#12 Derrick Lewis vs #11 Jairzinho Rozenstruik - Do this now, no explanation.
#15 Rodrigo Nascimento vs Karl Williams - If this doesn't show you the lack of depth in the UFC HW division, I'm not sure what does. Rodrigo Nascimento lost tonight by TKO by the one and only Derrick Lewis, but he looked very sloppy. Karl Williams is a wrestle heavy fighter who is on a 3 fight wining streak, he does have some iffy moments between his fights but nevertheless he's 3-0 and seeing as there isn't anyone else deserving for a #15 ranked matchup, let's just give it to Karl Williams and see what happens.
#11 Joaquin Buckley vs #6 Gilbert Burns - The more I think about I believe Sean Brady is gonna be out a little longer than I thought, this is the fight to make without a doubt. This could headline a fight night infant of a crowd and would be such fun. The sad part is that if Burns does lose this fight, he's about done with his career, he is almost 38 years of age and I don't see much after this if he loses this matchup. Buckley is so explosive but he did do a couple takedowns tonight, some takedowns against Burns isn't the best idea so I'm curious to see the standup, what a fight this would be!
Nursulton Ruziboev vs Jeremiah Wells - Ruziboev did not look good tonight, I saw a lot of prediction saying they thought he would be able to finish Buckley tonight, and although he had a couple of close knees to Buckley's face, nothing seemed to hit and he just looked very off. Now I'm not sure if the performance had to do with the weight cut but he did fight at 170 before, although this was on a bit of a short notice. Well's was supposed to fight at UFC 302 against Niko Price but had to pull out, so I'm sure he's looking to get in a little later in the year. Well's is a bit similar to Buckley as he's a short stocky fighter who packs a huge punch. Would be interesting to see how this goes but I think this is more of a bounce back for Ruziboev more than anything.
Carlos Ulberg vs #4 Jan Błachowicz - Matching Ulberg up is pretty hard, considering the 205 division is kind of a small mess.#6 Krylov isn't booked but I believe for some reason their gonna make him vs Azamat. So that leaves us with #4 Jan Błachowicz who hasn't fought in close to a year, was supposed to fight at UFC 297 against Rakic but had to undergo surgery. Ulberg is young still only 33, but Jan is 41 now. If Ulberg can go out there and finish Jan, he could be very close to a title shot, but if Jan wins he's right back where he wants to be, having lose by split decision to the champion, he has some unfinished history if he get's a win here.
#11 Alonzo Menifield vs #15 Ryan Spann - Poor Alonzo tonight, got knocked out in 12 seconds. Probably not the result he was looking to get. At the age of 36 there doesn't seem to much for him up the rankings, although there is a fight that could be possibly made within the rankings if Spann is still ranked after Ulberg arrives in the rankings, and that's Ryan Spann. Ryan Superman Spann is an interesting fighter to say the least. Going from Knocking out Dominick Reyes (welcome to the club) to losing 3 straight to Krylov by submission, Smith by split decision and now Bogdan by KO. If he doesn't get a win here I think his time in the UFC would probably be over.
Diego Ferreira vs Drew Dober - Diego looked amazing tonight, his durability and recovery to overcome the knockdown he took in the first round to come back from grappling reversals and great striking was surely something to watch. These 2 were supposed to matchup in October of 2020 but Diego was forced out of the matchup, these 2 are 16 and 17 in Lightweight Unranked Rankings in my opinion, this would be such a fun fight for the fans, please let it be Infront of a crowd and not Infront of an empty UFC Apex rented out by Zuckerberg!
Mateusz Rębecki vs Joaquim Silva - Rebecki certainly didn't perform to his standards whatsoever tonight, as a huge betting favorite he looked great in the first round and that slowly disappeared as the seconds on the clock ticked off. This loss hurts him like no other because not only was he on the cusp of the ranking as he was supposed to fight Joel Alvarez, he got placed with a short notice replacement in Diego Ferreira who dominated him as soon as the 2nd round started. I think at the age of 31 turning 32, Rebecki doesn't have to many options but I do think a tough fight with Joaquim Silva lies ahead of him. I think this would be a pretty fun matchup for the fans and I could see either man getting a very solid win, although the loser is looking at the job to fight oncoming prospects.
