With the UFC’s 2017 ‘International Fight Week’ done and dusted, MMA’s biggest promotion can certainly be proud of its two barnburner main events.
Opening up the weekend with the finale of ‘The Ultimate Fighter Season 25’, the main event between the debuting Justin Gaethje and Michael Johnson all but secured Fight of the Year honours with a breathtaking two round war.
In the co-main event, Jesse Taylor became the feel-good story of the weekend as a submission win over Dhiego Lima meant that ‘J-T Money’ finally became ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ nine years after losing the opportunity to fight for the UFC.
Elsewhere there were big wins for Jared Cannonier, Drakkar Klose, Tecia Torres and Angela Hill so here are five fights for the UFC to make in the aftermath of The Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale:
Justin Gaethje vs Edson Barboza
Those unfamiliar with Justin Gaethje certainly received a crash course in his exciting fighting style on Friday night.
Eating punches and constantly moving forward, Gaethje managed to recover from two worrying moments to stop Michael Johnson late in the second round and secure his fan favourite status on a much larger scale.
The UFC now has the opportunity to set up three or four future title contenders with some staggered matchmaking and there are four marquee bouts which the UFC could make to do so:
Ferguson vs Nurmagomedov
Gaethje vs Barboza
Alvarez vs Poirier 2
Lee vs Iaquinta
‘The Highlight’ is more than deserving of another big fight up next and Edson Barboza can provide just that.
Michael Johnson vs Jim Miller
Unfortunately, one man had to lose Friday’s main event and that unwanted burden fell on Michael Johnson’s shoulders.
Johnson has now fought Barboza, Dariush, Diaz, Poirier, Nurmagomedov and Gaethje in his last six fights going 2-4 and so the UFC should act in Johnson’s best interests and give him a step back in competition.
With Jim Miller also losing over the weekend, a pairing between the two would give Johnson a chance to rebuild.
Jesse Taylor vs Peter Sobotta
Jesse Taylor’s overwhelming grappling proved too much for Dhiego Lima as Taylor recorded the 17th submission win of his career.
At 34-years old, time isn’t exactly on Taylor’s side so a tougher than usual match-up for an Ultimate Fighter winner would make sense.
A classic striker vs grappler match up with the rejuvenated Peter Sobotta would test both men’s weaknesses.
Jared Cannonier vs Cummins/Villante winner
Jared Cannonier’s first bout as a full-time fighter displayed his hard-hitting style to the fullest as ‘The Killa Gorilla’ dominated Nick Roehrick before earning a third-round stoppage.
Cannonier has faced top-tier talent before in the form of Glover Texeira and while the Brazilian exploited his wrestling deficiencies, Cannonier still had his moments in that fight.
Despite mentioning a potential move to middleweight, Cannonier should stick at light heavyweight for the mean time and a bout with the winner of the upcoming Patrick Cummins – Gian Villante fight should catapult the victor into the top 10.
Drakkar Klose vs Ross Pearson
Facing off against fellow rising star Marc Diakiese, Drakkar Klose put in an impressive performance to steal the limelight from his much-vaunted foe with a split-decision victory.
Klose would then proceed to take the mic in his post-fight interview and took the opportunity to call all English fighters “bums”.
A fight with Ross Pearson would play on Klose’s comments and provide the young fighter with a high profile opponent.