With UFC Vegas 116 now in the books, let’s look at what’s next for the winners.

Aljamain Sterling

Aljamain Sterling gave Youssef Zalal a “welcome to the big leagues” moment as he muscled the overmatched Moroccan around for most of the 25 minutes in the UFC Vegas 116 main event. While Sterling is now on a win streak, it’s nearly impossible to see him earn a title shot off of this performance. Not only does he have a loss to current number one contender Movsar Evloev, but the UFC has not shown a real interest in being in the Aljamain Sterling business in a long time. For that reason, I believe he’ll draw another tough matchup against another younger, up-and-coming featherweight contender like Aaron Pico.

Sterling’s next fight: Aaron Pico

Joselyne Edwards

After coming into the promotion at just 25 years old and starting her UFC career 1-2, the now 30-year-old Joselyne Edwards now finds herself on a 5-fight win streak, having just beaten s streaking Norma Dumont. Edwards’ game really appears to be coming together nicely. She came into this fight riding a four-fight finishing streak. Who knows how the title picture will look at bantamweight with the Kayle Harrison and Amanda Nunes matchup not even rescheduled yet, but Edwards has now earned herself a title shot.

Edwards’ next fight: Title shot

Rafa Garcia

The Mexican has had won consecutive bouts twice in the UFC, but with Saturday’s win, he now has his first three-fight win streak. The lightweight division is a shark tank even for the unranked, which is why Garcia isn’t out of the woods yet. There are multiple names the UFC could throw at him, but I landed on Mason Jones, who is also on a three-fight heater since joining the UFC again.

Garcia’s next fight: Mason Jones

Davey Grant

Even at 40 years of age, Davey Grant proves to still be a real tough out for anyone. This time around he defeated Adrian Luna Martinetti, who was one half of last year’s Fight of the Year contender with Mark Vologdin. Any unranked bantamweight could be thrown at Grant and it would make sense, but an option that I am particularly fond of is Serhiy Sidey. Grant would serve as a good test for the 29-year-old Canadian, but I also have no doubt that Sidey would make sure to pull his weight to contribute to the action quotient in that clash.

Grant’s next fight: Serhiy Sidey

Raoni Barcelos

Not too long ago, Barcelos was on a 1-4 stretch and looking old. He’s now on a five-fight win streak and the undying Brazilian will somehow enter the rankings at 38 years old.

It might sound like a strange matchmaking idea, but I really like the idea of a Payton Talbott rematch. If you look at it from the UFC’s perspective, they will want to invest in the young Talbott, who seems to have real star potential. There’s a promotional angle to be able to market Talbott as someone who has defeated everybody he’s faced. Talbott may no longer be undefeated, but the Barcelos loss is still one he can get back. And despite the bad nature of that loss, at the rate he seems to improve, I believe Talbott would be favoured in a rematch.

Barcelos’ next fight: Payton Talbott

Ryan Spann

With this win, Ryan Spann finds himself on his first win streak in almost four years. He’s been around for so long that it can be easy to forget he’s only 34 years old, which is quite young at heavyweight. The heavyweight division being in its current state means this KO win is probably enough to give Spann a ranked opponent. I think a fight with Marcin Tybura, Mick Parkin or the winner of next week’s Shamil Gaziev vs Brando Pericic bout all make sense. I went with the Englishman.

Spann’s next fight: Mick Parkin

The post What’s Next: UFC Vegas 116 Winners appeared first on Cageside Press.

Back at the Meta Apex on Saturday, the UFC’s latest hometown show featured Aljamain Sterling earning a clear cut decision victory in the night’s main event. It was a handful of earlier fights that cleaned up come bonus time, however.

Among them, the main card opener between Ryan Spann, a recent transplant to the heavyweight division who previously fought at 205lbs, and Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida, a decorated BJJ star and former ONE Championship athlete.

Spann landed a two-punch combo in the second round of a fight that had, to that point, been more of a grappling affair to topple Buchecha, who hit the canvas like a fallen tree. It was a walk-off KO moment and one that saw Spann earn his second straight victory at heavyweight.

