UFC Vegas 93 featured 11 fights with six of them on the main card. In the flyweight main event, Tatsuro Taira stayed undefeated against the 12-fight UFC veteran in Alex Perez thanks in part to a graphic knee injury.
Alex Perez
Alex Perez lost on Saturday when he suffered a knee injury in a takedown from his opponent, Tatsuro Taira. It’s a tough loss to stomach for 32-year-old Perez and picking up an injury in the process is catastrophic, hopefully he has a smooth recovery.
Perez has lost three of his last four fights since November of 2020. But his late notice finish of Matheus Nicolau back in April was enough to propel him to a #5 ranking in the UFC’s flyweight division. And his opponent, Taira entered the fight ranked at #13.
Alex Perez was originally going to fight #12 ranked, Tagir Ulanbekov before rebooking. Ulanbekov would ultimately not fight after missing weight against his new opponent, Joshua Van. Tagir would be a great matchup but depending on the severity of his injury, the division might move on without him.
A move to 135lbs. where he has fought previously, and a fight against former champion Cody Garbrandt could be a great move for Alex as well. Alex has missed weight in the past, though it doesn’t seem to be a problem now. Grabrandt has struggled recently losing three of his last 5 fights. ‘No Love’ has experimented at 125lbs. himself with his 2021 loss against Kai Kara-France. Grabrandt experienced an injury in his last fight as well against Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 300, so perhaps Cody and Alex’s are on the same trajectory here.
Alex’s next fight: Tagir Ulanbekov or Cody Garbrandt
Douglas Silva de Andrade
Douglas Silva de Andrade lost a unanimous decision to Miles Johns in the co main event of UFC Vegas 93. Now 38, D. Silva’s 7-6 UFC record doesn’t do him nearly enough justice. Douglas Silva entered the UFC at 22-0 and has been a something of a high-level gate keeper for years. (Losing to only Zubaira Tukhugov, Rob Font and Petr Yan pre-2020.)
D. Silva has gone 3-3 in his last six fights since the beginning of 2021. It is worth noting that D Silva has only lost to solid competition including Lerone Murphy, Said Nurmagomedov, and now Miles Johns, in the time period.
Who better to fight than the Payton Talbott vs. Yanis Ghemmouri fight winner? Talbott has burst on the scene after his win on last year’s season of the Contender Series. Since then, Talbott has stopped Nick Aguirre and most recently, top prospect, Cameron Saaiman earlier this year. Yanis is 3-1 and lost his UFC debut to William Gomis in his last fight. What better way to fast-track ’em? The pair fight on June 29.
D. Silva’s next fight: Yanis Ghemmouri vs. Payton Talbott winner
Timmy Cuamba
Timmy Cuamba was defeated by unanimous decision at the hands of Lucas Almedia at UFC Vegas 93. Now 0-2 with the promotion, Timmy will likely be in a tough position in his next time out. Though it does help that Cuamba’s first loss with the UFC was a very close split decision against Bolaji Oki in February.
Timmy should fight Herbert Burns. ‘The Blaze’ is on a three-fight losing streak and has been stopped in each loss. His last time out was back in March when he was stopped in the second round by Julio Arce. Burns needs a win, bad, as though he is 2-3 with the UFC, he hasn’t seen the win column since 2020.
Timmy’s next fight: Herbert Burns
Garrett Armfield
Brady Hiestand submitted Garrett Armfield in a wild back and forth fight on Saturday. The loss snapped Armfield’s two-fight win streak consisting of a first-round finish over Toshiomi Kazama and a unanimous decision victory over Brad Katona in January.
Armfield is now 2-2 in the UFC and still just 27 years old. Armfield put on a competitive fight and that should be reflected in his next matchup. He should fight the winner of Kyung Ho Kang vs. Muin Gafurov who fight on June 22nd. Muin is 0-2 in the UFC but his losses are to John Castaneda and most recently Said Nurmagomedov, in September of last year. Muin is also a 6-fight veteran of the ONE FC promotion where he took former UFC standout, Jon Lineker. Kyung Ho Kang is 8-4 in the UFC with his most recent wins over Batgerel Danaa and Cristian Quinoez.
Garrett’s next fight: Kyung Ho Kang vs. Muin Gafurov winner
Jose Johnson
Jose Johnson lost a one-sided unanimous decision against hot prospect, Asu Almabayev on Saturday. It was Johnson’s first go at flyweight professionally and at 6’0″ tall, he performed well at the weight, against a tough guy.
Johnson is now 1-2 with the UFC. And with Jose looking like he is comfortable at flyweight; his next fight should be against Lucas Rocha. Lucas is a 2023 Contender Series product that, after a little trouble on the scale, finished his opponent, Davi Bittencourt, in the second round to earn a UFC contract. Johnson and Rocha were scheduled to fight in April before Jose withdrew. Rocha never ended up fighting and is still looking to make his UFC debut. Great one to rebook.
Jose’s next fight: Lucas Rocha
Josh Quinlan
Josh Quinlan lost a close split decision to Adam Fugitt to kick off the UFC Vegas 93 main card. Quinlan has now lost three fights in a row. His only win with the promotion was a 2022 first round finish against Jason Witt.
Quinlan was scheduled to fight Ange Loosa in 2023 before Loosa withdrew. Loosa is fighting Gabriel Bonfim on July 13. But both of those fighters now have two wins with the promotion and Josh is 1-3.
Quinlan should fight Rhys McKee. Rhys was last in action back in March when he lost a split decision to Chidi Njokuani. Before that he lost a unanimous decision to Ange Loosa. McKee is 0-4 in the UFC, and it’d be a good fight to decide who stays on the roster.
Josh’s next fight: Rhys McKee
