#3 Robert Whittaker vs #4 Nassourdine Imavov - Gotta feel happy for Robert Whittaker tonight. What a knock out! I think he is 1 fight away from a title shot, the only reason I don't think he deserves one right now is because he has 2 loses to Izzy and 1 loss to Dricus. So the history is there but it has to be well worth it for the UFC to make a rematch for Robert, I think if he can get by Imavov then he is surely next.
Ikram Aliskerov vs Abus Magomedov - Very though loss for Ikram today, knocked out by Bobby Knuckles. These 2 men were once big hyped up prospects who got huge jump up in competition as people thought they were the next serious thing but both got stopped by the top 5 within their division. Fight makes all the sense in the world.
#3 Alexander Volkov vs the Winner of (IC) Tom Aspinall vs #5 Curtis Blaydes - Volkov is now on a 4 fight winning streak, 3 by finish and this fight is just as impressive as he simply out classed the man everyone feared in the division. Volkov has faced both of these men before the winning streak and lost to both. He lost to Tom by first round submission and Blaydes by 5 round decision. I do believe that Jon Jones will retire after his fight with Stipe and I think Volkov should be the first title defense for the winner of this fight assuming they unify the belt.
#4 Sergei Pavlovich vs the Winner of #8 Marcin Tybura vs #9 Serghei Spivac - Wow Sergei was absolutely out classed tonight, couldn't get anything to land. He is still young for the HW division as he is only 32. Pavlovich should face the winner of Tybura vs Spivac next as they face off in August, also gives Pavlovich time to recover and rest because he did take a ton of damage tonight. If Tybura wins that will be a 2 figh winning streak and if Spivac wins it gives him a 2nd chance at a top 5 opponent.
Kelvin Gastelum vs Bruno Silva - Gastelum got it done tonight but we can't ignore the crazy weight issues with him. I personally don't think he will ever be able to make 170 again. I think him staying at 185 is probably gonna be go to weight class for Kelvin from now on. He says he wants to be a company man and stay in the UFC forever. I think him against Bruno Silva is a fun fight at 185. Bruno just fought legend Chris Weidman and lost by a controversial eye poke that was deemed TKO then changed to a technical unanimous decision. This would be a great standup fight at the end of the year, but also to see if Kelvin still has it at 185.
Daniel Rodriguez vs Nicholas Dalby 2 - It is so crazy to me that Dalby is performing at this high of a level at 39 years of age, this is crazy to me! Unfortunately for Dalby today he lost by split decision but he always brings the fight and is a super fun entertainer. As he turns 40 years old later this year I really only want to see him take fights against veterans for the rest of his career. The perfect fight to make is him vs DROD. Both took Loses tonight, very close fights, older guys of the division and will for sure bring such a fun fight in front of a crowd.
Shara "Bullet" Magomedov vs Cesar Almeida - There is a weird issue with Shara Bullet that a decent amount of people might not know. Because of his eye, he can't get sanctioned to fight in the USA to my knowledge. That's why his first 2 fights have been in the Middle East since joining the UFC. Nonetheless getting back on track, Shara Bullet got the win tonight against Trocoli by 3rd round TKO. It wasn't a bad performance at all, he needs to improve his grappling without a doubt but that's expected from someone who just loves to kickbox. He is only 30 years of old so he is super young, so let's give him someone who will literally refuse to go to the ground and is a former kick boxing champion, Cesar Almeida. I think this fight in Abu Dhabi is a fun one before we really start to test Shara Bullet with better competition.
Antonio Trocoli vs Warlley Alves - My upmost respect for Trocoli stepping in on short notice, despite having to go through a weight cut in back to back weeks, he still did it. He lost this fight by 3rd round TKO by he still deserves some respect. Alves is 0-2 at middleweight since making the transition from welterweight, he is 8-8 overall in the UFC and is on a 3 fight losing streak. Both of these men needs a win badly, especially considering this is Trocoli's first fight in 3 years, all the way back in November of 2021.
