For their second straight fight night card on the road, the UFC stopped by Des Moines, Iowa for a clash between top5 bantamweights Cory Sandhagen and Deiveson Figueiredo. The UFC Des Moines co-main event also garnered a lot of attention as three-time Division 1 wrestling national champion Bo Nickal was getting the biggest test of his young MMA career against former ONE Championship two-division title holder Reinier de Ridder. Let’s look at what the results from Saturday night tell us about what should happen next.
Cory Sandhagen
With Merab Dvalishvili rematching Sean O’Malley next month and having already beaten names like Petr Yan and Umar Nurmagomedov, the path to a title shot finally seemed clear for Cory Sandhagen. A statement win in the main event was probably going to be enough as he represents a fresh match up for both Dvalishvili and O’Malley. And a statement win is what the Sandman delivered. Yes, the finish may have looked anti-climactic, but Figueiredo’s knee injury came as a direct result of a grappling exchange that Sandhagen was purposefully engaging in. Additionally, Sandhagen was thoroughly dominating Figueiredo, out landing him 92 to 8 in total strikes and going two-for-two on takedowns.
Time will tell if this version of Sandhagen will be able to capture a title against the likes of Dvalishvili or O’Malley, but one thing is sure, he shouldn’t have to fight again before facing either one of them.
Sandhagen’s next fight: Dvalishvili/O’Malley 2 winner
Reinier de Ridder
Reinier de Ridder knew Bo Nickal’s lack of experience at the highest level of MMA could cost him in a matchup like this one. The 34-year-old RDR, who has been there and done that in this sport, got right in Nickal’s face from the get-go. He did most of his work in the clinch, where he kept bullying Nickal with knees to the body until he ultimately folded in round 2.
This is by far the highest profile of de Ridder’s three UFC wins. When a known name loses, he doesn’t always transfer his star power to his opponent, but this time it appears it did. After the fight, there was a lot of talk about Nickal’s poor showing, but there was also just as much praise for RDR as fans felt he was disrespected by the betting odds. After his win, de Ridder called out Sean Strickland, a sound callout given the lay of the land at middleweight. Given his age and the momentum he has already accrued in the 6 months since he’s joined the promotion, it’s not unreasonable to aim for a top5 matchup. There is a trio of former champions that would all make sense for RDR in Strickland, Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker. My personal favourite of these would be “The Last Stylebender”.
de Ridder’s next fight: Israel Adesanya
Daniel Rodriguez
After ending his three-fight skid in October against Alex Morono, D-Rod is now officially back on a winning streak after stopping Santiago Ponzinibbio in the third round at UFC Des Moines. The matchup with the Argentinian fighter was perfect given where both are at this stage of their careers. Now that he has put himself back in the mix, I could see the UFC try to use the juice left in Rodriguez to push a youngster like Bryan Battle, Gabriel Bonfim or Jacobe Smith. Personally, I would rather have him fight one more age-appropriate matchup before thinking of throwing him back in there with the young guns.
Gunnar Nelson appears to only show up sporadically for cards in the UK, but the UFC does go there fairly often. So next time Gunni shows up, why not do it against D-Rod?
Rodriguez’s next fight: Gunnar Nelson
Montel Jackson
Montel Jackson kept the trend of undefeated fighters having a rough time in 2025 going, earning 30-27s across the board against Daniel Marcos. Jackson had to earn his ranking the hard way, winning five straight to get the #15 spot. And he immediately had to defend it against an undefeated, unranked fighter in the Peruvian Marcos. Now winner of six in a row, I think Jackson deserves to fight up the rankings.
There is a fight between Marlon Vera and Mario Bautista going down in Newark a month from now (coincidentally, that was originally booked for Des Moines). The loser of that fight will be ranked at the edge of the top10, exactly the range Jackson should be looking at.
Jackson’s next fight: Vera/Bautista loser
Serhiy Sidey
After losing his promotional debut in Toronto, the Canadian Sidey has now won back-to-back contests. He followed his closely contested decision win against Garrett Armfield last November with a clearer win this time around against Cam Smotherman.
In UFC Vegas 105’s edition of What’s Next, I had the winner of this Sidey vs Smotherman bout penciled in to face Chang Ho Lee next. My mind hasn’t changed since then. It should be a fun fight.
Sidey’s next fight: Chang Ho Lee
Mason Jones
Mason Jones played spoiler to the returning hometown fan favourite Jeremy Stephens at UFC Des Moines, as he defeated him by unanimous decision. Stephens was returning to the UFC after stints in PFL, Gamebred Boxing and BKFC since leaving the UFC in 2021. However, let’s not forget Jones was also coming back to the promotion.
The Welsh fighter went 1-2 with 1 No Contest between 2021 and 2022, but this record is deceiving. His win was against David Onama, while his losses were to Mike Davis and Ludovit Klein. Tough assignments for someone who was 26 with only 10 professional fights to his name when he joined the party. After his release, Jones went 4-0 in Cage Warriors with three finishes to claw his way back to the UFC.
Now that he started his second stint on a positive note, let’s build him up a bit slower than the first time. I think someone like Charlie Campbell would be a proper opponent. Campbell is 29 with a 2-0 record in the promotion after coming through the Contender Series. Both are at similar stages of their careers where it would make sense for them to meet.
Jones’ next fight: Charlie Campbell
