#ufckansascity

One of my favorite things about @rosenamajunas (and Michelle Waterson too) is their unguarded, raw emotion. It's part of what makes it so captivating to watch them fight in addition to their combat skills. #ufconfox24 #ufckansascity

A post shared by Esther Lin (@allelbows) on Apr 16, 2017 at 1:50pm PDT

Demetrious Johnson (beat Wilson Reis) vs. Cody Garbrandt: Well, that was great. Demetrious Johnson has obviously been one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world for a few years now, but few performances put all his skills on display as much as this one did - Johnson just outclassed Reis on the feet, sniping away with strikes and getting out of the way just as Reis tried to hit him, and then took things to the ground, pretty much running through a high-level black belt and submitting him with ease in the third round. So, Johnson’s pretty much cleaned out the division and really has nothing left to do besides break Anderson Silva’s record for title defenses, so why not do a big bout against current bantamweight champ Garbrandt, whether or not he loses his belt to T.J. Dillashaw in July. Garbrandt floated the idea himself, and he’s a dangerous and interesting challenge for Johnson, probably his biggest since his days at bantamweight against Dominick Cruz. And really, since UFC seems to have no interest in a third fight pitting Johnson against deserving top contender Joseph Benavidez - who’s stuck at the moment fighting Ben Nguyen in Australia, I don’t really know where else you go.

Rose Namajunas (beat Michelle Waterson) vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk/Jessica Andrade (May 13) winner: Well, that was pretty much the performance everyone was waiting for from Namajunas - admittedly, Waterson helped her out in the first round by going for that dumb head-and-arm throw that seems to result in every strawweight getting their back taken, but the second round saw Namajunas pretty much piece up Waterson on the feet before jumping onto the fight-winning choke. I’d like to see Namajunas flash this form a few more times before giving her a title shot, since both Jedrzejczyk and Andrade would probbaly be heavy favorites to destroy her, but she’s obviously the top contender at the moment, so that’s the fight to make.

Robert Whittaker (beat Jacare Souza) vs. Gegard Mousasi: Well, that was something. There was a contingent of fans that saw this as a trap fight for Jacare, but I don’t think even they expected one so one-sided, as Whittaker looked amazing here, shucking off Jacare when he went for takedowns (which was my biggest question) and then just piecing up the human alligator on the feet before scoring the stoppage. I know I called for a Mousasi/Weidman rematch last week, but with the footage of Weidman being so out of it during the stoppage, I’m comfortable just calling that a Mousasi win. Plus that makes the next fight for everyone involved obvious - both fights saw guys take their place as top contenders at the expense of their opponents, so it’s only natural to do Whittaker against Mousasi and...

Jacare Souza (lost to Robert Whittaker) vs. Chris Weidman: ...Jacare versus Weidman, as both guys could use a rehab win over the other. Plus, amazingly, it’s a fight that hasn’t been done before, so even better.

Michelle Waterson (lost to Rose Namajunas) vs. Felice Herrig/Justine Kish (Jun. 25) winner: Well, that loss to Namajunas pretty much exposed all the problems with Waterson’s game, namely her risk-taking when she decides to grapple and her being undersized for the division. She gave up bad position on the ground, got handled on the feet...just not great all around. Frankly, I kind of expected something similar in her fight with Paige VanZant, but she at least got past that, and she’s marketable enough that she should probably be kept fairly strong matchup-wise. Hell, even though I don’t think she’s ever going to really be a top contender talent-wise, I could even see her working her way to a title shot in one of those scenarios where she’s just the best fighter riding a winning streak. Anyway, either Felice Herrig or Justine Kish would make for a fun, winnable fight (and Herrig has one of those personalities that could make it a decently big deal fight on Fox with a win) for Waterson, so let’s try that to keep Mrs. Hottie relevant.

Renato Moicano (beat Jeremy Stephens) vs. Dennis Bermudez: It wasn’t always pretty, but Moicano got a big win over Stephens here - the Brazilian prospect’s career looked to be stalling a bit thanks to injuries, but a win over a top-five contender and a tough veteran suddenly makes him some new blood in the featherweight picture. I wouldn’t rush him towards a title shot just yet, but another top-ten fighter in Dennis Bermudez would make for an interesting matchup, as Bermudez can probably mix in some more wrestling than Stephens did, and provide a little bit of a different look to make sure Moicano is ready for the big time.

Jeremy Stephens (lost to Renato Moicano) vs. Gilbert Melendez: It wasn’t a one-sided loss, but Stephens was definitely fighting from behind the whole fight against Moicano, who looked excellent here. Apparently the slot for Moicano was originally slated to be Gilbert Melendez, and might as well do that fight here anyway - it just sort of adds to the interest of a bout between the two now that Stephens also desperately needs a win to get his career back on track.