#7 Volkan Oezdemir vs #5 Aleksandar Rakić 2 - Oezdemir now on a 2 fight winning streak both by first round finish. Glad to see because he truly is a fun fighter and a humble one. Oezdemir said he only wants opponents above him in the rankings, and a fighter who he has a win against and who is currently above him is Aleksandar Rakić. These 2 fought back in 2019 and Oezdemir sneaked by with a split decision victory, although LOTS and I mean LOTS of people thought he lost. This would be a great fight to make and see if Rakic can get win back against a well deserved fighter coming for the Top 5.
#8 Johnny Walker vs #13 Dominick Reyes - Poor Johnny Walker, his chin is quite honestly gone and it sucks to see. Almost every hard shot he takes he gets wobbled pretty badly. He suffered a KO loss in the beginning of the year against Magomed now this in June. He is on a 2 fight losing streak both by KO. I think a fight with Reyes is perfect and not sure why I've never thought about it before. Reyes says he wants a bit of time off and Walker is gonna need that regardless. This is a great fight to make at the end of the year.
Nasrat Haqparast vs Fares Ziam - Nasrat got the nod on the scorecards tonight and I will say that his striking is quite fun to watch but he still needs to improve, besides that he is now on a 4 fight winning streak and really has turned around his career. Ziam is on a 3 fight winning streak and is 5-1 in his last 6. I think the winner of this fight could be looking at a ranked opponent and the best part about it is how young they still are and how much they can still improve. Nasrat is 28 and Ziam is 27.
Jared Gordon vs Terrance McKinney - Great showing from Jared Gordon, he is someone is pretty known from the whole Paddy Pimblett fight and decision but he came back from that and got a KO against Mark Madsen then went into this fight against Nasrat and held his ground and lost by split decision, could've went to Gordon. I think Jared has earned fun fights for the rest of his career, don't think he's someone you can feed to the prospects of the 155 division. I think a fight between Gordon and McKinney would be fireworks for as long as it lasted, Terrance just lost by first round head kick KO and is gonna need some time off and so is Jared Gordon after this fight as he took a decent amount of damage.
Felipe Lima vs Miles Johns - Holy crap Felipe Lima is something serious. This kid might be the real deal, only 25 years old, took the fight on short notice up an entire weight class against someone who was only about 1 win away from a ranked opponent, crazy! Lima is a 135er who came out guns blazing today and got the 3rd round submission. I think a fight waiting for him at 135 is Miles Johns who is 6-2 in the UFC and is on a 3 fight winning streak (not including the no contest vs Argueta) I honestly think Lima is only 2 more wins away from a ranked opponent and I think Miles Johns is a great test to see how he does when he comes back down to 135.
Muhammad Naimov vs Melsik Baghdasaryan - All respect to Naimov taking Lima and not deciding to just not fight. Naimov is 3-1 in the UFC now and I say despite losing, he still had a fun fight and I think the smart move is just to rebook the fight against Melsik who was the original opponent for Naimov on this card today. Melsik had a torn Labrum, so by the time Naimov is good to go, so should Melsik. Definitely a fight to rebook for the later quarter of the year.
Rinat Fakhretdinov vs #12 Neil Magny - Rinat is still undefeated in the UFC, despite having a draw with Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos. Rinat is a fun fighter there is no doubt about that but he does struggle and does have flaws, most noticeably his gas tank. I think he is ready for a ranked fighter and Neil Magny is the perfect fighter to test him and welcome him to the rankings. Magny beat prospect Mike Malott in comeback fashion at UFC 297 by getting a 3rd round TKO with about 40 seconds left after being down 2 rounds. I think this is the perfect fight to see if Rinat is truly ready for the next step.
Muin Gafurov vs Gaston Bolanos - Good for Muin to get his first UFC win after suffering 2 prior defeats within the promotion. At only 27 years old he came out today trying to keep his job and although he had some shaky moments in the grappling department, he for sure had some pretty good striking and combinations on the feet, and the leg kicks.... oh my the leg kicks... I think Gafurov should get another UFC fighter who is 1-2 in the UFC in Bolanos. Bolanos has some underrated striking but in a similar spot as Gafurov, I still think this could be a loser goes home fight as both men sit at 1-2 in the UFC and the loser would drop to 1-3.
