Song Yadong

Song Yadong needed this win, perhaps more badly than most realize. He’s still just 28 years old, but he was given ample opportunities to break through against names like Cory Sandhagen, Petr Yan and most recently, Sean O’Malley, and he has fallen short every time. This was another main event, this time in his home country against an older veteran who was 1-3 in his last 4 outings coming into this bout. It was an important win, but it shouldn’t propel Song back into title contention; he needs to do more to earn yet another kick at the can. I think beating a younger, streaking up-and-comer like David Martinez would be much more restorative to his stock.

Song’s next fight: David Martinez

Alonzo Menifield

With this win, “Atomic” Menifield’s last three victories have come against then 25-year-old Julius Walker, then 29-year-old Oumar Sy and now 27-year-old Zhang Mingyang. While most people will look at this as an indictment on the light-heavyweight division, there is something to be said for Menifield being an undying litmus test for these guys. He’s proven to be the Neil Magny, Dan Ige, Angela Hill-type gatekeeper for the 205ers and that’s a very respectable role to have. There are some upcoming fights featuring light-heavyweight prospects, Iwo Baraniewski, Navajo Stirling, and Abdul-Rahman Yakhyaev. With a win, I think by far the most deserving of ranked opposition would be Navajo Stirling.

Menifield’s next fight: Stirling/Cutelaba winner

Sergei Pavlovich

My main takeaway from this fight is that it was fun to see the Pavlovich of old. Not since April of 2023 had we seen Pavlovich as his bulldozing self. After back-to-back losses to Tom Aspinall and Alexander Volkov, his confidence took a massive hit and he was fighting tentatively. However, not one person actually believed Tallison Teixeira was worthy of an opportunity like this one, so the fight had squash match written all over it and the result speaks for itself. This doesn’t really move Pavlovich forward; it more or less keeps him posted in the division’s top5. A highlight-reel like this may at least get him a shot against the loser of the White House co-main event.

Pavlovich’s next fight: Pereira/Gane loser

Kai Asakura

It took two losses, a division change and a significant drop in opposition level, but alas, there it is: Kai Asakura’s first UFC win. Cam Smotherman is a respectable, but far from elite opponent, so who’s to say what this win ultimately will do for the Japanese fighter. What I believe the UFC was aiming for, here, was to get Asakura a win to get his confidence back. When he’s fighting with his usual swagger, Asakura can be an incredibly exciting fighter. I think Charles Jourdain is the perfect name to throw at him. He’s still unranked, but it’s a clear step up in competition from Smotherman and would immediately become of the coolest, most acrobatic fights on the UFC calendar.

Asakura’s next fight: Charles Jourdain

Jake Matthews

This was Matthews’ first fight since his collapse against Neil Magny last September. While he successfully rebounded, I am not convinced that this performance against Carlston Harris was enough to take away the bitter taste from that last loss. Facing and defeating someone like Nicolas Dalby might provide the redemption Matthews is looking for since the Danish fighter has a similar grinding style to Magny.

Matthews’s next fight: Nicolas Dalby

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Pavlovich entered ranked #3 in the heavyweight division and having competed for an interim title in 2023; the towering Teixeira had entered the rankings in the #15 spot and was taking a big step up.

Teixeira learned a hard lesson about taking big steps up in competition on Saturday. Almost immediately, the Russian landed a right hand that had a lot on it. Teixeira stayed upright, but was clearly hurt. A second right hand wobbled, a third connected more on the forearm, but Teixeira went down anyway. The follow-up punches, a series of left hands, were enough for the ref to move in and wave things off.

Teixeira didn’t look thrilled with the stoppage after the fact, but it was hard to argue given how bad the visual was. Pavlovich wasn’t about the stop, and while he has been overlooked with Tom Aspinall out, Ciryl Gane fighting Alex Pereira, and Josh Hokit’s quick rise, he made a statement at UFC Macau, reminding heavyweights that he remains a player in the weight class.

“Dana, give me the title shot, or at least give me a contender fight,” Pavlovich said following the win, addressing UFC CEO and President Dana White.