Sean Woodson vs #12 Bryce Mitchell - Amazing callout by Woodson after he took home the win tonight in an Unanimous decision. (30-27 is crazy) Woodson's long frame is a difficult fight for any fighter, although I wonder how it would do against a Bryce Mithcell who loves to grapple and once he gets you down, you're in trouble. Not much to say about this matchup as it kind of writes it self with the callout, Will Bryce get Woodson down or will Woodson's frame be to much for Bryce?
Alex Caceres vs Youssef Zalal - Caceres had a very impressive fight despite the loss, if you want you could've even given him the nod tonight on the scorecards. Although at 35, he isn't getting any younger, I think it's time for him to take the role of checking the young prospects in the game, and next up for him is Zalal. Zalal recently returned to the UFC and captured a win against tough and griity fighter, Billy Quarantillo. Zalal started his UFC career going 3-0 then would finish out 3-3-1 and got released. He even fought Topuria and Sean Woodson, who Alex lost to tonight. I think this is a solid fight to see if Zalal can keep going up in competition or if Alex can maybe make a breakthrough and stand his ground.
Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs #10 Tai Tuivasa - Waldo played it the smart way and grappled his way to victory, but I must say, the chin on this man is crazy, the fact he ate some of the shots of Despaigne and even ate a front kick to the face for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner is crazy! He now sits at 5-1, and has fought 6 times in a year and a half, which is very impressive. His only loss is to current #14 ranked Marcos Rogerio De Lima where he got his legs chewed up for the first 2 rounds very badly but found the strength to come back in the 3rd round and win it despite losing 29-28. Tai is now on a 4 fight losing streak, all by finish, he is a fan favorite but it's time for him to fight someone who isn't ranked. Waldo is a show boater and seems to love to do it and I don't mind it. Tai is a fan favorite who will stand and bang and that's all he wants to do, he does have some sneaky leg kicks that he never wants to throw. I would love for this fight to take place at Perth, possibly a main card fight, can Waldo break into the rankings or will Tai lose for a 5th time in a row and possible face a UFC release?
Robelis Despaigne vs Austen Lane - What a sad showing from Despaigne, although I must say I am not surprised. The man showed 0 grappling skills and looked terrible, I get grappling isn't his style but this is MMA, expect the completely expected. Despaigne is going to be 36 this summer and the UFC wanted to for sure push him up as fast as they could but he couldn't live up to the expectations, I think it's kind of done for him because of the age factor, although given the fact that Heavyweights usually can last longer in-terms of age, a prospect being 36 isn't ideal, especially with the fact he has no grappling. I think you could feed him to the wolves or give him a favorable matchup if there is any, and I think there is 1. That is being Austen Lane, a tall lanky fighter with a very chinny chin, who has been Knocked out back to back in his only 2 fights in the UFC, the only problem for Despaigne is that Lane has a bit of grappling so that should be interesting, but Lane is also a very tall guy so, this could either end in a 1st round KO for Despainge or we could see another boring grappling fest, but if the UFC wants Despaigne still, this is the matchup in my opinion.
Esteban Ribovics vs Chase Hooper - What a performance by both men, Ribovics with a first round head kick knockout, and Chase Hooper with an absolute dominant performance by dropping his opponent Borshchev, which I can say no one had on their bingo ticket. He eventually picked up a round 2 submission. Both men took literally no damage whatsoever, and I would say that they both sit around 20-25 within lightweight now. Hooper is only 24 as Ribovics is 28, both very young prospects. Seeing as the UFC tried making Ribovics vs Elves Brener, they defiantly think highly of Ribovics. Both of these men are no doubt young prospects in the eyes of the UFC and you would be thinking, "Why match up 2 prospects against each other?" and I say to that, the UFC has done it all the time. Coming up at UFC 302 we have Tatsuro Taira vs Joshua Van, Taira being 24 and Van only 22. Taira being ranked and Van fighting for the chance to be ranked. No doubt in my mind the UFC would make a fight like this and after tonight, I would love to see it.
