colby Thicknesse vs. Cortavious Romious - Rebound fight for both men.
Aleksandre Topuria vs. Cody Haddon - Rebook the original fight. Wasn't that impressed with Topuria.
Bruna Brasil vs. Veronica Hardy - Rebound fight for both women coming off decision losses.
Wang Cong vs. Lauren Murphy - Weird fight I know but Cong despite her previous set back has looked good in the UFC. Would be interesting to see her against a veteran with a name next.
Viacheslav Borshchev vs. Daniel Zellhuber - Rebound fight for both men.
Tom Nolan vs. Mateusz Rębecki - Great win for Nolan. Think this is a good next step.
Jack Jenkins vs. Austin Bashi - Rebound fight for both men.
Gabriel Santos vs. Muhammad Naimov - Let's see who can continue to build on momentum.
Jake Matthews vs. Neil Magny - Reasonable call out by Jake. I'm definitely in for this.
Jimmy Crute vs. Rodolfo Bellato II - I think the move is to rebook this.
Justin Tafa vs. Thomas Petersen - Potential loser leaves UFC bout.
Tallison Teixeira vs. Junior Tafa - Good win for Tallison. Let's see how he does with the other Tafa.
Tatiana Suarez vs. Yan/Jandiroba loser - Tough night for Suarez. Good rebound fight for her.
Weili Zhang vs. Virna Jandiroba or Mackenzie Dern - Zhang needs a fresh challenger. Either she'll fight Virna (if she beats Yan) or I could see her fighting Dern.
Sean Strickland vs. Robert Whittaker - Feels like the fight to make for both men.
Dricus Du Plessis vs. Khamzat Chimaev or Nassourdine Imavov - Can see either of these men being the next challenge for Dricus. Not mad at either based on their last showings.
 
GibsterMMA said:
Dricus Du Plessis vs Khamzat Chimaev
Sean Strickland vs Allen/Hernandez winner
Weili Zhang vs Virna Jandiroba (with win)
Tatiana Suarez vs Mackenzie Dern
Tallison Teixeira vs Hamdy Abdelwahab
Justin Tafa vs Lukasz Brzeski
Rodolfo Bellato vs Marcin Prachnio
Jimmy Crute vs Vitor Petrino
Jake Matthews vs Neil Magny (callout)
Francisco Prado vs Ange Loosa
Gabriel Santos vs Julian Erosa
Jack Jenkins vs Morgan Charriere (with loss)
Tom Nolan vs Holobaugh/Hernandez winner
Viacheslav Borshchev vs MarQuel Mederos
Cong Wang vs Lee/Aldrich winner
Bruna Brasil vs Maryna Moroz
Aleksander Topuria vs Cody Haddon (rebook)
Colby Thicknesse vs Baergeng Jieleyisi
Rongzhu vs Guram Kutateladze
Kody Steele vs Mohammad Yahya
Jonathan Micallef vs Charles Radtke
Kevin Jousset vs Trevin Giles
Quillan Salkilld vs Yanal Ashmouz
Anshul Jubli vs Darrius Flowers
Click to expand...

rematch sean vs imamov, hopefully imamov has improved enough to finish sean this time.
 
Strickland has fought everyone. Take a year off and let some movement happen in the division. Use the time to add some new tools.
 
fortheo said:
Fiorot has been in line to fight valentina for like a year now. That's gotta happen first.
Click to expand...
You are probably right but it's a weird one since nobody can give Weili a competitive fight in her division. Maybe make Valentina vs Manon in the spring (April?) and the winner fights Weili in November/December. During that time maybe someone emerges that can fight Weili in her own division.
 