Official Result: Sergei Pavlovich def. Tallison Teixeira by KO (punches), Round 1, 0:39

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Johnny Walker

Johnny Walker kept up with his whimsical tendencies, somehow ending up on bottom just five seconds into the fight. His opponent, Zhang Mingyang had never won a fight that went past the first round. Despite facing some adversity in the first five minutes against the clearly very dangerous Zhang, the Brazilian survived the initial onslaught and got a TKO finish in the second round after landing some heavy calf kicks. This was an important win for Walker to keep his position as a flawed, but entertaining member of this division. He tried to call out Jan Blachowicz, but I’m doubtful this victory will move him far up enough to warrant a name like that. Instead, I think the UFC probably just looks to book the Bogdan Guskov fight again. It was an intriguing matchup back when it was booked in January, but fast forward a couple of wins for each and it just got even more interesting.

Walker’s next fight: Bogdan Guskov

Aljamain Sterling

It wasn’t the most thrilling affair, but the former bantamweight champion did get back in the win column, earning a wide unanimous decision victory over Brian Ortega. In terms of name value, the win is nice for Sterling, but it won’t do much for his case in the title picture at featherweight. It was more about Ortega looking old than Sterling putting on a masterclass. At 36, he knows that if he is to go on a title run in his new division, the time is now. Even he acknowledged feeling the age a bit more in his post-fight interview. It probably explains why despite knowing he didn’t put on a show, he still tried to shoot his shot at Alexander Volkanovski. There is simply no way he will be rewarded with a title shot after this fight. The good thing for Aljo is he’s not alone in his boat floating in limbo. Yair Rodriguez also suffered a bad loss to the current champion and is coming off a pretty lacklustre win himself. This makes the matchmaking fairly straightforward, in my opinion. Let’s book the Funk Master vs El Pantera and see who of two can produce a highlight reel worthy of an exit from purgatory.

Sterling’s next fight: Yair Rodriguez

Sergei Pavlovich

Though he got back in the win column earlier this year against Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Sergei Pavlovich wasn’t a fan of his performance in that fight. Even if he went to the judges’ scorecards once again, Pavlovich looked a lot more purposeful and confident this time around. The fight mainly went the distance due to Waldo Cortes-Acosta somehow eating the big bombs that Pavlovich has folded people with, in the past. While getting back-to-back wins is important after suffering consecutive losses, that is now four fights where the Russian has failed to deliver one of his previously signature knockouts. For that reason, I expect him to have to fight backwards once more before getting the opportunity to get back into the title picture. The next card has a fight between perennial top 10 heavyweight Marcin Tybura and former PFL champion Ante Delija on it. The winner would be a fitting opponent for Pavlovich, at this point in time.

Pavlovich’s next fight: Tybura/Delija winner

Sumudaerji

Sumudaerji earned a second consecutive win as he comfortably outpointed Kevin Borjas over the course of three rounds. After overcoming a three-fight skid against veterans Matt Schnell, Tim Elliott and Charles Johnson, the Chinese fighter has now found some momentum again. I don’t think he should be headed for the rankings again just yet, but he’s probably just one fight away. Other streaking unranked flyweights like Allan Nascimento and Andre Lima could be fine options, but I went with Rafael Estevam. The undefeated Estevam has missed weight twice in three UFC bouts, so there is a chance he will be forced to move up a division. But as long as the promotion is willing to keep him at 125lbs, he’s the right opponent for Sumudaerji.

Sumudaerji’s next fight: Rafael Estevam

Taiyilake Nueraji

The 24-year-old Nueraji came into this fight with an 11-1 record, including ten first-round finishes, with nine coming by knockout. Not everyone making their short notice debut would get main card treatment, but he did, and that speaks to what the UFC believe they have in him. However, a blatant foul as he kneed Kiefer Crosbie in the head while he was down really does put an asterisk to this performance. He was dominating before the foul, but it’s still impossible to ignore its impact. Despite what looked like a promising debut, I don’t think Nueraji gets to earn an upgrade in his level of competition. He needs to pretend like he still hasn’t debuted. Someone like Preston Parsons is always a good opponent to test prospects like this.

Nueraji’s next fight: Preston Parsons

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Pavlovich, the favorite coming in, entered off a decision victory over Jair Rozenstruik, who had since been sent packing from the promotion. Cortes-Acosta had won five straight.

The big men were a little gun-shy early, with Pavlovich backing Cortes-Acosta up to the fence. When Pavlovich did uncork a right hand, he landed, though more significant perhaps was the clash of heads that ensued. Still, they fought on, exchanging in bursts. Cortes-Acosta connected to the side of the head, but Pavlovich took that well and returned fire. Waldo ripped a kick, Pavlovich countered with a right that landed clean. Cortes-Acosta also found the mark with an overhand right of his own.

