
The first UFC card of 2025 was the 101st Fight Night card to take place at the Apex, UFC Vegas 101. It delivered a good mix of finishes, action fights and upsets. In our main event, we had a rematch between two top 10 strawweights in Mackenzie Dern and Amanda Ribas that saw Dern take home the win with a third-round submission. For the first time in 2025, let’s do some matchmaking for our main card winners from Saturday.
Mackenzie Dern
This was such a big win for Dern. It was her first time winning consecutive fights in over four years and her first finish since April of 2021. She could only manage a 1-1 record every year since 2021. Not only that, but this win also saw her avenge her first ever professional loss against Ribas, who was 6-1 in the UFC at 115 lbs.
With Tatiana Suarez set to get the next shot and Virna Jandiroba seemingly next in line, Dern will need to add to her win streak in order to cement herself as the next title contender. Suarez has had trouble staying healthy for a while, so you would think that the promotion has told Jandiroba to stay ready in case they need a backup. That frees up Yan Xiaonan who is ranked #2 and is also in need of another win to stay in the title picture.
The two have fought before and Yan got the nod, but it was a contested majority decision that a lot of people thought should have been a draw. A rematch at this point is a very solid option.
Dern’s next fight: Yan Xiaonan
Santiago Ponzinibbio
Ponzinibbio was once a highly ranked contender with a lot of promise, but he unfortunately lost over two full years of his prime due to health concerns. Now that he’s 38, it’s been evident for some time that his best is behind him. This win over Carlston Harris in the UFC Vegas 101 co-main event keeps him active and stops what could have been a three-fight skid, but the matchmaking should be done with his decreasing level in mind.
Fellow 38-year-old Daniel Rodriguez was once ranked as well and though he stopped his losing streak this past October, it has also been clear that he has lost a step. A matchup between the two of them is age and level appropriate.
Ponzinibbio’s next fight: Daniel Rodriguez
Cesar Almeida
When Armen Petrosyan lost to Shara Magomedov at UFC 308, I had him fight the winner of this fight between Almeida and Abdul Razak Alhassan in our matchmaking article. However, he’s since been booked against Brunno Ferreira on March 8.
At 36 years of age, Almeida has made it a point to be active, knowing the clock is ticking. He fought three times in 2024, going 2-1 with the only hiccup being a competitive split decision against Roman Kopylov, a very good middleweight who will we talk about shortly. Rodolfo Vieira and Andre Petroski will fight each other in a month. The winner will be on a three-fight win streak and a matchup with Almeida would make sense. But I’m willing to give Almeida a bigger push than that. At 36, let’s see what he’s really got. Let’s see him fight the winner of Kevin Holland and Reinier de Ridder, who are set to face each other next week. If Almeida can pass that type of test, then he’ll be ready for the rankings.
Almeida’s next fight: Winner of Holland/de Ridder
Roman Kopylov
Kopylov is a 33-year-old contender who is really coming into his own. Since dropping back-to-back fights against Karl Roberson and Albert Duraev, he’s 6-1 with the only loss coming against Anthony “Fluffy” Hernandez who is a serious threat at 185 lbs. Even though they weren’t flawless victories, Cesar Almeida and Chris Curtis are quality wins. He also has a knockout over Punahele Soriano, who fought and won on this card.
In my opinion, those are valid reasons to give Kopylov a ranked opponent in his next fight. The Russian isn’t an inactive fighter by any means, but he’s also no stranger to layoffs of 6 months or more. This type of timeline should align with Michel Pereira’s return, who took a beating back in October.
Kopylov’s next fight: Michel Pereira
Christian Rodriguez
Rodriguez’s last four wins all came against undefeated fighters. The weight misses and the submission loss to Julian Erosa have slowed down his momentum, but at still just 27 years of age, the UFC clearly has something in C-Rod. Often times, going 4-1 with all four wins being 0’s taken and the lone loss coming against a veteran like Erosa would mean that Rodriguez would be getting a big push by the promotion. However, as mentioned, he’s still in his mid-20s, so there really is no rush.
That’s why a fight with a veteran like Ricardo Ramos, who was once the up-and-coming fighter, but has since been used as the measuring stick himself, makes a lot of sense. He and Rodriguez are still both under 30 and are at a similar stage in their careers. They’re both coming off victories, so let’s see who takes that next step.
Rodriguez’s next fight: Ricardo Ramos
Punahele Soriano
Soriano upset the betting line for the second time in a row at Saturday’s UFC Vegas 101, knocking out Uros Medic in just 31 seconds. With that impressive KO, he moved to 2-0 since dropping down to welterweight.
Another former middleweight who is 2-0 since making the cut to 170lbs is Chidi Njokuani. Njokuani used to be quite the action fighter before his last two fights took place mostly in the clinch, but maybe Soriano can bring back some of his old style out of him. Let’s see which former middleweight needs a push at welterweight.
Soriano’s next fight: Chidi Njokuani