Aljamain Sterling (beat Augusto Mendes) vs. Thomas Almeida: This was a big win for Sterling in the rare fight where both guys looked great - Sterling, who desperately needed a win here to stay a contender after dropping two close fights, finally showed a much-improved striking game, but it almost wasn’t enough against Mendes, who also had a career-best performance. But with the win, Sterling’s back on the fringes of contendership, and can pretty much be matched up with anyone else in what’s a suddenly deep bantamweight picture. Let’s go with Almeida - it’s a bit of a weird matchup in that both guys should probably be cultivated towards a title shot separately, but it’d be a fun fight and both guys are in about the same place, so why not?

Alexander Volkov (beat Roy Nelson) vs. Stefan Struve: It wasn’t a particularly inspiring win, and I still don’t really think Volkov has much of a ceiling, but he’s still fairly young, and he’s 2-0 in the UFC, so the former Bellator champ probably counts as interesting young blood in the heavyweight division. Let’s go the obvious weird route and put 6-7 Volkov against 7-footer Struve just for the freak show aspect, because come on, that’s what we all want, right?

Rashid Magomedov (beat Bobby Green) vs. Evan Dunham: Well, Rashid Magomedov got back to his winning ways in about the most Rashid Magomedov way possible - putting on a good technical performance, but not really leaving much of an imprint on the fight, and almost giving away a decision through sheer lack of inactivity. But a win’s a win, and Magomedov remains a fringe top-fifteen guy, so I guess you might as well keep giving him pretty solid opposition to move him up the ladder - let’s go with Dunham, who seems to be the well-rounded gatekeeper for everyone to get into that top fifteen.

Bobby Green (lost to Rashid Magomedov) vs. Anthony Pettis: Props to Green - his bullshit-heavy style is getting less and less effective in terms of damage, but he almost stole two scorecards here. We’re hitting the point of diminishing returns, so Green is as good a choice as any for a bounce-back fight for Anthony Pettis to return to lightweight - the former champ needs to string together some fun wins, and Green checks both boxes.

Wilson Reis (lost to Demetrious Johnson) vs. Ian McCall: Well, Reis got outclassed by the flyweight kingpin, so it’s back to the giant morass at 125 with him - flyweight’s a deep division, since everyone’s pretty good, but UFC also doesn’t have a particularly huge roster, so it’s a bit troublesome to keep making fresh matchups for all these solid vets. If Ian McCall is ever going to fight again (since his fights continually fall through), Reis makes for as fun a next fight as any to try and keep sorting out the division.

Tim Elliott (beat Louis Smolka) vs. Magomed Bibulatov: Elliott’s return to Missouri went quite well - his fight with Smolka was quite awesome, a non-stop blur of action, and he scored a one-sided decision win when all was said and done. Russia’s Bibulatov is probably the next big challenger for Demetrious Johnson on the horizon - assuming UFC doesn’t suddenly get concerned with Bibulatov’s ties to Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadyron - so Elliott’s a fine next step up to get Bibulatov working towards a title shot.

Roy Nelson (lost to Alexander Volkov) vs. Todd Duffee: Nelson’s still 2-2 in his last four, somehow, but he looks absolutely done - he has none of his surprising athleticism left, he can’t really get his knockout overhand going, and even his grappling game has gotten pretty ineffective, as Nelson is forced to pretty much do nothing if he wants to continue having control on the ground. I wouldn’t be surprised if UFC cut Nelson, but if he gets another fight, looking at the roster...I guess go with Duffee? It’ll be a weird throwdown.

Tom Duquesnoy (beat Patrick Williams) vs. Michinori Tanaka: Well, Duquesnoy mostly cashed in on his hype as the best prospect in the world - he did have some trouble early with Williams’s pressure, but Duquesnoy was never really in danger, just unable to get his game going. And then once Williams tired by late in the first round, it was off to the races, with Duquesnoy eventually finishing the fight with some of his brutal standing elbows. I wouldn’t rush Duquesnoy up the ladder just yet, as I’m still curious to see how he handles better and better grapplers - to that end, let’s go with Japanese grappler Tanaka for his next test.

Augusto Mendes (lost to Aljamain Sterling) vs. Johnny Eduardo/Matthew Lopez (Jun. 3) winner: Well, despite the loss, Mendes looked awesome here, as he gave a much-improved Sterling a tough fight, showing off his awesome BJJ game and some solid striking that continues to impress. At 34 years old, I’m fine continuing to throw Mendes into the fire rather than waiting for him to develop, since he’s more or less passed every test - either veteran striker Eduardo or submission whiz Lopez would make for a fun fight that would keep Mendes relevant, so I like that as a next move to keep Mendes’s career momentum going.