In round two, Cortes-Acosta targeted the body with his jab. Nearly two minutes in, Pavlovich uncorked a combination that saw a right hand catch Cortes-Acosta. To Waldo’s credit (or to his chin’s), he ate it, but too many of those and he might end up caught napping. Another right hand, then a straight left, connected for Pavlovich with about two minutes left. Sergei then caught Cortes-Acosta on the way in with a check hook, though again, he shook it off.

Pavlovich connected big one again about a minute into the third. And once again, Cortes-Acosta was kept in the fight by his granite chin. The Russian mixed in leg kicks, continued to have success with his hands, and was almost certainly well ahead on the scorecards. Cortes-Acosta found himself tagged alongside the fence with 90 seconds to go, though he stayed standing. Moments later, another right hand landed for Pavlovich. Cortes-Acosta, too durable for his own good, would not go away. His only offense, however, was to explode forward, exposing himself as he did so. Cortes-Acosta pointed to the floor in the final ten seconds, and while Pavlovich stood and traded, it wasn’t quite a Max Holloway moment.

Official Result: Sergei Pavlovich def. Waldo Cortes-Acosta by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

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His last fight saw Pavlovich (19-3) snap a two-fight skid, going the distance for a decision win over Jair Rozenstruik, his first win on the scorecards since 2017. His previous six victories coming by stoppage, that raised an eyebrow, but there’s a reason, the Russian explained during this week’s UFC Shanghai media day.

“As we know before [my] last fight I had two losses in a row, so I needed to come back, I needed to figure out my strategy,” stated Pavlovich. “I needed to feel the entire three rounds in order for me to get back on the rails and go on the winning track.”

Despite his change in styles last time out, he’s still expecting to entertain this Saturday. “I think that we’ll have a pretty fun fight anyways.”

As for the outcome of his fight with Cortes-Acosta and where it leaves him, the promotion hasn’t said anything officially. “No talks like that just yet, but then we’ll see what happens. Everything’s possible.”

Later, Pavlovich would touch on his ultimate goal, and the need to be entertaining to get to the title.

“Obviously the goal is the belt. Sometimes you get exciting fights, sometimes the fights aren’t so exciting. You can’t really predict a knockout. A knockout is something that comes unexpectedly. I’m ready for all three rounds. I’m going to make sure to show an exciting fight, a fight that everybody will like, and then we’ll see what happens Saturday.”

A former foe of Sergei Pavlovich now holds the UFC’s undisputed heavyweight title. That would be Tom Aspinall, who faces Ciryl Gane next. Pavlovich was pretty clear about who he’s picking to win that fight.

“I think that Aspinall is going to win,” he said.

Watch the full UFC Shanghai media day appearance by Sergei Pavlovich above.

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Nassourdine Imavov

Imavov earned by far the biggest win of his career, stopping the former champion Adesanya early into round two. The Frenchman came into the UFC at a young age, but now 28 and having won four consecutive fights against top 10 opposition, he seems to finally be coming into his own. A win of this magnitude would guarantee a title shot just about every time, but the landscape at 185 will probably force Imavov to earn another win before fighting for the belt.

We can pretty much assume that Khamzat Chimaev will draw the winner of the Dricus Du Plessis and Sean Strickland rematch going down this upcoming weekend. If Chimaev can fight in the U.S., then that fight could take place during the summer. If not, then he will most likely have to wait until October again when the UFC goes back to Abu Dhabi. Either way, with Chimaev calling dibs on the next middleweight title shot, Imavov won’t be able to simply sit this one out until he’s next. Maybe his next fight can be on the same card as Chimaev’s title shot and he can serve as an unofficial backup in case someone pulls out.

Robert Whittaker and Anthony Hernandez, should he beat Brendan Allen later this month, are fine options, but the best number 1 contender matchup available for Imavov is Caio Borralho. The Brazilian is undefeated in the UFC, having won all six of his fights and has not lost since his second ever professional fight back in 2015. He’s also the poster boy for Fighting Nerds, a gym with a lot of momentum behind them. It’s the right matchup.

