UFC Vegas 5 was supposed to be Edmen Shahbazyan’s chance to break into the top tier of the middleweight division. Derek Bruson had other plans as he beat Shahbazyan via TKO in the third round of Saturday’s main event. Today we will be taking a look at what is next for the losers of UFC on ESPN+ 31.
Edmen Shahbazyan
Shahbazyan’s loss this past Saturday definitely derails his hype train but there is still a lot of interesting matchups for him inside the top 15. He came into this fight ranked number nine while Bruson was ranked number eight. An interesting fight to keep your eye on in the near future is Yoel Romaro vs. Uriah Hall. Both men are veterans of the UFC and would be great stylistic matchups for Shahbazyan. Romaro is currently ranked number five while Hall is ranked number 10. A good bet would be that Shahbazyan fights the loser of that fight.
Shahbazyan’s Next Fight: Loser of Uriah Hall vs. Yoel Romaro
Joanne Calderwood
Joanne Calderwood was in the number one contender spot and was in line to fight Valentina Shevchenko for the title. Shevchenko got hurt and instead of waiting Calderwood decided to take a fight against Jennifer Maia in the meantime. That fight did not go her way as Maia was able to submit Calderwood in the first round. Dana White said in the post-fight presser that Maia is likely going to get the next title shot. So it leaves one question, What is next for Joanna Calderwood?
Cynthia Calvillo just made her flyweight debut by defeating Jessica Eye back in June. That win pushed Calvillo all the way to a number two ranking in the flyweight division. Calderwood should be looking to fight Calvillo for another number one contender shot.
Calderwood’s Next Fight: Cynthia Calvillo
Randy Brown
Randy Brown was knocked out by Vicente Luque in the second round this past weekend. In a fight that was surely on its way to being fight of the night had it gone the distance. Since he was knocked out he will likely have some sort of medical suspension. So we likely won’t be seeing him fight untill the end of the year.
In the UFC’s last event on fight island, there were two very interesting welterweight fights to start the main card. Khamzat Chimaev turned himself into a star with a TKO win over Rhys McKee. While Alex Oliveira won a decision over Peter Sobotta. It is a little far fetched to think Brown will be matched up with Chimaev because Chimaev will probably fight two or three more times before Brown comes back. The most realistic opponent out of the remaining welterweights would be Rhys McKee. Dana White said in the post-fight presser that Rhys McKee is a great prospect and shouldn’t be overlooked because of his performance against Chimaev. With that being said stylistically Brown’s striking would match up great with the power of McKee.
Brown’s Next Fight: Rhys McKee
Lando Vannata
Lando Vannata lost a decision to Bobby Green this past weekend. Green was able to outstrike Vannata for three rounds. Keeping Vannata at bay with his jabs and overall doing more damage with his strikes. It would be great to see Vannata fight someone who would be willing to throw caution to the wind and brawl with him. The first name that comes to mind is Rafael Fiziev. A few weeks ago Fiziev won a decision over Marc Diakiese. A fight that displayed Fiziev’s master striking. Fiziev also showed that is was willing to brawl a little bit. As Diakiese was trying to outstrike Fiziev by counter striking, Fiziev was forced to be the aggressor for most of the fight.
Vannata’s Next Fight: Rafael Fiziev
