With the UFC’s ninth event in eight weeks firmly in the books, UFC Fight Night 123 may well have seen a future champion win his first main event bout.
By recording his fifth straight finish in the UFC, Brian ‘T-City’ Ortega took one step closer to the 145 lbs title held by Max Holloway as the California natives incredible grappling left Cub Swanson no choice but to submit to a second-round guillotine choke.
Ortega will now inevitably climb into the UFC’s top five at featherweight and the 26-year-olds victory could well have a title fight in the very near future.
Elsewhere, there were big victories for the likes of Marlon Moraes, Gabriel Benitez and Eryk Anders so here are five fights to make in the aftermath of UFC Fight Night 123:
Brian Ortega vs Ricardo Lamas
Brian Ortega’s submission game will no doubt cause problems for any fighter at featherweight and with his massively impressive guillotine choke on Cub Swanson, he has probably done enough for a title shot.
Unfortunately for T-City though, Frankie Edgar is lying in wait for Max Holloway.
With Edgar next up for Holloway – most likely in early 2018 – Ortega will need to keep busy at 145 lbs and Ricardo Lamas could be the man to do just that.
Lamas fights this coming weekend against late replacement Josh Emmett and if ‘The Bully’ comes out with a victory, Ortega vs Lamas should be the way to go.
Gabriel Benitez vs Zabit Magomedsharipov
Putting in the best performance of his career thus far, Gabriel Benitez defeated the #15 ranked Jason Knight in a three-round affair where he dominated for the majority.
Benitez may well take Knight’s position at the base of the UFC’s featherweight rankings but another man could lay claim to the #15 spot.
A match-up with the brilliantly exciting Zabit Magomedshariov would see the winner rightfully become a coveted ranked 145 pounder.
Marlon Moraes vs Dominick Cruz
Marlon Moraes has been looking for a signature win since stepping over from WSOF and with a first-round knockout of Aljamain Sterling, the Brazilian has certainly got the MMA fanbase talking.
Moraes was unfortunate in his UFC debut against Raphael Assuncao and maybe should have seen victory with another set of judges ringside but with back-to-back victories, the former WSOF champion will be looking for a title eliminator next.
With Jimmie Rivera taking on John Lineker at UFC 219 and Moraes having already fought Assuncao recently, Dominick Cruz would make sense once he returns from injury and would give time for the division to open up for the winner.
Eryk Anders vs Elias Theodorou
Eryk Anders continues to grow with every outing in the Octagon and the undefeated prospect extended his record to 10-0 with a dominating win over Markus Perez on Saturday night.
A slow approach continues to prove dividends for the middleweight fighter but there are certainly fighters higher up the food chain at 185 lbs that Anders could defeat.
With Elias Theodorou’s conservative kicking game making sure the Canadian defeated Dan Kelly recently, Anders vs Theodorou would test both men due to their differing fighting styles.
Benito Lopez vs Andre Soukhamthath
Benito Lopez and Albert Morales opened up the main card of UFC: Fresno with a back-and-forth battle that saw the former claim his first UFC win.
Earlier in the night, Andre Soukhamthath recorded his own first UFC win as he successfully brought an early end to his bout with Luke Sanders.
Lopez vs Soukhamthath would give both the opportunity to slowly progress through a stacked bantamweight division.