This week’s article looking at the winners from UFC Vegas 21 is notably thin. That’s thanks to the fact that the six bouts on the main card yielded just 4 winners. While I personally wouldn’t mind seeing rematches in both Edwards vs. Muhammad and Anders vs. Stewart fights, I think it’s more likely that we see all parties move on. Given that the UFC won’t be scrambling to put the fight together, Leon Edwards and Belal Muhammad will probably both fight people closer to their current rank. For Eryk Anders and Darren Stewart, at this point in their career, a rematch doesn’t do much for either’s trajectory.
So now, let’s take a look at some people who did actually win.
Ryan Spann
It didn’t take much time for Ryan Spann to get his hands going on Saturday. The Fortis MMA standout battered Misha Cirkunov from the earliest moments of the fight and finished him emphatically. Although this is the first fight since his loss to Johnny Walker, Spann still seems to have quite a bit of momentum behind him. With this clear of a victory, I imagine we see him against a top 10 opponent. Volkan Oezdemir doesn’t really like to waste time either – the early parts of a fight with Spann would be fun to watch for sure.
Ryan Spann’s Next Fight: Volkan Oezdemir
Dan Ige
With virtually no big knockouts on his record, Ige finally gave people a reason to call him “50k.” A violent finish of Gavin Tucker in mere seconds earned him a Performance of the Night bonus with no shadow of a doubt. However, one has to wonder how much it did for his placement in the division. Originally slatted to fight highly touted Ryan Hall, Ige’s win over unranked Tucker isn’t likely to launch him forward. As a result, I’d like to see him matched up with any of the killers with undefeated runs on the edges of the top 15. Movsar Evloev, Sodiq Yusuff, or even rebooking with Ryan Hall would all make sense. However, I think in terms of entertainment value, Ige vs Arnold Allen would be the most fun to watch.
Dan Ige’s Next Fight: Arnold Allen
Davey Grant
Often considered a grappler with a slew of submissions on his record, Grant has put together back-to-back KOs in violent fashion and has now won three straight. At 35-years old, he doesn’t have time to wait to climb a very stacked division. He needs another fighter like Jonathan Martinez to give him the type of fight that’ll gain exposure and test him. Who’s more like Martinez than close training partner Chris Gutierrez? Not only would he engage Grant in that same kind of fight, he’s also 4-0-1 in his last 5 and could help show if this Grant run is for real.
Davey Grant’s Next Fight: Chris Gutierrez
Matheus Nicolau
A lot of people in the media and on Twitter didn’t love the call from the judges on this one. Ultimately, they rewarded the volume of Nicolau over the power of Manel Kape in the third round for Nicolau to squeak out the victory. Although it wasn’t pretty, Nicolau already had a decent record in the UFC and had a number next to his name when he was released. As a result, he should pick up at least somewhere in the realm of where he was before. Tim Elliott just recently got back to his winning ways as well. Not only would he be a good test, but the grappling would be can’t-miss.
Matheus Nicolau’s Next Fight: Tim Elliott
