What’s Next: UFC Vegas 101 Losers

Amanda Ribas, UFC Vegas 101
Amanda Ribas, UFC Vegas 101 weigh-in Credit: Eddie Law/Cageside Press

The promotional MMA powerhouse that is the UFC kicked off their 2025 with 14 exciting fights at the UFC Apex on Saturday. The main event was a strawweight rematch five years in the making as Amanda Ribas took on Mackenzie Dern. This time Dern walked away with the victory stopping the fight in the third round. It was a violent card, especially the main card portion as five of six bouts ended with a stoppage. With that fact in mind, this edition of our matchmaking series will feature a few fighters that have especially daunting paths back to relevancy.

Amanda Ribas

Amanda Ribas lost her second straight main event when she was arm-bar’d by Mackenzie Dern in the third round of their main event fight at UFC Vegas 101.

The pair first met in October of 2019 where Ribas won a unanimous decision.

Amanda Ribas entered this fight as the #8 ranked women’s strawweight and the #10 ranked women’s flyweight. Dern entered the fight ranked as the #6 ranked strawweight.

Ribas has continually bounced back in forth between 115lbs and 125lbs and it seems like she will continue to do so (5-2 at 115lbs., 2-3 at 125lbs.)

Should Amanda choose to compete at strawweight in her next bout she should fight Lupita Godinez. “Loopy” is the #11 ranked UFC strawweight and is coming off of a unanimous division loss at the hands of Mackenzie Dern last August. Loopy also has a grappling background but isn’t nearly as accredited as Dern so that could potentially trigger a wild standup battle between the two fighters.

Ribas was matched up to fight Tracy Cortez in December of 2022, but the fight fell through because of a medical issue with Cortez. Tracy has gone 1-1 in the time since that bout was canceled. Cortez defeated Jasmine Jasudavicius by unanimous decision before losing her first main event at the hands of Rose Namajunas. Between the common opponent in Namajunas with the common outcome and the fact that Tracy is ranked at #11 in the flyweight division, this fight makes too much sense.

Ribas’s next fight Strawweight: Lupita Godinez

Ribas’s next fight Flyweight: Tracy Cortez

Carlston Harris

Santiago Ponzinibbio completed the rally and TKO’d Carlston Harris in a back-and-forth fight that saw him drop the Argentinian multiple times. 37-year-old Harris is now 4-3 with the UFC and has been stopped twice in a row now, as Khaos Williams flatlined Harris last May.

Carlston’s next fight should be against Themba Gorimbo. Themba is also coming off of a devastating stoppage loss at the hands of an aging Vicente Luque. Before that he had won four fights in a row. It’s a fight that makes a lot of sense as both men had a step up in competition in their most recent fights against former legitimate contenders and both men were finished. Great measuring fight for both with the winner jumping right back in the mix.

Harris’s next fight: Themba Gorimbo

Abdul Razak Alhassan

Abdul Razak Alhassan was on the receiving end of a scary KO at UFC Vegas 101 when he was countered mid combination by Cesar Almedia. Cesar won a performance bonus for the KO and Alhassan took an extended period of time to regain consciousness and exit the cage.

Hopefully Alhassan is okay and makes a full recovery. Upon his return, Alhassan will have some work to do, as he’s 6-7 with 1 NC with the promotion. Abdul has not seen his hand raised in his three fights: He was submitted by Joe Pyfer in October of 2023, and had a No Contest against Cody Brundage last July thanks to blows to the back of the head. Alhassan turns 40 later this year, and he needs a win.

Abdul should fight the winner of Cody Brundage vs Julian Marquez. That fight is scheduled for March 1 so Alhassan will have time to recover, with mid-summer likely the earliest date, if not later. Both Brundage and Marquez are essentially fighting to stay with the promotion as both have struggled mightily recently. Both men are extremely dangerous though, with Brundage offering a lot more of a grappling threat. Either we get a rematch with Brundage after the quick No Contest or a fresh matchup against the always exciting, “Cuban Missile Crisis” that is Julian Marquez.

Alhassan’s next fight: Winner of Cody Brundage vs Julian Marquez

Chris Curtis

Roman Kopylov controversially stopped Chris Curtis in the final second of their bout on Saturday night. A heartbreaking loss for Chris as the fight was back and forth and undoubtedly the best fight of the very limited selection of fights for the calendar year of 2025 thus far.

The fight won Fight of the Night honors at UFC Vegas 101, but it’s Chris’s second heartbreaking loss in a row. Curtis lost a split decision main event to Brendan Allen last April, tearing his hamstring in the process. The 37-year-old worked his way back to health only to suffer a broken foot and another injury. Tough outcome for Curtis but as long as he’s healthy, he should be thrown right back into the mix.

Chris should get a good matchup in his next fight. Bo Nickal could potentially be ready for a large step up in competition against a tenured complete MMA fighter. But the more likely matchup would be against the loser of Kevin Holland vs Reinier de Ridder at UFC 311. Ridder is a former ONE Championship Middleweight champion that successfully won his UFC debut last year.  Ridder submitted Gerald Meerschaert in the final round of that bout. Holland was supposed to fight Curtis last year coming off of his hamstring injury, but Curtis broke his foot. Holland has lost three of his last four but as usual, he’s always game, always entertaining and would be a fun fight for a guy like Curtis.

Curtis’s next fight: Loser of Kevin Holland vs. Reiner de Ridder 

Austin Bashi

Christian Rodriguez handed Austin Bashi the first loss of his MMA career (amateur and pro) with his unanimous decision victory over the UFC newcomer.

Bashi went 12-0 on the regional circuit before finishing his Contender Series opponent in September of last year.

Assuming the 23-year-old would like to get right back in action after suffering his first defeat, the most logical opponent would be Jeong Yeong Lee. Jeong has an 11-2 record as a pro and is 2-1 in the UFC since being he signed with the promotion in 2023. Lee’s most recent fight was last July when he was stopped in the first round by Hyder Amil. Lee’s aggressive striking should make this a dangerous test for Bashi but an impressive win would instantly raise his stock.

Bashi’s next fight: Jeong Yeong Lee

Uros Medic

Punahele Soriano quickly dispatched Uros Medic to open the first UFC main card of 2025. Medic was dropped and finished in thirty seconds to bring his record with the UFC to 4-3. Medic has lost two of his last three fights dating to November of 2023.

But the quality of opponent that Medic is losing to is something that needs to be accounted for. Medic’s losses in the UFC are to Jalin Turner, Myktybek Orolbai and now Punahele Soriano at UFC Vegas 101. Those are all very competent fighters.

Next step for Medic should be a fight against Phil Rowe. Phil has a similar UFC record to Medic at 3-3. Rowe also is a Contender Series product although he appeared on the 2019 season whereas Medic appeared the following year. Rowe lost his last two fights, a split decision to Neil Magny and dropping a unanimous decision to Jake Matthews at UFC 302. Great fight to make to decide who moves up in the pecking order of the UFC’s talented welterweight division.

Medic’ next fight: Phil Rowe