Terrance McKinney vs Viacheslav Borshchev - This one literally makes all the sense in the world, 2 fighters who just got absolutely destroyed and are gonna need a decent amount of time off, preferably 5-6 months, maybe we see both of these men in October or November. McKinney got knocked out cold by a head kick and Borshchev got dropped and absolutely got destroyed on the ground. These 2 men are standup fighters and love to show off for the crowd. I would try and explain it more but I feel like most of the fans would love to see this fight because someone is for sure going to sleep!
#11 Tabatha Ricci vs the Winner of #9 Luana Pinheiro vs #12 Angela Hill - Ricci won by split decision tonight against Tecia Pennington, very close fight and although I had Ricci winning barley, it could've been a coin toss so I didn't mind if the fight went to Pennington. Ricci is still very young but lacks anything technical, her striking is pretty bad as is her takedown entries, although she is not bad on the ground whatsoever. I think the winner of Hill vs Pinheiro is a pretty solid matchup for Ricci, and they'll be on similar time schedules as they fight need week.
Tecia Pennington vs #15 Karolina Kowalkiewicz - Tecia Pennington came off a very close fight against Ricci, coin toss of a fight in terms of who could've won on the scorecards. I think a matchup between Tecia and veteran Kowalkiewicz is a pretty solid matchup. Karolina doesn't have much fights in her before she leaves the sport and was just recently on a win streak before being dethroned from that. Should be a favorable matchup for both woman and seeing as Karolina fought last weekend and took a bit of damage and Tecia took a decent amount of damage to, it looks like both women can return at their own pace without having to rush into anything, possible at the end of the year but I think Tecia deserves another shot at the rankings, just nothing serious.
Trey Waters vs Trevin Giles - Very great showing from Trey Waters, also a very close fight in my opinion. I think we can all admit that Waters shows a decent amount of potential, his jab is quite good, but maybe anything looks that good at a staggering 6'5. The problem is that he is already 29, a bit older than I thought he was, I would like to push him up a little faster than usual but I think there should be 1 more test to see if he is truly ready, and that man is no other than Trevin Giles.
Billy Ray Goff vs Song Kenan - Goff's stock only went up tonight, even with a loss, that some people thought should be a win. His grit and durability is amazing, and the best part about it? He's only 25 years of age. This fight is not a gimmie fight whatsoever. Kenan has been around the block, still at a solid 5-4 record within the UFC (21-8 in total), he is not slump. Even almost finishing top prospect Ian Garry. I would love to see how Billy Ray Goff does against a tough Veteran of the sport in Kenan and see if he can snatch a win here or if Kenan can possibly pull another upset off and snatch a prospects win like he did with Rolando Bedoya. We shall see.
Charles Johnson vs Jafel Filho - Wow man, has Charles Johnson saved his career over the last 2 fights or what? All credit to him and I'm super happy for the guy. His boxing is super sharp but he does lack 1 thing, his grappling. He has some good moments of getting packed to his feet but we saw against Cody Durden that if someone has pretty decent grappling, he won't be able to get up. Someone who we have seen have great grappling is Jafel Filho, made his debut as a huge underdog against Mokaev and had him a dangerous and deep Kneebar, even Mokaev said his knee was destroyed from it. Filho's boxing is not bad but definitely not on Johnson's level. I would love to see how these 2 collide, the winner not doubt gets a top 15 in their next fight.
Jake Hadley vs Felipe Bunes - Hadley lost a hard fought fight tonight, you could argue it could've went to him, nevertheless, he did take the loss and is now 2-3 in the UFC and on a 2 fight losing streak. Bunes stepped in on short notice to face Bondar in January but Bondar pulled out and Van stepped in. Van went ahead and finished him in the 2nd round. Bunes at 34, is no young prospect and even holds an iffy 13-7 record. Jake Hadley is only 27, and I think this could be a bounce back fight for him. We shall see but I don't mind the matchup as Hadley is in a weird spot.
