UFC Vegas 107 appeared to be another Apex show to get through before getting into the exciting summer schedule. But a couple weight misses, pullouts and a literal last-minute cancellation of the main event saw the card go from pedestrian to downright bad. Still, we saw some top ten names like Mateusz Gamrot and Ketlen Vieira earn victories, as well some nice highlights from Ramiz Brahimaj and Dustin Jacoby. Just like we do after every card, we now need to look ahead to what’s next for Saturday’s winners.
Mateusz Gamrot
The Polish fighter bounced back after dropping a razor close split decision to Dan Hooker last August. He dominated L’udovit Klein, who came into this fight on a four-fight win streak and unbeaten in his last seven, including wins over names like Ignacio Bahamondes and Thiago Moises. Klein also had a takedown defence over 90% before facing Gamrot, making the domination from “Gamer” all the more impressive.
I initially penciled Gamrot against the winner of the upcoming Bahamondes/Fiziev bout, but after hearing him voice his interest in fighting Benoit Saint Denis, I am sold. Gamrot will undoubtedly need to beat another contender ranked below him before even thinking of calling out a top five name. It’s also a perfect fight for a Paris Fight Night card, which seems to be a yearly occurrence now.
Gamrot’s next fight: Benoit Saint Denis
Ramiz Brahimaj
Ramiz Brahimaj scored what might be his best UFC win yet. Though his KO over Mickey Gall at Madison Square Garden in November was nice, he put Billy Ray Goff to sleep as a +300 betting underdog. This also marked the first time Brahimaj got back-to-back wins since his LFA days over 7 years ago. It will be interesting to see if, at 32, he can now get some momentum going in the UFC.
There are a lot of fighters in Brahimaj’s tier that could make sense. I thought about putting him up against the previous man to defeat Goff, Trey Waters, but ended up going with Muslim Salikhov.
Brahimaj’s next fight: Muslim Salikhov
Dustin Jacoby
Even though Jacoby got the only KO of the UFC Vegas 107 card, he left the Apex without a performance bonus. After getting stopped by Dominick Reyes almost a year ago, he has bounced back with consecutive knockout wins over prospects Vitor Petrino and now Bruno Lopes. Stopping two younger fighters back-to-back had the veteran saying he’s now looking to move on from his gatekeeper status. I’m not convinced this was enough to earn him another shot at the rankings; however, I do agree that he should face someone who is also in his position. A fighter just outside the top15 at light-heavyweight, who is also on a good run, is Modestas Bukauskas. Jacoby is now 37 and actually did get a taste of the rankings before falling out of them. On the Bukauskas side of things, he seemed to slowly be coming into his own, but his last win over Ion Cutelaba wasn’t convincing enough to get him a ranked opponent. That’s why Jacoby vs Bukauskas, with a shot at a top15 fighter on the line just makes sense.
Jacoby’s next fight: Modestas Bukauskas
Ketlen Vieira
This was a good and important win for Vieira, as Macy Chiasson was looking improved in her last two outings. However, after missing weight for UFC Vegas 107 and forcing the fight to go up a division, she will not be rewarded with a fight against someone ahead of her. She’s not getting Raquel Pennington or Julianna Peña if she loses at UFC 316. I thought about having her rematch Irene Aldana, but I think this division needs some fresh faces inside its top ten. The winner of Karol Rosa vs Nora Cornolle or the winner of Mayra Bueno Silva vs Joselyne Edwards could produce a new top ten contender. Either of those are fine options, but I prefer the idea of Cornolle getting this opportunity if she’s victorious against the Brazilian Rosa, seeing as the UFC keeps attempting to grow its presence in France.
Vieira’s next fight: Rose/Cornolle winner
Zachary Reese
Coming into this UFC Vegas 107 main card opening fight, Dusko Todorovic was sporting a 2-5 UFC record, with four of those losses coming via strikes in the very first round. On the other side, Reese had earned seven of his first eight professional wins by 1st round finish. Considering these statistics, it wasn’t shocking to see Reese get his hand raised, but it was quite surprising to see it go the distance.
So despite successfully bouncing back from his loss in January, I doubt Reese will get anything resembling a marquee matchup following this rather uninspired performance. There are several names that the American could face next, but I went with Dustin Stoltzfus. A flawed fighter, but one who makes it a point to live and die by the sword.
Reese’s next fight: Dustin Stoltzfus
