#ufc204

Alright, time to make up for lost time and book fights for everyone involved with the last four UFC cards (well, outside of Dan Henderson, who retired after his fight.) But, of course, some of the fighters on those cards have already been booked, so let’s run those down first:

Michael Johnson (beat Dustin Poirier at UFC Fight Night 94) vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov Derek Brunson (beat Uriah Hall at UFC Fight Night 94) vs. Robert Whittaker Belal Muhammad (beat Augusto Montano at UFC Fight Night 94) vs. Lyman Good Zak Ottow (beat Joshua Burkman at UFC Fight Night 96) vs. Sergio Moraes Erick Montano (lost to Randy Brown at UFC Fight Night 94) vs. Max Griffin

So those guys are off the table - now let’s book everyone else, and let’s break it down by division given the volume of the fights:

Heavyweight:

Roy Nelson (beat Antonio Silva at UFC Fight Night 95) vs. Andrei Arlovski: I really don’t know what to do with Nelson - he’s slowed down to the point that Bigfoot Silva was actually the quicker man for most of the fight, so he’s firmly in the gatekeeper part of his career, but there are only real three prospects at heavyweight - Derrick Lewis, who he just faced, Ruslan Magomedov, who is currently on the shelf and dealing with drug test issues, and Francis Ngannou, who is already booked and isn’t ready to face Nelson besides. So let’s do a rematch of his 2008 EliteXC fight with Andrei Arlovski, only one of two knockout losses of Nelson’s career - it’d still be a decent fight with some name value, and a likely bounce-back win for Arlovski, who’s on a bit of a skid but still has some left in the tank.

Stefan Struve (beat Daniel Omielanczuk at UFC 204) vs. Derrick Lewis: Struve had his best performance in a while, running through Omielanczuk and not looking as sluggish as he has near the beginning of his comeback, so it appears that he’s able to stick around as a fringe top-ten heavyweight as long as he wants. Still, a title shot isn’t really in the cards (though I guess never say never at heavyweight) and Struve’s role should still be as sort of a gatekeeper into the top ten for...well, not quite younger fighters, since Struve is still young for the division, but guys that are thought of as more of a prospect. Struve against Lewis would be an interesting fight - Struve’s long limbs and tricky ground game could give “The Black Beast” some trouble as Lewis tries to knock him out and make him fold like a shot giraffe.

Daniel Omielanczuk (lost to Stefan Struve at UFC 204) vs. Tim Johnson/Alexander Volkov (UFC Fight Night 99) winner: Omielanczuk lost rather handily to Struve, which keeps him in the middle of the heavyweight division - though given how stratified it is, I’m not sure a middle of the heavyweight division really exists. Honestly, either feeding Omielanczuk to a top opponent that needs a win, or feeding a lower-level fighter to Omielanczuk himself makes sense - let’s put him against the winner of the Johnson/Volkov fight at the Belfast, though, which is somewhere in the middle. Johnson’s established himself as pretty much the other mid-tier heavyweight, so that would be a natural fight, or if Volkov wins, Omielanczuk would be a natural step up for the former Bellator heavyweight champ.

Antonio Silva (lost to Roy Nelson at UFC Fight Night 95) vs. Aleksei Oleinik: Bigfoot Silva really should retire - he actually did better than expected here, as Nelson has just become so slow, but as soon as his chin got touched, he was out, continuing the trend of the last few years. But Silva apparently keeps wanting to fight, so let’s put him against Russia’s Oleinik - the longtime veteran has a brutal knockout win over Jared Rosholt in 2014, but he’s mostly known as a grappling and a submission expert, so this is basically matching up Silva to be as competitive as possible while also reducing the chance that he gets punched in the face, if only for his own safety.

Shamil Abdurakhimov (beat Walt Harris at UFC Fight Night 96) vs. Marcin Tybura: So Abdurakhimov beat Walt Harris in a fight that wasn’t particularly good, but at least established him near the top of the big jumble of heavyweights hanging around the bottom of the division. Let’s put him against Tybura, who lost out on a chance to establish himself against Derrick Lewis when the card in Manila was cancelled.

Curtis Blaydes (beat Cody East at UFC Fight Night 96) vs. Luis Henrique/Christian Colombo (UFC Fight Night 100) winner: Blaydes might be the most interesting long-term prospect at heavyweight, given his size, wrestling skill, and athleticism. But he’s still fairly raw, so let’s only give him a modest step up in competition from Cody East - Colombo looks to be a fine gatekeeper, and Henrique looks to be an interesting long-term prospect himself, so either winner of that fight in Sao Paulo would be a good opponent.

Walt Harris (lost to Shamil Abdurakhimov at UFC Fight Night 96) vs. Francis Ngannou/Anthony Hamilton (UFC Fight Night 102) loser: Harris is still a tantalizing athlete for heavyweight, but he continued to struggle to use any of those natural gifts in a flat loss to Abdurakhimov. He’s mostly roster filler at this point, so if top prospect Ngannou loses to Anthony Hamilton, Harris could be a solid bounce-back opponent, or Harris could just fight Hamilton in a bit of a pink-slip derby.

Cody East (lost to Curtis Blaydes at UFC Fight Night 96) vs. Jared Cannonier: It’ll be interesting to see if UFC gives East another fight - he was as promising a heavyweight prospect as any when UFC signed him, but after a pretty harrowing criminal past came to light, he was almost immediately more trouble than he was worth, and now he’s 0-2 in the UFC. If he sticks, Jared Cannonier, an athletic, if undersized and one-dimensional, striker would be a fine last gasp fight.