Zak Cummings (beat Nathan Coy) vs. Emil Meek/Nordine Taleb (May 28) winner: Cummings pretty much ran through Coy, as expected, and the Kansas City native remains one of the more underrated fighters on the roster - he’ll almost surely never be a contender, but he’s above these sort of tune-up fights and is a solid mid-tier action fighter/gatekeeper. To that end, Meek and Taleb square off in Stockholm, and either winner would make for a fun fight - Cummings/Taleb would be a solid prelim fight, while Cummings against Meek would be a great test for Meek to see if he can keep moving up the ladder.

Anthony Smith (beat Andrew Sanchez) vs. Thiago Santos: Well, that was unexpected in multiple ways - both that Smith beat highly touted prospect Santos, and that Smith seems to be showing some surprising comeback ability. He’s always had a rep as a guy who wilts, but both here and against Elvis Mutapcic, the Nebraskan has shown the sudden ability to fight back from danger and get an unexpected win. Amazingly, this may be the start of a little bit of a charge up the middleweight ranks - let’s go with Smith against Santos for some explosive violence that could get the winner into the top fifteen.

Ketlen Vieira (beat Ashlee Evans-Smith) vs. Alexis Davis/Cindy Dandois (Apr. 22) winner: Vieira looked much better here than she did in her UFC debut - Evans-Smith is a good fighter, and Vieira pretty much kept her at range standing and did a solid job of mostly neutralizing things when things got to wrestling. Vieira suddenly looks like a talent to watch, so I’d keep moving her up the ladder - veteran grapplers Davis and Dandois would each make for a solid step up in competition.

Louis Smolka (lost to Tim Elliott) vs. Hector Sandoval/Matt Schnell (Apr. 22) winner: Smolka’s loss to Elliott somewhat ironically leaves the Hawaiian in the same position Elliott was in right before the end of his first UFC tenure - Smolka’s a top-ten or top-fifteen talent, but the UFC flyweight division pretty much has no easy wins, so Smolka suddenly finds himself with three straight losses, even if none of them are particularly bad ones. Smolka deserves another shot in the UFC, and either Sandoval or Schnell would make for a fine attempt at a bounce-back fight, as they’re both fun fighters, but at a low enough level that Smolka should hopefully be able to get a win.

Ashlee Evans-Smith (lost to Ketlen Vieira) vs. Lauren Murphy: Evans-Smith’s loss to Vieira was more about Vieira looking good than Evans-Smith looking bad, even if it did seemingly put a ceiling on the Californian as a tough mid-tier grinder rather than a contender, at least at the moment. Murphy’s sort of in the same spot, hanging around the middle of the division while being a tough out, so what the hell, that’s a fun fight to make, even if I’d be sad to see either go on a losing streak.

Devin Clark (beat Jake Collier) vs. Ed Herman: Clark just keeps getting experience, basically - he’s still pretty young, he’s a talented athlete, and he’s still raw enough that I have a ton of concern moving him too much up the ladder. He’d make for a good fight against Herman, since it’d be a classic young athlete versus crafty vet matchup to see exactly where Clark is currently at.

Andrew Sanchez (lost to Anthony Smith) vs. Vitor Miranda/Marvin Vettori (Jun. 25) winner: I’m still high on Sanchez as a prospect, since he took the balance of this fight, but leaving himself open for a late finish showed that cardio might wind up being his fatal flaw. He’s still someone I’d continue to keep an eye on, though, so I like the idea of putting him against Miranda or Vettori next to keep his career from stalling too much - either guy would be a tough out where a win would basically nullify the disappointment of this loss.

Patrick Williams (lost to Tom Duquesnoy) vs. Martin Bravo: Williams gave uber-prospect Duquesnoy some early troubles, but gassed as badly as you’ll ever see a lighter-weight fighter do, at one point even stopping to put his hands on his knees and just breathe. Williams is apparently going to combat this issue by moving up to 145, so he’s make for a fun gatekeeper opponent for TUF: Latin America 3 winner Martin Bravo, who’s fallen off the map since winning the season in November.

Jake Collier (lost to Devin Clark) vs. Gadzhimurad Antigulov/Joachim Christensen (May 28) loser: Collier made for a fun gatekeeper against Clark - he’s pretty much all-offense, no-defense, and while he can probably improve a bit himself, he does mostly seem like roster fodder best used in an action fight. Both Antigulov and Christensen are fairly fun guys, so whoever loses that would make for a solid enough use of Collier going forward.