DDP vs Chimaev
Sean Strickland vs Adesanya 2 - Both are in a bit of a limbo and too expensive to fight no-names. It will headline a FN in a big city
Weili Zhang vs winner of Shevchenko vs Fiorot
Tatiana Suarez vs Lucindo
Tallison Teixeira vs Mario Pinto with a win
Justin Tafa vs Hamdi Abdelwahab
Rodolfo Bellato vs Bruno Lopes
Jimmy Crute vs Cutelaba - Loser gets cut
Jake Matthews vs Neil Magny - Why not but Magny is not ranked anymore
Francisco Prado vs Jousset - Prado needs a step-down, he is very green compared to guys like Matthews, and not another boxer
Gabriel Santos vs Kyle Nelson - A vet to understand where he stands
Jack Jenkins vs Bogdan Grad
Tom Nolan vs Joe Solecki
Borshchev vs Al Selwady
Cong Wang vs loser of Carnelossi vs Loma Lookboonme
Bruna Brasil vs Petrovic
Aleksander Topuria vs Bernardo Sopaj in an European (Spanish?) card
Colby Thicknesse vs Argueta - Loser gets cut
Rongzhu vs winner of Hernandez vs Holobaugh - Let him bang
Kody Steele vs Saltkid
Jonathan Micallef vs Jacobe Smith - Both are 1-0 and relatively good while Micallef has won 2 upsets in a row and Jacobe looks like a prospect
Anshul Jubli - Cut
 
TITS said:
I don't recognize half of these names and I haven't missed a UFC card in 8 years, including DWCS and TUF.
Click to expand...
I watch every event, every Saturday they are on. I have no clue who a good 75% of the roster is. Such a forgettable era of UFC we are in.
 
Reach Finesse said:
Sean vs Izzy
Click to expand...
Reasonable, but I would rather see them facing someone on a win-streak. I generally dislike when top fighters on losing streaks face each other instead of new blood.

When they face younger guys with momentum we will find out quicker where they stand in the division.

In LW for example, we have no idea how many other fighters would be able to beat Chandler, since he never has to fight down.
Likewise with Costa at MW who keeps getting other top guys despite losing.
 
As far as rankings shouldn't it be DDP vs Imanov? Wonderful striking battle
188912345 said:
He can be after Khamzat. Khamzat earned his shot before Imavov did. A travesty that we wasted another title shot on the Sean rematch, we shouldn't waste another one before we get to see DDP vs Khamzat.
Click to expand...
So now we have a two man backlog at MW? We got Khazamat and then Imnanov in that order? Yes, DDP is active but if we already have two MW's lined up that's over a year minimum, prob more like 2, before we have a non predictable title fight. No thanks. Not to mention if we have a split decision that demands a rematch like, oh idk....like what happened last night with Strickland.

Furthermore and a few things to consider:
- DDP has solid wrestling but is primarily a striker. Would you rather see an exciting title fight where two guys will engage in striking? Or a wrestlefuck party? The UFC has made it abundantly clear what they want. Look at the recent cuts. They want KO's.
- Danar loves Caio and fighting nerds. He's not gonna wait nearly two more years for a TS.
- Can Khazamat consistently have a clear visa? Imanov can.
- And the obvious and previously stated, Imanov is #2 and Khazmat is #3.

Need the pros opinion @BoxerMaurits
 
Kenny Powerth said:
As far as rankings shouldn't it be DDP vs Imanov? Wonderful striking battle

So now we have a two man backlog at MW? We got Khazamat and then Imnanov in that order? Yes, DDP is active but if we already have two MW's lined up that's over a year minimum, prob more like 2, before we have a non predictable title fight. No thanks. Not to mention if we have a split decision that demands a rematch like, oh idk....like what happened last night with Strickland.

Furthermore and a few things to consider:
- DDP has solid wrestling but is primarily a striker. Would you rather see an exciting title fight where two guys will engage in striking? Or a wrestlefuck party? The UFC has made it abundantly clear what they want. Look at the recent cuts. They want KO's.
- Danar loves Caio and fighting nerds. He's not gonna wait nearly two more years for a TS.
- Can Khazamat consistently have a clear visa? Imanov can.
- And the obvious and previously stated, Imanov is #2 and Khazmat is #3.