Light Heavyweight:

Jimi Manuwa (beat Ovince St. Preux at UFC 204) vs. Mauricio Rua: So, Jimi Manuwa is suddenly a contender now - it was sort of unclear how good he was, since his two losses were really elite competition (Alexander Gustafsson and Rumble Johnson) and his wins weren’t against anyone that great, but a highlight reel knockout of OSP puts him in the 205 mix. There’s only two real obvious opponents that are free - Glover Teixeira and Shogun Rua - and let’s go with the fight against Shogun, which UFC initially scheduled in late 2014 before Manuwa got injured.

Ovince St. Preux (lost to Jimi Manuwa at UFC 204) vs. Igor Pokrajac: I really don’t know where to go from here with OSP - this feels like it finally shut the door on any hope he had of becoming a future contender, leaving him as sort of a failed prospect, but in a division as thin as 205, his athleticism and unorthodox style feels like it can still take care of most of the division rather easily. I’ve already booked some of the more obvious candidates that are sort of in the same boat (Ilir Latifi and Corey Anderson, though Anderson’s still more of a legitimate prospect), so for now, let’s just kill time by putting OSP against Croatian vet Igor Pokrajac and wait for light heavyweight to sort of open up.

Ion Cutelaba (beat Jonathan Wilson at UFC Fight Night 96) vs. Steve Bosse: Cutelaba looked good in his first UFC win, as the Moldova won a fairly fun striking match - and made some headlined during weigh-ins, when he covered himself in green body paint to drive home his “The Hulk” nickname. A fight against former hockey enforcer Steve Bosse would be a fun brawl, so bring it on.

Henrique da Silva (beat Joachim Christensen at UFC Fight Night 96) vs. Ed Herman: I’m still not really sold on “Frankenstein” da Silva, but an armbar submission of Christensen makes it 2-0 for the raw Brazilian. Let’s see how he does against veteran Ed Herman - if nothing else, Herman’s one of the few guys to be just as plodding as da Silva, even though the Colorado native has enough skill that it may be too much for the prospect to handle.

Joachim Christensen (lost to Henrique da Silva at UFC Fight Night 96) vs. Sean O’Connell: Christensen looked fine in his UFC debut before the Danish striker got tapped out by Henrique da Silva. Brawler Sean O’Connell would make for a fun fight, and both guys are coming off a loss, so sounds as good as anything as far as a fight to do.

Jonathan Wilson (lost to Ion Cutelaba at UFC Fight Night 96) vs. Cory Hendricks: Wilson is now firmly on the UFC bubble - he’s lost two straight, but I could also see the reasons to keep him around, as he’s an athlete with some good potential, and after a pre-UFC record that was mostly crushing cans, he’s basically had to have his first professional fights on the big stage. I’m not sure if Hendricks is under contract after losing his last fight after TUF 23, but he’s a similarly raw prospect that would make for a solid fight at this stage of each’s careers.

Middleweight:

Michael Bisping (beat Dan Henderson at UFC 204) vs. Luke Rockhold/Jacare Souza (UFC Fight Night 101) winner: Bisping called out the “big four” at middleweight after his fight, and his close win over Dan Henderson was so inspiring that each of them probably want a title fight more than ever. I’m assuming the winner of Rockhold/Souza gets it over the winner of Chris Weidman against Yoel Romero - Rockhold’s probably the most interesting from a box-office perspective, and Jacare is probably the most deserving candidate. Plus, I honestly think Romero has a pretty solid shot at beating Weidman, especially a Chris Weidman coming off major surgery, and Bisping seems pretty lukewarm on fighting someone like Romero, who’s just coming off a drug suspension.

Gegard Mousasi (beat Vitor Belfort at UFC 204) vs. Robert Whittaker/Derek Brunson (UFC Fight Night 101) winner: Meanwhile, with that “big four” of Rockhold, Jacare, Weidman and Romero all facing each other, Mousasi might be next in line at number five after pretty much running through Vitor Belfort. And if Mousasi’s not number five, then it’s either Robert Whittaker or Derek Brunson, who are facing each other in Melbourne next month - Mousasi against the winner of that bout is an obvious next fight to help further clear up the middleweight pecking order.

Vitor Belfort (lost to Gegard Mousasi at UFC 204) vs. Uriah Hall (lost to Derek Brunson at UFC Fight Night 94): Rumor is that Vitor was going to retire win or lose after the fight with Mousasi, but there’s been no word yet. As Vitor is slowing down, and, frankly, basically physically melting post-TRT, it’s just a matter of sliding him down the ladder as he keeps losing to see what he has left. Hall would make for a nice, weird fight that would either be a fun sprint or a weird staring contest, and if Hall puts Belfort away with some sort of crazy explosive head kick, there’d be a weird sort of karma given that Belfort did the same to a lot of opponents while he was obviously juiced up.

Nate Marquardt (beat Tamdan McCrory at UFC Fight Night 96) vs. Chris Camozzi/Daniel Kelly (UFC Fight Night 101) winner: So Nate Marquardt is suddenly a thing again, since after looking done as a fighter, he’s put together two big knockouts in his last three fights. So now he’s a fringe top-fifteen guy again, and the winner of the upcoming Camozzi/Kelly bout will be another veteran in the same boat, so seems like a good fight to make.

Eric Spicely (beat Thiago Santos at UFC Fight Night 95) vs. Brad Tavares: Well, huh, that was unexpected. Submission expert Eric Spicely, who would’ve been cut if not for a paperwork snafu, was basically thrown in as a sacrificial lamb against Santos, yet managed to pull of a shockingly one-sided submission victory. So with Spicely already beating one fringe top-fifteen guy, let’s put him against another guy at that level in Hawaii’s Tavares, who’s a much different fighter than Santos, more dependent on technique than dynamism.