The night’s other Performance of the Night bonus went to Jackson McVey, who submitted troubled middleweight Sedriques Dumas to claim his first victory under the UFC banner.

Fight of the Night at UFC Vegas 116 went to a thriller between Davey Grant and newcomer Adrian Luna Martinelli. At 40, Grant still had enough in the tank to turn back the 2025 Contender Series winner.

All four bonus winners pocket $100,000 for their efforts. $25,000 finishing bonuses were nary to be found as Spann and McVey had the only stoppages on the night.

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Buchecha (properly Marcus Almeida) was a ONE Championship transplant and decorated BJJ star looking for his first UFC victory after dropping his promotional debut. Spann was 1-1 since arriving at heavyweight, moving up from 205lbs last year.

Early on, it was Buchecha on the outside, Spann moving forward, only for an eye poke to graze him early. Then it was Spann moving in and moving for a takedown, steamrolling Buchecha. The Brazilian chased a leg, eating a few hammerfists. Spann opted to stay on the ground with Buchecha, who soon escaped out and put on a bodylock. Buchecha landed a trip takedown of his own, which Spann answered via a guillotine that wasn’t close to in tight.

That left Marcus Buchecha with over three minutes to work. Spann however got up, and Buchecha slipped off his back when he tried to take it. Still two and a half minutes on the clock in round one, and this time, it was Spann on top when they hit the mat, though Buchecha threatened to reverse.

Finally, wisely, Ryan Spann backed off, forcing Buchecha back to his feet. Spann fired a front kick to the body. Buchecha punched his way in, changed levels, but couldn’t land a clean takedown, instead chasing a leg lock. Moments later, it was Buchecha on his back after Spann defended a takedown. Spann dropped an elbow, fired a knee to the body, and rode out the round in control.

Round two saw Spann fire a leg kick early, but Buchecha then made contact with his fingers extended, earning a hard warning. Moments later, Buchecha earned another warning for having his fingers extended even though no contact was made. In response, fist closed, Buchecha fired an overhand punch, backed Spann to the fence, and worked on a takedown. Spann, as he had in round one, defended with a guillotine, leading Buchecha to go to his back. A moment later and they were back on the feet.

Moments later, Ryan Spann decided enough was enough, and ended the fight. A two-punch knockout arrived in the care of a left hook and straight right, and Buchecha fell like the mighty oak. No follow-up required.

Perhaps not as good as the last couple of heavyweight fights, but a thrilling finish and great win for Spann, who has now won two straight.

Official Result: Ryan Spann def. Marcus Buchecha by knockout, Round 2, 2:10

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The move to heavyweight was less Spann’s choice, and more about trusting in his coaches, he revealed following the fight.

“I just show up, I’m the bullet. I just do whatever. I’m going to be ready whatever weight,” stated Spann, giving his team full credit while speaking with media outlets including Cageside Press. “They’re too good for me not to trust them.”

After his team encouraged him to make the switch in weight classes, Spann, a former middleweight, wound up knocked out by Waldo Cortes-Acosta. Asked about what went wrong in that March fight, Spann explained that “honestly I think the heavyweight debut was just me getting on the scale, thinking I didn’t have to weigh in, so the last three weeks of that was atrocious.”

In comparison, at UFC 318, “I wanted to make sure we finished, we executed, big part of the game plan. We wanted to finish and execute. Tonight was the final preparation.”

Might he ever make the drop back down to light heavyweight? It doesn’t seem to be in the cards currently, but neither is it entirely out of the question. “We’ll see.”

Spann, nicknamed “Superman,” was also asked for his thoughts on the current James Gunn big screen adaptation of the classic comic book character. Without giving any spoilers, Spann gave it a thumbs up, noting it stayed close to the source material.

Watch the full UFC 318 post-fight press conference with Ryan Spann below.

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Spann (22-11) had spent most of his UFC run at 205 pounds, but decided to jump up a division earlier this year. His debut didn’t go as planned losing against Waldo Cortes-Acosta. The former light heavyweight certainly hoped to right the ship in New Orleans.