#15 Rodrigo Nascimento vs Karl Williams - If this doesn't show you the lack of depth in the UFC HW division, I'm not sure what does. Rodrigo Nascimento lost tonight by TKO by the one and only Derrick Lewis, but he looked very sloppy. Karl Williams is a wrestle heavy fighter who is on a 3 fight wining streak, he does have some iffy moments between his fights but nevertheless he's 3-0 and seeing as there isn't anyone else deserving for a #15 ranked matchup, let's just give it to Karl Williams and see what happens.
#11 Joaquin Buckley vs #6 Gilbert Burns - The more I think about I believe Sean Brady is gonna be out a little longer than I thought, this is the fight to make without a doubt. This could headline a fight night infant of a crowd and would be such fun. The sad part is that if Burns does lose this fight, he's about done with his career, he is almost 38 years of age and I don't see much after this if he loses this matchup. Buckley is so explosive but he did do a couple takedowns tonight, some takedowns against Burns isn't the best idea so I'm curious to see the standup, what a fight this would be!
Nursulton Ruziboev vs Jeremiah Wells - Ruziboev did not look good tonight, I saw a lot of prediction saying they thought he would be able to finish Buckley tonight, and although he had a couple of close knees to Buckley's face, nothing seemed to hit and he just looked very off. Now I'm not sure if the performance had to do with the weight cut but he did fight at 170 before, although this was on a bit of a short notice. Well's was supposed to fight at UFC 302 against Niko Price but had to pull out, so I'm sure he's looking to get in a little later in the year. Well's is a bit similar to Buckley as he's a short stocky fighter who packs a huge punch. Would be interesting to see how this goes but I think this is more of a bounce back for Ruziboev more than anything.
Carlos Ulberg vs #4 Jan Błachowicz - Matching Ulberg up is pretty hard, considering the 205 division is kind of a small mess.#6 Krylov isn't booked but I believe for some reason their gonna make him vs Azamat. So that leaves us with #4 Jan Błachowicz who hasn't fought in close to a year, was supposed to fight at UFC 297 against Rakic but had to undergo surgery. Ulberg is young still only 33, but Jan is 41 now. If Ulberg can go out there and finish Jan, he could be very close to a title shot, but if Jan wins he's right back where he wants to be, having lose by split decision to the champion, he has some unfinished history if he get's a win here.
#11 Alonzo Menifield vs #15 Ryan Spann - Poor Alonzo tonight, got knocked out in 12 seconds. Probably not the result he was looking to get. At the age of 36 there doesn't seem to much for him up the rankings, although there is a fight that could be possibly made within the rankings if Spann is still ranked after Ulberg arrives in the rankings, and that's Ryan Spann. Ryan Superman Spann is an interesting fighter to say the least. Going from Knocking out Dominick Reyes (welcome to the club) to losing 3 straight to Krylov by submission, Smith by split decision and now Bogdan by KO. If he doesn't get a win here I think his time in the UFC would probably be over.
Diego Ferreira vs Drew Dober - Diego looked amazing tonight, his durability and recovery to overcome the knockdown he took in the first round to come back from grappling reversals and great striking was surely something to watch. These 2 were supposed to matchup in October of 2020 but Diego was forced out of the matchup, these 2 are 16 and 17 in Lightweight Unranked Rankings in my opinion, this would be such a fun fight for the fans, please let it be Infront of a crowd and not Infront of an empty UFC Apex rented out by Zuckerberg!
Mateusz Rębecki vs Joaquim Silva - Rebecki certainly didn't perform to his standards whatsoever tonight, as a huge betting favorite he looked great in the first round and that slowly disappeared as the seconds on the clock ticked off. This loss hurts him like no other because not only was he on the cusp of the ranking as he was supposed to fight Joel Alvarez, he got placed with a short notice replacement in Diego Ferreira who dominated him as soon as the 2nd round started. I think at the age of 31 turning 32, Rebecki doesn't have to many options but I do think a tough fight with Joaquim Silva lies ahead of him. I think this would be a pretty fun matchup for the fans and I could see either man getting a very solid win, although the loser is looking at the job to fight oncoming prospects.
