Aleksander Rakic defeated Anthony Smtih via unanimous decision in the main event of UFC Vegas 8. Ricardo Lamas competed for perhaps the final time in the UFC, or anywhere else for that matter. Today we will take a look at what is next for the winners of UFC Vegas 8.
Aleksander Rakic
After his decision win over number five ranked Anthony Smith, Aleksander Rakic told the press that he would like to get the next title shot. Dominick Reyes and Jan Blachowicz are set to fight for the vacant light heavyweight title on September 26. In addition, a light heavyweight number one contender fight is already set between Glover Teixeira and Thiago Santos for September 12. As a result of Reyes and Blachowicz fighting for the title and Santos and Teixeira fighting for number one contender, it only leaves a few options for Rakic.
The first option would be a rematch with Volkan Oezdemir. Rakic lost a very close split decision to Oezdemir back in December of 2019. The second option would be UFC newcomer Jiri Prochazka. Prochazka defeated Oezdemir in his UFC debut on July 12, 2020. For timeline purposes, it would seem that Rakic should fight Prochazka in his next bout.
Rakic’s Next Fight: Jiri Prochazka
Neil Magny
Neil Magny was able to win a unanimous decision win over Robbie Lawler at UFC Vegas 8. Magny was able to take Lawler down and dominate the fight there. Magny has a ton of options for his next fight after beating number 13 ranked Lawler. Great challenges for Magny would be number seven ranked Demian Maia, or number ten ranked Vicente Luque. It would also be great to see Rafael Dos Anjos take on Magny but RDA is already slated to take on Islam Makhachev at UFC 254 on October 24. Maia told MMA media in May that he doesn’t plan to retire just yet and will continue fighting.
Magny could look to avenge his 2015 submission loss to Demian Maia while also climbing the rankings. On the other hand, a fight against Luque could be the greatest striking challenge Magny will have ever faced. With that being said Maia is ranked higher and has a win over Magny making him Magny’s best-case scenario.
Magny’s Next Fight: Demian Maia
Alexa Grasso
This past weekend, Alexa Grasso was able to win a decision over number 14 ranked Ji Yeon Kim. Grasso was making her flyweight debut against Kim, and she certainly proved that her boxing can be very successful at flyweight. A great step up in competition for her would be Maycee Barber or the winner of Andrea Lee – Roxanne Modafferi. Barber says that she should be coming back from her injury towards the end of the year. While Lee vs Modafferi sits on September 12. A great time for Grasso to get back in the mix would be UFC 255 on November 21 because there are already two other flyweight fights already on that card. It would seem like that would be an optimal time for either of these options. With that being said, a fight against Barber would likely get a way bigger “sell” for Grasso’s next fight.
Grasso’s Next Fight: Maycee Barber
Ricardo Lamas
Ricardo Lamas won the Fight of the Night in his win over Bill Algeo this past Saturday. After his win, Lamas said that he didn’t know if he was going to retire or not, but the WEC vet was thinking about it. As a result, social media blew up debating whether Lamas should retire or not. Lamas is 38 years old and has been fighting professionally since 2008. He has 28 pro fights and has wins over Darren Elkins, Jason Knight, Charles Oliveira, and Diego Sanchez just to name a few. Lamas has had an extremely impressive career so he should feel no shame in retiring at this point.
Lamas Next Fight: Possible retirement
Who do you think these fighters should be fighting next? Let us know in the comments down below.
