After some withdrawals in the weeks prior, most notably from Dan Hooker in the co-main event, and losing multiple bouts on fight day, there’s no denying UFC 313 took some hits. However, between some controversial decisions, slick submissions, and a ‘KO of the Year’ contender, the UFC’s annual Pay-Per-View trip to the fight capital of the world still ended up delivering a good chunk of drama. It’s now to do some matchmaking for our new champion and other standout winners from the main card.
Magomed Ankalaev
It may not have been the most thrilling affair, but following UFC 313, Magomed Ankalaev is your new light-heavyweight champion. For years he was seen by many as the best 205er in the UFC and, though it took him two cracks at it, he can finally say he fulfilled his potential.
Not to take the spotlight away from the Russian, but the aftermath of this fight was always largely predicated on what Alex Pereira will want to do next. If Poatan wants to stay at 205 lbs, then the rematch books itself. He’s the promotion’s biggest active star and nearly half the media members on mmadecisions.com scored the bout for him. He’s been fighting at a crazy rate, so maybe he takes more than a couple months off and rematches Ankalaev in Abu Dhabi in October.
If Pereira opts to make the move to heavyweight, then Ankalaev’s most likely option is probably Jiri Prochazka. I doubt the UFC will rush to book a Jan Blachowicz rematch should he get his hand raised in two weeks, but Carlos Ulberg would be a fresh name to add to that mix. Jamahal Hill vs Khalil Rountree Jr. should be a treat, but both are coming off knockout losses. Ulberg may steal it with a stellar performance, but as it stands, I would think Prochazka is the frontrunner.
Ankalaev’s next fight: Pereira rematch or Jiri Prochazka
Justin Gaethje
There was very little to win for Gaethje by taking this short notice change of opponent in the UFC 313 co-headliner. He had already beaten Fiziev and the Hooker fight was garnering much more attention. Being the bad man that he is, Gaethje still signed on the dotted line and got the job done once again.
You could come up with any permutation between everyone ranked 1st to 6th at lightweight and have a realistic shot at correctly predicting the future. Re-book the Hooker fight? Sure. Title shot? After all, Gaethje hasn’t faced Islam Makhachev yet and he was supposed to be next in line this time last year before booking the BMF title fight at UFC 300… Welcoming Ilia Topuria to 155 lbs? Take my money. What about a Dustin Poirier trilogy in New Orleans this summer? Nobody would turn that down.
Trying to figure out how this will all play out gets extra difficult when you remember Arman Tsarukyan, Charles Oliveira and Max Holloway are also all entitled to big fights next. Personally, I would’ve gone with the Poirier trilogy. That’s the fight I wanted even before the Hooker fight was booked. Their first fight was in Gaethje’s backyard in Arizona, so completing that storyline in New Orleans would make for a perfect send off fight for ‘The Diamond.’
Unfortunately, Gaethje has voiced his disinterest in wanting to face Poirier a third time, saying that he’s satisfied with being 1-1. Additionally, Beneil Dariush recently revealed that he’s hearing Poirier might be fighting Max Holloway this summer. Taking this into account, the most likely way this ends is with a re-booking of the Hooker fight some time in the summer, once Hooker’s hand is healed.
Gaethje’s next fight: Dan Hooker
Ignacio Bahamondes
The 27-year-old Bahamondes seems to have turned a corner as he followed up his first-round KO win at the Sphere with the biggest win of his career over Jalin Turner. The grappling advantage presumably would’ve gone to ‘The Tarantula’, but it was Bahamondes who locked in a beautiful triangle choke to force the tap just 2:29 into round 1.
This win will see Bahamondes enter the rankings and with three consecutive first-round finishes, who’s to say the UFC won’t try to push him further up the ladder? However, in my opinion, this division is too stacked to fast track anyone at the moment. Fellow 27-year-old Fares Ziam, winner of five straight, has also earned his shot at a ranking. This could serve as a good feature bout, or even co-main event, at a Paris fight night card in September.
Bahamondes just defeated one tall, lanky lightweight. Can he do it again?
Bahamondes’ next fight: Fares Ziam
Amanda Lemos
The veteran Lemos didn’t turn heads with her performance at UFC 313, but she did just defeat someone 14 years her junior. This was the classic type of booking where the young up-and-comer is supposed to take out the older generation, but this time the veteran held her ground.
Lemos is 37, has lost to two of the women ranked in front of her, and has already had her title shot, in which she got dominated. There’s no real incentive for the UFC to push her forward, especially not after this boring performance. With Zhang Weili almost certainly moving up to fight for the flyweight title, you must think that the winner of Yan Xiaonan vs Virna Jandiroba will be part of a vacant title fight. If Yan loses, then she can fight Lemos. If Virna loses, you can’t book her against Lemos when she just submitted her last summer. Should Virna lose and Gillian Robertson defeat Marina Rodriguez in May, then Lemos and Robertson makes sense. If both Virna and Gillian lose, then maybe Lemos can face Tabatha Ricci as that seems to be one of the few names she hasn’t faced yet. Lots of way this could play out depending on upcoming results.
Lemos’ next fight: Yan Xiaonan, Gillian Robertson or Tabatha Ricci
Mauricio Ruffy
These Fighting Nerds simply cannot stop producing highlight reel finishes. Just two weeks ago it was Jean Silva who blasted Melsik Baghdasaryan and now Ruffy just face planted King Green in what should be a serious contender for ‘KO of the Year’ once we get to December. The man they call ‘One Shot’ just one-shotted the wily veteran with a gorgeous wheel kick barely two minutes into round one in their UFC 313 main card opener.
This was his best win yet and it moves him to 3-0 in the promotion. Getting a KO like that can put fighters in the position to call their shot, and Ruffy certainly tried. He called for a main event fight with Beneil Dariush next. While I don’t hate that option for him, I would try to capitalize on this Fighting Nerds movement and try to get Ruffy an even bigger name. The next time we will see some action from that gym is at UFC 314 and the co-main event from that card is Michael Chandler and Paddy Pimblett. I think Ruffy should face the loser of that bout. No matter who it is, it will be a name that the casual fans will recognize and give Ruffy and nice opportunity to boost his profile.
Ruffy’s next fight: Chandler/Pimblett loser