Sean Woodson vs #12 Bryce Mitchell - Amazing callout by Woodson after he took home the win tonight in an Unanimous decision. (30-27 is crazy) Woodson's long frame is a difficult fight for any fighter, although I wonder how it would do against a Bryce Mithcell who loves to grapple and once he gets you down, you're in trouble. Not much to say about this matchup as it kind of writes it self with the callout, Will Bryce get Woodson down or will Woodson's frame be to much for Bryce?
Alex Caceres vs Youssef Zalal - Caceres had a very impressive fight despite the loss, if you want you could've even given him the nod tonight on the scorecards. Although at 35, he isn't getting any younger, I think it's time for him to take the role of checking the young prospects in the game, and next up for him is Zalal. Zalal recently returned to the UFC and captured a win against tough and griity fighter, Billy Quarantillo. Zalal started his UFC career going 3-0 then would finish out 3-3-1 and got released. He even fought Topuria and Sean Woodson, who Alex lost to tonight. I think this is a solid fight to see if Zalal can keep going up in competition or if Alex can maybe make a breakthrough and stand his ground.
Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs #10 Tai Tuivasa - Waldo played it the smart way and grappled his way to victory, but I must say, the chin on this man is crazy, the fact he ate some of the shots of Despaigne and even ate a front kick to the face for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner is crazy! He now sits at 5-1, and has fought 6 times in a year and a half, which is very impressive. His only loss is to current #14 ranked Marcos Rogerio De Lima where he got his legs chewed up for the first 2 rounds very badly but found the strength to come back in the 3rd round and win it despite losing 29-28. Tai is now on a 4 fight losing streak, all by finish, he is a fan favorite but it's time for him to fight someone who isn't ranked. Waldo is a show boater and seems to love to do it and I don't mind it. Tai is a fan favorite who will stand and bang and that's all he wants to do, he does have some sneaky leg kicks that he never wants to throw. I would love for this fight to take place at Perth, possibly a main card fight, can Waldo break into the rankings or will Tai lose for a 5th time in a row and possible face a UFC release?
Robelis Despaigne vs Austen Lane - What a sad showing from Despaigne, although I must say I am not surprised. The man showed 0 grappling skills and looked terrible, I get grappling isn't his style but this is MMA, expect the completely expected. Despaigne is going to be 36 this summer and the UFC wanted to for sure push him up as fast as they could but he couldn't live up to the expectations, I think it's kind of done for him because of the age factor, although given the fact that Heavyweights usually can last longer in-terms of age, a prospect being 36 isn't ideal, especially with the fact he has no grappling. I think you could feed him to the wolves or give him a favorable matchup if there is any, and I think there is 1. That is being Austen Lane, a tall lanky fighter with a very chinny chin, who has been Knocked out back to back in his only 2 fights in the UFC, the only problem for Despaigne is that Lane has a bit of grappling so that should be interesting, but Lane is also a very tall guy so, this could either end in a 1st round KO for Despainge or we could see another boring grappling fest, but if the UFC wants Despaigne still, this is the matchup in my opinion.
Esteban Ribovics vs Chase Hooper - What a performance by both men, Ribovics with a first round head kick knockout, and Chase Hooper with an absolute dominant performance by dropping his opponent Borshchev, which I can say no one had on their bingo ticket. He eventually picked up a round 2 submission. Both men took literally no damage whatsoever, and I would say that they both sit around 20-25 within lightweight now. Hooper is only 24 as Ribovics is 28, both very young prospects. Seeing as the UFC tried making Ribovics vs Elves Brener, they defiantly think highly of Ribovics. Both of these men are no doubt young prospects in the eyes of the UFC and you would be thinking, "Why match up 2 prospects against each other?" and I say to that, the UFC has done it all the time. Coming up at UFC 302 we have Tatsuro Taira vs Joshua Van, Taira being 24 and Van only 22. Taira being ranked and Van fighting for the chance to be ranked. No doubt in my mind the UFC would make a fight like this and after tonight, I would love to see it.