Thiago Santos (lost to Eric Spicely at UFC Fight Night 95) vs. Ryan Janes: Well, now I don’t know what the hell to do with Santos, who looked like he’d improved enough to be an interesting talent, but looked completely lost as soon as Spicely was able to take him to the ground. For now, let’s at least get him a win to hang around, and let’s see what Janes, a Canadian who’s seen his UFC debut get cancelled twice - first after his opponent’s drug test got flagged in Vancouver, and second after the card in Manila got cancelled - has to offer.

Antonio Carlos Junior (beat Leonardo Augusto Leleco at UFC Fight Night 94) vs. Trevor Smith: “Shoe Face” at least rebounded from a bad loss to Daniel Kelly to keep himself somewhat of a concern at middleweight, but as good of a prospect as he seemed to be, I’m still somewhat loathe to rush him back up the ladder too much. Trevor Smith seems to be a solid next test, as the Washington native pretty much offers size and grappling skill, which are also Carlos’s top two attributes, so it’ll be a solid test to see if the Brazilian is past gatekeeper status.

Tamdan McCrory (lost to Nate Marquardt at UFC Fight Night 96) vs. Scott Askham: Well, that’s disappointing - what looked like a sudden career revival for “The Barn Cat” McCrory has sort of stopped before it began after knockout losses to Krzysztof Jotko and now Marquardt. McCrory now looks to be firmly in the morass of decent middleweight action fighters, and England’s Askham occupies a similar niche, so let’s do that matchup.

Leonardo Augusto Leleco (lost to Antonio Carlos Junior at UFC Fight Night 94) vs. Caio Magalhaes: Leleco’s probably cut after going 0-2 in UFC and showing little besides toughness, but if he hangs around, let’s do a fight against fellow fringe middleweight Caio Magalhaes, and see if we can achieve sloppy Brazilian brawler singularity.

Welterweight:

Alex Oliveira (beat Will Brooks at UFC Fight Night 96) vs. Tim Means: Well, that was certainly something. Oliveira completely missed making weight at 155, establishing himself as a permanent welterweight, used his size advantage to take care of Will Brooks rather handily, and then made an ass of himself after the fight. Still, “Cowboy” Oliveira is a talent, and Tim Means would make a for a fun brawl between two lanky welterweights that are looking to break into the top fifteen.

Leon Edwards (beat Albert Tumenov at UFC 204) vs. Ben Saunders: Edwards got the biggest win of his UFC career and established himself as a prospect, relying on a rarely-seen grappling game to eventually tap out Russian striker Tumenov. Saunders recently got re-signed by the UFC, and he’d be an interesting test for Edwards at this point in the game - both are best known for their striking, but having surprisingly solid grappling chops to fall back on if needed.

Albert Tumenov (lost to Leon Edwards at UFC 204) vs. Mike Perry (beat Danny Roberts at UFC 204): As always with the human embodiment of Florida, it was a week of taking the good with the bad when it comes to “Platinum” Mike Perry, who looked awesome in winning an absolute war with Danny Roberts, but then had some old Instagram photos of him in blackface resurface in the next day or two. Perry remains a talented fighter who also seems to be a pretty horrible person, so a fight against Albert Tumenov would accomplish a lot of goals - it’d be a fun as hell striking battle, and since the book on Tumenov seems to be him lighting up people on the feet while struggling with opponents who try to grapple, the most likely scenario is Tumenov knocking the absolute hell out of Perry at some point in the fight.

Erick Silva (beat Luan Chagas at UFC Fight Night 95) vs. Vicente Luque (beat Hector Urbina at UFC Fight Night 95): Erick Silva saved his UFC career against Luan Chagas in a fun, dumb fight - both guys were all-offense, no-defense, and it was Silva that happened to catch the winning submission. Meanwhile, Luque offered the knockout of the night by absolutely obliterating Hector Urbina, and he’s due for a step up in competition - this could be a fun brawl, and both guys have some dynamic submission skills, so it’d be a pretty fun fight to make.

Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos (beat Keita Nakamura at UFC Fight Night 96) vs. Nordine Taleb: Zaleski dos Santos’s win was a close one, but the Brazilian striker showed the ability to get through some trouble on the ground and is pretty much three-for-three as far as fun fights. Still, he’s probably more middling action fighter than prospect, so a fight against Canadian vet Taleb would be a solid undercard bout.

Roan Carneiro (beat Kenny Robertson at UFC Fight Night 94) vs. Zak Cummings/Alexander Yakovlev (UFC Fight Night 99) winner: Well, Carneiro/Robertson was certainly a fight that happened, with Carneiro getting his hand raised. He’d be a fine next test for the Cummings/Yakovlev winner as “Jucao” can join the carousel of middling welterweight undercard fights.

Keita Nakamura (lost to Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos at UFC Fight Night 96) vs. Mike Pyle: Honestly, Nakamura’s fight against Zaleski dos Santos was so close it’s hard to call it a real loss, as K-Taro’s crafty submission game continues to have a surprising amount of success in UFC. A bout against Pyle would be a fun one, given that Pyle has as much veteran craft as anyone in the company, so things could turn into a pretty fun, slick grappling battle.

Kenny Robertson (lost to Roan Carneiro at UFC Fight Night 94) vs. Sean Spencer: That’s two straight close losses for Robertson, though his fight with Carneiro was so boring it’s hard to call anyone a winner. Robertson’s strictly on the cut line now as a low-upside veteran, so let’s do a pink slip derby, and let’s do it against Spencer, who’s sort of in a similar position.

