The UFC returned to the confines of the Apex this past weekend, as lightweights, Mateusz Gamrot and Rafael Fiziev looked to enter themselves into title contention at UFC Vegas 79.
The main event injury curse seems to have become a real thing, as during the past few years of UFC Fight Night main events, injuries cutting the fights short have become a regular occurrence. Brian Ortega and Tom Aspinall are just two fighters to name that have suffered this fate, but Rafael Fiziev’s name can now be added to the list as he suffered a bad knee injury in the second round, putting a stop to the anticipated fight.
Let’s take a look at what could be next for the winners on the night.
Mateusz Gamrot
With the aforementioned Fiziev suffering a catastrophic injury, the Pole was awarded the win, which is something that has always seemed incorrect. It almost feels like when a fighter suffers a fight ending injury which wasn’t a result of their opponent causing it, it should be ruled a no contest. That isn’t the case though, and Gamrot made it back-to-back wins.
Unfortunately for “Gamer,” despite his record showing green, it’ll have a grey mark blotched over it due to the way it came. This however, may favour him for his next matchup due to there being a lack of contenders for him to face.
Dustin Poirier has been near the top of the division for what seems like an eternity, and he’s still up there now. Having said that, he has become very picky choosy of who he steps in there with, due to the fact he is now 34-years-old and has fought the best there is to offer for the last 5-8 years. Coming off his loss to Gaethje though, he cannot expect to fight someone for number one contendership again. There seems to have been rumours of Poirier vs Dariush but nothing has come to fruition, and that’s where I feel Gamrot is perfect.
Poirier and Dariush fighting each other doesn’t allow for much movement at the top of the division, whereas if Gamrot and Poirier were matched up, there then lies an opportunity for a new contender to separate themselves.
Gamrot’s Next Fight: Dustin Poirier
Bryce Mitchell
Everyone can now tick off ‘Bryce Mitchell walking out with a Bible’ on their 2023 MMA Bingo card. The 28-year-old put on another immense display of grappling, to snap Dan Ige’s two fight win streak.
“Thug Nasty” did extremely well to bounce back from his first professional loss, which he suffered at the end of last year to Ilia Topuria, showing he is still a 145lb contender. Since his loss to the Spaniard, Mitchell has been plagued by injury to both himself and scheduled opponents, with him having to pull out of his scheduled fight with Movsar Evloev back in June.
Evloev is likely someone Mitchell will meet inside the cage at some point in his career, as both are still young in their respective careers, and both arguably have championship level skillsets.
I’m not sure that is the fight to make next for both fighters though, and instead, I’d like Josh Emmett to have to defend his sixth ranked spot against the Arkansas native.
Mitchell’s Next Fight: Josh Emmett
Marina Rodriguez
The Brazilian, Rodriguez, bounced back from two lacklustre performances against Lemos and Jandiroba, with an utterly dominant display over Michelle Waterson-Gomez.
There was a little confusion amongst fans when this fight was announced, as the two had already fought each other just two years prior when Rodriguez dominated her during their main event at UFC Vegas 26.
Although her win this past Saturday was extremely dominant, it likely does nothing for her in terms of moving up the rankings. She is still going to need to defend her spot a few more times, because of coming up short in previous matchups.
Someone I’d love to see her defend her ranking against, is Tabatha Ricci. “Baby Shark” has rapidly ascended up the strawweight rankings, and I believe she is now ready for the next step up in competition.
Rodriguez’s Next Fight: Tabatha Ricci
Bryan Battle
“Pooh Bear” continues to improve in front of our eyes, and he picked up his second win in a row, submitting AJ Fletcher in the second round.
The win marked his fifth career submission and his third rear-naked-choke, showing the danger he possess wherever the fight goes. Since moving to the welterweight division at the back-end of 2022, Battle has gone 3-1.
I personally wouldn’t mind seeing Battle vs Jeremiah Wells next, as that could be a fun stand-up matchup.
Battle’s Next Fight: Jeremiah Wells
Charles Jourdain
“Air” Jourdain continues to gain more and more fans, with yet another impressive stoppage, this time over the tricky Ricardo Ramos.
Jourdain has now impressively beaten back-to-back Jiu-Jitsu specialists, with his previous win coming against Kron Gracie. Not only did the round one guillotine earn him his fifth career submission, but it also earned him $50,000, with the performance of the night bonus.
On previous occasions, Jourdain’s issue seems to come when he takes a slight step up in opponent, however, those experience will likely have taught him a lot about himself as a fighter. At just 27-years-old and already 12 fights into his UFC tenure, Jourdain could see himself start to slowly climb up the rankings now.
Charles Jourdain vs Nate Landwehr could be absolutely incredible, and that’s what I’d love to see next.
Jourdain’s Next Fight: Nate Landwehr