Kyung Ho Kang vs Bekzat Almakhan - Kang looked pretty terrible tonight, he is now 36 years old and looked exhausted tonight, and to add onto that his striking defense was terrible today. Although all of that he is still 8-5 in the UFC which is still a respectable record. I think him taking on prospect Bekzat is a perfect fight for both men. Bekzat is 0-1 and had his debut earlier this year against Umar and even dropped him but he struggled with the grappling which could be very intriguing for Kang.
Magomed Gadzhiyasulov vs Kennedy Nzechukwu - An Okish showing from Magomed today, not the best debut opening for a contender series fighter, especially as a -340 favorite but he got the job done at the end of the day. Still only 30, he is extremely young for the LHW division. I think a fight against a taller fighter in Nzechukwu would be a great second fight for him. Kennedy is 6'5 with an crazy 83 inch reach, once a prospect people interested to see how he did with the top 5, now has lost 2 in a row to Jacoby and OSP. A win for either man brings them closer to just outside the rankings.
Brendson Ribeiro vs Ion Cutelaba - Not the best showing for Ribeiro in the 2nd UFC fight of his career. He did although look good for the majority of the 1st round but other than that it was pretty much controlled by his opponent. He is now 0-2 in the UFC and despite still being young, he is going to need a win sooner or later to keep his job in the UFC. A veteran of the 205 division is someone like Ion Cutelaba, he holds a non-impressive 6-9-1 record in the UFC and can only lose so much more before he eventually gets the boot as well. Both of these men are entertaining so let's see what they can do against each other and who can get on track.
Chang Ho Lee vs Kleydson Rodrigues- Definitely not the most entertaining fight but nonetheless, Chang Ho Lee comes out with the win by split decision. Lee landed a ton of knees in the clinch that no doubt had a lot of impact in the judges decision. Road to UFC winners usually get handed layups in their debuts so I see the UFC simply giving Ho Lee a bottom of the barrel UFC fighter at the 135 division to see where he stands, especially after an iffy fight by split decision today. Kleydson could actually be a dough debut for Lee... but there is only 1 way to find out.
Ikram Aliskerov vs Abus Magomedov - Very though loss for Ikram today, knocked out by Bobby Knuckles. These 2 men were once big hyped up prospects who got huge jump up in competition as people thought they were the next serious thing but both got stopped by the top 5 within their division. Fight makes all the sense in the world.
#3 Alexander Volkov vs the Winner of (IC) Tom Aspinall vs #5 Curtis Blaydes - Volkov is now on a 4 fight winning streak, 3 by finish and this fight is just as impressive as he simply out classed the man everyone feared in the division. Volkov has faced both of these men before the winning streak and lost to both. He lost to Tom by first round submission and Blaydes by 5 round decision. I do believe that Jon Jones will retire after his fight with Stipe and I think Volkov should be the first title defense for the winner of this fight assuming they unify the belt.
#4 Sergei Pavlovich vs the Winner of #8 Marcin Tybura vs #9 Serghei Spivac - Wow Sergei was absolutely out classed tonight, couldn't get anything to land. He is still young for the HW division as he is only 32. Pavlovich should face the winner of Tybura vs Spivac next as they face off in August, also gives Pavlovich time to recover and rest because he did take a ton of damage tonight. If Tybura wins that will be a 2 figh winning streak and if Spivac wins it gives him a 2nd chance at a top 5 opponent.
Kelvin Gastelum vs Bruno Silva - Gastelum got it done tonight but we can't ignore the crazy weight issues with him. I personally don't think he will ever be able to make 170 again. I think him staying at 185 is probably gonna be go to weight class for Kelvin from now on. He says he wants to be a company man and stay in the UFC forever. I think him against Bruno Silva is a fun fight at 185. Bruno just fought legend Chris Weidman and lost by a controversial eye poke that was deemed TKO then changed to a technical unanimous decision. This would be a great standup fight at the end of the year, but also to see if Kelvin still has it at 185.
