The UFC’s return to London was heavily criticised in the build-up to Saturday’s event but when all said and done, UFC Fight Night 107 showcased some of the best performances of the year.
In the main event, Jimi Manuwa landed a devastating left hook to the chin of Corey Anderson cutting his nights work down to three minutes while Gunnar Nelson added another submission win to his resume with a sublime arm-in guillotine on the dangerous Alan Jouban.
Elsewhere, and possibly most pertinently, Marlon Vera brought an abrupt end to Brad Pickett’s farewell fight before a touching post-fight speech from both men allowed ‘One-Punch’ to gracefully bow out from the sport in front of his hometown.
With UFC Fight Night 107 now in the books, let’s play UFC matchmaker with the night’s big winners:
Jimi Manuwa vs Winner of Cormier/Johnson
After a first-round KO over Corey Anderson, Jimi Manuwa made two big call-outs in the middle of the Octagon. Following on from the pointless in-vogue trend of prospective boxers vs mixed martial artists, Manuwa made a plea for David Haye to step into the ring but his first request was one which made much more sense.
Asking for the winner of UFC 210’s main event bout between Daniel Cormier and Anthony Johnson would see the possibility of two UK champions in the UFC and with a dearth of quality at light heavyweight, why not grant Manuwa’s wishes and throw him to the front of the queue?
Jon Jones’ return is still up in the air and a bandied about match-up with Shogun Rua would be more of the same for ‘The Posterboy’. If the winner of Cormier vs Johnson comes through with little damage and the want for a quick turnaround, Manuwa’s power and confidence would make a worthy title challenger.
Gunnar Nelson vs Stephen Thompson
Gunnar Nelson has gone 7-2 during his stint in the UFC but has only ever had the opportunity to face elite competition once in the form of Demian Maia. ‘Gunni’ will no doubt want to prove his worth against the best of the best at welterweight once more and an all-karate bout with Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson would give him that chance.
Now the UFC may well decide against throwing Nelson into the deep-end and favour a more steady build against someone like Dong Hyun Kim but the prospect of Thompson vs Nelson is one fight that will get any MMA fan’s mouth drooling.
Arnold Allen vs Andre Fili
Arnold Allen put on an incredible grappling bout with Makwan Amirkhani to open up the main card at UFC: London and by coming out with the victory, ‘Almighty’ made sure that those watching recognised his incredible potential.
It would probably be wise to ease Allen through the rankings at just 23-years-old and a bout with Andre Fili would do just that.
Joe Duffy vs Evan Dunham
Fighting out the last bout on his UFC contract, Joe Duffy put Reza Madadi to task with a comfortable performance which earned the Irish fighter a unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards.
Hopefully, Duffy is rewarded with a contract which reflects his obvious qualities and if he does take the decision to re-sign with the UFC, a fight with a ranked opponent would make the most sense.
Evan Dunham is currently ranked #12 at 155 lbs and with no fight pencilled in in the future, Duffy vs Dunham would test both men and surely produce fireworks.
Marc Diakiese vs Chad Laprise
With perhaps the best finish of the night, Marc Diakiese took just 30 seconds to put Teemu Packalen away with a monstrous right hand to the jaw.
Diakiese is now 12-0 in his career and with a recent move to American Top Team, the Congolese-born fighter deserves a tough test in his next outing.
Canadian Chad Laprise has some notable names under his own win column while his only losses have come against top-tier talent. A match-up with Laprise would see just where Diakiese fits into the lightweight division.