The MMA leader ended their Pay-Per-View era (in the US) with a bang. Seven of the nine prelims fights at UFC 323 ended in a finish, five of which came in the first round. The main card then gave us a youth movement with Payton Talbott, Tatsuro Taira and Joshua Van all getting their hands raised. Finally, what a fight to cap the night. Petr Yan pulled off the impossible and killed the beast that is Merab Dvalishvili, who was attempting history. Let’s look at what’s next for the winners of the last Pay-Per-View (for at least the next 7 years!).
Petr Yan
As Merab Dvalishvili was attempting to pull off something that had never been done, it was Petr Yan who ended up writing a piece of history. Before UFC 323, none of the two-time champions had ever regained their title after surmounting a three-fight losing streak. The man who was near the top of the pound-for-pound list in 2021 incomprehensibly threw away his belt with a stupid illegal strike. He then lost consecutive split decisions that were each a punch or two away from going his way. That skid was topped by Dvalishvili who thoroughly defeated him, blanking him on the scorecards. By that point, “No Mercy” was already two years removed from losing his belt and looked further away from it than ever. Years or specific training and game-planning for an eventual rematch with the Georgian “Machine” finally paid off on Saturday as Yan put on one of the greatest performances in a title fight by a challenger in recent memory. He beat Goliath, slayed the dragon, however you want to refer to it.
As Yan will undoubtedly skyrocket back up the pound-for-pound list, he has to know the job isn’t done yet. Yes, Umar Nurmagomedov and Sean O’Malley could slide in should they get a nice win in January. However, assuming Merab’s activity stays reasonable, those two will have to meet again.
Yan’s next fight: Merab Dvalishvili
Joshua Van
Some will refuse to count this as a legitimate win for Joshua Van, but on paper, the 24-year-old from Myanmar is your new flyweight champion. This anti-climactic ending has unfortunately thrown cold water on what has been a phenomenal year for Van. Time will tell whether Pantoja can heal and turn around in time to reasonably be Van’s next opponent. If he can, there’s no reason to not simply wait and book it again. If not, Van should be fighting Tatsuro Taira next. I understand that a lot of people will be on the Kyoji Horiguchi train, but I would prefer to have Kyoji win another fight because I don’t see a win over Tagir Ulanbekov warranting a title shot. The man who might insert himself in this conversation is Manel Kape, should he put on a standout performance against Brandon Royval this weekend.
Van’s next fight: Alexandre Pantoja if available (or Tatsuro Taira)
Tatsuro Taira
Say what will about the stoppage, Taira was dealing and looking like a million bucks. While I do believe referee Mark Smtih stopped the action a tad early, it doesn’t affect my read on the fight since I personally don’t think it impacted the outcome of the bout. Brandon Moreno grabbed a triangle in the first round and held it for almost its entirety. But Taira stayed calm, defended the submission attempt and got out of it. As soon as round 2 started, it was all Taira. After learning valuable lessons from his five-round banger with Royval last fall, the Japanese uber prospect appears to be putting it all together, which is a scary thought for the rest of the division since he’s still only 25.
With Pantoja’s timeline still unclear, I can’t tell who will be the champion by the time Taira gets his title shot, but one thing if clear in my mind: his next fight should be for a title.
Taira’s next fight: Title shot
Payton Talbott
What a way for Payton Talbott to end 2025. The man who laid an egg in January as a -1000 betting favourite against Raoni Barcelos outwrestled Henry Cejudo. After surrendering eight takedowns to Barcelos earlier this year, Talbott’s stock took a massive hit. So much so that he was the underdog coming into his next fight against Felipe Lima. He already looked a lot improved in that win in June and even more so after putting a beating on the former double champion Cejudo. A rocky start to the year, but it now feels like we can strap a rocket to the 27-year-old who has shown massive improvements in such a small time frame.
The UFC seems to be looking for stars as they will want to pull in viewers to start their new broadcast deal with Paramount. Talbott seems to have star potential, so I would imagine the promotion will look to give him fights that would favour him on paper. Someone like Marlon Vera, who is on a losing skid, or Rob Font, who is 38, could make sense. I wouldn’t hate a Barcelos rematch. They could also look to give him Sean O’Malley, a fellow star who’s been hinting at perhaps leaving the sport sooner than later, but that could be too much too soon. That’s why I like the idea of matching him up with Aiemann Zahabi. The Canadian is ranked inside the top 10, on a win streak, but is 38 and has arguably lost his last two fights.
Talbott’s next fight: Aiemann Zahabi
