Fights to Make After UFC 311
The UFC went back to California this past weekend and put on a great show for the first PPV event of the year, UFC 311. However, the weekend didn’t go perfectly, as the challenger to Islam Makhachev’s belt, Arman Tsarukyan, was forced to pull out of the fight the morning of the weigh-ins due to a back injury. Renato Moicano was called upon to save the title fight, and that is exactly what he did. Unfortunately for Moicano’s original opponent, Beneil Dariush, he was left without an opponent and did not fight on the card. The main card gave the fans four great finishes and a fight of the night co-main event, so it is time to look at possible future opponents for a few of the most important fighters.
Reinier de Ridder kicked off the UFC main card against Kevin Holland in just his second appearance for the promotion. Reinier came into the UFC as more of a known fighter due to being a two-weight champion in another promotion, One Championship. His debut went to plan, as he was in a back-and-forth grappling affair that ended with him winning via round three submission. With a win under his belt, fans were interested to see how he would do in this bout against a completely contrasting style of fighter. Reinier passed the test with flying colors, as he immediately went to his bread and butter, going to his grappling and securing a round one submission victory. Now, having two wins in two UFC fights, Reinier de Ridder is on the brink of fighting a ranked opponent, and one more win is likely the key to getting that opportunity. Andre Muniz takes on Ikram Aliskerov early in February, and de Ridder fighting the winner of this matchup is a great way to set up the winner of that fight with a ranked opponent. Muniz used to be ranked in the top 15, and Aliskerov has been in the cage with Robert Whittaker, so with both men looking to get back to where they were, the winner taking on Reinier de Ridder is the perfect matchup.
In the bout before the co-main event, Jiri Prochazka took on Jamahal Hill, and with both fighters coming off of a loss to Alex Pereira, a win was needed to stay in title contention. Prochazka and Hill went to war for nearly three full rounds, but in the third minute of the third round, Prochazka was able to find the shots to put Hill down and finish him. Over the course of the first two rounds, Prochazka was getting the better of the exchanges and even dropped Hill in the first round. All the damage Hill took early on in the fight led to the eventual finish for Prochazka in the last round. Now, with Jiri back in the win column, there seems to be an easy pick for his next opponent. The champion Alex Pereira is set to take on the number one contender, Magomed Ankalaev, in early March, and later on in the month, #3 ranked Jan Blachowicz fights #6 ranked Carlos Ulberg. Prochazka should take on the winner of Blachowicz vs. Ulberg as a fight to determine the next contender for the champion. If Pereira defends his belt again, then he can heal up while waiting for the winner, or if Ankalaev wins, then the rematch with Pereira and Jiri vs. Blachowicz/Ulberg can take place around the same time. It doesn’t matter who wins the next title fight and who wins Blachowicz vs. Ulberg, with Prochazka waiting for a fight, it leaves the light heavyweight division with great matchups, however it plays out.
Lastly, in the main event that almost fell apart, UFC fans got to see Islam Makhachev defend his lightweight title for the fourth time against the last second challenger Renato Moicano. Makhachev made quick work of his makeshift opponent with a round one submission. After Moicano seemed to have a small bit of success in the striking initially, as soon as Makhachev started grappling, the end was near. The matchmaking for Renato Moicano is easy in this situation because Makhachev wasn’t his original opponent. After Tsarukyan pulled out of the fight and Moicano was given the opportunity, it left Beneil Dariush without an opponent, so he was removed from the card. Moicano losing a short notice title fight isn’t a reason to have him fight down the ranks now, and he didn’t take much, if any, damage, so Dariush vs. Moicano is a fight that could be remade relatively soon. As for the champ Islam Makhachev, it would seem as though he is in the same spot, and the original fight with Tsarukyan should be remade, but Dana White doesn’t seem like that is the way he wants to go. With that being said, the UFC likely goes one of these two ways and either gives Oliveira the rematch with Makhachev and leaves Tsarukyan to fight the Gaethje vs. Hooker winner, or Tsarukyan rematches Oliveira for a second number-one contender fight. Regardless of what the promotion goes with, the top of the UFC lightweight division continues to put on some of the best fights.