Salt Lake City’s UFC 291 was a triumphant night for the promotion, despite losing a couple of high-profile fights from the card. Even without names like Paulo Costa and Stephen Thompson, the show delivered by the promotion was entertaining through and through. A head kick KO by Justin Gaethje? A flying knee by Derrick Lewis of all people?!? Come on!
Nights like these leave some big names looking to regroup, and that is of course the case here. Let’s take a look at the losing side of UFC 291 to see what comes next.
Dustin Poirier
Justin Gaethje landed a head kick in round two of the UFC 291 main event that knocked out ‘The Diamond’ for the first time since 2016. Poirier said in the post-fight presser that he wants only fights that interest him, not fights against young up-and-comers. One up-and-comer who stands out as potentially interesting for a guy like Dustin, however, is Rafael Fiziev.
Fiziev is currently booked against Poirier’s ATT teammate Mateusz Gamrot in a main event on September 23rd. He is coming off of a close loss to Justin Gaethje earlier this year which earned ‘Fight of the Night’ honors and his electric striking style pairs perfectly with an action fighter like Poirier as well. If he beats Gamrot, Dustin will surely want revenge for his training partner. Even if Fiziev loses then that fight would still be an option.
If not then there are other options out there. Dustin could fight the loser of Islam Makhachev vs Charles Oliveira or fourth-ranked lightweight Beneil Dariush. Of those, Dariush probably makes the most sense. It’s just a matter of if that fight interests Poirier.
Poirier’s Next Fight: Rafael Fiziev
Jan Blachowicz
The former light-heavyweight champion was able to utilize his wrestling against kickboxer Alex Pereira in the first round of UFC 291’s co-main event, but as the fight went on his takedowns were defended and he was out-struck in the last two rounds of the split decision loss. Jan came in ranked third in the division but is now 1-2-1 in his last four fights. It will be a long road back to the title for the forty year-old from Poland.
If he does keep fighting then there are two main options, two rising contenders on three-fight winning streaks, ranked fifth and sixth respectively: Nikita Krylov and Johnny Walker. Both fighters deserve to fight up in the rankings and have exciting styles, but Błachowicz has already defeated Krylov in the past, so Walker makes the most sense next.
Błachowicz’s Next Fight: Johnny Walker
Marcos Rogério de Lima
Derrick Lewis’ flying knee to open the featured bout of UFC 291 caught everyone by surprise, de Lima most of all. It knocked down the Brazilian and he could not recover; the ensuing ground and pound finished him off. That snapped de Lima’s two-fight winning streak and once again denied his bid to become a ranked UFC heavyweight.
There are not many rising and unranked heavyweight contenders who are near to a shot at the rankings. Fighters like Karl Williams and Mohammed Usman are the closest thing with their two-fight winning streaks. Usman is already booked, so Williams makes sense for de Lima’s next fight, and the winner will be close to the rankings due to lack of competition in the division.
de Lima’s Next Fight: Karl Williams
Tony Ferguson
Tony Ferguson is one of the most stubborn men alive but at some point even he will have to admit it is time to hang it up. Hopefully that time is now, ‘El Cucuy’ has slowed down considerably and will only be taking unnecessary damage from here on out if he keeps fighting. His career is one of the greatest thing fans have been privileged to witness in MMA’s history. The violence and chaos he inflicted on opponents is unrivaled; he should be celebrated among the sport’s legends. But it is time to call it quits.
Ferguson’s Next Fight: Retirement
Michael Chiesa
Chiesa took off his gloves following his loss to Kevin Holland, his third defeat in a row, at UFC 291. That caused many to speculate that he was retiring, but he released a statement after the fight indicating that is not the case. The thirty-five year old came into the fight with Holland as the twelfth-ranked welterweight contender in the UFC. Now with his losing streak he has to fight down in the rankings once again.
Perhaps the brightest unranked prospect in the division is Russian wrestler Rinat Fakhretdinov. Rinat has torn through the division, dominating each of his three UFC opponents including Kevin Lee and Bryan Battle, extending his professional record to 22-2. The clash of styles between the two wrestlers poses an interesting question for the thirty-one year old Fakhretdinov. If Chiesa can bounce back against a prospect like this then he will deserve to keep his spot in the top fifteen at 170-lbs.
Chiesa’s Next Fight: Rinat Fakhretdinov
