UFC Vegas 109 was headlined by a middleweight clash between two fighters at the edge of the top 10. Roman Dolidze and Anthony Hernandez were on a combined ten-fight win streak entering this contest in the hopes that a victory would secure a shot at the top five. In the co-main event, former title challenger Steve Erceg was looking to finally get his hand raised again, while the feature bout offered a meeting between two ranked strawweights. With another event behind us, let’s look ahead to what potential matchups we could be looking forward to.
Anthony Hernandez
Winner of now eight straight, Anthony Hernandez looked as polished as ever on Saturday when he dominated Roman Dolidze on his way to a fourth-round submission. With that rear-naked choke, “Fluffy” became the first fighter to finish Dolidze. While the performance was impressive and so was the result, unfortunately for him, middleweight isn’t lacking in contenders right now. Reinier de Ridder has all the wind in his sails as he just broke into the top5, there’s a title eliminator going down in Paris a month from now, and big names like Sean Strickland and Israel Adesanya are always lurking. Could Hernandez call out and get one of those two former champions? It’s possible, but not probable.
I believe the winner of the Paris main event between Nassourdine Imavov and Caio Borralho will be awarded the next title shot. With so many consequential bouts in the near future, we sometimes forget that the losers of those bouts will also need opponents. That’s why I had RDR matched up with the loser of next week’s title fight when he won in Abu Dhabi. With Adesanya and Strickland seemingly in no hurry to book their next one, that leaves Fluffy with the loser of the Paris main event. I thought about Robert Whittaker, but I think Bobby Knuckles will take a break, while Fluffy appears to want to get to the belt as soon as possible.
Hernandez’s next fight: Imavov/Borralho loser
Steve Erceg
Seventeen months removed from his last victory, Steve Erceg finally got back in the win column at UFC Vegas 109, earning a hard-fought unanimous decision win over Ode’ Osbourne. Yes, Osbourne had lost three of his last four coming in and took the fight on short notice, but getting a win of any kind was an encouraging sight for the Australian. This win shouldn’t propel him back with the top dogs of the division, but it should be enough to just re-book the original Alex Perez matchup. Perez and Erceg are two fighters who fans know are very skilled and much better than their records would indicate of late. Let’s see which one of the two can get back in the mix.
Erceg’s next fight: Alex Perez
Iasmin Lucindo
The youngster Lucindo had been impressive in her UFC run thus far, until she ran into Amanda Lemos in March. Lucindo wasn’t able to use her athletic gifts against the equally athletic, but much more experienced Lemos. She looked completely outmatched in her last outing, but this was a nice bounce back performance over the litmus test of the division in Angela Hill. Another fighter who looked promising until she ran into a top five opponent was Tabatha Ricci. Ricci had posted a very good 6-1 record at strawweight before she hit a roadblock against Yan Xiaonan. Ricci then rebounded nicely against Amanda Ribas, another one of those gatekeeping types. Why not match Ricci with Lucindo to see which of the two can string two wins together and earn a second crack at the top five?
Lucindo’s next fight: Tabatha Ricci
Andre Fili
The savvy veteran “Touchy” Fili has been juggling wins and losses for years, now. While he has failed to win consecutive fights since 2019, he always shows impressive levels of ability against a very respectable strength of schedule. With this split decision win against a Christian Rodriguez seven years his junior, could Fili stop another young prospect in his track? Let’s say, someone like wrestling powerhouse Isaac Dulgarian. It’s often ill-advised to take MMA math at face value, but to the extent that it offers any sort of relevant information, his latest win would tell us that Fili has a good chance to beat Dulgarian.
Fili’s next fight: Isaac Dulgarian
Jean Matsumoto
Matsumoto came within a hair of defeating Rob Font in February and breaking into the rankings at just 25 years of age. He lost a split decision that some people thought could have gone his way. Same story, different result this time around, as he won a split decision in a fun scrap at UFC Vegas 109 that could have gone against him. Miles Johns was a proper opponent for the youngster coming off that Font fight and he passed the test. There are quite a few names within that tier that Matsumoto could face next such as Davey Grant, Brady Hiestand or Da’Mon Blackshear, but I went with Victor Henry, who I think is equally tricky on the feet as he in on the ground.
Matsumoto’s next fight: Victor Henry
Christian Leroy Duncan
Even though he was victorious in his last outing, it still felt like CLD needed a “bounce back win” this weekend against Eryk Anders. He’s had a couple of nice finishes in the UFC, but his last fight in March was such a stinker that this first-round KO was exactly what the doctor ordered for the Englishman. Anders has had a decent career in the promotion, but Duncan showed how much of a difference being eight years younger can make. The exciting parts of CLD’s game can be quite entertaining, so why not put him up against someone who will bring the best out of him? Someone like Brazilian striker Marco Tulio, who’s had two knockouts so far in his rookie year.
Leroy Duncan’s next fight: Marco Tulio
