#ufchouston

Jessica Andrade (beat Angela Hill) vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk: Well, that went about as well as expected. This was by far Andrade’s least dominant win since cutting down to strawweight, but it was such an excellent fight that it probably helped raise Andrade’s profile more, as her and Hill just traded punches and Andrade ran through a solid amount of abuse in a memorable fight. This just sort of helped everyone get more hyped for Andrade fighting Joanna Jedrzejczyk for the strawweight title, which is imminent - Andrade was reportedly already offered a title shot but chose to take one more fight at 115, and Dana White has already stated that Andrade is next in line for the champ. Wheeeee.

Chan Sung Jung (beat Dennis Bermudez) vs. Yair Rodriguez: Well, so much for any concerns that “The Korean Zombie” would look rusty in his return from mandatory military service. Jung looked about as good as ever - he was still ridiculously hittable, but walked through everything since he’s The Korean Zombie, and he flashed some excellent takedown defense before knocking out Bermudez in rather short order. Jung probably doesn’t have the defense to get his way back into the title picture at this point, so let’s just be awesome and do Jung against rising Mexican star Yair Rodriguez, in what should be a ridiculous bit of violence that can help us gauge expectations for Rodriguez going forward.

Dennis Bermudez (lost to Chan Sung Jung) vs. Alex Caceres: As for Bermudez, this loss is pretty damaging, as it sort of cements him as someone who just doesn’t have the defense to get into the title picture himself. Bermudez can probably still hang around the top ten and be in a viable main- or co-main event position when need be, but this more or less slots his use as a top-tier action fighter who can rack up wins in fun fights with veterans. And hey, speaking of, let’s do a fight between Bermudez and Caceres, who’s sort of scuffling in the same role, even though he’s not as good a fighter as Bermudez.

Tecia Torres (beat Bec Rawlings) vs. Carla Esparza/Randa Markos (Feb. 19) winner: She doesn’t really seem to be in UFC’s plans - it took her a while to get a fight booked, and she wasn’t really featured prominently here - but Torres is right among the top contenders at strawweight, even if her wins don’t get anyone particularly excited. I’m assuming Carla Esparza beats Randa Markos in Halifax in a few weeks, so Torres/Esparza seems as good a fight to make as any, since they’re both in the same role of fighters who could easily fight for the title, but don’t really seem to get pushed as such.

Felice Herrig (beat Alexa Grasso) vs. Rose Namajunas: Her win over Grasso had more to do with Grasso looking flat than anything else, but Herrig looked the sharpest she probably ever has - showing some solid, active striking, and not even having to rely on her wrestling much in derailing the hype train of a top prospect. Let’s see how far we can take this - Namajunas is still on the fringes of the title mix after a loss to Karolina Kowalkiewicz last summer, and it’d be a fun bounce-back fight to see if “Thug” Rose has figured some stuff since then, and if Herrig can continue to carry these gains.

Alexa Grasso (lost to Felice Herrig) vs. Bec Rawlings (lost to Tecia Torres): Woof. On the one hand, at least this wasn’t a case where Grasso looked to be at her peak and her style just didn’t work, but...this was just a really flat performance where she just sort of gave away a fight against a game opponent. Grasso’s still just 23, so the sky’s still the limit, but this was yet another reminder to slow our roll when it comes to, well, pretty much every prospect. Anyway, Rawlings, who’s improved a lot herself, would make for a solid fight to get the Mexican prospect back on track, since that’s pretty much Rawlings’s role nowadays.

James Vick (beat Abel Trujillo) vs. Leonardo Santos: Well, I suppose this is the biggest win of Vick’s career, as at least this time he beat a flawed veteran instead of an unproven prospect. Vick keeps racking up the wins, and while his one-sided loss to Beneil Dariush proved he’s not a contender, there’s still no harm in moving him up the ladder. BJJ ace Santos, who’s developed a striking game and is slowly moving up the ladder himself, would make for a fun next bout.

Ovince St. Preux (lost to Volkan Oezdemir) vs. Tyson Pedro/Paul Craig (Mar. 4) loser: So, OSP’s game always sort of worked despite itself thanks to St. Preux’s athleticism, but now it’s just not working at all, as he just didn’t do much of anything and gave away a fight to Oezdemir, a newcomer who wasn’t all that highly touted. At this point, St. Preux pretty much has to be one loss away from the cut line after three straight, and if he can’t outstrike either Pedro or Craig, who are both primarily grappling experts, he probably isn’t a UFC-level fighter anymore, and in pretty sudden fashion.

Curtis Blaydes (beat Adam Milstead) vs. Walt Harris: So, Blaydes is quickly establishing himself as the scariest prospect at heavyweight (non-Ngannou division), as he just threw around a pretty giant dude in Milstead until Milstead’s knee gave out. Blaydes is still pretty raw, so there’s no harm in just bringing him along slowly, and Harris is another athletic striker that Blaydes can try to outwrestle and run through.

