Last Saturday the UFC took the stage in the nation’s capital, Washington DC. A night filled with rare submissions, controversy, and last-second knockouts. Jairzinho Rozenstruik knocked out Alistair Overeem with about four seconds left in the main event. There were also two majority draws on the card. One being Cynthia Calvillo and Marina Rodriguez and the other being Song Yadong and Cody Stamann. Today we take a deeper look into what should come next for these fighter’s careers.
Jairzinho Rozenstruik
Rozenstruik has been very outgoing with his eagerness to fight Francis Ngannou next. This comes as somewhat of a let down because the UFC is currently looking to book a fight between Ngannou and Alexander Volkov. If this fight doesn’t come to fruition, it would be great to see Rozenstruik vs. Ngannou. Waiting for the winner of this fight could be the best decision for him to make since the top of the heavyweight division is tied up for the early part of 2020. Derrick Lewis will be fighting Ilir Latifi at UFC 247. Curtis Blaydes will also be fighting Junior Dos Santos in the main event of UFC Raleigh. With Daniel Cormier looking to get a third fight with the champion Stipe Miocic next, this leaves only a rematch with Alistair Overeem or the winner of one of these fights. With JDS fighting Curtis Blaydes on January 25th, waiting for the winner of that fight is most likely the best option as their next fight will line up to Rozenstruik’s next fight timeline.
Rozenstruik’s Next Fight: Winner of JDS-Blaydes
Rob Font
Font won an impressive unanimous decision win over Ricky Simon this past Saturday. He now holds wins over Simon, Sergio Pettis, Thomas Almedia, and Douglas Silva de Andrade in the bantamweight division. Although Simon isn’t ranked at bantamweight, this win should still push him forward a few spots. With a good five-month fight camp prior to DC, he should be looking for a March-April return. There has been talk this past week that Cody Garbrandt will be making his return around that same time frame. The striking match-up between Font and Garbrandt would be one for the ages. Especially with Garbrandt having a crazy amount of power, with his stand and bang type of style. Against Font, who has more of a controlled and calculated striking skillset.
Font’s Next Fight: Cody Garbrandt
Bryce Mitchell
Bryce Mitchell was able to pull off an extremely rare submission in a twister this past weekend against Matt Sayles. This would be only the second time we have seen a twister pulled off inside the UFC octagon. Mitchell was able to do this, even with Sayles missing weight for their scheduled featherweight bout. This fight, along with his immense amount of marketability should push Mitchell into getting a top 15 fight next. A good idea would be submission artist Ryan Hall. With Mitchell now bursting on the scene with an unheard of submission, what better fight than with a grappling master for his next outing?
Mitchell’s Next Fight: Ryan Hall
Upcoming In The UFC
Up next for the UFC is UFC 245 this Saturday on December 14th. This PPV card will unfold at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Headlined by welterweight champion Kamaru Usman and challenger Colby Covington, it also features title fights between Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski, plus Amanda Nunes and Germaine de Randamie.
