A grand spectacle and triumphant moment for some, a rough night at the office for others. Such is fighting, and such is the outcome of UFC 290, that saw names like Yair Rodriguez and Brandon Moreno fall short on the night’s main card. What comes next? We delve into that here.
Yair Rodriguez
The featherweight title unification bout at UFC 290 saw Alexander Volkanovski defend his belt successfully as he completed a dismantling of Yair Rodriguez, finishing the interim champion in the third round. Rodriguez has already faced the two contenders behind him in the rankings, Max Holloway and Brian Ortega.
The Ortega fight ended due to an injury in the first round, meaning that fight could be remade in the future. For now, however, a fresh match-up is needed. The presumptive next title challenger is fifth-ranked Ilia Topuria, leaving only Arnold Allen for Yair’s next fight out of the top five featherweights.
Rodriguez’s Next Fight: Arnold Allen
Brandon Moreno
The flyweight crown changed heads on Saturday as Alexandre Pantoja defeated Brandon Moreno in a ‘Fight of the Year’ candidate. The fight was a close split decision, and the idea of an immediate rematch was floated by Dana White, but Pantoja now owns two wins over Moreno, three if you include their ‘Ultimate Fighter’ exhibition bout.
The next contenders up in the division are Brandon Royval and Amir Albazi. There are obstacles to a title shot for either man. Royval lost to the champ, Pantoja, by submission in 2021. Rematching such a lopsided fight so soon is not often done. As for Albazi, he is undefeated in the UFC and has looked impressive, but in his last fight against Kai-Kara France most fans thought he lost decisively despite being awarded the decision.
The best choice would be for Moreno to test one of those two. He has already fought Royval. Even though the fight ended in a win for Moreno it was due to an injury on the part of Rovyal, but still a fresh match-up would be best, so Albazi it is.
Moreno’s Next Fight: Amir Albazi
Robert Whittaker
‘The Reaper’ lost for the first time to someone not named Israel Adesanya in nine years at UFC 290. He has already defeated most contenders behind him in the division. In the top eight at middleweight he has only not fought Sean Strickland, Paulo Costa, and Alex Pereira, who is moving up to middleweight.
Robert was booked against Costa in the past but the fight fell through. Paulo fights unranked prospect Ikram Aliskerov at UFC 291 later this month. The winner of that fight would be a perfect opponent for Whittaker in his next fight as he looks to determine what his future in the division looks like.
Whittaker’s Next Fight: Winner of Costa/Aliskerov
Jalin Turner
Turner was looking great through the first seven minutes against Dan Hooker, almost getting the Kiwi out of there with a second round headkick. But the legendary toughness and heart of Hooker carried him, he came back to almost stop Turner in the second and third rounds en route to a split decision victory.
‘The Tarantula’ is still a bright prospect, but he did miss weight for UFC 290 and so his future may lie at welterweight. For now however, there are a number of opponents he could face in the lightweight top-15. One good option is Renato Moicano, a well-rounded Brazilian who has been a staple of the UFC featherweight and lightweight divisions for a long time.
Turner’s Next Fight: Renato Moicano
Val Woodburn
Woodburn had a tough task when he was asked to take on Bo Nickal on a few days’ notice. Nickal knocked him out in thirty-eight seconds, taking Val’s 7-0 undefeated record. Still, Woodburn got the UFC contract by accepting this fight and will be booked against another inexperienced, unranked middleweight next time out.
A fighter like Sedriques Dumas, who is still growing and developing himself, makes a lot of sense. Dumas is 1-1 in the UFC after also entering with a 7-0 undefeated record. He showed severe holes in his UFC debut but patched them in his sophomore effort. Now is the time to see which of them can take the next step in their growth.
Woodburn’s Next Fight: Sedriques Dumas