Daniel Rodriguez vs Nicholas Dalby 2 - It is so crazy to me that Dalby is performing at this high of a level at 39 years of age, this is crazy to me! Unfortunately for Dalby today he lost by split decision but he always brings the fight and is a super fun entertainer. As he turns 40 years old later this year I really only want to see him take fights against veterans for the rest of his career. The perfect fight to make is him vs DROD. Both took Loses tonight, very close fights, older guys of the division and will for sure bring such a fun fight in front of a crowd.
Shara "Bullet" Magomedov vs Cesar Almeida - There is a weird issue with Shara Bullet that a decent amount of people might not know. Because of his eye, he can't get sanctioned to fight in the USA to my knowledge. That's why his first 2 fights have been in the Middle East since joining the UFC. Nonetheless getting back on track, Shara Bullet got the win tonight against Trocoli by 3rd round TKO. It wasn't a bad performance at all, he needs to improve his grappling without a doubt but that's expected from someone who just loves to kickbox. He is only 30 years of old so he is super young, so let's give him someone who will literally refuse to go to the ground and is a former kick boxing champion, Cesar Almeida. I think this fight in Abu Dhabi is a fun one before we really start to test Shara Bullet with better competition.
Antonio Trocoli vs Warlley Alves - My upmost respect for Trocoli stepping in on short notice, despite having to go through a weight cut in back to back weeks, he still did it. He lost this fight by 3rd round TKO by he still deserves some respect. Alves is 0-2 at middleweight since making the transition from welterweight, he is 8-8 overall in the UFC and is on a 3 fight losing streak. Both of these men needs a win badly, especially considering this is Trocoli's first fight in 3 years, all the way back in November of 2021.
#7 Volkan Oezdemir vs #5 Aleksandar Rakić 2 - Oezdemir now on a 2 fight winning streak both by first round finish. Glad to see because he truly is a fun fighter and a humble one. Oezdemir said he only wants opponents above him in the rankings, and a fighter who he has a win against and who is currently above him is Aleksandar Rakić. These 2 fought back in 2019 and Oezdemir sneaked by with a split decision victory, although LOTS and I mean LOTS of people thought he lost. This would be a great fight to make and see if Rakic can get win back against a well deserved fighter coming for the Top 5.
#8 Johnny Walker vs #13 Dominick Reyes - Poor Johnny Walker, his chin is quite honestly gone and it sucks to see. Almost every hard shot he takes he gets wobbled pretty badly. He suffered a KO loss in the beginning of the year against Magomed now this in June. He is on a 2 fight losing streak both by KO. I think a fight with Reyes is perfect and not sure why I've never thought about it before. Reyes says he wants a bit of time off and Walker is gonna need that regardless. This is a great fight to make at the end of the year.
Nasrat Haqparast vs Fares Ziam - Nasrat got the nod on the scorecards tonight and I will say that his striking is quite fun to watch but he still needs to improve, besides that he is now on a 4 fight winning streak and really has turned around his career. Ziam is on a 3 fight winning streak and is 5-1 in his last 6. I think the winner of this fight could be looking at a ranked opponent and the best part about it is how young they still are and how much they can still improve. Nasrat is 28 and Ziam is 27.
Jared Gordon vs Terrance McKinney - Great showing from Jared Gordon, he is someone is pretty known from the whole Paddy Pimblett fight and decision but he came back from that and got a KO against Mark Madsen then went into this fight against Nasrat and held his ground and lost by split decision, could've went to Gordon. I think Jared has earned fun fights for the rest of his career, don't think he's someone you can feed to the prospects of the 155 division. I think a fight between Gordon and McKinney would be fireworks for as long as it lasted, Terrance just lost by first round head kick KO and is gonna need some time off and so is Jared Gordon after this fight as he took a decent amount of damage.