Imavov’s next fight: Caio Borralho

Michael Page

The man they call MVP went up in weight for fun one-off fight against undefeated prospect Shara “Bullet” Magomedov. Undefeated no more is Magomedov after he became victim number 23 on Page’s record. This was a good showing by MVP who needed to bounce back after losing to Ian Machado Garry back in June. He will turn 38 in April, so if he’s going to muster any form of title run, it needed to start on Saturday.

At the post-fight conference, Dana White expressed interest in maybe booking Page against Leon Edwards in England at some point. But for the time being, Edwards is booked in late March against Jack Della Maddalena, so that idea will have to wait. In the meantime, MVP should be calling for Colby Covington. Despite his last couple poor showings, Covington is still a big name ranked inside the top10. A win over him would allow Page to crack the top10 and then maybe set up that Leon Edwards fight that could springboard him to the title.

Time is of the essence for MVP so he needs to target fights that will garner a lot of attention if he’s going to fast track himself to the belt. And Colby Covington can provide that.

Page’s next fight: Colby Covington

Sergei Pavlovich

It wasn’t too long ago that Pavlovich was seen as the next big thing at heavyweight with six consecutive first-round KO wins over names like Derrick Lewis, Tai Tuivasa and Curtis Blaydes. However, after losing his last two fights, the Russian badly needed a win against perennial ranked contender Jairzinho Rozenstruik. It wasn’t the most impressive performance nor the most exciting fight, but Pavlovich ultimately got the job done.

Getting his hand raised was the priority and he accomplished that, but the nature of the win won’t do him any favours if he was aiming to get back into the promotion’s good graces. I don’t think he will get a number 1 contender fight after this, nor should he.

There is a fight going down in London next month between Marcin Tybura and undefeated prospect Mick Parkin. Pavlovich can fight the winner of that bout.

Pavlovich’s next fight: Tybura/Parkin winner

Vinicius Oliveira

Fans have been wondering for years who would win between Nurmagomedov and Oliveira and we finally got our answer! All kidding aside, this was a solid win for Lok Dog who managed to defeat a high-level opponent despite a rib injury.

There is a cluster of rising contenders on win streaks at bantamweight. Names like Aiemann Zahabi, Marcus McGhee, Montel Jackson, Daniel Marcos, Farid Basharat are all at the tail-end of the rankings or outside of them completely. With this win, Oliveira put himself in that tier of fighters. You can match them up any which way and get a good fight out of it. I ultimately went with Marcus McGhee.

Oliveira’s next fight: Marcus McGhee

Fares Ziam

Not unlike the bantamweight division, lightweight also has a cluster of streaking contenders who are all worthy of fighting ranked opposition. Two of the names in that cluster of fighters were Fares Ziam and Mike Davis. Only one of their four-fight win streaks would be able to get to five, and it was Ziam’s.

Just like his fellow Frenchman Imavov, Ziam came into the UFC at a very young age and after a couple of early stumbles, he now appears to be putting it all together just as he’s about to turn 28. Now riding the third longest win streak in the division, Ziam’s case for a ranked opponent should be undeniable. Jalin Turner, who has lost two of his last three, should have to defend his #13 ranking if he is to stay at 155.

Ziam’s next fight: Jalin Turner

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Suriname’s “Bigi Boy” Rozenstruik had picked up wins against Shamil Gaziev and Tai Tuivasa in 2024, while Russia’s Pavlovich had lost an interim title fight against Tom Aspinall, following by a pairing opposite Alexander Volkov.

It was Rozenstruik landing the first solid connection share of a cracking leg kick. Both men showed considerable respect for the other’s power, with lots of feints early on. The lack of action saw the crowd grow restless, but a couple of big swings, despite missing, drew an audible gasp from the masses. The pair then traded leg kicks, inside and inside, and Pavlovich landed upstairs after that, causing Rozenstruik to back off.

In the next exchange, Rozenstruik slipped off a counter, falling to his back and allowing Pavlovich to get on top. In a close, low-action frame, the control time and ground n’ pound might have been enough to secure the round for the Russian.

Pavlovich and Rozenstruik continued to stand toe-to-toe to open round two, Pavlovich feinting, Rozenstruik showing decent head movement. The opening two minutes of the frame saw little thrown and less connect, but Pavlovich would land a glancing blow in a rare exchange. The crowd continued to voice their displeasure, leading ref Mark Smith to instruct the fighters to get busy. Moments later, Pavlovich knocked Rozenstruik down with a punch that saw him stumble back; as he had in the first, Sergei got on top, this time in half guard. Just over 90 seconds were still on the clock; Jair tied things up on the bottom, or at least tried to, not giving the Russian any space in which to work.