Chas Skelly (beat Chris Gruetzemacher) vs. B.J. Penn: Skelly’s rounding into form nicely, as his striking is looking crisper and his grappling game is fully clicking, at least if this showcase win over Gruetzemacher is any indication. Let’s give him a big chance against B.J. Penn, since he’s a solid benchmark to see exactly where Penn is, and Skelly probably won’t punch him in the face all that much. Yes, it’s come to this.

Abel Trujillo (lost to James Vick) vs. Magomed Mustafaev: Trujillo just seems sort of broken at this point, as he was always a one-round killer and now doesn’t even seem to have that aggression anymore. He’d make for a solid bounce-back fight for Russian prospect Mustafaev, and if he can’t get it done there, he’s probably facing the cut line.

Marcel Fortuna (beat Anthony Hamilton) vs. Volkan Oezdemir (beat Ovince St. Preux): Nothing much was expected of either newcomer, but both Fortuna and Oezdemir scored big upset wins, with Oezdemir getting a narrow decision win over OSP and Fortuna going out there and knocking out Anthony Hamilton, despite being a small natural light heavyweight against a large heavyweight. Honestly, both wins are so surprising that I don’t know what you do with either guy, so what the hell, let’s put them both against each other at 205.

Chris Gruetzemacher (lost to Chas Skelly) vs. Gray Maynard: “Gritz” didn’t really show much here; he’s a pretty solid wrestle-boxer, but was just against a guy who did everything better in Skelly. Maynard would make for a solid next fight in a similar mold, between two guys who can grind a little while still having some decent striking.

Angela Hill (lost to Jessica Andrade) vs. Seohee Ham: Even in a loss, this was an excellent performance from Hill, who hung in there in a back-and-forth brawl with an absolute killer in Andrade and proved that during her time away from UFC, she’s rounded into about a top-ten strawweight. I’d almost hate to see the fight, since I like both fighters and it’d be loser-leaves-town, but Hill against Korea’s Ham would be a corker and a chance for Hill to have a bit of a showcase in the process.

Niko Price (beat Alex Morono) vs. Jingliang Li: Price’s win over Morono was in a fight that pretty much gave everything that was expected, as both guys are aggressive and sloppy, and just sort of threw until Price put Morono’s lights out at the end of the second round. Li’s carving out a niche for himself as a bit of a fun brawler too, after a win over Bobby Nash last week, so that’d be a really fun fight to make.

Ricardo Ramos (beat Michinori Tanaka) vs. Marlon Vera: Ramos’s win in his UFC debut was a mixed bag - he almost made a huge statement after almost finishing Tanaka in the first round, but gassed out badly by the end of the things and easily could’ve lost a split decision. Still, Ramos is just 21, so there’s still a ton of room for growth, and UFC basically just needs to bring the Brazilian along slowly. Vera would make for a solid next step, since he’s big for the division and can do a little bit of everything, but isn’t so great that Ramos couldn’t have a showcase win.

Khalil Rountree (beat Daniel Jolly) vs. John Phillips: Rountree did nothing here to address his weaknesses when it comes to wrestling, but at least he finally showed what he can do at a UFC level here, absolutely annihilating Jolly with some knees in the clinch for a quick finish. Like Ramos, Rountree is a raw talent that needs to be brought along slowly, and Phillips, a Conor McGregor teammate who was scratched from a fight in January with visa issues, is as solid a next step up as any.

Adam Milstead (lost to Curtis Blaydes) vs. Shamil Abdurakhimov: Well, that went poorly - Milstead just got thrown around by Blaydes, and then got his knee badly shredded in the process after going down while the two were grappling. So, Milstead will probably be out a year-plus, and Shamil Abdurakhimov apparently broke both his arms losing to Derrick Lewis last December, so yeah, those timelines probably line up for a fight that’s as good to make as any.

Michinori Tanaka (lost to Ricardo Ramos) vs. Marco Beltran: It was a close loss, but that’s two straight for Tanaka, and while he’s pretty solid, that may not be enough to save him. Anyway, if Tanaka gets another UFC fight, let’s put him against Beltran, a Mexican non-prospect, for a bounce-back win to stick around.

Alex Morono (lost to Niko Price) vs. Kiichi Kunimoto: Morono is improving a bit, even though his game is pretty much still predicated around “swing really hard at opponent,” so he may be able to stick around a bit as an action welterweight. If Kiichi Kunimoto, who hasn’t been around since February of 2015, is still active, let’s do that as a fun matchup for one of the two to get back on track.

Anthony Hamilton (lost to Marcel Fortuna) vs. Marcin Tybura/Patrick Willis (Feb. 11) loser: Well, the one thing about Hamilton’s UFC run is that you could pretty much count on him beating lower-level opposition, but then he went ahead and got knocked out by an undersized light heavyweight. Honestly, he should probably be cut just for that, but the Tybura/Willis loser from Brooklyn would make for a fine enough next fight where the loser gets cut.