The UFC’s fourth ever trip to the grunge capital (and first since 2013) had something for everyone. The UFC Seattle card started off with five consecutive knockouts followed by two slick submissions. It gave us highlight reel finishes from Ricky Simón and Jean Silva, an entertaining feature bout and capped off the night with main and co-main events that had real stakes attached to them. It’s time, now, to do some matchmaking for a card that had a bit of everything, including some controversy.
Song Yadong
Even though the way it ended was controversial, Song did have time to show us he was ahead of Henry Cejudo through three rounds in Saturday’s UFC Seattle main event. I personally have little interest in running this fight back as I believe there are more compelling matchups out there for both Song and Cejudo.
I would love to see Umar Nurmagomedov fight Sean O’Malley, with the winner earning their rematch with Merab Dvalishvili, but it appears as though the promotion will just book the O’Malley rematch right away. That means Nurmagomedov will need a different fight. Could it be Petr Yan? Maybe, but I would be lying if I said I didn’t find a Song Yadong matchup to be intriguing.
Song has been given opportunities to take that next step in the past with fights against Yan and Cory Sandhagen. I could see people wanting to see Song win at least one more fight before getting that type of opportunity again, especially given the unsatisfying nature of the main event’s ending. For that reason, I wouldn’t be opposed to a Marlon Vera rematch or a fight with Mario Bautista. In the end, I do prefer the Umar fight.
Song’s next fight: Umar Nurmagomedov
Anthony Hernandez
While it was revealed that Hernandez was compromised coming into this rematch with Brendan Allen, he still got the job done by unanimous decision. This marks Fluffy’s seventh straight win, tying Caio Borralho for the second longest win streak at middleweight behind only the division’s reigning champion.
With Borralho and Nassourdine Imavov on impressive runs, and after Gregory Rodrigues failed to insert himself in that mix last week, let’s see if Hernandez can get himself into that title picture to make 185 even more exciting. I believe Hernandez has earned the opportunity to fight a top5 contender. With both Sean Strickland and Robert Whittaker coming off losses, I would look to them. Additionally, with talks of a Fight Night card in Australia sometime in the summer, wouldn’t Whittaker vs Hernandez be a perfect headliner?
Hernandez’s next fight: Robert Whittaker
Rob Font
Every time I believe Font’s fall off is finally upon us, he finds a way to turn back the clock and get a big win. After back-to-back damaging losses to Jose Aldo and ‘Chito’ Vera, he took a year off and came back by knocking out the then streaking Adrian Yanez in three minutes. That performance was then followed by convincing losses to Cory Sandhagen and Deiveson Figueiredo, but once again, he bounced back with a win against youngster Kyler Phillips. And now after taking Jean Matsumoto’s 0 at UFC Seattle, he finds himself on his first win streak since 2021.
Font was originally meant to be Dominick Cruz’s retirement fight, but agreed to fight the young, unranked, undefeated Matsumoto. This represented a big favour for the promotion as this card was starting to fall apart. It is not unusual for the UFC to repay fighters for doing them a solid.
Taking that into account, I believe the way to repay Font is with a fight with the man who lost in the main event: Henry Cejudo. At 37, Font is coming off back-to-back fights against fighters ranked below him that were 8 and 12 years his juniors. Cejudo is 38 himself, has a relatively big name and is ranked slightly ahead of Font. It’s a booking that would be both rankings and age appropriate.
Font’s next fight: Henry Cejudo
Jean Silva
Silva was in the running for ‘Rookie of the Year’ in 2024 after going 3-0 with three knockouts. But the moment he really made a splash was when he fought on back-to-back events. He went up a weight class to knockout Drew Dober at lightweight on short notice after having just KO’d Charles Jourdain two weeks prior.
It was a well-earned seven-month layoff for ‘Lord’. At UFC Seattle he made quick work of Melsik Baghdsaryan, who is a dangerous striker in his own right. On a card that saw eight finishes, Silva’s finish was unquestionably going to land him a ‘Performance of the Night’ bonus. Surely, ranked opposition is next for him. He called out Bryce Mitchell and Mitchell entertained the idea on social media afterwards. However, I haven’t forgotten that Doo Ho Choi called out Mitchell first after his stellar performance against Nate Landwehr in December. I had Choi fighting Mitchell in my matchmaking article after UFC 310.
In the flood of announcements we got from Dana White last week, Dan Ige vs Sean Woodson was revealed to be on the UFC 314 card in Miami. Silva can face the winner of that fight. If it’s Ige, then Silva gets to measure himself up against the division’s litmus test; a test that the Movsar Evloevs, Diego Lopes’s, and Lerone Murphys of the world passed. If it’s Woodson, then get to see what should be an undeniably funny visual as a 6’2” featherweight squares off against a 5’7” man of the weight class.
Silva’s next fight: Ige/Woodson winner
Alonzo Menifield
While Menifield got his hand raised and that is always the most important thing, it wasn’t exactly the most inspiring of performances, even though it was somehow awarded ‘Fight of the Night’ honours following UFC Seattle. I don’t think a split decision against a debuting fighter should give Menifield the right to fight up the rankings. Especially not considering he got KO’d in his two fights prior.
They could simply re-book the Oumar Sy fight that was supposed to happen at UFC London in March. However, I would actually prefer if Sy had to prove himself against unranked opposition one more time as I believe he’s still a bit green. Right before Menifield walked out to the octagon, Ion Cutelaba earned his second straight victory by submitting rising prospect Ibo Aslan. Both Menifield and Cutelaba bring the action in every fight they are in and have both been in the UFC for quite some time. It’s one of those fights where you’re surprised to learn it’s never been booked.
Menifield’s next fight: Ion Cutelaba