It’s never a good sign when the fans are still booing after two rounds; for Jairzinho Rozenstruik, things looked even worse, with his corner urging him to find a finish early in the third. “F*ck five minutes” was the message, whether their fighter could respond was the question.

Instead of finding a finish, however, Rozenstruik found himself on his back less than two minutes into the round. The hulking Sergei Pavlovich got into half-guard once again, while Jair appeared unable to explode out. Just about the furthest thing from a threat off his back, Rozenstruik was essentially just playing defense, and although he did get back to his feet late in the third, the outcome was a forgone conclusion by that point.

Official Result: Sergei Pavlovich def. Jairzinho Rozenstruik by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

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You can have power, but if you don’t reach your target, does it matter?

“Thing with power is you got to land to show it,” Rozenstruik told reporters on Wednesday.

“If you can’t land it you have no power basically.”

Rozenstruik (15-5) is no stranger to Pavlovich. The heavyweight revealed the two actually trained together for a while.

Quite a while.

“We used to train together. Two years,” he said.

Apparently the two sparred a lot during those two years, and it’s something thet

“I mean sparring is fighting. You don’t want to kill each other, but you have to do it as a fight. He might have something, he might (have) changed a lot, he changed gym,” he said.

“Soon as the fight start, and then it’s another thing. There’s no right or wrong in fighting.”

Rozenstruik said all of it with the calmness of someone who already has a feel of what the fight is going to look like. Include in that what he’ll be looking for with a win over Pavlovich at UFC Riyadh.

“A win this Saturday would definitely put me in the top five,” he said.

“I’m looking at fighting one more guy and then looking up to a title conversation.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with Jairzinho Rozenstruik above. He takes on Sergei Pavlovich at UFC Riyadh on Saturday.

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Pavlovich (18-3) is riding a two-fight losing streak after dropping fights against Tom Aspinall and Alexander Volkov. With the losses it seems as though he’s lost some steam, and some support as well.

“Of course I felt it. I felt that some people turned away, but I don’t pay them too much attention,” Pavlovich told reporters through a translator on Wednesday.

“I want to thank personally the people that have stayed and supported me through this. For them I want to do this. Those people that came and went whatever. I’m not worried about them.”

The last fight, against Volkov, seemed very personal for Pavlovich. After Volkov took the victory Pavlovich shoved him in the cage.

Pavlovich downplayed it.

“Sh*t happens,” he said.

“You live and you learn, right? I always have to go out and learn.”

Pavlovich seemed visibly annoyed that he was asked about Volkov repeatedly so he put a stamp on it.

“I would say that there’s no reason to concentrate on the past and look over that. We have the future,” he said.

“We have to go forward and keep moving forward.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with Sergei Pavlovich above. He takes on Jairzinho Rozenstruik at UFC Riyadh this Saturday.

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Alex Behunin was the first to break the news.

Pavlovich (18-3) is currently on a two-fight losing streak with losses against Tom Aspinall at UFC 295, and Alexander Volkov in June. The #4 ranked heavyweight will defend his ranking in Saudi Arabia.

The fight against Aspinall was a short-notice interim title bout as the co-main event of UFC 295. After current heavyweight champion Jon Jones suffered an injury taking him out of his main event fight with Stipe Miocic the top of the card was reworked. Aspinall came out victorious and is the current interim heavyweight champion.

Prior to that loss Pavlovich had been on a 6-fight win streak.

Rozenstruik (15-5) has seen a resurgence as of late with two consecutive victories over Tai Tuivasa and Shamil Gaziev respectively. The #9 ranked heavyweight holds victories over Chris Daukaus, Augusto Sakai, Junior Dos Santos and Alistair Overeem to name a few.

‘Bigi Boy’ entered the UFC in 2019 putting together four straight knockout finishes over Junior Albini, Allen Crowder, Andrei Arlovski and Overeem before running into Franci Ngannou in May 2020. That fight lasted 20-seconds and saw Rozenstruik suffer his first professional MMA loss.

UFC Saudi Arabia is set for Feb 1 and the card is currently as follows:

• Sergei Pavlovich vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
• Ikram Aliskerov vs. Andre Muniz

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