Terrance McKinney vs Viacheslav Borshchev - This one literally makes all the sense in the world, 2 fighters who just got absolutely destroyed and are gonna need a decent amount of time off, preferably 5-6 months, maybe we see both of these men in October or November. McKinney got knocked out cold by a head kick and Borshchev got dropped and absolutely got destroyed on the ground. These 2 men are standup fighters and love to show off for the crowd. I would try and explain it more but I feel like most of the fans would love to see this fight because someone is for sure going to sleep!
#11 Tabatha Ricci vs the Winner of #9 Luana Pinheiro vs #12 Angela Hill - Ricci won by split decision tonight against Tecia Pennington, very close fight and although I had Ricci winning barley, it could've been a coin toss so I didn't mind if the fight went to Pennington. Ricci is still very young but lacks anything technical, her striking is pretty bad as is her takedown entries, although she is not bad on the ground whatsoever. I think the winner of Hill vs Pinheiro is a pretty solid matchup for Ricci, and they'll be on similar time schedules as they fight need week.
Tecia Pennington vs #15 Karolina Kowalkiewicz - Tecia Pennington came off a very close fight against Ricci, coin toss of a fight in terms of who could've won on the scorecards. I think a matchup between Tecia and veteran Kowalkiewicz is a pretty solid matchup. Karolina doesn't have much fights in her before she leaves the sport and was just recently on a win streak before being dethroned from that. Should be a favorable matchup for both woman and seeing as Karolina fought last weekend and took a bit of damage and Tecia took a decent amount of damage to, it looks like both women can return at their own pace without having to rush into anything, possible at the end of the year but I think Tecia deserves another shot at the rankings, just nothing serious.
Trey Waters vs Trevin Giles - Very great showing from Trey Waters, also a very close fight in my opinion. I think we can all admit that Waters shows a decent amount of potential, his jab is quite good, but maybe anything looks that good at a staggering 6'5. The problem is that he is already 29, a bit older than I thought he was, I would like to push him up a little faster than usual but I think there should be 1 more test to see if he is truly ready, and that man is no other than Trevin Giles.
Billy Ray Goff vs Song Kenan - Goff's stock only went up tonight, even with a loss, that some people thought should be a win. His grit and durability is amazing, and the best part about it? He's only 25 years of age. This fight is not a gimmie fight whatsoever. Kenan has been around the block, still at a solid 5-4 record within the UFC (21-8 in total), he is not slump. Even almost finishing top prospect Ian Garry. I would love to see how Billy Ray Goff does against a tough Veteran of the sport in Kenan and see if he can snatch a win here or if Kenan can possibly pull another upset off and snatch a prospects win like he did with Rolando Bedoya. We shall see.
Charles Johnson vs Jafel Filho - Wow man, has Charles Johnson saved his career over the last 2 fights or what? All credit to him and I'm super happy for the guy. His boxing is super sharp but he does lack 1 thing, his grappling. He has some good moments of getting packed to his feet but we saw against Cody Durden that if someone has pretty decent grappling, he won't be able to get up. Someone who we have seen have great grappling is Jafel Filho, made his debut as a huge underdog against Mokaev and had him a dangerous and deep Kneebar, even Mokaev said his knee was destroyed from it. Filho's boxing is not bad but definitely not on Johnson's level. I would love to see how these 2 collide, the winner not doubt gets a top 15 in their next fight.
Jake Hadley vs Felipe Bunes - Hadley lost a hard fought fight tonight, you could argue it could've went to him, nevertheless, he did take the loss and is now 2-3 in the UFC and on a 2 fight losing streak. Bunes stepped in on short notice to face Bondar in January but Bondar pulled out and Van stepped in. Van went ahead and finished him in the 2nd round. Bunes at 34, is no young prospect and even holds an iffy 13-7 record. Jake Hadley is only 27, and I think this could be a bounce back fight for him. We shall see but I don't mind the matchup as Hadley is in a weird spot.
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