Need the pros opinion @BoxerMaurits
Click to expand...
I would say book DDP vs Khamzat, and then Imavov vs Caio to decide the next title-challenger
 
Kenny Powerth said:
As far as rankings shouldn't it be DDP vs Imanov? Wonderful striking battle

So now we have a two man backlog at MW? We got Khazamat and then Imnanov in that order? Yes, DDP is active but if we already have two MW's lined up that's over a year minimum, prob more like 2, before we have a non predictable title fight. No thanks. Not to mention if we have a split decision that demands a rematch like, oh idk....like what happened last night with Strickland.

Furthermore and a few things to consider:
- DDP has solid wrestling but is primarily a striker. Would you rather see an exciting title fight where two guys will engage in striking? Or a wrestlefuck party? The UFC has made it abundantly clear what they want. Look at the recent cuts. They want KO's.
- Danar loves Caio and fighting nerds. He's not gonna wait nearly two more years for a TS.
- Can Khazamat consistently have a clear visa? Imanov can.
- And the obvious and previously stated, Imanov is #2 and Khazmat is #3.

Need the pros opinion @BoxerMaurits
Click to expand...
Khamzat is undefeated and he's also the consensus tougher fight. Imavov did lose to Strickland about 2 years ago. Khamzat earned the titleshot before Imavov. Dana has said he will get the next shot, which he also said that he would get after he beat Usman. He also said he would get a WW titleshot after beating Burns. Dricus is more excited about facing Khamzat since he's the guy with the most hype around.

The one in recent years who never earned his titleshot was Strickland, before becoming a champ he never had wins over a top 5 opponent. He then got his rematch because he beat Costa on a losing streak and because his titlefight was close, but he had 0 defenses.

You can't say Khamzat is less exciting to watch than Imavov, if that's really your opinion you're definitely in the minority.

If they wanted KO's, they would have cut Strickland. They want fighters who people want to watch fight, either because of their fighting style or personalities or skills or Instagram followers. Also, the oil money guys would riot if Dana delayed Khamzats titleshot any longer. Remember, he's a very big draw for the Abu Dhabi and Saudi cards.

He also became a citizen of UAE, so it's very likely that his visa issues will be easier to handle now.

When there is a backlog of worthy contenders I doubt they would do a rematch if the champ lost. If Khamzat would be injured or something before his shot, Imavov can get the shot instead, no problem.

Why would Caio have to wait 2 years? Let's say they do Dricus vs Khamzat in June, Khamzat/DDP vs Imavov in October, Khamzat/DDP vs Caio (if he wins one more) in January or February. 1 year, not 2.
 
DDP vs Khamzat for the title
Imavov vs Bo Rayo for a title shot
Adesanya vs Strickland 2 to see who is still a contender and who is done
Whittaker vs Robocop if he beats Canonnier or the winner of Allen vs Fluffy
 
188912345 said:
Khamzat is undefeated and he's also the consensus tougher fight. Imavov did lose to Strickland about 2 years ago. Khamzat earned the titleshot before Imavov. Dana has said he will get the next shot, which he also said that he would get after he beat Usman. He also said he would get a WW titleshot after beating Burns. Dricus is more excited about facing Khamzat since he's the guy with the most hype around.

The one in recent years who never earned his titleshot was Strickland, before becoming a champ he never had wins over a top 5 opponent. He then got his rematch because he beat Costa on a losing streak and because his titlefight was close, but he had 0 defenses.

You can't say Khamzat is less exciting to watch than Imavov, if that's really your opinion you're definitely in the minority.

If they wanted KO's, they would have cut Strickland. They want fighters who people want to watch fight, either because of their fighting style or personalities or skills or Instagram followers. Also, the oil money guys would riot if Dana delayed Khamzats titleshot any longer. Remember, he's a very big draw for the Abu Dhabi and Saudi cards.

He also became a citizen of UAE, so it's very likely that his visa issues will be easier to handle now.

When there is a backlog of worthy contenders I doubt they would do a rematch if the champ lost. If Khamzat would be injured or something before his shot, Imavov can get the shot instead, no problem.

Why would Caio have to wait 2 years? Let's say they do Dricus vs Khamzat in June, Khamzat/DDP vs Imavov in October, Khamzat/DDP vs Caio (if he wins one more) in January or February. 1 year, not 2.
Click to expand...
Well said, sir.
 
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