Brzeski (9-6-1) has not had the best career in the UFC this far. In 6 UFC bouts he’s gone 1-5 and was definitely on the chopping block against Spann at UFC 318.

Round 1 Spann came out on a mission landing a big right hand on Brzeski and putting maddening pressure on his opponent. Brzeski throw hands up top, Spann ducked, and scored a takedown.

Spann owned the positions taking mount multiple times and going for submissions. Finally Brzeski couldn’t fight the positions any longer and threw a hail mary to get to his feet.

Unfortunately for him Spann was ready with the guillotine, he secured it, tightened it and ended Brzeski’s night early.

Heavyweight looks good on Ryan Spann.

Official Results: Ryan Spann def. Lukasz Brzeski via R1 SUB (Guillotine), 2:47

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In the early going, Spann opened with some low kicks, and about 90 seconds in got Cortes-Acosta’s attention, rocking him with a punch. Moments later, there was a brief time out with Cortes-Acosta complaining about his eye. On the restart, he attacked, going right after Spann. An uppercut and another right hand connected for Cortes-Acosta as the pair traded fire, and Ryan Spann was suddenly getting a lesson in heavyweight power.

Things got rather hectic as the round progressed, with Spann practically running to escape some of the big power shots coming his way. He’d end up going to his back in the final 30 seconds, but with Cortes-Acosta not known for his ground game he opted to let time expire rather than get on top.

Action in round two was halted early with Spann complaining of an eye poke. The replay showed a punch, but Spann didn’t take much time regardless and action resumed. Spann fired a right hand, but Cortes-Acosta was having success with his jab. Ref Mark Smith then gave another warning to Waldo for having his fingers pointing outward. The power shots would continue throughout the round, with Spann again finding himself under fire towards the horn. This time, a right hand dropped Spann, and Waldo Cortes-Acosta jumped in with hammerfists. The ref gave Spann a chance to get out of danger, but he was out, and the fight was done seconds later.

After the bout, Cortes-Acosta called out Derrick Lewis and Tai Tuivasa.

Official Result: Waldo Cortes-Acosta def. Ryan Spann by TKO (punches), Round 2, 4:48

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“I wouldn’t say ‘reinvigorated’ because’s we’ve been still doing work,” Spann told reporters on Wednesday.

“I don’t have to cut weight. I’ve been still consistent because honestly I train close to the weight that ya’ll gonna see Friday. I just spend a lot of that time cutting weight. So I ain’t really get to do all the things that I should have been doing getting ready. Now, we’re having fun, and we’re in the gym.”

Spann (22-10) had a pretty successful run at light heavyweight going 8-5 in the division, but after suffering three consecutive losses which he snapped with a win over Ovince St.Preux at UFC 307, the move to heavyweight was in order.

“We’re more consistent. I can eat better. I can eat more. My body wants to be big,” he said.

The move wasn’t exactly his idea, but he was ok with it.

“Honestly it was coach that wanted to move up. Everything that happened after that was me just going with it. I didn’t really care. I accepted the fact that we were going up. We made it make sense to us,” he said.

Even with the move up the door to 205 remains open.

“If we want to go back we can go back, but right now we’re where we’re at,” he said.

“205, 85, I’m a 70er in a heavyweight body. I’m really a welterweight.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with Ryan Spann above. He takes on Waldo Cortes-Acosta at UFC Vegas 104 on Saturday night.

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Spann, a former LFA champ, was looking to pull out of a three-fight tailspin, while OSP was 2-1 in his last three, including a win over Shogun Rua.

Spann opened the first with a leg kick, and would land another one moments later. Saint Preux would fire back, but the leg grazed the cup by the thigh, bringing a brief halt to the action. On the restart, a left hand was there for Spann, coming over the top. OSP would answer back, landing one of this own, but Spann ripped off a massive right, then locked up a guillotine! The pair would go to the ground, Spann on top, and in mere seconds, Saint Preux was tapping!

With the win, Spann returns to the win column for the first time since November of 2022. It also marked his tenth career win via guillotine, clearly a go-to submission for Ryan “Superman” Spann. As for Ovince Saint Preux, the fight marked the final one on his current deal. Whether he returns remains to be seen, given the UFC isn’t known for re-signing fighters coming off a loss after fighting out their contracts.

