UFC 246 took place on Saturday, January 18, 2020, at the T-mobile arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. In the main event, Conor McGregor was able to finish Donald Cerrone within the first minute of the first round. We Also witnessed slick submissions and the biggest underdog on the card, Roxanne Modafferi earn a unanimous decision win. Today we will take a look at what is next for the fighters of UFC 246.
Conor McGregor
Conor Mcgregor’s future has plenty of options following his first-round TKO victory over Donald Cerrone. Dana White spoke in the post-fight presser about how a rematch between McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov would be possibly the biggest fight in UFC history. McGregor’s return to lightweight is all but inevitable if he going after the title, but that doesn’t mean that is his only option. After the fight, McGregor got on the mic and called out both Jorge Masvidal and welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman. With his eyes set on staying at welterweight, his best option would be to fight the winner of Masvidal-Usman next, should that fight get made.
McGregor’s next fight: Winner of Usman-Masvidal
Aleksei Oleinik
Aleksei Oleinik submitted Maurice Green via armbar in the second round this past Saturday. Before the fight, Oleinik was ranked at number 12 in the heavyweight division. With a win against an unranked opponent, it’s unlikely that he jumps too far into the rankings. With that being said Oleinik is getting up there in age at 42 years old. If he is trying to make a run at the UFC title, now would be the time.
Another veteran that is trying to make a late run at the title is Alistair Overeem. Overeem was on a two-fight winning streak before he lost his last fight against Jairzinho Rozenstruik in the final seconds of their UFC DC main event. A fight that he was winning pretty much every round of. He also just defeated Oleinik in the first-round by TKO back in April of 2019. This could make for a very interesting rematch as both men are looking to get back into title contention. Overeem is 39 years old and is ranked at the number eight spot in the division.
Oleinik’s next fight: Alistair Overeem
Roxanne Modafferi
Roxanne Modafferi came into UFC 246 being the biggest underdog on the card. She quickly proved all the odds-makers wrong by dominating the entirety of the fight. Maycee Barber was looked at as a rising up and comer in her division with aspirations of becoming champion. Now that Modafferi has beat Barber, it is fair to say we should put Modafferi in the conversation for future titleholders. Jessica Eye just fought for the title in the past year and she also defeated Viviane Araujo after her title fight. Solidifying her number two ranking in the women’s flyweight division. With both Modafferi and Eye likely looking at the same timeline of return, it would be good to see these two up against each other for a possible number one contender fight.
Modafferi’s next fight: Jessica Eye
Who do you think these fighters should be fighting next? Let us know in the comments.