Randy Brown (beat Erick Montano at UFC Fight Night 94) vs. Jessin Ayari: Brown’s already a frustrating talent, as he just basically gave rounds away to Erick Montano before clamping on the winning guillotine choke in the third round. Brown just needs experience at this point, and Ayari, who didn’t show much in his debut in Germany last month despite getting a win, is as fine an opponent as any.

Luan Chagas (lost to Erick Silva at UFC Fight Night 95) vs. Brandon Thatch: Chagas actually stepped in for Thatch, as Silva/Thatch was set to be an awesome battle of all-offense, no-defense prospects whose careers had fallen apart. Chagas is now winless in two UFC fights, but his fight with Silva was a pretty great action fight, so his job might be safe - and if it is, let’s run it back against Thatch, the closest Silva surrogate, though this time the loser almost definitely gets cut.

Danny Roberts (lost to Mike Perry at UFC 204) vs. Brendan O’Reilly: Well, that was disappointing - Roberts still showed a lot of the slickness that’s made him an interesting British prospect, but his lack of power made it a tough fight against a game Mike Perry, and Perry eventually put his lights out. At this point, let’s get Roberts some experience and a bounce-back win, and Australia’s Brendan O’Reilly is a fine opponent that’s a bit of a layup.

Augusto Montano (lost to Belal Muhammad at UFC Fight Night 94) vs. Hector Urbina (lost to Vicente Luque at UFC Fight Night 95): Both guys are now sort of in the same boat - they were each brought in as Mexican veterans to help fill out cards as UFC started running the country, but with UFC’s Mexican prospects improving way quicker than expected, and each of these guys now riding two straight losses, they’re sort of unnecessary. Both being cut wouldn’t surprise me, but if UFC wanted to, say, match them up on the undercard of some show in Mexico next year to compete for their jobs, that’d be fine, too.

Lightweight:

Dustin Poirier (lost to Michael Johnson at UFC Fight Night 94) vs. Gilbert Melendez: Well, that didn’t go as planned, as Poirier’s rise through lightweight got stopped in pretty one-sided fashion by Michael Johnson. Gilbert Melendez would make for a pretty fun bounce-back fight, and both guys are badly in need of a win to stay relevant now, so that really looks like the fight to make.

Francisco Trinaldo (beat Paul Felder at UFC Fight Night 95) vs. Evan Dunham (beat Rick Glenn at UFC Fight Night 94): Trinaldo’s put together a long winning streak against the middle of the lightweight division, and it’s about time that he faced a top-fifteen opponent - Dunham would be a perfect fit, as both guys have a pretty solid striking and wrestling skill set, and it’d be a pretty even fight.

Will Brooks (lost to Alex Oliveira at UFC Fight Night 96) vs. Joe Lauzon: Will Brooks’s loss to Oliveira was a weird one, and I don’t really know how much to count it against him - Oliveira missed weight and just looked gigantic against Brooks, so he probably deserves a mulligan, even though he lost fair and square. At any rate, Joe Lauzon would be a solid next fight for Brooks - Lauzon’s a fading veteran, but he’s still really solid with a well-rounded skill set, plus it could make for a fun fight and a solid name opponent for Brooks to try and get a win over to establish himself as a UFC lightweight.

Leonardo Santos (beat Adriano Martins at UFC 204) vs. Mairbek Taisumov: Santos’s win over Martins wasn’t pretty at all, but a win’s a win, and now Santos has had a shocking amount of success since winning TUF Brazil 2. A fight against Russia’s Taisumov would be a fun fringe-top-fifteen battle, plus there’s a ton of questions about Taisumov’s grappling game, and BJJ ace Santos would definitely provide a great test.

Paul Felder (lost to Francisco Trinaldo at UFC Fight Night 95) vs. Adriano Martins (lost to Leonardo Santos at UFC 204): Paul Felder just got pieced up by Trinaldo, while Martins remains his own worst enemy - he’s got a bunch of skills, but he’s just so ridiculously passive inside the cage that he gives away rounds, and in this case, the fight. Felder’s a bit of a counter-striker, so this could just turn into a staring contest, but I’m hoping Felder is dynamic enough to turn this into a bit of a fun fight between inconsistent talents.

Islam Makhachev (beat Chris Wade at UFC Fight Night 94) vs. Abel Trujillo: After a long layoff, Makhachev rebounded from a loss to Adriano Martins with a one-sided win over Wade to regain some of his prospect shine. Still, that flash knockout loss to Martins still sort of looms, so going against an all-offense berserker would go a ways towards exorcising some of the demons from that loss.

Alan Patrick (beat Stevie Ray at UFC Fight Night 95) vs. Jake Matthews/Andrew Holbrook (UFC Fight Night 101) winner: So, for the first time in his career, Patrick actually fought a smart gameplan, using his wrestling to take a decision off of Scottish prospect Ray. It’s widely assumed Aussie prospect Jake Matthews should beat Andrew Holbrook in Melbourne next month - Patrick would be a good step back up in competition to see if Matthews can keep advancing his career.

Michel Prazeres (beat Gilbert Burns at UFC Fight Night 95) vs. Joaquim Silva: Well, Prazeres remains not particularly dynamic, but Gilbert Burns is his best UFC win to date, and the Brazilian now has had a shocking amount of success in the Octagon. Still, he’s a gatekeeper at best, so let’s put him against Silva, who’s overachieved as a prospect and flashed some explosive striking.