Official Result: Ryan Spann def. Ovince Saint Preux by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 1, 1:35

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“OSP” was to have faced former LFA standout Ryan Spann at the event, set for the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. However, on Wednesday, promotion officials announced that the bout was off.

“Due to illness, Ovince Saint Preux has been removed from his light heavyweight bout with Ryan Spann. As a result, this bout has been cancelled from this weekend’s card,” a brief statement on the company’s website revealed.

The nature of the illness in this instance has not been revealed.

It’s the second hit the card has taken in the days leading up to the event, as Alessandro Costa dropped out of his flyweight fight with Matt Schnell due to injury. That fight, however, was salvaged, with Cody Durden stepping in, and the bout moved up a weight class to bantamweight.

Saint Preux, 41, was looking to build off a split decision win over Kennedy Nzechukwu back in March. OSP joined the UFC in 2013, after turning pro in 2008 and competing for Strikeforce starting in 2010. He boasts a record of 27-17, with wins over Corey Anderson, Shogun Rua, and Rafael Cavalcante, among others.

UFC Vegas 97 now moves forward with the following match-ups:

• Gilbert Burns vs. Sean Brady
• Jéssica Andrade vs. Natália Silva
• Steve Garcia vs. Kyle Nelson
• Matt Schnell vs. Cody Durden
• Trevor Peek vs. Yanal Ashmouz
• Rong Zhu vs. Chris Padilla
• Isaac Dulgarian vs. Brendon Marotte
• Felipe dos Santos vs. André Lima
• Yi Zha vs. Gabriel Santos
• Jaqueline Amorim vs. Vanessa Demopoulos
• Andre Petroski vs. Dylan Budka
• Žygimantas Ramaška vs. Nathan Fletcher

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For the first card back after UFC 300, UFC Vegas 91 boasted four finishes of the six fights on the main card. Alex Perez got the job done against Matheus Nicolau in a pivotal flyweight bout in the main event, earning his first win in years.

A couple of fighters are under some pressure after the results on Saturday so there could be some interesting matchups moving forward.

Matheus Nicolau

After previous opponent Manel Kape was forced out of the bout, Alex Perez stepped in on short notice against a top five fighter in Matheus Nicolau.

Perez was able to get the job done in round two, finishing Nicolau with a hook. Tough loss for Matheus as he has now lost two fights in a row. Nicolau has twice tried and twice failed to rematch Manel Kape after winning their first fight via split decision in March of 2021.

For the time being, Matheus should abandon that Kape rematch. Matheus should instead fight 15-2 Tagir Ulanbekov. Tagir is 4-1 in the UFC only having lost to top ranked veteran Tim Elliot in 2022 via unanimous decision.

Alex Perez was originally slated to fight Tagir Ulanbekov on June 15th before Perez was called to save the card when Kape fell out. Tagir has won two in a row, submitting Nate Maness and Cody Durden.

Ulanbekov was actually scheduled to fight Matheus for his second fight in the UFC back in 2021. But the fight would fall thru twice. Perfect fight to make.

Nicolau’s next fight: Tagir Ulanbekov

Ryan Spann

Just two fights into his UFC career, Bogdan Guskov finished Spann in the second round on Saturday night. Ryan Spann has now lost three fights in a row since stopping Dominick Reyes in the first round at the end of 2022.

Currently, there are a lot of moving parts on the outskirts of the UFC’s light heavyweight rankings. As well as a lot of fighters that are on impressive win streaks.

Spann lost to top 10 light heavyweight, Anthony Smith in a split decision just last August. Smith is fighting 11-0 Vitor Petrino, who is just breaking into the top 15, on UFC 301 at the end of the week. Giving Spann the loser of that fight doesn’t make much since at this current time.

Dustin Jacoby is slated to fight Dominick Reyes in June and even though giving Spann the loser is tempting its ultimately not the right move either. As Dominick’s most recent fight after some time away and several canceled fights was actually the fight against Spann.

