UFC Houston featured a six fight main card that produced four spectacular finishes and as many performance bonuses. Seems four was the magic number on this main card, as we have four fighters within the UFC rankings to match up on this week’s edition of our losers matchmaker piece.
Anthony Hernandez
Sean Strickland melted and finished Anthony Hernandez against the cage in the third round of their main event affair to secure a TKO victory Saturday. The loss snapped an eight-fight unbeaten streak dating back six years. The 2018 Contender Series alum now falls to 9-3 under the UFC banner with a loss that truly stings in more ways than one.
Perfect next matchup here for the #4 ranked middleweight is to give him the winner of Reinier de Ridder vs Caio Borralho. That fight goes down in the co main event slot of UFC 326 on March 7th. Both RDR and Caio Borralho are coming off of their first losses with the promotion. (#7) Borralho is 7-1, and lost to Nassourdine Imavov in September, while (#8) RDR is 4-1 and just fell to Brendan Allen in October. Fluffy was even supposed to face RDR instead of Allen in October but a hand injury forced him out of the bout. This could be another main event on a fight night card or on the main card of a pay per view with the winner a fight or two from a title shot.
Hernandez’s next fight: Reinier de Ridder vs Caio Borralho winner
Geoff Neal
Uros Medic took just 79 seconds to flatten Geoff Neal with a left hook and claim a first round victory in the co main event of UFC Houston. Geoff, who entered the fight ranked at #12 in the welterweight division, now falls to 8-6 under the promotional banner. Geoff has now won just one bout in his last five, falling to Shavkat Rakhmonov, Ian Machado Garry, Carlos Prates, and now Medic. Who knows where Neal will fall in the rankings as Medic entered the bout on Saturday unranked.
A good next fight for Neal would be the loser of Myktybek Orolbai vs Chris Curtis. That fight is on March 14th. Curtis, has had one fight since moving down to welterweight, and was once highly ranked at 185lbs. He’s 6-4, 1 NC in the UFC. Orolbai is 4-1 and is just coming off of a massive first round KO over former highly-ranked middleweight fighter, Jack Hermansson, last November. Myktybek also has a second round neck crank victory over Uros Medic in 2023. Great fight to keep Neal right in it with competitive scrappers as he will likely lose his ranking and be looking for a name without one.
Neal’s next fight: Myktybek Orolbai vs. Chris Curtis loser
Dan Ige
Melquizael Costa caught Dan Ige with a perfectly timed spinning back kick before finishing him off with ruthless ground and pound, securing a finish seconds before the end of the first round on Saturday. Dan, who entered the fight ranked at #14 as a featherweight, will now likely slide out of the rankings. Especially taking into consideration that Costa was unranked heading into the fight. Ige now falls to 11-10 with the UFC. It has been a rough stretch for the Hawaiian who has won just one of his last five fights.
For his next fight I like Ige against the loser of (#13) Kevin Vallejos vs. (#11) Josh Emmett. That fight goes down on March 14th, so the timing could potentially work well. If Ige draws Emmett it’d be a rematch from their December of 2021 fight where Emmett won a decision. If Josh loses he’d have lost four of his last five (just like Ige). Vallejos is 3-0 in the UFC and most recently stopped Giga Chikadze in December (bouncing him from the rankings).
Ige’s next fight: Kevin Vallejos vs. Josh Emmett Loser or Giga Chikadze
Ante Delija
Serghei Spivac turned in a solid performance defeating Ante Delija by unanimous division on Saturday. Spivac entered the fight ranked at #7 in the heavyweight division while Ante sat at #9. Both fighters were coming off of a loss to Waldo Cortes-Acosta, who was just on fire in 2025. Of course, it goes without saying that no one is safe within the UFC’s heavyweight ranks after a loss.
For Ante, I could see a scenario where he is fed to a younger gun. At just 1-2 in the UFC his sole win came via first round finish against Marcin Tybura in his promotional debut in September of last year. Giving him the winner of Steven Asplund vs Vitor Petrino, which goes down on March 14th has potential. Both are very young (27 and 28, respectively) and are going strong in their UFC careers with winning records (1-0 and 6-2, respectively). They are both Contender Series guys, and both are unranked. Or, looking back a few months to a losers article, you could still give Ante- Shamil Gaziev. Shamil is 3-2 in the UFC and is ranked at #13 in the division. He’s coming off a loss to none other than Waldo Cortes-Acosta, back in late November so it could still work well here.
Delija’s next fight: Steven Asplund vs Vitor Petrino Winner or Shamil Gaziev
Josiah Harrell
Jacobe Smith dominated and finished Josiah Harrell on the ground to get a grimy finish on the main card of UFC Houston Saturday. It was the battle of the undefeated prospects as Harrel entered the fight with a 11-0 pro MMA record, with Smith being an identical 11-0 as a pro. However, this fight was Josiah’s first fight with the UFC. And on a shortened timeframe as Smith’s original opponent, Seok Hyeon Ko ,withdrew from the bout after a suffering a rib injury. Jacobe was a 2024 Contender Series veteran and already had two fights under his belt with the promotion.
So keeping all that in mind, Josiah has options when it comes to his next matchup. The UFC giving him someone with a bit of a name (but also winnable fight) is likely after he stepped up on short notice. A fight with Austin Vandeford, former Bellator title challenger could materialize. Vandeford is 1-1 with the UFC stopping Nikolay Veretennikov in his February 2025 debut before being stopped by Ramiz Brahimaj in October. He’s 13-3 as a pro and a good grappling based challenge. However, he just withdrew from a bout against Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani scheduled this card.
Solid backup would be Phil Rowe. Phil is a 2019 Contender Series product who is 4-5 with the promotion and built a name as a hard-nosed litmus test. He’s 1-2 in his last three, stopping Ange Loosa before dropping a pair of decisions to Seok Hyeon Ko and most recently, Jean-Paul Lebosnyani via split. Although, its worth noting he did miss weight in his last time out as he stepped in for one Austin Vandeford.
Harrell’s next fight: Phil Rowe or Austin Vanderford
Zach Reese
Michel Pereira barely edged past Zach Reese on the scorecards to secure a crucial victory in the main event opener of UFC Houston. Reese now falls to 4-3, 1 NC with the promotion since being signed off the Contender Series in 2023. Reese has wins over Dusko Todorovic and most recently Jackson McVey, which earned himself a performance bonus in November. But Reese is in the hot seat here.
I’d match Reese up against a guy like Gearld Meerschaert. There are a lot of 185lbs. hanging around that level who have all struggled and fought each other (SD Dumas, Michal Oleksiejczuk, Reese, Marc-Andre Barriault, to name a few). Meerschaert is more established with the promotion than all of the above, and has whole bunch of submission victories too (to put it mildly).
Gerald is 12-13 with the promotion but is currently on a four-fight skid (Reinier de Ridder, Brad Tavares, Michal Oleksiejczuk and Kyle Daukaus back in November). Good match-up here, striker vs grappler, with the loser potentially packing their things.
Reese’s next fight: Gerald Meerschaert
