UFC Seattle took place on Saturday night, splitting its 13-bout fight card to an extended six-fight main card.
All six main card fights in Seattle, WA produced exciting finishes. The feature preliminary bout between Tofiq Musayev and Ignacio Bahamondes set the tone with a Fight of the Night winning blood bath. And one of the all-time GOATs of MMA, Demetrious Johnson, was announced as a 2026 UFC Hall of Fame inductee. All-in-all, it may have been an exciting fight card, but many fighters are in dire positions in this week’s edition of What’s Next.
Israel Adesanya
(#14) Joe Pyfer seized his opportunity to catapult up in the rankings with his second round TKO thrashing of (#4) Israel Adesanya in the main event on Saturday. The finish earned Pyfer a fat performance bonus too. Adesanya has now lost four fights in a row, he’s been stopped in three of those bouts, and is winless since beating Alex Pereira in early 2023. 1-5 since early 2022 is a rough stat, whether Izzy was the champ during some of those bouts or not.
Izzy has a lot of options for his next fight. The 36-year-old needs a win against respectable competition, though there’s a possibility, although slim, that his next opponent may not be ranked.
Moving forward, Israel should be paired up with the loser of the Edmen Shahbazyan vs. Brendan Allen fight on June 6. The timing is a little funky but either fight could make sense. Allen has won two in a row, and is currently coming off a win against Reinier de Ridder into the -+bout. He would have lost to an unranked fighter in Edmen, so could potentially be in a similar, position to Izzy. Shahbazyan is currently riding a 3-fight win streak with two, first-round finishes. So, he would have faltered off of a large test, and against a grappler.
Could be a bit of a stretch, so backup pick here is MVP. Page is 4-1 in the UFC and on a three-fight win streak. Page was last in action at UFC London last week, defeating Sam Patterson, but if he decides to move up to 185lbs., like he has twice before, MVP vs ‘The Stylebender’ could be a fun one.
Adesanya’s next fight: Edmen Shahbazyan vs. (#6) Brendan Allen Loser or (#13 WW) Michael Page
Maycee Barber
(#4) Alexa Grasso unleashed a nasty bombardment on (#5) Maycee Barber midway through the first-round rendering Barber out on her feet before sliding in a sub for good measure. Devastating loss for Barber as she loses step up fight/title eliminator, got her seven-fight, five-year-long win-streak snapped. Maycee also falls to 0-2 vs. Grasso.
Barber’s next fight should be against Tracy Cortez. A fresh name, a relevant ranking and the last fighter to take on Erin Blanchfield. Barber has been unsuccessfully matched up against Erin twice before, with both bouts being cancelled before the fighters could make it into the octagon. Timing is a little off for this matchup however, as Tracy fought back in November of last year. But she’s 2-2 in her last four. A good backup would be Rose Namajunas, who is a little bit of a stretch and coming off a loss to (#1) ranked Natalia Silva in late January. Main card matchups here, PPV or fight night.
Barber’s next fight: (#8) Tracy Cortez or (#6) Rose Namajunas
Niko Price
Michael Chiesa made quick work of fill-in Niko Price, securing a rear naked choke in the first round of a picture-perfect retirement fight on UFC Seattle’s main card, Saturday. Price is now on a four-fight losing streak and has gone 2-7 in his last nine fights with the promotion. Niko has looked rough, in his last stretch of fights, but at least for UFC Seattle he truly was a last second replacement.
Price announced shortly before the fight that it would also be his last, retiring alongside Chiesa.
Should Price change his mind (he didn’t even get mic time post-fight), Chiesa’s original opponent, Carlston Harris, had to withdraw due to visa issues. But he’s on a two-fight skid, against Santiago Ponzinibbio and Khaos Williams, and both fighters stopped Harris. Carlston is also 4-3 and has been with the UFC since signing in 2021. Niko and Carlston are at a similar level, and this could be a decent scrappy fight that could land nearly anywhere on a fight night card.
Price’s next fight: Retirement, Carlston Harris
Julian Erosa
Lerryan Douglas dropped hometown favorite, Julian Erosa, multiple times on the way to landing a first round finish at UFC Seattle Saturday. Erosa has now lost two in a row although the first loss was a fight of the night unanimous decision loss to now-ranked, Melquizael Costa. Julian had won three in a row before this current skid.
In Julian’s next fight he’s got to continue to lean into those chaotic fights he’s so good at. Giving him the loser of Cub Swanson vs. Nate Landwehr is a very fun matchup either way that goes. Those two fight on April 11th, so timing would be great. Swanson, a 25-fight UFC vet hasn’t fought since stopping Billy Quarantillo in the third round in a crazy standup war back in late 2024. Cub’s 2-2 in his last four, brings a unique standup style and experience. His opponent Nate Landwehr is a fellow leather-slinger, but not as tenured with the UFC, at just 35-5 with the promotion. Nate is coming off a two-fight losing streak and was finished in the third round of both fights (against Doo Ho Choi and Morgan Charriere).
So, Nate would be 1-4 in his last five or Cub would be 2-3 in his last five. Good matchups that could easily be on the main cards of fight nights or a feature prelim (high action stand up fight).
Erosa’s next fight: Cub Swanson vs. Nate Landwehr Loser
Mansur Abdul-Malik
Yousri Belgaroui crumpled Mansur Abdul-Malik with a well-placed knee to get the TKO in the third round of their hard-hitting middleweight affair Saturday. The loss is the first of Mansur’s 11-fight pro MMA career. The 28-year-old 2024 Contender Sedries product is now 3-1-1 since being signed.
Abdul-Malik is still young in his career here, no need to panic. Give him the loser of Azmat Bekoev vs Tresean Gore. Timing for that fight would be perfect as its on April 4th. Tresean is 5-5 as a pro MMA fighter and 2-4 under the UFC banner. The unofficial The Ultimate Fighter Season 29 runner up, has had a rough go at it with the promotion, currently riding a two-fight skid and missed weight ahead of his last bout against Rodolfo Vieiera. Azamat is 20-4 as a pro, so more experience, but is just 2-1 in the UFC. And Bekoev lost to Yousri Belgaroui via third round stoppage in his last fight too. Honestly, either of these guys would make sense for Mansur and offer a good scrap.
Abdul-Malik’s next fight: Azmat Bekoev vs. Tresean Gore Loser
Kyle Nelson
Terrance McKinney fought like the stove was on back home, as he always does, to open the main card of UFC Seattle on Saturday. This time delivering a wild high kick finish in under 30 seconds against the Canadian, Kyle Nelson. Kyle has now fully cooled off from his 2023-2024 hot streak where he went 3-0-1. Nelson has gone 1-2 in his last three and was finished in the first round of both losses. To make matters worse, Nelson missed weight in that first loss of the trio of fights, to Steve Garcia and missed weight ahead of the bout. So, he’s been at lightweight the last two bouts.
Looking back to a previous edition of losers here, make Kyle Nelson vs. Michael Johnson. This would be a great fight. And a good test for both fighters at the current positions in their respective careers. Johnson is 32-fight veteran of the UFC but hasn’t fought Nelson. Two standup guys, and Nelson is coming up from featherweight so maybe he’d be able to hang with Johnson’s hand speed. Could see this landing anywhere on a fight night main card or feature prelim.
Nelson’s next fight: Michael Johnson