Marc Diakiese (beat Lukasz Sajewski at UFC 204) vs. Olivier Aubin-Mercier/Drew Dober (UFC 206) winner: Diakiese showed the good and bad of his game - when he’s on offense, he’s an explosive athlete capable of some incredible stuff, but Sajewski was able to have a surprising amount of success neutralizing him with some aggressive grappling. The OAM/Dober winner, in a fight just announced for Toronto, would be a solid step up, as Diakiese would once again have the athleticism advantage against someone willing to grapple with him.

Gilbert Burns (lost to Michel Prazeres at UFC Fight Night 95) vs. Jon Tuck: Well, now I’m not sure what the hell to do with Gilbert Burns, a former BJJ champ who was an elite prospect and got a bit of a stylistic layup here in Prazeres, but completely spit the bit. Burns just wasn’t able to get Prazeres down, and his striking game is apparently still enough of a work in progress that Prazeres was somehow able to get the advantage there. So let’s give Burns another chance against Guam’s Tuck, who’s sort of a B-minus everywhere - if Burns can’t find a way to tap Tuck out, or even just get a decision, he probably doesn’t have much of a UFC future anyway.

Gregor Gillespie (beat Glaico Franca at UFC Fight Night 95) vs. John Makdessi/Lando Vannata (UFC 206) winner: Gillespie came into UFC with a bunch of hype as a blue-chip wrestler, and he lived up to it here - he got into some trouble on the feet early, but he was ridiculously tenacious and wound up handling Franca, which is especially impressive given how large Franca is for the division. The winner of the Makdessi/Vannata fight in Toronto is a solid step up, and would make for a solid wrestler-versus-striker battle.

Stevie Ray (lost to Alan Patrick at UFC Fight Night 95) vs. Johnny Case: That was a deflating loss for Ray, who was looking like a prospect to watch at 155 before Patrick was able to outwrestle him rather handily. I could easily see UFC giving him someone near the bottom of the roster to give the Scotsman a rebound win, but instead let’s go with a tough veteran in Case, who saw his momentum similarly deflated by Jake Matthews this past March.

Joshua Burkman (lost to Zak Ottow at UFC Fight Night 96) vs. Chris Wade (lost to Islam Makhachev at UFC Fight Night 94): This is probably it for Burkman’s second UFC run, as this was yet another example of him having a bunch of tools at his disposal, but just refusing to engage or do much of anything in a boring slog of a decision loss. If he somehow gets another UFC fight, he’s too established to feed one of the dregs of the division to, so let’s go with Wade, who finds himself on the UFC fringe after two straight losses, albeit against solid competition. Wade at least has enough of a well-rounded skillset with some wrestling that he should be able to push the pace if Burkman chooses not to do anything, though it seems like Burkman always finds a way to make things unexciting.

Glaico Franca (lost to Gregor Gillespie at UFC Fight Night 95) vs. J.C. Cottrell: This was a damaging loss for Franca, the TUF Brazil 4 winner who’s still a solid prospect - UFC gave him too much too soon in James Vick, and it turns out Gillespie more than lived up to his blue-chip prospect billing in beating Franca. So at this point, let’s just get Franca a win, and Cottrell is a non-prospect who didn’t really show much in his UFC debut loss to Michel Prazeres.

Lukasz Sajewski (lost to Marc Diakiese at UFC 204) vs. Mitch Clarke: This is almost surely it for Sajewski, a Polish prospect who was decent but never got any favors in matchmaking, unless they give him a fourth fight as a thanks for stepping up here on late notice. If he sticks around, let’s feed him to Clarke, a likable Canadian submission specialist who badly needs a win.

Featherweight:

Mirsad Bektic (beat Russell Doane at UFC 204) vs. Charles Oliveira: Well, Bektic pretty much picked up where he left off as a top prospect, recovering from a knee energy to showcase his tenacious wrestling game and killer instinct against Doane. It’s pretty much time to send Bektic up the ladder and see what he’s got, and Charles Oliveira would be an interesting test - Oliveira’s no killer on the feet, but he’d provide a solid test for Bektic’s developing striking game, and Oliveira’s lethal submission skill would be an interesting matchup with Bektic’s ground-and-pound game.

Renan Barao (beat Phillipe Nover at UFC Fight Night 95) vs. Andre Fili (beat Hacran Dias at UFC Fight Night 96): There might be hope just yet for Fili, who’s always had natural talent and came into UFC with some solid hype, but has always been too reckless for his own good. He looked fine here, though, getting a big win against Dias, and a fight against Renan Barao would do a good job of letting us know where both guys stand - Barao’s win over Nover was solid, but unimpressive, leaving some questions about if the former bantamweight champ will be anything more than a middling fighter now that he’s moved up a weight class.

Hacran Dias (lost to Andre Fili at UFC Fight Night 96) vs. Myles Jury: I’m not really sure where you go with Dias now - he has obvious talent, but he’s just always more than willing to give away fights due to a complete lack of activity. Let’s put him against Jury, even though I have no idea where Jury has been - after a long layoff, the former lightweight prospect made his debut at featherweight and lost to Charles Oliveira this past December, but he’s vanished since.

Godofredo Pepey (beat Mike De La Torre at UFC Fight Night 95) vs. Chas Skelly (beat Maximo Blanco at UFC Fight Night 94): Skelly’s win over Blanco was completely ridiculous - both guys flew flying side kicks and Skelly’s hit flush enough that he was able to clamp on an anaconda choke for the win right after. So let’s see if we can go two straight when it comes to dumb fun and put Skelly against Pepey, who basically spends an entire fight aggressively going for the finish, which he got early on against Mike De La Torre.