Felipe Lima vs Miles Johns - Holy crap Felipe Lima is something serious. This kid might be the real deal, only 25 years old, took the fight on short notice up an entire weight class against someone who was only about 1 win away from a ranked opponent, crazy! Lima is a 135er who came out guns blazing today and got the 3rd round submission. I think a fight waiting for him at 135 is Miles Johns who is 6-2 in the UFC and is on a 3 fight winning streak (not including the no contest vs Argueta) I honestly think Lima is only 2 more wins away from a ranked opponent and I think Miles Johns is a great test to see how he does when he comes back down to 135.
Muhammad Naimov vs Melsik Baghdasaryan - All respect to Naimov taking Lima and not deciding to just not fight. Naimov is 3-1 in the UFC now and I say despite losing, he still had a fun fight and I think the smart move is just to rebook the fight against Melsik who was the original opponent for Naimov on this card today. Melsik had a torn Labrum, so by the time Naimov is good to go, so should Melsik. Definitely a fight to rebook for the later quarter of the year.
Rinat Fakhretdinov vs #12 Neil Magny - Rinat is still undefeated in the UFC, despite having a draw with Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos. Rinat is a fun fighter there is no doubt about that but he does struggle and does have flaws, most noticeably his gas tank. I think he is ready for a ranked fighter and Neil Magny is the perfect fighter to test him and welcome him to the rankings. Magny beat prospect Mike Malott in comeback fashion at UFC 297 by getting a 3rd round TKO with about 40 seconds left after being down 2 rounds. I think this is the perfect fight to see if Rinat is truly ready for the next step.
Muin Gafurov vs Gaston Bolanos - Good for Muin to get his first UFC win after suffering 2 prior defeats within the promotion. At only 27 years old he came out today trying to keep his job and although he had some shaky moments in the grappling department, he for sure had some pretty good striking and combinations on the feet, and the leg kicks.... oh my the leg kicks... I think Gafurov should get another UFC fighter who is 1-2 in the UFC in Bolanos. Bolanos has some underrated striking but in a similar spot as Gafurov, I still think this could be a loser goes home fight as both men sit at 1-2 in the UFC and the loser would drop to 1-3.
Kyung Ho Kang vs Bekzat Almakhan - Kang looked pretty terrible tonight, he is now 36 years old and looked exhausted tonight, and to add onto that his striking defense was terrible today. Although all of that he is still 8-5 in the UFC which is still a respectable record. I think him taking on prospect Bekzat is a perfect fight for both men. Bekzat is 0-1 and had his debut earlier this year against Umar and even dropped him but he struggled with the grappling which could be very intriguing for Kang.
Magomed Gadzhiyasulov vs Kennedy Nzechukwu - An Okish showing from Magomed today, not the best debut opening for a contender series fighter, especially as a -340 favorite but he got the job done at the end of the day. Still only 30, he is extremely young for the LHW division. I think a fight against a taller fighter in Nzechukwu would be a great second fight for him. Kennedy is 6'5 with an crazy 83 inch reach, once a prospect people interested to see how he did with the top 5, now has lost 2 in a row to Jacoby and OSP. A win for either man brings them closer to just outside the rankings.
Brendson Ribeiro vs Ion Cutelaba - Not the best showing for Ribeiro in the 2nd UFC fight of his career. He did although look good for the majority of the 1st round but other than that it was pretty much controlled by his opponent. He is now 0-2 in the UFC and despite still being young, he is going to need a win sooner or later to keep his job in the UFC. A veteran of the 205 division is someone like Ion Cutelaba, he holds a non-impressive 6-9-1 record in the UFC and can only lose so much more before he eventually gets the boot as well. Both of these men are entertaining so let's see what they can do against each other and who can get on track.
Chang Ho Lee vs Kleydson Rodrigues- Definitely not the most entertaining fight but nonetheless, Chang Ho Lee comes out with the win by split decision. Lee landed a ton of knees in the clinch that no doubt had a lot of impact in the judges decision. Road to UFC winners usually get handed layups in their debuts so I see the UFC simply giving Ho Lee a bottom of the barrel UFC fighter at the 135 division to see where he stands, especially after an iffy fight by split decision today. Kleydson could actually be a dough debut for Lee... but there is only 1 way to find out.
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