The best fight to make for Ryan Spann would be a fight against Kennedy Nzechukwu. Spann is now 7-5 in the UFC and Kennedy is 6-5 with the promotion. Nzechukwu has lost two fights in a row being finished by Dustin Jacoby last year before losing a split decision to Ovince St. Preux earlier this year.

Spann’s next fight: Kennedy Nzechukwu

Ariane Lipski

Ariane entered the octagon on Saturday night on a three-fight win streak having defeated JJ Aldrich, Melissa Gatto and finishing Casey O’Neil. Lipski would lose a unanimous decision to Karine Silva who is undefeated at 4-0 in the UFC.

Lipski failed to secure the victory and now finds herself towards the bottom of the top 15 at flyweight.

Ariane should fight the loser of the upcoming Viviane Araujo vs Jasmine Jasudavicius bout on July 13th. Jasmine will be battling for Araujo’s top 10 ranking and the loser of the bout would be a good matchup for Ariane. Jasmine Jasdavicius is coming off of a third-round finish against Priscila Cachoeira who was Ariane’s most recent loss (before Saturday). And Araujo’s last win was in October of 2023 against Jennifer Maia.

Miranda Maverick would also be a solid backup if Ariane was ready to go earlier. Miranda last fought in February against Andrea Lee and before that defeated Priscila Cachoeira. Maverick also has the added bonus of currently being ranked in the Top 15.

Lipiski’s next fight: Jasmine Jasudavicius vs Viviane Araujo loser or Miranda Maverick

Austen Lane

Austen Lane is winless in his UFC career so far with an 0-2, 1 NC, record with the promotion. After the loss Saturday, Lane’s now been finished twice by men with under 10 fights and has a no contest due to eye pokes against Justin Tafa, the same man to later stop him.

A two-time veteran of the Contender Series, Lane had his UFC dreams postponed by a now former UFC fighter, Gerg Hardy, back in 2018. Lane would win his second Contender Series bout in 2022 and has been struggling since then.

Caio Machado lost earlier on in the night against Don’Tale Mayes. Machado is also winless in the UFC at 0-2 and is also a Contender Series veteran. Timeline would also potentially matchup for that bout and that is the fight to make.

Lane’s next fight: Caio Machado

Jonathan Pearce

After Saturday night, Jonathan Pearce is now two tough losses removed from his remarkable five-fight win streak that lasted from 2020 to late 2022. A streak that featured finishes over Kai Kamaka III, Omar Morales and Makwan Amirkhani.

Bad luck struck Pearce, as he was injured and his scheduled fight against top ranked UFC featherweight, Bryce Mitchell, had to be cancelled.

Once he returned, Perce was ninja choked in the second round by Joanderson Brito in November of 2023. And now, Pearce lost a unanimous decision to David Onama. Pearce’s opponent missed weight before the bout and so it makes sense to throw Pearce a little bit of a bone here as he the bout could have very well have won fight of the night otherwise.

Pearce should fight the loser of the Sean Woodson and Alex Caceres bout that takes place May 11th. Pearce is now 5-3 in the UFC and was actually slated to fight Sean Woodson back in 2020 before Woodson withdrew. Woodson has not lost in five bouts, with a finish, three decisions, and a split draw to Luis Saldana in the time period. Caceres has won two of his last three only losing in his most recent bout, to Giga Chikadze via decision.

Pearce’s next fight: Sean Woodson vs Alex Caceres loser

Tim Means

40-year-old Tim Means has now lost four of his last five fights and has been finished three times. Means was brutally stopped by Uros Medic in the first round of their bout on Saturday.

Tim’s next fight in the UFC will be his 30th bout with the promotion, what better occasion to give him another equally tenured legend?

Matt Brown was last in action last May when he finished Court McGee in the first round. Brown, now 43 years old has won two of his last five fights including a split decision loss to Bryan Barberena in 2022.

It would be a rematch as the pair first met nearly nine years ago. Brown would get the victory on that night in 2015 as he submitted Means in the first round via guillotine.

It would be a fun fight to run back.

Means’ next fight: Matt Brown 

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