Maximo Blanco (lost to Chas Skelly at UFC Fight Night 94) vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri: If this was it for Blanco after two straight losses, a crazy 20-second scramble is probably the way to go out for someone as reckless as the Venezuelan. If not, a fight against Japanese vet Tatsuya Kawajiri would be a solid way to go, since “The Crusher” is coming off two losses himself - plus Blanco’s recklessness would be a fun contrast to Kawajiri’s stifling top game.

Gabriel Benitez (beat Sam Sicilia at UFC Fight Night 94) vs. Teruto Ishihara/Artem Lobov (UFC Fight Night 99) winner: Benitez got a solid win over Sam Sicilia, continuing the trend of Mexican fighters outperforming expectations. He’s be a solid next fight for either Ishihara or Lobov, who face off in Belfast next month - Ishihara’s a fun prospect, and Benitez would be a solid next step up, while Benitez against Lobov could just be a fun brawl.

Mike De La Torre (lost to Godofredo Pepey at UFC Fight Night 95) vs. Cole Miller: Mike De La Torre remains a perfectly fine fighter, and he’s in the spot where pretty much any opponent would make sense for him - he’s expendable enough he could serve as a rebound win for a top opponent and get smashed, or UFC could try and keep him around on the roster. Cole Miller’s another middling vet coming off a loss, so that’s be a perfectly fine fight to make and a pretty fun one.

Rick Glenn (lost to Evan Dunham at UFC Fight Night 94) vs. Phillipe Nover (lost at Renan Barao at UFC Fight Night 95): Glenn acquitted himself well, as the full-time featherweight fought up a division and had a pretty fun loss against Evan Dunham. Phillipe Nover would be a fine next opponent, with the loser getting cut - Nover’s just sort of a guy, but UFC must have figured he had enough name value to put in the co-main against Barao, and that’ll probably earn him another UFC fight after two straight losses.

Sam Sicilia (lost to Gabriel Benitez at UFC Fight Night 94) vs. Clay Collard: This is probably it for Sam Sicilia, who’s beginning to lose a bit too much as a featherweight gatekeeper - if Clay Collard is still on the roster, since he hasn’t been seen since a loss in August of 2015, that’d be a fun last-ditch fight for two strikers.

Bantamweight:

John Lineker (beat John Dodson at UFC Fight Night 96) vs. Jimmie Rivera: Sigh. John Lineker did everything you could ask for in his main event win against John Dodson - he looked awesome, had an exciting fight, and won the decision - except for make weight. Again. Somehow. Lineker’s even at bantamweight to begin with because he missed flyweight about half the time, and given that he’s now the second man to miss weight in two different divisions, I have no idea when you trust him enough to give him a title shot. On the plus side, there’s still a bunch of fun fights near the top at 135 for Lineker, and Jimmie Rivera, who just beat Urijah Faber at UFC 203, would be a fun one between two top prospects.

John Dodson (lost to John Lineker at UFC Fight Night 96) vs. Aljamain Sterling/Raphael Assuncao (UFC Fight Night 102) winner: Dodson’s loss to Lineker easily could’ve gone either way, so the big takeaway was that Dodson reaffirmed that he’s firmly in the bantamweight mix after coming up from 125. A bout between Aljamain Sterling and Raphael Assuncao, both coming off losses to bantamweight contenders, was just announced for the Albany card in December, and the winner of that - who’ll be firmly back in the mix themselves - would be a fun next fight.

Iuri Alcantara (beat Brad Pickett at UFC 204) vs. Eddie Wineland: Alcantara blew the doors off of Pickett, proving he’s not done yet as a fringe top-fifteen gatekeeper. Eddie Wineland would be a fun fight between two veterans coming off big wins - Wineland just got a big comeback win over Frankie Saenz to stay relevant.

Brad Pickett (lost to Iuri Alcantara at UFC 204) vs. Takeya Mizugaki: Honestly, Pickett should probably retire at this point - he’s been openly talking about it, and a controversial decision win over Francisco Rivera in February is the only thing really keeping his career afloat. If not, a bout against Takeya Mizugaki would be a perfectly fine battle between fading veterans.

Rani Yahya (beat Michinori Tanaka at UFC Fight Night 95) vs. Taylor Lapilus: Rani Yahya remains doing Rani Yahya things, turning back prospects using his weird, effective, but not particularly impressive technical grappling game. There’s a bunch of prospects that could be next up, but let’s go with France’s Lapilus, who’s coming off an impressive win against Leandro Issa in Germany last month.

Alejandro Perez (drew Albert Morales at UFC Fight Night 94) vs. Anthony Birchak: Let’s just say Perez’s fight against Morales was a win, as it was pretty much only a draw thanks to some questionable refereeing that docked Perez a point. Like most other Mexican UFC fighters, Perez has had a surprising amount of success - let’s put him against Birchak, who’s a fun, aggressive, rising fighter, next.

Michinori Tanaka (lost to Rani Yahya at UFC Fight Night 95) vs. Damian Stasiak (beat Davey Grant at UFC 204): Tanaka did fine against Yahya - I’m not sure the Japanese prospect is a future champ or anything, but he should be a solid middle-tier fighter on the roster. A bout against Damian Stasiak, who won a funky grappling battle over Davey Grant with a brutal-looking armbar, could be a fun grappling-based match itself.

Jose Quinonez (beat Joey Gomez at UFC Fight Night 94) vs. Joe Soto: “Teco” Quinonez beat Joey Gomez through sheer aggression, and the TUF Latin America alum may be yet another Mexican prospect to watch. A bout against Joe Soto would be a solid one - Soto finally got his first UFC win in his fourth try, and he’s a solid, well-rounded vet who lacks some durability, but would provide a fun test for Quinonez.

Russell Doane (lost to Mirsad Bektic at UFC 204) vs. Reginaldo Vieira: We’ll see if Doane gets another fight - he’s lost three straight, but he’s actually shown a ton of improvement in his last two fights, and he might get another chance as a favor for fighting top featherweight prospect Bektic on just a few days’ notice. Doane’s solid, so if he gets another fight, I’d like to see him get a bit of an easy one, and TUF Brazil 4 winner Vieira was pretty much a non-prospect upon revival.

Davey Grant (lost to Damian Stasiak at UFC 204) vs. Matthew Lopez: Grant’s loss to Stasiak was a weird one - Stasiak seemed to be the more skilled grappling artist, but Grant was just too damn big for Stasiak to control before Stasiak was finally able to crank on a vicious armbar. Matthew Lopez is another solid low-level grappler and lost his debut, so that’d be a fun fight to make next.

Albert Morales (drew Alejandro Perez at UFC Fight Night 94) vs. Joey Gomez (lost to Jose Quinonez at UFC Fight Night 94): This would be a fine fight between two raw athletes - you can see the potential of both, but neither really had much high-level experience before their UFC debuts, and Perez was too skilled for Morales, while Quinonez was too aggressive for Gomez.

Flyweight:

Jussier Formiga (beat Dustin Ortiz at UFC Fight Night 95) vs. Kyoji Horiguchi: Formiga did Formiga things, outgrappling Ortiz rather handily with his controlling BJJ game. Formiga’s probably the best guy on the roster Demetrious Johnson hasn’t beat yet, but once again the champ is occupied while Formiga is coming off of a win. A bout against Horiguchi would be a fun one to keep both guys occupied, and one gets the sense Horiguchi might be one of the more likelier guys to string together a few wins and get another crack at Johnson.

Brandon Moreno (beat Louis Smolka at UFC Fight Night 96) vs. Sergio Pettis: Well, Moreno made a hell of a first impressing, earning a huge upset of Smolka and immediately establishing himself as a concern at flyweight. Plus he showed a bunch of charisma in his post-fight interview, and UFC may have another exciting potential Mexican star on its hands. Let’s give Moreno another fringe top-fifteen fighter in Pettis, who Moreno actually replaced against Smolka here - Pettis is sort of a jack of all trades, master of none type that would clash quite nicely with Moreno’s aggressive style.

Louis Smolka (lost to Brandon Moreno at UFC Fight Night 96) vs. Ray Borg: This was a crushing loss for Smolka, who was looking like the most intriguing test on the horizon for Demetrious Johnson, but fell a bunch of rungs down the ladder with a loss to a relatively unknown prospect. Ray Borg’s another intriguing young fighter coming off a loss, so that’d be a fun fight to throw together that would be full of a lot of fun grappling exchanges.

Dustin Ortiz (lost to Jussier Formiga at UFC Fight Night 95) vs. Matheus Nicolau/Ulka Sasaki (UFC Fight Night 100) winner: Ortiz lost to Formiga as expected, and pretty much seems stuck as a top-tennish sort of gatekeeper from here on out. Nicolau and Sasaki are two solid rising young fighters that are facing off in Brazil next month, so Ortiz would be a solid next step up for whoever wins that.

Women’s Bantamweight:

Cris Cyborg (beat Lina Lansberg at UFC Fight Night 95) vs. Megan Anderson...?: Shrug. I guess Cyborg fits in this division, but damned if I know what to do with her next. I guess have her defend her Invicta FC belt next - even do it as a one-off on a UFC card if needed - and Australia’s Megan Anderson is pretty great, so let’s do that fight.

Lina Lansberg (lost to Cris Cyborg at UFC Fight Night 95) vs. Ketlen Vieira (beat Kelly Faszholz at UFC Fight Night 96): Lansberg did a fair enough job of surviving against Cyborg for about a round and a half, even though that’s pretty much all she did. Vieira didn’t really impress in her UFC debut, so...sure, let’s do this fight.

Smoooooth takedown by  @MirsadBekticMMA !  #UFC204       — #UFC204 (@ufc)  October 9, 2016        Mirsad Bektic and Russell Doane kicked things off on the main card portion of “UFC 204: Bisping vs. Henderson” with their bantamweight bout. Doane took the fight on short notice and even jumped up a weight class just to get on this card, and the fans in attendance were appreciative of his performance.  Bektic cracked Doane with a stiff right hand to kick things off, but Doane simply ate it and invited more. Doane was so willing to strike, he allowed Bektic to close the distance and secure a takedown as the first minute passed. Doane made it back to his feet three times, but Bektic kept a grip on him and took him down twice more.  Bektic took the fight to the mat, took the back of Doane and eventually stretched him out to the point where he was able to get both hooks in. Bektic secured the submission win with the rear naked choke in round one!  Mirsad Bektic def. Russel Doane by way of Submission (RNC) 4:22 of Round 1

It was a great night of fights in Manchester, United Kingdom last night/early this morning. The UFC took place at regular American times to benefit the majority of fighters that train in the USA meaning it went down in the early hours of the morning for the locals. Let’s find out what happened last night. We’ll go in reverse order so you can find out what happened in the biggest fights first.

PPV Main Event

Dan Henderson (13) vs Michael Bisping ©    MIDDLEWEIGHT

Michael Bisping Winner and sitll champion by Unanimous Decision

Dan Henderson started off the fight very patient and calculated. He let Bisping be the aggressor and just waited for his chance to land big counters. After landing several quick jabs and counter-pounches he exploded with a huge hit that sent Bisping to the ground in desperate trouble. Resembling the first fight, Hendo wasted no time and went all out with his ground and pound but Bisping somehow survived to make it to the 2nd round.

Henderson was visibly tired going into the 2nd round. His cardio has been somewhat of an issue in his later years but I think this was just the result of punching himself out in the 1st thinking victory was near. He had all but lost the 2nd round when BOOM, he landed another huge hit sending Bisping back to the floor but was again unable to finish him.

The 3rd round no doubt went to Bisping as Hendo was simply too tired to do practically anything. I thought for a minute that maybe Hendo was playing a little bit of possum but by the end of the round it was evident Henderson was on empty.

The 4th rounded was going the exact same as the 3rd until Bisping caught Henderson with a low-blow. This gave Hendo time to finally get his wind back and showed signs of life for the first time sine the 2nd round but I’d still give the round to Bisping.

With Hendo’s corner telling him it was now or never, Henderson approached with more caution than I expected. Given his history of dropping Bisping I figured he’d come out all guns blazing but it was simply too late for Henderson.

Gegard Mousasi (9) vs Vitor Belfor (5)       MIDDLEWEIGHT

Gegard Mousasi Winner by TKO in 2nd round

Round 1 definitely went to Mousasi who owned the center of the octagon and stalked and chased down Belfort for the whole round with Belfort only landing occasional counters.

The 2nd round started off the same until Mousasi landed a huge head kick that he followed with a furious flurry that was reminiscent of the old (young) Vitor Belfort. 

Belfort survived some vicious ground and pound for a bit but ultimately Mousasi was way too much for Belfort.

Jimi Manuwa vs Ovince Saint Preux       LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

Jimi Manuwa Winner by KO in 2nd round

Not much to talk about here. The 1st round was rather uneventful although pretty even. Only real points I saw scored was OSP escaping a guillotine in the 1st.

Saint Preux came out either tired, hurt, or both in the 2nd round. Breathing out of his mouth with his hands down to his chest, it was only a matter of time before the slugger Manuwa landed and he certainly did with his finishing combo. After a right-left combo that landed square, Manuwa was extremely patient with his finishing punches making sure each one landed hard.

Stefan Struve (12) vs Daniel Omielanczuk      HEAVYWEIGHT

Stefan Struve Winner by Submission in 2nd round with D’arce choke

Omielanczuk was at an obvious height and reach disadvantage and it showed immediately as Struve dominated the 1st round on his feet and on the ground.

In the 2nd round Struve landed a beautiful D’arce choke. Omielanczuk tried to walk to fence and flip out of the hold but actually made it worse in the process allowing the Skyscraper to sink it deeper and end the match.

Mirsad Bektic vs Russell Doane         FEATHERWEIGHT

Mirsad Bektic Winner by 1st round Submission with rear naked choke

Really nothing to report here. Bektic was the huge favorite to win and Russell Doane made it even harder on himself by being one of the few fighters that didn’t get to the UK early to acclimate their body with the different time zone. Bektic wone in the 1st with an easy rear naked choke.

FS1 Prelims

Brad Pickett v Iuri Alcantara           BANTAMWEIGHT 

Iuri Alcantara Winner by Submission with triangle choke

Alcantara was the dominant fighter here. Very quick and explosive and just too much for Brad Pickett. The ending of the fight was interesting though as Alcantara attempted to land an arm bar but as Pickett tried to roll out of it he changed it to a triangle choke, then back to an arm bar before finally landing in an advantageous position allowing him to sink triangle choke. 

Davey Grant  vs Damian Stasiak                                 BANTAMWEIGHT

Damian Stasiak Winner by Submission with Arm bar 

An uneventful round 1 was followed by a great round 2. Stasiak took control of the fight in the 3rd with a takedown and good ground work. What started as a triangle attempt turned into a fight-ending arm bar for Stasiak. Grant showed a lot of heart with a beautiful reversal flip off the cage on his back but ultimately he rolled right into the triangle/arm bar attempt.

Leon Edwards vs Albert Tumenov (14)            WELTERWEIGHT

Leon Edwards Winner by Submission in 3rd with Rear naked choke 

Fairly uneventful fight until the 3rd round when Edwards scored a takedown and snuck in a quick rear naked choke.

Lukasz Sajewski vs Marc Diakiese         LIGHTWEIGHT  

Marc Diakiese Winner by TKO in 2nd round

Really lopsided fight. Sajewski was totally overwhelmed and Diakiese was the much better striker.

Fight Pass Prelims

Danny Roberts vs Mike Perry              WELTERWEIGHT

Mike Perry Winner by KO in 3rd round

Mike Perry showed a real tough chin and some real big power. Perry came out swinging hard and had Roberts in trouble at the end of each of the first 2 rounds. Perry did get a little tired but he was able to endure several solid strikes including a kick to the head in the 3rd round.

With a Muai Thai hold around Roberts’ neck, Perry landed a devastating knee that had Roberts out before he landed. A late stoppage by referee Marc Goddard in my opinion. Roberts took several unnecessary hits.

Leonardo Santos vs Adriano Martins              LIGHTWEIGHT

Leonardo Santos Winner by Split-decision 

The first fight of the night went the distance to a split-decision giving Santos his 11th straight win. Personally, I thought Martins won the fight. He had some great leg kicks and landed more significant strikes and total strikes but I guess Santos’ aggression and octagon control won over the judges.